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Persephone Underground
Seph Gonzalez is haunted by a DUI crash that left her with serious learning disabilities. She falls prey to Mami Wata and her strange grandson, who recruit her to clean their house of voodoo. Lured under the premise of a summer job at The Pomegranate, Seph is undeterred by the nightclub’s criminal reputation. Girls have gone missing, but it’s as though witnesses and local police have all been brainwashed. Mami Wata and her family are coming for Seph as well – against a romantic backdrop of Ft. Lauderdale beaches and gondolas drifting down canals. She tries to escape, but it’s not so easy after falling in love with one of her captors. In this faithful retelling of the Greek myth, a 17-year-old gives her personal account of what it’s like to live between two worlds. Her story unravels in a fever dream, tapping into an all too pervasive fear of gun violence happening at school. It may actually be safer down in Hell… Will Seph choose to reign there with Hayden, her dark Prince – or will she choose to stay with the mortals who love her on the surface? In this stand-alone sequel, a new generation of characters from A Forest Full of Roses return for a fairy tale set in a Hell, and best reached by boat.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2019
2 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 30, 2019
Another spooky visit with Jennifer Russon’s Mami Wata and her bizarre family, this time told from the perspective of a teenage girl. A suspenseful trip to Hades and back, Ms. Russon spins the Greek myth of Persephone in unexpected directions and always has a twist in store for the reader. As a bonus, there are some follow-up details on the characters from her earlier book in the series, A FOREST FULL OF ROSES.
May 18, 2020
Madcap adventures and really quite funny. Loosely structured homage to the Greek myth, with a decidedly modern take. A joy to read.
March 16, 2020
I love books set in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, that make me feel like I’m there. So I loved this. Also I loved how the supernatural fit into our crazy reality. There are mermaids and magical teleporting mirrors, but they still can’t save us from the NRA and AK-47s.
May 7, 2020
5 stars for many points - story, idea and characters
Persephone Underground by Jennifer Russon is a mix bag of fantasy, heartbreak, dreams, love story, drama and mythology to give an interesting read. The story is narrated by Seph brings readers to tears sometimes when she tries to cope with her trauma and her family tragedy but her narrative has sarcastic humour and her self deprecating tone keeps you invested in her story. The story has strange and surprising twists that jolt readers.
The only problem with this intriguing book is lack of clarity and becomes confusing at times. You have to go back and read it again to understand that breaks the pace of the story. But still I would recommend this book if you re invested in fantasy books
Persephone Underground by Jennifer Russon is a mix bag of fantasy, heartbreak, dreams, love story, drama and mythology to give an interesting read. The story is narrated by Seph brings readers to tears sometimes when she tries to cope with her trauma and her family tragedy but her narrative has sarcastic humour and her self deprecating tone keeps you invested in her story. The story has strange and surprising twists that jolt readers.
The only problem with this intriguing book is lack of clarity and becomes confusing at times. You have to go back and read it again to understand that breaks the pace of the story. But still I would recommend this book if you re invested in fantasy books
July 5, 2020
A creatively beautiful and messy story of deep rooted love and a little black magic. Persephone is the young girl trying to make her way to becoming an adult at age 17, but runs into some complications when she meets Mami Wata - the voodoo queen and her grandson - Hayden. It seems no accident that she meets them and throughout the story Persephone is learning more and more about herself and her own family. The anticipation to read more was rewarded; a very well paced and enjoyable story!
October 21, 2019
Persephone (Seph) Gonzalez was a young, gothic girl with pale skin and cuts so deep that they ran into her soul. She was deeply fascinated with the dead, which often sent her to the cemetery grounds. She was as haunted as they come.
Having to live in foster homes while her mom was incarcerated and living with learning disabilities, Seph had resentment (of course!) Not only was she a cutter, but she often “checked out”—daydreaming of different worlds. One day, a message gets seared into her palm: “Mami Wata wants you dead.”
Seph gets kidnapped by Mami Wata, the evil voodoo queen.
The happiest day for her was finding Hayden. The worst day was when demons from Hell came looking for her.
The story is told out-of-order, but, yet, the reader can still follow along. It had a few typos, which can be overlooked for the most part. I liked Seph’s smart-aleck commentary, and you can feel empathy toward the dark characters. It was bad enough to be held captive and enslaved against your will, but to do so with something inhuman and…scaly? Story was an interesting spin on the urban legend of Mother Waters (Mami Wata.)
It turns out that her captors were reincarnations of their own flesh—they were the undead and rulers of the Underworld. Seph becomes Hayden’s queen and gets brutally deflowered by his dead counterpart (not the human version she fell in love with.)
Would she be doomed to a life in Hell or privy to an oceanic Heaven? Can Seph escape her fate? Or did she even want to? Did she have the courage to die?
Normally, I’m not that into fantasy, but this was more than what the genre exemplifies—it was fantasy, mythology, fairy tale, and horror all mixed into one dark and alluring tale. It was oddly compelling.
Having to live in foster homes while her mom was incarcerated and living with learning disabilities, Seph had resentment (of course!) Not only was she a cutter, but she often “checked out”—daydreaming of different worlds. One day, a message gets seared into her palm: “Mami Wata wants you dead.”
Seph gets kidnapped by Mami Wata, the evil voodoo queen.
The happiest day for her was finding Hayden. The worst day was when demons from Hell came looking for her.
The story is told out-of-order, but, yet, the reader can still follow along. It had a few typos, which can be overlooked for the most part. I liked Seph’s smart-aleck commentary, and you can feel empathy toward the dark characters. It was bad enough to be held captive and enslaved against your will, but to do so with something inhuman and…scaly? Story was an interesting spin on the urban legend of Mother Waters (Mami Wata.)
It turns out that her captors were reincarnations of their own flesh—they were the undead and rulers of the Underworld. Seph becomes Hayden’s queen and gets brutally deflowered by his dead counterpart (not the human version she fell in love with.)
Would she be doomed to a life in Hell or privy to an oceanic Heaven? Can Seph escape her fate? Or did she even want to? Did she have the courage to die?
Normally, I’m not that into fantasy, but this was more than what the genre exemplifies—it was fantasy, mythology, fairy tale, and horror all mixed into one dark and alluring tale. It was oddly compelling.
December 25, 2020
The tea — and I mean that literally.
I am writing this review as an exchange for a copy of the book from the author.
Jennifer Russon... a great writer, and this is my first read from her. She takes you in layers so deep, that you won’t want to put the book down. There were nights I tried fighting my sleep to see what happened next. I never fought too long so that I could follow because the twists and turns of the book will keep you busy — I had dreams that I was part of the book’s plot.
(The spaced out dates of starting and finishing the book is due to me being a distract-able reader/reading multiple books at one time).
I am writing this review as an exchange for a copy of the book from the author.
Jennifer Russon... a great writer, and this is my first read from her. She takes you in layers so deep, that you won’t want to put the book down. There were nights I tried fighting my sleep to see what happened next. I never fought too long so that I could follow because the twists and turns of the book will keep you busy — I had dreams that I was part of the book’s plot.
(The spaced out dates of starting and finishing the book is due to me being a distract-able reader/reading multiple books at one time).
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews