Review--A Game of Retribution by Scarlett St. Clair

 

Become enchanted by the fantasy world of gods and mortals in bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair's reimagined New Greece. Readers are "hopelessly addicted" to the story of Hades and Persephone. Hades, God of the Dead, does not take sides or bend the rules. He makes no exceptions to these values―not for god or mortal, even his lover, Persephone, Goddess of Spring. Usually, fear prevents retaliation. But not this time. When Hera, Goddess of Women, approaches Hades with a plan to overthrow Zeus, he declines to offer help. As punishment, Hera sentences Hades to perform a series of labors. Between killing mythical monsters and recovering deadly stolen artifacts, each feat seems more impossible than the last and draws his attention away from Persephone―whose own tragedy has left her questioning whether she can be Queen of the Underworld. Can Hades maintain the balance he craves?

 

 

 

Scarlett St. Clair continues the Hades Saga in her bestselling series that follows a modern day Hades and Persephone with A Game of Retribution. This is basically book two of the Persephone series but from Hades point of view and I have to say, I think I like his POV best! His character is just a little ore intriguing to me and I love knowing what he was thinking in all those complicated moments Persephone had!

While Persephone is off dealing with her own problems, we learn that Hades had more than a few of his own that he was juggling. Firstly, Hera has come to him and wants him help in overthrowing Zeus from his kingly reign, but Hades refuses to trade a poor king for a poor queen, so Hera then threatens his and Persephone’s relationship, promising not to bless any union they may have and knowing that she is the goddess of marriage, just how damning that ultimatum can be. Hades then agrees to a set of trials that she will command of him in order to “win” her approval. It’s much like the trials Hercales had to compete.

Meanwhile, as Hades unwittingly awaits her command, he meets Detective Alexious who is looking into a case involving missing young women, who she believes may have been hurt by Dionysus. So Hades has yet another task added to his to-do list.

It feels like Hades had his own full plate going on when Persephone was dealing with much of her own troubles at the same time. Every once in awhile their paths and problems collided, but I guess I just found it odd that they spent so much time apart. I know this is my second time experiencing all this, but I felt the same way in Hades’ first book as well. They have a complicated love story to say the least.

I did find some of the romance to be a bit overwhelming. I know this is a romance book, that part hasn’t escaped my attention, but I guess in my time away from this world, I forgot just how many sexual encounters Hades and Persephone shared. I’m the kind of reader where less is more, since less usually means more impactful moments instead of dozens of sexy times. But still I come back again and again! I don’t let the overwhelming parts of this romance read get me down too much. Again, this is just a “me” thing and didn’t really impact my enjoyment overly much.

This was a pretty fast paced read when I come back and think about it! I dove in head first and couldn’t bring myself to stop too much beyond normal issues like work and sleep. Lol. I am eager to try to get back to this series as soon as I can! I know Hades’ third book comes out at the end of the summer so perhaps I will pick up the next book just before then. If I recall, I believe it had a cliffhanger, so I’d rather not have to live through that devastation for long, but the final book of the series isn’t slated to release until November, so I may make myself hold out a little longer before starting the next parts!

Though it may not seem like it, I really do enjoy this modern take on Hades and Persephone! I love that it still has enough of that old times feel of when gods walked among man, though my mind is still blown away by a few of their attitudes…well, mainly Demeter! She’s a real trip! This is definitely a series I would recommend to fantasy romance fans! I would also recommend it to lovers of Greek mythology mixed with romance! It is a fun series and I am eager to see how it will all end later this year! This is definitely a series for mature audiences and those who are not faint of heart! 

Overall Rating 4/5 stars