This is the second book in the Daughters of Zeus series. I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley. The third book in the series, The Iron Queen, came out in June of 2015. I have really been enjoying this series; I love the take on mythology and have really enjoyed the characters and the Underworld.

This book picks up where the last left off. Persephone has returned to the surface and is struggling to try and get back to her normal teenage life. However, the fact that Thanatos is betraying Hades and that Persephone is locked in an oath not to tell Hades is really eating at her. Persephone is trying to forget her love for Hades and focus on things like college. Then things get weird; another daughter is born to Zeus. Her name is Aphrodite and she was born out of the sea. Persephone gets saddled with trying to get Aphrodite to learn how to act human, but Aphrodite's incredibly charm is making things difficult. Of course Persephone can’t help but wonder is Aphrodite is somehow part of Zeus’s plan to destroy her.

This was a well done continuation of this young adult series that features a modern day teen that finds out she is a Daughter of Zeus. There is a lot of mythology in here which I really enjoy. I also enjoyed the characters. This was a quick and engaging read that was fun and enjoyable.

I loved watching how Persephone has grown from the first book. She is beginning to accept her duties as Goddess of the Underworld and struggling to merge these duties with her human life. She is slowly coming to terms with the fact that she may not be able to have a human life.

Her and Hades have wonderful chemistry and the struggle between them is both endearing and frustrating. Hades doesn’t want to take advantage of such a young and new Goddess, but Persephone is frustrated by his dismissal of her feelings as a childlike infatuation. This book sees them spending more time apart as Persephone tries to prove both to herself and Hades that she can stand on her own two feet.

I continue to enjoy the surrounding gods/goddesses and demi-gods. They are all interesting to read about.

The writing flows very well and is very easy to read. The story is incredibly engaging and hard to put down. In general this is just a very fun and light read that is perfect for summer. This book does end on a horrible cliffhanger so I am very eager to read book three, The Iron Queen.

Overall I really enjoyed this continuation of the Daughters of Zeus series. I love the characters and mythology throughout. This is a fast-paced and engaging read that I really enjoyed reading. I would definitely recommend this whole series to fans of young adult book who enjoy mythology. I can’t wait to read The Iron Queen! ( )

4.5 Stars
A solid sequel to Persephone. What an exciting modern YA adaptation of a Greek myth! And talk about the awesome buildup to the huge cliffhanger. The plot, characters, and continuing romance are mesmerizing and it's a page-turner. I'll need lots of coffee for work tomorrow but this novel was worth it. I look forward to the conclusion of a interesting twist to the Persephone/Hades story.

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**Review written for an originally posted on my blog, Book Bliss.I received a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review**

Review: 5 stars

General: Book 2 of this series doesn’t disappoint. Please note that you may be able to read this without book 1 but it will lose some of it’s awesomeness. This book picks up a little bit after the first has left off. Persephone is still who she was before…until events that shake her to her core make her question everything from her mother to her husband.

When another goddess enters the scene Persephone has a shift in her world, both good and bad. It made the character interactions change from playful to tense and helped me connect even deeper with Persephone and her struggle. Thantos has done something awful and it broke my heart to see his particular character shift but it was a fantastic plot to the story and added the right amount of fear and drama into their lives. I was a tiny bit disappointed at the lack of time with Hades as their relationship really was such a strong point in the prior book but loved the realism behind their story in this installment.

This book does essentially end on a cliffhanger….yes I know the dread cliffhanger. However it suited the book. It wasn’t a cliffhanger because more wasn’t written. It was a cliffhanger because the entire plot had run it’s course and it was the device to move to book 3. To me, that is the perfct way to use a cliffhanger and not make fans to crazy waiting.

Characters: Persephone- Persephone is growing stronger in this book. She’s also loosing herself. Her journey was wonderful. It felt so realistic as she went from top of her game to barely alive from torture and deception from everyone she holds dear. Her interactions with Aphrodite had me screaming at the book because Aphrodite was so annoying I had no idea why she was following her, but that’s what happens when you get lost.

Hades- No change in Hades in this book…or was there? No spoilers coming from me on what does or does not happen with this sexy husband of Persephone’s. ( )

Continuing on with the story that was started in Persephone (Daughters of Zeus #1), this book gives further glimpses and insights into the mythical characters introduced. While some questions were answered from the last story, so many more questions were raised, and the adventure became deeper and even more exciting.

While I love these characters, and Persephone is one of my favorite mythological goddesses, she showed more of her naivete, which was somewhat infuriating. On more than one occasion, I found myself saying "It's so obvious, how can you not get that!" to her character's lack of understanding, or connecting dots I thought were a bit obvious. However, having the story dotted with clear signs and clues made it easy to create things for Persephone to figure out later in the story. It also helped bring the story together, keeping the plot flowing with clues that needed discovering, which is necessary, but kept me somewhat annoyed with her. The other characters are all deeper, and the addition of a few new characters added some intense relationship drama for most of the main characters.

I enjoyed this installment to the series quite a bit. The increase in angst, mystery and danger was entertaining, and the writing style and voice are great to read. I'm looking forward to reading the next book!

*I was given an eCopy of this book, from the author, to read in exchange for an honest review.

Be sure to check out my blog post for this book! Includes a dream cast, character bios, excerpts, an author interview, and for a limited time, a giveaway!! Check it out here: http://desertrosereviews.blogspot.com/2013/11/daughters-of-zeus-trilogy-reviews.... ( )

Full review on Reader's Dialogue: http://readersdialogue.blogspot.com/2013/03/daughter-of-earth-and-sky.html

I love the way Persephone's struggle to tell Hades about Thanatos plays out. I really felt her pain and frustration every time she tried and failed to tell Hades, and her desperate tears when the whole situation seemed to overwhelm her. Her fear that Hades will hate her once he finally finds out, for not telling him and for making that foolish promise to begin with, colors her whole relationship with him throughout this book, and I love the way I really felt the distance between them growing. In the first book, Hades resisted the relationship, but now Persephone feels guilty letting the relationship proceed when she knows she's hiding things from him. But the way that all plays out, when Hades finally learns the truth, is just beautiful.

And don't worry, there's plenty of action in this book also. There's more introspection, but the action is just as compelling as in the first book. Everything happens quickly, things change suddenly, and when a scene begins peacefully, expect disaster very shortly. The pain Persephone goes through physically, besides from her constant emotional pain in this book, is excruciating, and heightens the sense of danger, of what will happen if Zeus wins.

A thoroughly satisfying middle book! I love the twist at the end, and am looking forward to the final book and finding out how this all plays out! ( )