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A review by rallythereaders
The Iron Queen by Kaitlin Bevis
5.0
Also posted on Rally the Readers.
* A copy was provided by the author for review.
Kaitlin Bevis’s Daughters of Zeus series has quickly become my favorite mythology retelling, and after reading The Iron Queen, I love it more than ever. This is the most intense, action-packed installment yet. I hated having to put the book down because I was so into it, and any time I had a free moment, even if it was five minutes, I pulled this up on my phone so I could continue reading.
I might have squealed just a little when Chapter 1 opened with Hades’s point of view. Okay, it might be more accurate to say I had a full-on freak-out. But it’s Hades—the badass god of the Underworld whom I’ve been in love with since the first book. With Zeus holding Persephone prisoner, we have access to the storm of Hades’s thoughts: fear for his wife, determination to save her no matter what the cost, and pure hatred of Zeus. Even though the tone of this book stays fairly serious throughout, there are still a few glimpses of Hades’s sense of humor (yes, he has one!). I cracked up at his memory of Cassandra telling a recently arrived soul to the Underworld about how he went through a “dark phase” after meeting Dante, he of The Divine Comedy fame.
Hades isn’t the only new POV addition to the series. Aphrodite also narrates some chapters, and at first I had mixed feelings about this. I really didn’t like her in the previous novel, Daughter of the Earth and Sky. I thought she was a bad influence on Persephone, and I found her annoying in general. But after reading from Aphrodite’s perspective, I really had to eat my negative opinion of her. Zeus took away her free will, and she’s stuck being bossed around by any member of the family who outranks her. It’s not a fun life. I actually wound up liking Aphrodite and her pert attitude. She and Melissa, Persephone’s friend/priestess, have some hilariously snippy exchanges that further provide some comic relief.
Poor Persephone spends the majority of the novel getting tortured by a merciless, power-hungry Zeus. To her credit, she fights back as much as she can against Zeus’s endless lightning zaps and the fake nightmares he’s planting in her head. Persephone actively searches for even the tiniest opportunity to get away, which is a lot more than I can say for some other YA heroines I’ve read about. I can’t stand it when a female protagonist spends more time talking about escaping than making actual plans to do so.
My absolute favorite part of The Iron Queen was the gathering of other figures from Greek mythology to unite against Zeus. It was like something out of The Avengers, and I LOVE The Avengers! Ares, Apollo, Artemis, and Athena all make appearances, and the assembly of awesomeness was just amazing. Apollo was too, too funny, with his cult of hippie worshippers and tongue-in-cheek alias, Mr. Sunshine. Even Hades snickered at that. As content as I’d been with the cast of deities in the first two books, the roster expansion in this one was both perfectly time and perfectly executed.
It’s always gratifying to see a series move forward with each installment, and this series truly hits the sweet spot with The Iron Queen. The story doesn’t appear to be finished yet, either, which makes me all the happier because I only just became acquainted with a host of fascinating new characters. I really hope their presence continues in future books.
* A copy was provided by the author for review.
Kaitlin Bevis’s Daughters of Zeus series has quickly become my favorite mythology retelling, and after reading The Iron Queen, I love it more than ever. This is the most intense, action-packed installment yet. I hated having to put the book down because I was so into it, and any time I had a free moment, even if it was five minutes, I pulled this up on my phone so I could continue reading.
I might have squealed just a little when Chapter 1 opened with Hades’s point of view. Okay, it might be more accurate to say I had a full-on freak-out. But it’s Hades—the badass god of the Underworld whom I’ve been in love with since the first book. With Zeus holding Persephone prisoner, we have access to the storm of Hades’s thoughts: fear for his wife, determination to save her no matter what the cost, and pure hatred of Zeus. Even though the tone of this book stays fairly serious throughout, there are still a few glimpses of Hades’s sense of humor (yes, he has one!). I cracked up at his memory of Cassandra telling a recently arrived soul to the Underworld about how he went through a “dark phase” after meeting Dante, he of The Divine Comedy fame.
Hades isn’t the only new POV addition to the series. Aphrodite also narrates some chapters, and at first I had mixed feelings about this. I really didn’t like her in the previous novel, Daughter of the Earth and Sky. I thought she was a bad influence on Persephone, and I found her annoying in general. But after reading from Aphrodite’s perspective, I really had to eat my negative opinion of her. Zeus took away her free will, and she’s stuck being bossed around by any member of the family who outranks her. It’s not a fun life. I actually wound up liking Aphrodite and her pert attitude. She and Melissa, Persephone’s friend/priestess, have some hilariously snippy exchanges that further provide some comic relief.
Poor Persephone spends the majority of the novel getting tortured by a merciless, power-hungry Zeus. To her credit, she fights back as much as she can against Zeus’s endless lightning zaps and the fake nightmares he’s planting in her head. Persephone actively searches for even the tiniest opportunity to get away, which is a lot more than I can say for some other YA heroines I’ve read about. I can’t stand it when a female protagonist spends more time talking about escaping than making actual plans to do so.
My absolute favorite part of The Iron Queen was the gathering of other figures from Greek mythology to unite against Zeus. It was like something out of The Avengers, and I LOVE The Avengers! Ares, Apollo, Artemis, and Athena all make appearances, and the assembly of awesomeness was just amazing. Apollo was too, too funny, with his cult of hippie worshippers and tongue-in-cheek alias, Mr. Sunshine. Even Hades snickered at that. As content as I’d been with the cast of deities in the first two books, the roster expansion in this one was both perfectly time and perfectly executed.
It’s always gratifying to see a series move forward with each installment, and this series truly hits the sweet spot with The Iron Queen. The story doesn’t appear to be finished yet, either, which makes me all the happier because I only just became acquainted with a host of fascinating new characters. I really hope their presence continues in future books.