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The Underworld

Rise of the King, Vol. 1

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Based on the myth of Hades and Persephone, "The Underworld Series" is a fresh take on the myth that challenges common perceptions of good, evil, light, and dark. Everyone has choices to make every single day and your life is a result of those choices. Sephie and the men she finds herself surrounded by find themselves on a path that has been paved over lifetimes. Each one must find their place in the world to leave their mark on it, while striving to make it just a little brighter with each choice made. "Rise of the King" is a testament to survival as much as it is a story about the people placed in your life to help you along the way.

736 pages, Paperback

First published December 29, 2023

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1458 people want to read

About the author

R.J. Kane

4 books958 followers

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5 stars
1,238 (70%)
4 stars
277 (15%)
3 stars
145 (8%)
2 stars
61 (3%)
1 star
40 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 201 reviews
19 reviews1 follower
December 31, 2023
I started this book on a different platform and it was difficult to want to finish. The author is a beginner which isn’t a problem but there is a lot repeat of phrases and I find myself proofing as I go, which makes it a difficult read. If you can look past this, the plot is okay and makes you want to continue at least for a little bit longer but there is a lot problems which could be fixed.

There isn’t enough detail given and leaves the readers wondering what is happening in the scene. For example, they’re making dinner, well what did they make? He does so much good. What good has he done? He asked her to wear more skirts and dresses. Did she go and buy some? You never find out if she does so for him. You know what Sephie kinda looks like but what about the other characters other than their nationality. Don’t get me started on the changing of the seasons but it doesn’t real change season.

There is also details which are unbelievable. Sephie learned to speak fluent Russian and read it in like 4 months. She is a better cook than a seasoned chef. She just magic.

Also, the writer struggles with conflict. There is one difficult conversation where Adrik is frustrated with Sephie for not being open. It reaches peak frustration then there really isn’t a completion to the problem. It’s almost like the author skipped a few chapters. I kept flipping back to see if I missed a chapter.

The book has a lot of repetitiveness with repeated chapters giving their POV on the same scene. It’s like they can’t figure out who’s perspective they like. So, they give them all which is unnecessary.

Additionally, the author is rude. She tears down readers. If you asks question, you are told to find the answer yourself. She’s argumentative and has the ego of Pulitzer award despite not having the award. She believes any and all criticism of her or the lack of information is due to jealousy. The author has talent but lacks the ability to be change and show kindness.

If you really want to read the book, I recommend for you to try to get it from a library or a second hand used bookstore. It’s not worth the $35.
Profile Image for Mallory.
60 reviews4 followers
April 11, 2024
I give up. DNF. It started off strong but just got too ridiculous and the praise and obsession everyone had for the main character was annoying. Every chapter just became an explanation for why the characters liked her and for some reason every other woman in the book is terrible. I found myself rolling my eyes way too much. I’ll give it a 2 instead of 1 because the premise was good…it went downhill after that.
Profile Image for Zane Alksne.
367 reviews48 followers
March 26, 2024
This was one super long book, that took me 4 months to read and it is far from over I think, the author just stopped updating it. This far I can tell that there is a lot of work to be done on the grammar and other types of mistakes - there were so many that it was unreadable.
Plotwise it was an amazing and one-of-a-kind book. I loved the characters and their growth. I loved the sarcasm and fuckery and random jokes. What I did not like was repetitiveness, it felt like mulling around the same thing on and on in places.
I do want to see how it ends and all, hopefully, I will not have so long that I will forget everything once the continuation appears.
7 reviews
January 15, 2024
Incomplete Book

The book just ends literally in the middle of a conversation between primary male and female characters. After 807 pages everything is still up in the air. It was like reading a concept paper not a complete book.
861 reviews17 followers
February 6, 2024
I am honestly shocked that this book was 4.55 on Goodreads........let's get into it.


First off, I don't mind instalust or instalove at all in a book. I'm always down for falling in love fast because if that's what I want to read that day and not worry about angst it's all good. Not this time. What is this? It was the second chapter she met him, and she's protected by his body guards by chapter 4? Moving in with him by chapter 6? No.

The characters also started off promising and tanked. I liked Persephone at first and enjoyed her quirkyness to an extent. Then she moved into the house and within a day she is just best friends/ little sisters with everyone? Hugging them? Being carried around on their backs, and feels comfortable enough to set the cook up with a bodyguard? After less than 24 hours. And she says ridiculous things like "I'm mr. grumplestilskins emotional support sloth...." People rated a book with that statement a 5.


The book is also repetitive and hard to read. The POVS overlap but not with any exciting or different information. We see the same scene she just had but now it's him saying how much he loves her with no other add ons.


Just not good. At all.
Profile Image for Tracey Leigh.
9 reviews
February 24, 2024
Ugh. I’m only giving 2 stars simply because the story had potential, but fell absolutely amazingly short of actually having it. It lost my attention and patience at around chapter 89.. I continued to read until chapter 230 something or other. What I found out it had 500 and something chapters I quit trying to find something redeeming to keep reading it.
Too many unnecessary chapters that bring nothing to the story. How many showers, baths, and hunger spells do readers want? Not as many as this story has. Too many repeated tellings of the same situations over and over by different characters. Turning the tough guys into her personal huggy bears with too much emotional reactions doesn’t help the story line . Toss in more random characters constantly added more complexity with no density of the story as well. I’m not even sure exactly what the story is about anymore! What is this crime bosses purpose? What’s so great or tough about him? He’s not really even a crime boss. He hasn’t done anything at all of any sort so far .. is it about him? Is it about her ? Because I can’t tell anymore. The sex scenes are pretty much all exactly alike in the telling as well. Boring.
I could keep going, but I’d hate to bore everyone as bad as this story has done.
This needs a total rewrite and serious edit.
14 reviews
December 28, 2023
I've read the book on multiple platforms and am so in love with the characters! They make the whole book! You fall in love so easily with them and want to follow their stories and development! The writing absolutely fits to what's going on.
If I'd have to criticize sth, then it is simply on my assumption (seriously on my own personal assumption, personal opinion) that the author must be quite young or putting her expectations to certain happenings in the story out of her own private perspective and not the characters. There were some situations (rarely) where it didn't make sense to me or I was let down, but these were tiny things easily to be overlooked and not important to the progress.
It was absolutely enjoyable and fun to continue through the story, going on those mafia trips, seeing intrigues unfold and starting to get a bit of a supernatural touch. I absolutely recommend it for romance lovers, cozy read, and cool action, found family and a tiny bit of magic.
Profile Image for Jaime.
176 reviews
January 4, 2024
"Rise of the King" by RJ Kane left me thoroughly disappointed. The writing fell short, the protagonist grated on my nerves, and the constant POV switches felt more like a desperate attempt to meet a word count than a deliberate narrative choice. The supposed reimagining of Persephone and Hades lacked depth, and the abrupt, unresolved ending left me questioning if my Kindle download was incomplete. This book was a near-DNF for me, and I won't be venturing into the sequel.
Profile Image for Natalie.
171 reviews3 followers
January 27, 2024
First of all, this book is 806 pages and still unfinished. It has good and not so good mixed in. I don’t mind different POVs but then entire conversations get repeated that are not needed. It has some outlandish little pieces but I won’t get into those. Also, the nicknames were getting annoying, they were just overused. The overall premise is there but needs some work.
5 reviews
January 20, 2024
Good Book Until it just Ends

Why does this book just stop?! It doesn’t wrap anything up. It isn’t a cliffhanger. It just stops. I guess don’t even try to read it until the next several in the series comes out.
Profile Image for Corinne.
206 reviews3 followers
October 8, 2024
I read most of this first part of the book on good novel or whatever pay by chapter book app it was originally on.

I am so glad I took the authors advice and stopped reading while they self published because if I had to pay for chapters that were essentially 50% repetition of the previous chapter I would have rage quit the book and thrown my phone through a window.

The SHEER VOLUME of repetition is astounding.

Sephie was a pick me from the start but Jesus Christ the pick me is pick-me-ing.

Sephie is also the best at literally everything.
Cooking? Better than a seasoned chef.
Russian? Picked it up in a few months to the point of having a conversation.
Italian? Speaks it poorly but understands it all.
Running? She’s an athlete.
Guns? Murderous with em.
Kicking ass? She’s Lara Croft you guys.


Take a shot every time Sephie says she hates shopping. You’ll be in liver chirrosis before you can blink.

Take a shot every time Sephie says she doesn’t get why girls like x y z.

Take a shot every time Sephie says she’s the goddamn princess.

Sephie is the single most painful FMC I have ever had the displeasure of coming across and Adrik is a fuckin Tool.


The plot has lost itself within the shitty subplots.

I hardly remember who is who anymore and I don’t have a clue what’s happening.

All I know is “Russian security master” “Squishy” and “TO THE WHITEBOARD!”

I’m going to read the second book because I’ve paid for it.

Do I recommend this book? No. This could have been so good.
1 review1 follower
May 8, 2024
I was so disappointed by this book. It started out so strong and the storyline really gripped me as a reader but the further I got into the book I lost interest quickly and found myself getting irritated by it.
Chapters tend to alternate between the POV of the two main characters Sephie and Adrik and each chapter repeated the last but from the other characters POV. The author quite literally copied and pasted word for word conversations between characters.
The further you get into the book the chapters become longer so much so that some of the chapters are estimated to take 45-50 minutes to read according to my kindle! Absolutely ridiculous.
As for the story line it just became so ridiculous, tedious and childish that I gave up the 79% mark. Such a shame, this book had so much promise.
Profile Image for sammiiy.
22 reviews1 follower
February 11, 2025
Sephie was an extremely unlikeable character after a few chapters and became a huge “pick-me” very quickly.



editing this a year later to add because I can’t stop thinking about this being literally the worst book I’ve ever read.

Sephie started as such an independent badass for the first few chapters and then got so reliant on her “found family” and I understand it’s because she felt safe, but she still could’ve shown SOME independence from a SINGLE man in her life. And the “pick-me” attitude was wild; the “sorry, I’ve just always gotten along better with the guys, haha” trope is so overplayed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for basil.
38 reviews2 followers
May 25, 2024
This book should NOT have 4.5 stars. I don’t even understand how it does, honestly.

There were roughly 3 times where I almost put this book on the Could Not Finish list, but I pushed through. Which I regret, and I might even regret going into Volume Two in a bit.

The MFC is definitely just another case of Mary Sue. Every guy she encounters immediately falls for her and her “quirks”. She can do no wrong, and if she does then it’s brushed off with hugs and kisses. She’s the cool girl who is uncomplicated while every other girl that is brought up in the story is insecure, jealous, complicated—because “women are so complicated”. I mean, yeah sure, that holds true, but … every female character she encounters? C’mon now.

It’s Instant Love between her and the MMC, which is, whatever—it is what it is. And at the same time there’s no real development that’s actually substantial to a relationship that starts off in a bit of strange way (you know, his guys beating up the handsy a-hole and then they’re waiting for her after she closes shop and follow her home, yeah), then again who am I kidding, this isn’t a real life telling lol, why would instant love have any actual development even after, right?? It mostly goes straight into bland spice scenes that were almost cringe to get through and the MMC constantly reassuring the MFC with repetitive “I f*cking love you”s, etc., etc. …. like this guy had never met a “quirky” woman in his entire life who could crack cringe jokes half the time, sigh.

The amount of “pet names” and nick names that get repeated? That alone could probably make up for 40% of the book. They got repetitive and weren’t cute after the first five times they were said.

I expected a little more out of a dark mafia style book that came with a title “Rise of the King”; more action, more fighting, more actual mafia anything. Instead it was a book that dragged and was filled with A Lot of unnecessary filler of unnecessary conversations, repetitive lines and pet names and even scenes, and also unnecessary POVs. Again—repetitive.

It also ends in mid conversation. Not a cliffhanger. Mid conversation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Elise.
250 reviews3 followers
February 15, 2024
DNF
Facebook snippet fail again. 🤦‍♀️
Interesting premise, fun main group of characters. Hades/Persephone retelling in a mafia setting. Cute “found” family. But this story is so long and drawn out and utterly rambling and almost nothing happens. It is 514 chapters long and I stopped at chapter 112. It started out pretty good, but then completely lost steam and doesn’t seem to know where to go next, so it never moves on.

From reading other reviews, it sounds like it’ll be that way till the end with only a couple things actually happening, and with an ending that doesn’t really end, so I’ve decided I’m done.

I should look through my “want to read” list and see what other *bright* ideas I found on Facebook and remove them too. 🤨
Profile Image for Lindsay Fuentes.
17 reviews
April 26, 2024
Repetitive, needs alternate cliffhanger

I enjoyed this book. I originally started it on a different platform and was excited to see it on Amazon at a decent digital price. I didn't like that different points of view repeated parts of the story from someone else's point of view. It got very repetitive. I like the story line, but feel that it's very drawn out. I would have liked there to be a cliffhanger that wasn't in the middle of a chapter. It's very abrupt and not at a place where it could build suspense for Volume 2.
Profile Image for Ruthie.
10 reviews1 follower
January 29, 2024
I enjoyed this book. There was a lot of unnecessary repeat dialog when the POV would switch. Also, when information needed be shared between characters. But I enjoyed the story and loved the characters. I will be reading the next book in the series to see how it all ends.
Profile Image for Pearl.
187 reviews3 followers
February 4, 2024
DNF!! @ Chapter 238; I really wanted to finish this book but I was loosing my mind with all the point of view changes, repetition of scenes and the confusing subplots 😭😭
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Savannah Hutson.
61 reviews
November 29, 2024
Maybe 1.5 or 2 at max. It was just a really long book that didn’t keep my attention how it should for 800 pages. By the end I was just finishing it so it wasn’t a DNF…
Profile Image for GiGi.
927 reviews6 followers
June 8, 2025
Dang, for such a solid start, it's kind of impressive how bad this has gotten. The quality of the writing gradually diminished as the story progressed. Most of it could be solved with better editing. As things are now, we get told the same story and showed the same scene multiple times from different POV's, and non of them truly add anything new. Every time the characters tell each other about something that happened, we hear the WHOLE story again ugh. All characters are somewhat infantilized and diminished to make the FMC seem bigger and badder. Add to that, that all these big bad men are written like clueless, easily impressed women who start sobbing at the drop of a hat and constantly smile coyly-- bffr. To be fair, the coy smiles were replaced with half-smiles in the published version, but still, that's not much better. Scenes became repetitive and predictable. Every time she sleeps in the dudes act the exact same way, as if we didn't just read those exact words 2 chapters back. Anyway, none of it matters cuz at least she's "not like other girls".


40%
Oops, apparently i did not finish yet and am only about halfway through.... lol. These were my thoughts at this point: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Insta-lovey? sure
not like other girls ✅
cool girl/a boys' girl ✅
resilient sunshine even though she has a traumatic past ✅

All these tough mafia ruffians love her childish antics and goof around with her. Is that realistic? Nope, but it made me swoon. Reality doesn't make me swoon. 🤷‍♂️

Wasn't this supposed to be fantasy though? Other than her dreams that may or may not give her a glimpse of things yet to come, this was very mundane
Profile Image for Kim.
23 reviews
May 1, 2024
Like the book, I came from first reading it on Readink.
It is an abrupt ending of the book, but I do like the story.
Am looking forward to how the story wil progress.
Profile Image for Jessica.
21 reviews
February 6, 2025
This book surprised me, it was way better than i expected. I also wasnt expecting to like it as much as i did. It was refreshing.
3 reviews
May 21, 2025
This was a DNF read 56 chapters out of the 67. Just wasn't gripping enough to keep going tried my best might go back to it.
Profile Image for Rene Lathrop.
22 reviews
August 11, 2024
Grrrr

So
Complaint 1: 807 pages with no resolution
Complaint 2: None of the big scary guts are actually scary
Complaint 3: Too freaking repetitive. I don't want to read the same scene from 2-3 perspectives.

Just to know how it resolves, I have to spend more money. It reminds me of reading a book on one of those scam book sites like "Dreame" or whatever.

Don't read this book.
Profile Image for Kelly.
122 reviews
March 19, 2025
It literally just ends in the middle of a conversation...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 201 reviews

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