Early Review--The Iron Queen by Kaitlin Bevis

Life is hell for Persephone. Zeus will stop at nothing to gain access to the living realm and the Underworld, and as the only living god with a right to both, Persephone’s in trouble. Captured and tortured beyond the limits of her resolve, Persephone must find the power to stand against Zeus. But will she be strong enough?

Meanwhile, Hades contemplates desperate measures to rescue his queen. Persephone never thought of herself as dangerous, but there’s a reason gods never marry for love. A being with the power to destroy all of creation shouldn’t place more value in one individual than the rest of the planet. But Hades...Hades would break the world for her.

To save the world and stop both Hades and Zeus, Persephone must make a difficult choice. One that may cost her everything.

I received this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.

WARNING: There will be spoilers from Daughter of Earth and Sky, book 2 in the series, in this review, read at your own risk!


The Iron Queen is the third book in the Daughters of Zeus series by Kaitlin Bevis. I say it that way, because I don't know if this was meant to be a trilogy or not. The way this one ends kind of doesn't answer that question, so hence the wondering. Sure, things are resolved for the most part. But there's a few possible questions at the end. I say possible, because their source is unreliable. So it's hard to say if this is the end of a series or not. Regardless, it was a pretty enjoyable read all the same!

This one starts off with a twist, Hades has his point of view in chapters, as does Aphrodite, and Persephone still narrates as well. This was a bit of a surprise since for the past two books Persephone has been the only narrator. But it makes sense, since in this one Persephone is in the hands of Zeus, her father. And can we say ewww!! I wanted to say this in my last review, but since it was sort of spoilery I refrained! I mean, I knew Zeus had no qualms about who he sleeps with, but propositioning your daughter?! Gross! Of course, if I am remembering my Greek mythology right, and it's been a few years since I've studied it, I thought he and Hera were related in some way. I could be wrong, but that skeeved me out too. But that's the gods for you, no qualms about such trivial things as having sexual relations with your own blood.

Zeus plans to torture Persephone to death until she swears fealty to him and gives him her powers, tying him to all the realms. But Persephone is defiant and will not yield to him. I give her many kudos for this since Zeus really does torture her to death relentlessly. If it wasn't for her being a goddess, she wouldn't have lasted long at all.

In the meantime, Hades is working with Persephone's friends and family to get her back. They're recruiting all the gods and goddesses they can, tracking down Zeus's other children and demigods. It was fun seeing other faces like Apollo, Artemis, Athena, and more. For some reason, Artemis was always my favorite in Greek mythology, it was a bit odd seeing her with a sort of boyfriend given who she is in mythology, but oh well! Not all Greek myths are true in this world after all.

This one was a little harder to read at times. I'm totally used to switching multiple points of view, and that wasn't an issue. There were just times when it was hard to know what was real or a dream. For when Persephone sleeps she sometimes communicated with Hades and then things get muddied and it became hard to know what was a dream or not. It's hard for me to explain in detail without getting close to spoilers, but needless to say, I felt disembodied with what was going on at times! That all could very well be the author's intention, but I didn't always care for it.

The ending was a bit anticlimactic. I was expecting a big showdown, but instead it all went rather quickly. And that's where we see a few potential problems. Things get said, but are they true or not? Is there still more to this story, or are we at the end? There is also a lack of mentioning one of the other demigods, something happened to them (must use improper English here so I don't reveal identity or gender) and then that was it. After the showdown, there's no mentioning of this demigod. So what happened to them?!

Since Persephone and Hades really weren't together in this one, there wasn't really any romance between them. But seeing the love and devotion Hades felt for Persephone, finally, was a nice second. He was willing to do anything to get her back, even at the cost of others. It wasn't overly romantic in that sense, but that he was would turn said anger at the enemy made up for it! But yeah, still wouldn't have minded a bit more happy times for him and Persephone.

Overall, The Iron Queen was a pretty good read. Though, I struggle trying to grasp the title's meaning and fit to the story. Queen, yes, Iron...uh, not so much! Regardless, it made for a fitting end to the series, or a possible "pausing" moment. Whichever it may be! If you like Greek mythology retellings, I totally recommend this one, though be advised that in this world, not all Greek myths actually exist in this world and that can be discombobulating at times! But it's still a fun read!


Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars