What do you think?
Savior of the Shades: The Complete Shifted Fates Series
My fated mate is my bully.First, he rejects me in front of the entire pack for being too weak.
And when I run, he chases me…
And kills me.
But this is not the end of my story.
I wake up in the underworld, lost, confused—
But for the first powerful.
My wolf is finally free, and I have mysterious magic
I wander into a seemingly empty castle and go looking for clothing in one of the “empty” bedrooms.
I assume I’m by myself when I rummage through the closet and pick out a large shirt (and weirdly, the scent is kind of nice. My wolf likes it…)
But then someone speaks… turns out, I’m not alone after all.
“Comfortable?” asks the King of the Underworld from where he’s laying in bed… naked.
The SAVIOR OF THE SHADES omnibus is a shifter x Hades and Persephone reimagining that starts when Avery’s fated mate kills her. If you love dark fantasy romance filled with betrayals and snappy banter, then enter the world of Shifted Fates.
This bundle includes the complete Shifted Fates Forsaken Mate, Forgotten Queen, Fatal Goddess
And when I run, he chases me…
And kills me.
But this is not the end of my story.
I wake up in the underworld, lost, confused—
But for the first powerful.
My wolf is finally free, and I have mysterious magic
I wander into a seemingly empty castle and go looking for clothing in one of the “empty” bedrooms.
I assume I’m by myself when I rummage through the closet and pick out a large shirt (and weirdly, the scent is kind of nice. My wolf likes it…)
But then someone speaks… turns out, I’m not alone after all.
“Comfortable?” asks the King of the Underworld from where he’s laying in bed… naked.
The SAVIOR OF THE SHADES omnibus is a shifter x Hades and Persephone reimagining that starts when Avery’s fated mate kills her. If you love dark fantasy romance filled with betrayals and snappy banter, then enter the world of Shifted Fates.
This bundle includes the complete Shifted Fates Forsaken Mate, Forgotten Queen, Fatal Goddess
720 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 31, 2025
About the author
Vasilisa Drake
13 books1,170 followersVasilisa Drake is based in New England and is constantly bouncing from city to city while she tries to find her home amidst overpriced rental apartments. Forsaken Mate is Vasilisa Drake's debut, though she's written contemporary romance under another name for several years. Fantasy romance is her first love, closely followed by pet dragons and men who are obsessed with their women. She can be found staying up way too late reading, organizing her bookshelf for the millionth time, and winning the imaginary arguments in her head at least 30% of the time.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 205 reviews
April 26, 2025
Was it amazing? Nope. Was it awful? Also no. It was just meh. It had a lot of potential and the plot could’ve plotted a lot more, but it didn’t. Although it was a long book it felt rushed and with little attachment to any of the characters tbh. And although Avery could’ve been a badass heroine, she just wasn’t, like at all. Cole was just there most of the time and their relationship was purely based on attraction and the fact that she used to be his wife prior to her reincarnation.
Again, there was potential, if it was a longer series (maybe 5 books instead of 3) and more time and work was put in the writing of the plot and developing the characters. And more background about Cole and why he was described as ruthless and dark and so on. What were his actual powers, how did he become the king of the underworld as apparently there were others before him. And more show than tell. There was sooo much telling with little to show.
I liked Pheidos more than Cole tbh. He should’ve been the MMC in my opinion. He was mortally gray towards black, had a funny personality, great trickster, intelligent and had a backstory that was interesting. Plus the black wings at the end? 🥵 I was lowkey rooting for him and Daphne to become a couple. But as always the best friend is sort of forgotten and only there to add personality points for the main character.
I would skip this if I were you.
Again, there was potential, if it was a longer series (maybe 5 books instead of 3) and more time and work was put in the writing of the plot and developing the characters. And more background about Cole and why he was described as ruthless and dark and so on. What were his actual powers, how did he become the king of the underworld as apparently there were others before him. And more show than tell. There was sooo much telling with little to show.
I liked Pheidos more than Cole tbh. He should’ve been the MMC in my opinion. He was mortally gray towards black, had a funny personality, great trickster, intelligent and had a backstory that was interesting. Plus the black wings at the end? 🥵 I was lowkey rooting for him and Daphne to become a couple. But as always the best friend is sort of forgotten and only there to add personality points for the main character.
I would skip this if I were you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2025
The plot itself was really good! A few things that I didn’t like included, paragraphs between a conversation of unnecessary narration. I want to read a conversation and have it flow like one. Not start a conversation, read pages of narration and then have to go back to the beginning of the conversation to start over. Secondly, a lot of things that were explained in the beginning of the book, about the fmc were repetitive throughout the book. I read it the 1st time! Lastly, it seemed that most of the narration was unnecessary and was only written to make the book longer. Like I said, the plot was great! I thought it was original and I loved the world building but it could have been a 10 star read without all the extra filler.
December 30, 2025
That was terrible. Simplistic, formulaic and tedious. The trials and tribulations would last for moments before the heroine figured out a way to save the day. And even if it wasn’t moments, it was ages and then quickly solved by our fearless, selfless bleeding heart of a heroine.
April 23, 2025
BookTok made me do it…nope.
April 21, 2025
The first 70% of this story is long and drawn out and the last 30% we were just barreling through plot devices not giving them enough time in the story to mean anything. I truly didn’t give a flying crap about the moon goddess or anything from the trials onwards because I wasn’t invested in it at all. I feel like most of the story was this build up to oh no if someone goes to Tartarus it’s bye bye forever and when Cole goes it takes her 3.5 seconds to find a way to get there, free him and then get back to their realm… like all of that just for it to really mean nothing. 2 stars is generous.
April 23, 2025
OMG!
I saw this as a review on here and on TikTok and just the short review that I read i wanted to immediately read this. I read this in a matter of three days. It was so good. I highly recommend it!!
I saw this as a review on here and on TikTok and just the short review that I read i wanted to immediately read this. I read this in a matter of three days. It was so good. I highly recommend it!!
December 29, 2025
This is my worst read this year. Zero world building. Boring plot. Just a lot of smut.
June 13, 2026
4.75⭐️
August 30, 2025
DNF at page 92. Not my writting style. Good concept subpar execution.
It was a struggle through the first thirty pages. It got better for a bit. It felt like the author was trying to meet a word count. I was constantly reminded how weak the main character was and that she was an "omega". Lots of repetitive sentences in the beginning. The main character acted like she was fifteen but was supposed to be twenty years old. Lost me again when her wolf acted like a puppy for scratches. I will admit the interest of the male main character held me as long as it did.
It was a struggle through the first thirty pages. It got better for a bit. It felt like the author was trying to meet a word count. I was constantly reminded how weak the main character was and that she was an "omega". Lots of repetitive sentences in the beginning. The main character acted like she was fifteen but was supposed to be twenty years old. Lost me again when her wolf acted like a puppy for scratches. I will admit the interest of the male main character held me as long as it did.
May 1, 2025
This was fine! A lot of the dialogue just felt repetitive, but the story was overall interesting. Kinda felt like a trudge to the finish line though TBH.
March 2, 2026
First two books were probably more of a 3-star for me. I enjoyed the romance and it felt like it was going to be more romance set in a fantasy setting but with a grounded, more small stakes plot. However, the the third one came around and all of a sudden the fate of the world is at stake, an arch nemesis fixed on eradicating the main characters appears from what feels like no where with no justified reason for her vengeance other than ‘bad guy is greedy and thus is completely and utterly evil.” It felt very rushed and some of the events felt too easy or wasn’t earned. Almost didn’t finish the third book.
August 26, 2026
Ich konnte es nicht aus der Hand legen. Ich war durchweg irgendwie "on edge", keine Ahnung wie ich das besser ausdrücken kann.
Absolut interessante und kreative Neuinterpretation von Hades und Persephone verflochten mit Wolfs-Gestaltwandlern (mit dem Twist, dass die "Moon Goddess" böse ist). Das Gezänk zwischen den beiden war ganz nach meinem Geschmack und die Story hat mich einfach gefesselt.
Das ein oder andere Kapitel aus der POV des MMC hätte ich noch cool gefunden aber auch so konnte ich mich gut in die Charaktere und ihre Gefühle hineinversetzen.
Absolut interessante und kreative Neuinterpretation von Hades und Persephone verflochten mit Wolfs-Gestaltwandlern (mit dem Twist, dass die "Moon Goddess" böse ist). Das Gezänk zwischen den beiden war ganz nach meinem Geschmack und die Story hat mich einfach gefesselt.
Das ein oder andere Kapitel aus der POV des MMC hätte ich noch cool gefunden aber auch so konnte ich mich gut in die Charaktere und ihre Gefühle hineinversetzen.
April 4, 2026
Hades and Persephone retelling but with dragons, wolf shifters, and a looming war between realms?? Yes, please!
Loved this story!! This was technically a standalone, but was made up three shorter books put together. Games and trials, secrets uncovered, nice Greek mythology drop ins, and fated mates.
Loved our main characters and the side cast of characters, really enjoyed this !
Loved this story!! This was technically a standalone, but was made up three shorter books put together. Games and trials, secrets uncovered, nice Greek mythology drop ins, and fated mates.
Loved our main characters and the side cast of characters, really enjoyed this !
October 23, 2025
This book caught my attention while I was in a book slump and it was exactly what I needed! One of the fastest books I’ve read. I loved it from beginning to end!
July 31, 2025
Binge read this. So good, couldn’t put it down. So glad it’s a completed series, the cliff hangers would have killed me.
April 27, 2025
DNF
Honestly, I could not finish this book not my cup of tea.
Couldn’t connect with the FMC found her quite annoying and the MMC was almost as bad as well lol
Wouldn’t recommend.
Honestly, I could not finish this book not my cup of tea.
Couldn’t connect with the FMC found her quite annoying and the MMC was almost as bad as well lol
Wouldn’t recommend.
May 8, 2026
⚠️ SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️
This complete collection includes:
* The Forsaken Mate
* Forgotten Queen
* The Fatal Goddess
And honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by this series.
First, I actually liked having all three books together in one collection. It made it easy to continue the story without interruptions. However, the Kindle formatting/table of contents was a little frustrating because it didn’t really break down chapters or page numbers clearly—it only separated the books themselves. So if I wanted to go back and find something specific, I basically had to scroll around and search for it.
The story:
This is essentially a Hades and Persephone retelling with a shifter/fantasy twist.
FMC: Avery starts off as a weak, mistreated wolf in a cruel pack. Her fated mate publicly rejects her during the mating ceremony, and she killed by her mate and his friends.
That’s how she ends up in the Underworld—where she meets Cole.
Over time, Avery discovers:
* She is the reincarnation of Persephone
* She is the Goddess of Life
* The Moon Goddess manipulated her reincarnation and weakened her on purpose
As the story progresses, Avery slowly regains pieces of her soul, her memories, and her power.
What I liked about Avery is that this version of her feels more grounded. She’s learning who she is while also building a new identity separate from who she used to be.
MMC: Cole is essentially Hades/the God of Death—and yes, he’s obsessed with her.
He’s very morally gray:
* Touch her and die energy
* Extremely protective
* Possessive and jealous at times
* Very black-and-white in how he sees the world
In their past life, he killed Persephone to bring her to the Underworld because he couldn’t bear losing her. Sounds toxic when simplified… but the books actually develop their relationship surprisingly well over time.
What I liked most is that:
* He genuinely grows as a leader
* He learns to love this version of Avery
* He respects her choices more than he did in the past
Their relationship becomes very intense and loyal throughout the series.
What I loved:
* The Hades/Persephone inspiration with a unique twist
* The Underworld realm concept
* The side characters and friendships
* The snarky humor throughout the series
* Watching Avery slowly reclaim herself and her power
* The satisfying HEA and bonus epilogues
The world-building around the realms, souls, reincarnation, and the gods was actually really interesting once everything started unfolding.
What didn’t work for me:
The series definitely drags at times. There’s a lot of inner monologue, and I don’t think all 700-ish Kindle pages were necessary.
Overall thoughts:
People may expect that this is “just another Underworld romance,” but it actually ended up being a surprisingly emotional and entertaining fantasy series.
If you like:
* Shifter romances
* Hades & Persephone retellings
* Underworld/god mythology
* Reincarnation tropes
* Loyal, obsessive MMCs
Then this series is definitely worth trying.
⸻
Quick Breakdown:
✨ Romance: 3/5
🌶️ Spice: 3/5
🖤 Tropes: Hades & Persephone retelling • Fated mates • Reincarnation • Underworld romance
😭 Emotional Level: Medium
💔 Themes: Identity • sacrifice • destiny • healing • second chances
📚 Ending: HEA + Bonus Epilogues
This complete collection includes:
* The Forsaken Mate
* Forgotten Queen
* The Fatal Goddess
And honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by this series.
First, I actually liked having all three books together in one collection. It made it easy to continue the story without interruptions. However, the Kindle formatting/table of contents was a little frustrating because it didn’t really break down chapters or page numbers clearly—it only separated the books themselves. So if I wanted to go back and find something specific, I basically had to scroll around and search for it.
The story:
This is essentially a Hades and Persephone retelling with a shifter/fantasy twist.
FMC: Avery starts off as a weak, mistreated wolf in a cruel pack. Her fated mate publicly rejects her during the mating ceremony, and she killed by her mate and his friends.
That’s how she ends up in the Underworld—where she meets Cole.
Over time, Avery discovers:
* She is the reincarnation of Persephone
* She is the Goddess of Life
* The Moon Goddess manipulated her reincarnation and weakened her on purpose
As the story progresses, Avery slowly regains pieces of her soul, her memories, and her power.
What I liked about Avery is that this version of her feels more grounded. She’s learning who she is while also building a new identity separate from who she used to be.
MMC: Cole is essentially Hades/the God of Death—and yes, he’s obsessed with her.
He’s very morally gray:
* Touch her and die energy
* Extremely protective
* Possessive and jealous at times
* Very black-and-white in how he sees the world
In their past life, he killed Persephone to bring her to the Underworld because he couldn’t bear losing her. Sounds toxic when simplified… but the books actually develop their relationship surprisingly well over time.
What I liked most is that:
* He genuinely grows as a leader
* He learns to love this version of Avery
* He respects her choices more than he did in the past
Their relationship becomes very intense and loyal throughout the series.
What I loved:
* The Hades/Persephone inspiration with a unique twist
* The Underworld realm concept
* The side characters and friendships
* The snarky humor throughout the series
* Watching Avery slowly reclaim herself and her power
* The satisfying HEA and bonus epilogues
The world-building around the realms, souls, reincarnation, and the gods was actually really interesting once everything started unfolding.
What didn’t work for me:
The series definitely drags at times. There’s a lot of inner monologue, and I don’t think all 700-ish Kindle pages were necessary.
Overall thoughts:
People may expect that this is “just another Underworld romance,” but it actually ended up being a surprisingly emotional and entertaining fantasy series.
If you like:
* Shifter romances
* Hades & Persephone retellings
* Underworld/god mythology
* Reincarnation tropes
* Loyal, obsessive MMCs
Then this series is definitely worth trying.
⸻
Quick Breakdown:
✨ Romance: 3/5
🌶️ Spice: 3/5
🖤 Tropes: Hades & Persephone retelling • Fated mates • Reincarnation • Underworld romance
😭 Emotional Level: Medium
💔 Themes: Identity • sacrifice • destiny • healing • second chances
📚 Ending: HEA + Bonus Epilogues
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2026
Due to a crazy life schedule I definitely took longer to read this book than what I am used to - yet did keep on picking it up, when I had the mindset.
Savior of the Shades was genuinely a fun read. Avery going from the bullied, supposedly useless omega to discovering that she is very much NOT useless was incredibly satisfying, and I really enjoyed the Hades and Persephone twist with Cole and Avery. Their banter, stubbornness and general inability to behave like sensible adults kept me entertained.
I also loved how increasingly unhinged the mythology became. Wolves? Sure. Magic? Absolutely. Gods? Obviously. Demons? Welcome aboard. Dragons? At this point, why the hell not.
My biggest complaint was the buildup to finally facing THE enemy. We spend so much time establishing how dangerous this threat is that I was mentally preparing snacks for an apocalyptic showdown.
And then...
That was it?
I expected an epic battle. Blood. Chaos. Despair. Maybe somebody dramatically screaming a name into the abyss. I mean - the dragon one-way-ticketed for this?
Instead the final confrontation felt surprisingly easy and underwhelming compared to everything leading up to it. For a villain capable of threatening gods, worlds and basically everyone Avery loves, I expected the final boss fight to FINAL BOSS a little harder.
The last part in general felt rushed compared to the slower buildup earlier in the story. There were so many interesting ideas, characters and bits of lore that I would've happily traded some of the repetitive internal monologue for more time actually exploring them.
Still, I had a genuinely good time reading it. Was it flawless? Nope. Did the showdown leave me standing there holding my imaginary sword wondering where the rest of the battle went? Absolutely.
But did I devour the whole wolf-shifter-Hades-Persephone-underworld-goddess-dragon cocktail anyway?
Yes. Yes, I did.
Savior of the Shades was genuinely a fun read. Avery going from the bullied, supposedly useless omega to discovering that she is very much NOT useless was incredibly satisfying, and I really enjoyed the Hades and Persephone twist with Cole and Avery. Their banter, stubbornness and general inability to behave like sensible adults kept me entertained.
I also loved how increasingly unhinged the mythology became. Wolves? Sure. Magic? Absolutely. Gods? Obviously. Demons? Welcome aboard. Dragons? At this point, why the hell not.
My biggest complaint was the buildup to finally facing THE enemy. We spend so much time establishing how dangerous this threat is that I was mentally preparing snacks for an apocalyptic showdown.
And then...
That was it?
I expected an epic battle. Blood. Chaos. Despair. Maybe somebody dramatically screaming a name into the abyss. I mean - the dragon one-way-ticketed for this?
Instead the final confrontation felt surprisingly easy and underwhelming compared to everything leading up to it. For a villain capable of threatening gods, worlds and basically everyone Avery loves, I expected the final boss fight to FINAL BOSS a little harder.
The last part in general felt rushed compared to the slower buildup earlier in the story. There were so many interesting ideas, characters and bits of lore that I would've happily traded some of the repetitive internal monologue for more time actually exploring them.
Still, I had a genuinely good time reading it. Was it flawless? Nope. Did the showdown leave me standing there holding my imaginary sword wondering where the rest of the battle went? Absolutely.
But did I devour the whole wolf-shifter-Hades-Persephone-underworld-goddess-dragon cocktail anyway?
Yes. Yes, I did.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2025
This was an overall good series, albeit somewhat cringe at times. I just can't push the fact from my mind that Avery is 20-years-old and still being bullied in "pack school." I don't think any 20-year-olds are wasting time on being bullies, especially in the way that Avery is treated. I will say the story got much better once Avery left pack lands and was in the underworld. I always love a Hades and Persephone retelling and I honestly felt like this one was very unique with the reincarnation and addition of the Moon Goddess plot.
One thing that took me away from the story were a few typos and sentences that didn't quite make sense:
"Cole growled, and his foots echoed through the stone like he was pacing." (115)
"Yeah, and I had her a hunk of rock in the sky to sell her." (644)
SPOILERS AHEAD!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
Favorite quotes/moments:
"To anyone who has been scared of something and done it anyway. It's so much more possible than you realize."
"I might be in hell, but dammit, I wasn't going to be hell's submissive bitch."
"If I were to kill them and torture their souls to Hell for your amusement. Would that please you?"
"Letting go of that strong facade you have to wear with everyone else. Giving in, trusting me to take care of you, tending to you the way a queen like yourself deserves."
"she ripped Jett's head clear off. 'That's for forsaking my best friend,' she snarled. It was the nicest thing anybody had ever done for me."
"You're mine, and no one, not some bitch goddess, not the pits of Tartarus themselves, will ever take you from me again. Don't doubt yourself. Because I will never doubt you."
"Because my wife can do anything she sets her mind to."
"The King of Hell was in jeans. And he looked damn good in them."
One thing that took me away from the story were a few typos and sentences that didn't quite make sense:
"Cole growled, and his foots echoed through the stone like he was pacing." (115)
"Yeah, and I had her a hunk of rock in the sky to sell her." (644)
SPOILERS AHEAD!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
Favorite quotes/moments:
"To anyone who has been scared of something and done it anyway. It's so much more possible than you realize."
"I might be in hell, but dammit, I wasn't going to be hell's submissive bitch."
"If I were to kill them and torture their souls to Hell for your amusement. Would that please you?"
"Letting go of that strong facade you have to wear with everyone else. Giving in, trusting me to take care of you, tending to you the way a queen like yourself deserves."
"she ripped Jett's head clear off. 'That's for forsaking my best friend,' she snarled. It was the nicest thing anybody had ever done for me."
"You're mine, and no one, not some bitch goddess, not the pits of Tartarus themselves, will ever take you from me again. Don't doubt yourself. Because I will never doubt you."
"Because my wife can do anything she sets her mind to."
"The King of Hell was in jeans. And he looked damn good in them."
May 29, 2026
In all honesty, I get that not everybody has the same style but this book... Touched me.
For starters, most say the plot was meh and had them bored within the first few pages and that in the third book it came abruptly. However, I do agree I was bored in the beginning too but I personally anticipated the third book's plot. We were continuously told of a past that the mc did his best to keep secret and that led me to believe that it had something to do with the gods up above (on Mount Olympus because we had seen the underworld and the living world so that was what was left).
So the plot wasn't actually that bad, even if it did come a little slowly.
Furthermore, more complaints are about the writing. As if the author wanted to meet a "word limit". Here I mainly disagree. I enjoyed the monologues that the FMC did. It gave her emotion and it made me truly feel for her. I felt empowered and strengthened listening to her assure herself to get out of tricky situations.
There is one thing I would want improved tho, don't read through this paragraph if you don't want spoilers:
-> Why did Phoebe hate the main characters so much? What did they actually do???
Cole mentions they did nothing but then what the heck lady?!?! You just insane or something??? Cause she is arrogant but did that arrogance alone drive her to go to such extreme lengths we shall never know I guess...
There is so much more I could write.... Do much more I could discuss... But this should be enough to prove to you that this book is actually good and tho it's not for everybody I would recommend it to a load of ppl.
I am not sure if I am ready to let this book go, I am prolly gonna reread it too.
For starters, most say the plot was meh and had them bored within the first few pages and that in the third book it came abruptly. However, I do agree I was bored in the beginning too but I personally anticipated the third book's plot. We were continuously told of a past that the mc did his best to keep secret and that led me to believe that it had something to do with the gods up above (on Mount Olympus because we had seen the underworld and the living world so that was what was left).
So the plot wasn't actually that bad, even if it did come a little slowly.
Furthermore, more complaints are about the writing. As if the author wanted to meet a "word limit". Here I mainly disagree. I enjoyed the monologues that the FMC did. It gave her emotion and it made me truly feel for her. I felt empowered and strengthened listening to her assure herself to get out of tricky situations.
There is one thing I would want improved tho, don't read through this paragraph if you don't want spoilers:
-> Why did Phoebe hate the main characters so much? What did they actually do???
Cole mentions they did nothing but then what the heck lady?!?! You just insane or something??? Cause she is arrogant but did that arrogance alone drive her to go to such extreme lengths we shall never know I guess...
There is so much more I could write.... Do much more I could discuss... But this should be enough to prove to you that this book is actually good and tho it's not for everybody I would recommend it to a load of ppl.
I am not sure if I am ready to let this book go, I am prolly gonna reread it too.
September 6, 2026
I couldn’t wait to finish this, and not in a good way.
Where to start…
My favorite mythology is hades and Persephone. And I feel so sad at how much this series butchered it.
I’d like to prefix this by saying I love trials on a book. They’re fun and interesting and sometimes complex. However I’m am a firm believer that trials should be a beginning of a series not the end. And that upset me so much.
Then we have the predictably of this book. I could see most of this book coming from a mile away. And yes I know that is something that comes with being a frequent reader. But the plot twist just weren’t twisting.
One of the things that hooked me in the beginning was the relationship of Jett and Audrey. I thought it was so tragic, and he was a complete a** . I was looking forward to getting to see her get here retribution. But gosh it was so anticlimactic . Then to top it off it got ruined by seeing him once again, followed by even more anticlimactic ending. Unnecessary.
Moving on to Audrey and Cole. I loved them at first. But as the story progressed the dialogue made me cringe more than anything else. I just didn’t love them , don’t know if it were him, her, or just them together but it just didn’t do it for me.
Then the spicy scenes were just lacking. Yes I know they were being portrayed as newly weds who couldn’t keep their hand off each other but the spicy scenes would pop up at the most awkward times of the plot. I felt like I was given a lot without actually given anything.
I don’t believe in DNFing but this is one I should have definitely let go a long time ago. I’m giving it a 2 star simply because the first two books were decent.
2/5 ⭐️
Where to start…
My favorite mythology is hades and Persephone. And I feel so sad at how much this series butchered it.
I’d like to prefix this by saying I love trials on a book. They’re fun and interesting and sometimes complex. However I’m am a firm believer that trials should be a beginning of a series not the end. And that upset me so much.
Then we have the predictably of this book. I could see most of this book coming from a mile away. And yes I know that is something that comes with being a frequent reader. But the plot twist just weren’t twisting.
One of the things that hooked me in the beginning was the relationship of Jett and Audrey. I thought it was so tragic, and he was a complete a** . I was looking forward to getting to see her get here retribution. But gosh it was so anticlimactic . Then to top it off it got ruined by seeing him once again, followed by even more anticlimactic ending. Unnecessary.
Moving on to Audrey and Cole. I loved them at first. But as the story progressed the dialogue made me cringe more than anything else. I just didn’t love them , don’t know if it were him, her, or just them together but it just didn’t do it for me.
Then the spicy scenes were just lacking. Yes I know they were being portrayed as newly weds who couldn’t keep their hand off each other but the spicy scenes would pop up at the most awkward times of the plot. I felt like I was given a lot without actually given anything.
I don’t believe in DNFing but this is one I should have definitely let go a long time ago. I’m giving it a 2 star simply because the first two books were decent.
2/5 ⭐️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 14, 2026
4 stars
I actually quite enjoyed the whole trilogy and managed to finish it in the span of two-ish days, probably because Vasilisa Drake has a thing about her writing that reads like catnip to my brain.
The plot is not all that different from many similar books that can be found on the market: it's a retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth, with a modern slash paranormal twist and wolf shifters involved, so it's neither novel or groundbreaking at its core, but the writing and the main character's personality make it enjoyable.
Avery, our protagonist, is a wolf living in the Moon-Ghost pack. She is basically the runt of the litter, the Omega, and she's constantly bullied by the stronger members of the packs, namely everyone else except Daphne (token best friend). She clings to the hope that she will be moon-mated with a wolf of another pack, which would allow her to leave the original pack for good and form her own family. Destiny however plays a cruel trick when, on the night of the ceremony when moon mates are revealed, she ends up paired with none other of the worst bullies of them all, the Alpha's son, Jett. She ends up rejected (cue the rejected fate mate trope) and killed, but dying is not the end: she winds up in another plane of existance, Hell, where, weirdly enough, she's no longer as weak as she used to be when she was alive. Plus, she meets Cole - our MMC and the Hades of this retelling.
Overall, it's an enjoyable read.
I actually quite enjoyed the whole trilogy and managed to finish it in the span of two-ish days, probably because Vasilisa Drake has a thing about her writing that reads like catnip to my brain.
The plot is not all that different from many similar books that can be found on the market: it's a retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth, with a modern slash paranormal twist and wolf shifters involved, so it's neither novel or groundbreaking at its core, but the writing and the main character's personality make it enjoyable.
Avery, our protagonist, is a wolf living in the Moon-Ghost pack. She is basically the runt of the litter, the Omega, and she's constantly bullied by the stronger members of the packs, namely everyone else except Daphne (token best friend). She clings to the hope that she will be moon-mated with a wolf of another pack, which would allow her to leave the original pack for good and form her own family. Destiny however plays a cruel trick when, on the night of the ceremony when moon mates are revealed, she ends up paired with none other of the worst bullies of them all, the Alpha's son, Jett. She ends up rejected (cue the rejected fate mate trope) and killed, but dying is not the end: she winds up in another plane of existance, Hell, where, weirdly enough, she's no longer as weak as she used to be when she was alive. Plus, she meets Cole - our MMC and the Hades of this retelling.
Overall, it's an enjoyable read.
June 4, 2026
It was a quick series read so yes it’s rushed but I enjoyed the story line! I loved her stubbornness and not constant stupidity (there were moments of stupidity!) she fought her battles and didn’t allow the MMC do it all for her.
There was plot holes, and internal dialogue DRAGGED on at some points I almost skipped some paragraphs cause I knew it would be pointless to read (some paragraphs I should have skipped and not wasted my time)
The first 1/2 was very good! The last 1/2 felt so weirdly dragged on and every plot idea that could have happened seemed to have been thrown into it.
For example:
We have wolf shapeshifters… okay! That’s the plot!
Magic? Cool! That’s what sets her apart from the rest.
Demons? Alright, I get it we’re in the underworld but naming them after zodiac creatures was uncreative to me.
BUT then Dragons?!?! Where the heck did that come from? It seemed so out of place for this series. Felt it could have just stuck to one.
2.5 🌶️
Smut was slowly added in. Enemies to Lovers!
At first it made my little feet kick it was soo exciting but then again in the second half I felt like it was added to put words in the page. Everything they did ended with a 1-2 pages of smut. And not even King of Hell level smut! Beige smut. (Not fully basic vanilla but close enough) just cause there’s sex scenes on the wall doesn’t mean it that king of hell sex I was expecting. Also every time with “you’re mine”, “I’m yours”? It was repetitive.
There was plot holes, and internal dialogue DRAGGED on at some points I almost skipped some paragraphs cause I knew it would be pointless to read (some paragraphs I should have skipped and not wasted my time)
The first 1/2 was very good! The last 1/2 felt so weirdly dragged on and every plot idea that could have happened seemed to have been thrown into it.
For example:
We have wolf shapeshifters… okay! That’s the plot!
Magic? Cool! That’s what sets her apart from the rest.
Demons? Alright, I get it we’re in the underworld but naming them after zodiac creatures was uncreative to me.
BUT then Dragons?!?! Where the heck did that come from? It seemed so out of place for this series. Felt it could have just stuck to one.
2.5 🌶️
Smut was slowly added in. Enemies to Lovers!
At first it made my little feet kick it was soo exciting but then again in the second half I felt like it was added to put words in the page. Everything they did ended with a 1-2 pages of smut. And not even King of Hell level smut! Beige smut. (Not fully basic vanilla but close enough) just cause there’s sex scenes on the wall doesn’t mean it that king of hell sex I was expecting. Also every time with “you’re mine”, “I’m yours”? It was repetitive.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 11, 2025
I wasn’t aware this was a three-book trilogy bound into one when I first picked it up, so that was a bit of a shock to the system. Nevertheless, I persevered. While I can’t say it was the worst piece of literature I’ve ever read, it certainly wasn’t the best.
These three books were annoying at the best of times and downright confusing at the worst. There were moments when I had no idea what was happening, and the plot holes I found myself drowning in were rather irritating. And yet… I read every last page of every last book.
Despite feeling as though there was no plan—and as if the author had written it at the ripe old age of 13—she clearly knows how to write a romance that keeps you turning pages. Strangely, even though I often didn’t enjoy the actual reading experience, I never considered DNF’ing it.
I rated each book individually, and each got 3 stars. Not because they were 3-star reads (they weren’t), but because they kept me going. I wanted to know what would happen next.
The ending of the ending, however, was bulky—like the author simply wouldn’t stop writing. We get it. Put the pen down now… please.
Still, it feels unfair to give this collection anything less than 3 stars. While I won’t remember it in a year and it’s not winning awards anytime soon, it kept me reading something I didn’t even enjoy. And that, in its own way, is quite an achievement.
These three books were annoying at the best of times and downright confusing at the worst. There were moments when I had no idea what was happening, and the plot holes I found myself drowning in were rather irritating. And yet… I read every last page of every last book.
Despite feeling as though there was no plan—and as if the author had written it at the ripe old age of 13—she clearly knows how to write a romance that keeps you turning pages. Strangely, even though I often didn’t enjoy the actual reading experience, I never considered DNF’ing it.
I rated each book individually, and each got 3 stars. Not because they were 3-star reads (they weren’t), but because they kept me going. I wanted to know what would happen next.
The ending of the ending, however, was bulky—like the author simply wouldn’t stop writing. We get it. Put the pen down now… please.
Still, it feels unfair to give this collection anything less than 3 stars. While I won’t remember it in a year and it’s not winning awards anytime soon, it kept me reading something I didn’t even enjoy. And that, in its own way, is quite an achievement.
October 1, 2025
It has been so long since I have decided to read a series with the same couple throughout, and let me tell you this one did not disappoint. I am so happy that I read this trilogy it has to in my top 5 favorites now. I absolutely loved these books. I loved the way the story progressed and it was written so perfectly, I do wish that we had multiple povs but even without that it was still so amazing. I will say I originally wanted more spice in the first and second books, and got what I wanted from the third book. However, now looking back after finishing the series I absolutely loved the way we got it. I feel this way because I am a big fan of spice and the more the better but the way the author did it was perfect for the story and felt so right because it didn’t take away from the story instead it was weaved into the story where it was needed so perfectly. I also just loved the relationship build up and their relationship throughout the book. I will 100% recommend this book. It is an amazing Hades x Persephone x shifter romance, has spice, amazing side characters, characters you can get invested in, amazing story, magic, different realms, and amazing love. Again, I absolutely loved this series and recommend reading it.
November 13, 2025
clunky and disappointing
Clunky. First book was good, latter two were genuinely a slog to read and I only finished due to sunk cost. Each character is one dimensional, even the FMC. It’s laughable how bad each person is characterized. And major portions of this collection were infuriating in their execution. I think the author wrote this is high school? It stinks of Mary Sue trope. Every characters entire existence works for FMC. She’s the star of her own show which can be fine, but here it’s just a testament to how poorly the author writes. Avery doesn’t exist in this world, this world exists for Avery. It has no world building, no thought out plan as to politics or magic systems or the Greek gods it’s even borrowing. To be honest, it reads like a bad wattpad fic. Something a teen writes to flesh out an idea then trashes before it’s published. A rough first draft. I guess it’s enjoyable if you want to live a power fantasy where you literally are perfect in every way and bend the plot for your own satisfaction. Bad self insert of the author maybe. Anyway, i would not read this series nor recommend it. Its not even good spice. Like 1.5/5 max. So if you’re reading this for plot: bad idea. If you’re reading this for spice: bad idea.
Clunky. First book was good, latter two were genuinely a slog to read and I only finished due to sunk cost. Each character is one dimensional, even the FMC. It’s laughable how bad each person is characterized. And major portions of this collection were infuriating in their execution. I think the author wrote this is high school? It stinks of Mary Sue trope. Every characters entire existence works for FMC. She’s the star of her own show which can be fine, but here it’s just a testament to how poorly the author writes. Avery doesn’t exist in this world, this world exists for Avery. It has no world building, no thought out plan as to politics or magic systems or the Greek gods it’s even borrowing. To be honest, it reads like a bad wattpad fic. Something a teen writes to flesh out an idea then trashes before it’s published. A rough first draft. I guess it’s enjoyable if you want to live a power fantasy where you literally are perfect in every way and bend the plot for your own satisfaction. Bad self insert of the author maybe. Anyway, i would not read this series nor recommend it. Its not even good spice. Like 1.5/5 max. So if you’re reading this for plot: bad idea. If you’re reading this for spice: bad idea.
September 4, 2026
Complete series: 3 books
Book #1 - 3.25⭐️
Book #2 - 3-3.25 ⭐️
Book #3 - 2.75⭐️
🔸️Shifters
🔸️Hades and Persephone
🔸️Rejected by her bully turned moon-matched mate (not MMC)
🔸️Life after death
🔸️Different realms: living, he'll, tartarus
🔸️MMC: Growly, grumpy, powerful alpha Male
🔸️He trains her to become strong
🔸️Past hurt and bullying
🔸️Reincarnation
🔸️Meeting in dreams
🔸️Magical powers/beings
🔸️Destroy/Do/Sacrifice anything for her/him
🔸️Complete devotion to each other
🔸️Gods
🔸️Deals and trials
🔥Spice: low
🔸️No cheating/OMD/OWD
🔸️No 3rd act breakup
🔸️Happy ending
Obs:
- MCs
Completely obsessed with each other, they literally go to hell and through torture for each other.
Devoted and respectful. A team.
- Tartarus
Does mention a lot of torture going on for those who are in that realm but the writting is not intense nor angsty.
- Plot: predictable and forced
A lot of scenes where quite unrealistic and forced which made the story go in a very predictable way.
You can tell a mile away that a certain scene is going a certain way or has everything to go wrong because the characters do not act realistically and become blind and obtuse and, of course, only the reader is able to deduce that the characters should not have done that.
Book #1 - 3.25⭐️
Book #2 - 3-3.25 ⭐️
Book #3 - 2.75⭐️
🔸️Shifters
🔸️Hades and Persephone
🔸️Rejected by her bully turned moon-matched mate (not MMC)
🔸️Life after death
🔸️Different realms: living, he'll, tartarus
🔸️MMC: Growly, grumpy, powerful alpha Male
🔸️He trains her to become strong
🔸️Past hurt and bullying
🔸️Reincarnation
🔸️Meeting in dreams
🔸️Magical powers/beings
🔸️Destroy/Do/Sacrifice anything for her/him
🔸️Complete devotion to each other
🔸️Gods
🔸️Deals and trials
🔥Spice: low
🔸️No cheating/OMD/OWD
🔸️No 3rd act breakup
🔸️Happy ending
Obs:
- MCs
Completely obsessed with each other, they literally go to hell and through torture for each other.
Devoted and respectful. A team.
- Tartarus
Does mention a lot of torture going on for those who are in that realm but the writting is not intense nor angsty.
- Plot: predictable and forced
A lot of scenes where quite unrealistic and forced which made the story go in a very predictable way.
You can tell a mile away that a certain scene is going a certain way or has everything to go wrong because the characters do not act realistically and become blind and obtuse and, of course, only the reader is able to deduce that the characters should not have done that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2025
I like the books but I do have a few issues with them.
I very much liked Cole and there were a couple of chapters that made me laugh out loud sitting alone on my couch with my dog looking at me like I was insane.
The books read like they were written by a very young author with some good ideas but no patience to actually write the plot. The plot just wasn’t plotting.
It reminded me of reading online fanfiction stories back in my teenage years.
It was very fast paced going from one event to the next, and pretty much all those events were caused by Avery being an idiot.
Besides Cole there are no characters I felt somewhat connected to, they could all just drop dead and I’d feel nothing. A lot of things could have used more build-up or context, there were times I was dissappointed because they suddenly skipped several weeks and just gave a summary of what happened during that time. Some parts just left me confused because I felt like I was missing information.
Every single massive issue was completely, magically solved within 2 chapters or so.
I did generally enjoy these books, but I don’t think I would really recommend them.
I very much liked Cole and there were a couple of chapters that made me laugh out loud sitting alone on my couch with my dog looking at me like I was insane.
The books read like they were written by a very young author with some good ideas but no patience to actually write the plot. The plot just wasn’t plotting.
It reminded me of reading online fanfiction stories back in my teenage years.
It was very fast paced going from one event to the next, and pretty much all those events were caused by Avery being an idiot.
Besides Cole there are no characters I felt somewhat connected to, they could all just drop dead and I’d feel nothing. A lot of things could have used more build-up or context, there were times I was dissappointed because they suddenly skipped several weeks and just gave a summary of what happened during that time. Some parts just left me confused because I felt like I was missing information.
Every single massive issue was completely, magically solved within 2 chapters or so.
I did generally enjoy these books, but I don’t think I would really recommend them.
December 28, 2025
4 stars
I read the entirety of this series in a day. So it wasn't bad. It was much better than a lot of this stuff out here. Is it an epic? No, acotar? Also, no.
But it is good enough to read and recommendmmm to others to read. Yes. I like our MC's.
I especially like Cole, but all the lies or.. emitting the truth in the beginning is aggravating.
I feel like this series didn't do a great job on keeping you hooked. Our authors need to work on that. When you give us what we want, we get bored. So you're only supposed to give us snippets then rip it away from us again. Instead, we have what we want through almost the entire series.
It's also overdone and underpaged. So much is happening and the total series is only 700 something pages. It makes you feel like you're constantly in a race to a million different things, and it's not a good feeling.
There's also too much I love you you're everything to me, etc. etc. etc. going on for me.
Let's do some showing, not telling. I hate that. But the storyline is fun, and it was worth the read.
I liked our side characters, even the Libra Demon.
If you're looking for a fun read, go for it. You'll enjoy it.
I read the entirety of this series in a day. So it wasn't bad. It was much better than a lot of this stuff out here. Is it an epic? No, acotar? Also, no.
But it is good enough to read and recommendmmm to others to read. Yes. I like our MC's.
I especially like Cole, but all the lies or.. emitting the truth in the beginning is aggravating.
I feel like this series didn't do a great job on keeping you hooked. Our authors need to work on that. When you give us what we want, we get bored. So you're only supposed to give us snippets then rip it away from us again. Instead, we have what we want through almost the entire series.
It's also overdone and underpaged. So much is happening and the total series is only 700 something pages. It makes you feel like you're constantly in a race to a million different things, and it's not a good feeling.
There's also too much I love you you're everything to me, etc. etc. etc. going on for me.
Let's do some showing, not telling. I hate that. But the storyline is fun, and it was worth the read.
I liked our side characters, even the Libra Demon.
If you're looking for a fun read, go for it. You'll enjoy it.
June 25, 2026
2.75* and a DNF lite after finishing "book one" (this is four short books published as one very long book instead of seperate series installments).
I love a Hades Persephone inspired tale, but this one was mostly "fine" with a dash of Not Good.
The first three chapters of this were actively bad, and I was close to DNFing then. It relied on telling vs showing, and required the reader to fill in gaps based on common werewolf lore vs actually worldbuilding itself. Idk if it counts as omegaverse but omegas are definitely mentioned (many times) in this, but it wasn't crazy on it or anything.
I decided to persevere until she got to the underworld, and I'm glad I did, as it definitely improved. While it remained not written particularly well (to me), it did become a fun time and stopped being Actively Bad. I did enjoy their chemistry. Plot was predictable but fun enough.
Mostly just not invested enough to finish, and I have other things to try on my TBR. Not totally against finishing one day, but not a priority for me!
I love a Hades Persephone inspired tale, but this one was mostly "fine" with a dash of Not Good.
The first three chapters of this were actively bad, and I was close to DNFing then. It relied on telling vs showing, and required the reader to fill in gaps based on common werewolf lore vs actually worldbuilding itself. Idk if it counts as omegaverse but omegas are definitely mentioned (many times) in this, but it wasn't crazy on it or anything.
I decided to persevere until she got to the underworld, and I'm glad I did, as it definitely improved. While it remained not written particularly well (to me), it did become a fun time and stopped being Actively Bad. I did enjoy their chemistry. Plot was predictable but fun enough.
Mostly just not invested enough to finish, and I have other things to try on my TBR. Not totally against finishing one day, but not a priority for me!
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