Book Review: "Lore Olympus, Volume Four" by Rachel Smythe
*Spoiler alert!*
Coming back to this series is such a pleasure!
Volume four of the “Lore Olympus” series sees Hades and Persephone continuing their slow-burn dance around each other. Persephone wishes to enact some boundaries, to see if a romantic relationship between them will develop gradually, instead of all at once. They both have work to do on themselves so as not to bring the baggage into their potential future together.
On Hades’ side, he has to make some
changes in his personal life. His on-off relationship, in which Minthe employs
emotionally abusive tactics against him, is starting to wear him down.
Moreover, he has an unhealthy entanglement with Hera, Zeus’ wife, that he has
to extract himself from. (Hera is in her own abusive relationship and uses
these occasional hook-ups as revenge, as much as Hades does when getting back
at Minthe.)
If you know Greek mythology, you know that the Greek pantheon is a mess.
While Hades is a complex and lovable character, he clearly has much more work to do, and he spends much of the volume attempting to repair the troublesome dynamics in his life. Not to mention, he feels a bit lonely and adrift as he interacts with Persephone less on a daily basis. Readers get the impression that he was more able to be himself with Persephone than anyone else.
As for Persephone—my favorite character in this saga of course—she is still dealing with understandable trauma and her current concerns with her TGOEM scholarship, with strict conditions against romantic relationships. Persephone was raped by Apollo and is still dealing with its aftermath. Seeing Apollo everywhere she goes doesn’t help matters, as he continues to make unwanted romantic overtures towards her. Not to mention the war god Ares returns to stir up trouble. (Not to lie, but I was surprised that it was revealed Persephone had a romantic encounter with the god of war.)
If that weren’t enough, Persephone similarly feels a bit melancholy about her increased time away from Hades. Even if she set up some boundaries, it is abundantly clear how much chemistry they have together. Smythe deploys the slow-burn romance storyline very well and has a deep well of mythology to pull from to advance the tale.
As always, Smythe’s art-style is absolutely wonderful, especially in her use of colors to inform readers of the emotional states of the volume’s characters. The lush landscapes of the modern, corporate world the Greek divinities live in, and that of the mortal world, which appears more pastoral. I love it so much!
Even if the story did not advance as fast as in the previous volumes, volume four of the “Lore Olympus” series is a solid entry, as gaps are filled in the main characters’ pasts and new characters are introduced.
I’ve never been one for soap operas, but the “Lore Olympus” series is the only exception. I can’t resist mythology and Smythe puts a nice spin on it. I can’t wait for the next volume to come out!
Happy reading!
--BookOwl
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