I really enjoyed this. I love a chosen one trope, I love a prophecy, I love deadly trials. The worldbuilding in this was great. I really enjoyed Audra as a character. The idea of having to wear a watch that tracks everywhere I go… I would HATE that lol. This was such a great take on dark academic fantasy.

The pacing was a little off for my personal tastes, that’s what’s keeping this from a 5 star for me. I felt like it was pretty slow for the majority of the book - though that slower pacing felt like it worked for the story - and then everything started to speed up in the end. This really affected the romance (for me!!!). Their scenes together were great, but I just wasn’t invested in them together… idk if I’m articulating that well LOL. I would have been happy if there was zero romance at all in this book, if that makes sense.

I was able to immersive read this, and the audiobook is phenomenally done. Both narrators (Wesleigh Siobhan and Guy Lockard) did a fantastic job performing these characters. The pacing of the recording was great as well, I feel like it really added to the suspense, and also helped me connect to the characters - especially when the pacing of the actual story started to go off course for me.

Thank you so much to Avon and Harper Voyager as well as HarperAudio for providing me with an eARC and ALC to read early. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars! I gobbled this all the way up.

Were there some predictable moments? Absolutely. Did it bother me? Not even in the slightest. The last like 5% had me on the edge of my seat, and I was GAGGED. I am not a super reactionary reader and I was gasping all over the place.

I really enjoyed the romance in this (even if this MMC has the dumbest name of maybe any MMC I've met yet LMAO) and I cannot wait to see where this goes in the next book.

This really had me in the first half, and then started to lose me in the second half. I really appreciated both of these characters for who they were, and how messy and imperfect they are. I felt like the family dynamics and panic attacks were realistic, and I loved how they showed up for the people they cared about.

I just also started getting bored right after the halfway point because it started to feel repetitive and kind of slice of life. I’m seeing this being compared to another book - and I had the same complaint with that book as well. That it started to feel like we were sitting on a random Wednesday at the DMV with them. Just a little mundane and boring. I say all this to say - maybe this is a purposeful sub-genre or trope that I’m not familiar with and therefore haven’t figured out it’s not my thing. TBD.

This was such a fun read! It was super fast paced and I ate it up. I looooved that she was a shadow mommy, and I really liked the way the world building and lore was built up without being a lot of info dumping. The FMC’s sister was a surprising MVP of side characters, I want her to have her own book so bad. I really liked the FMC and MMC together, their chemistry read super well.

This is fated mates, so a bit of insta love comes with the territory, but it was a little too much so for my tastes - mostly because of how many secrets were built up between them and the fact he’s like, actually a demon hunter and she’s half demon lol.

Thank you so much to the author for providing me with an early copy!

I had a really fun time reading this, but felt it got more and more cringe as it went on. I went from really liking the MMC to having a little bit of an ick. But I still had a good time reading this, and will continue the series.

Maybe it’s the Greek Cypriot in me, but I am drawn to Hades x Persephone like a moth to a flame. It’s like my sleeper agent code words. So when I saw this was a gender flipped retelling I pounced, and God I am so glad I did. This was such a fun read, I devoured it in one sitting. Dommy mommy Hades was not something I knew I needed until I had it and now I need so much more.

I loved the dystopian angle on this, and seeing the world ravaged by the Gods. The fact our MMC was actually hired to assassinate Hades was such a fun addition as well. I sometimes struggle with retellings because I feel like they lean too heavily on the original material, but this felt truly unique and interesting and fleshed out.

Thank you so much Hypatia for allowing me to read this early!