Of Thorns and Bones: Hades and Persephone Duet

Hades and Persephone Duet #1

by Heloise Hull

I don’t want your kiss. I don’t want your crown. I want to burn your kingdom to the ground.

I haven’t seen Hades for fifteen hundred years, but he is the key to the one thing I desire above all else: revenge.

After what I did to him, it’s going to take a lot more than batting my eyes to get him to trust me. For weeks, he ignores my requests and my gifts, so I do what any jilted wife would do. I sneak into the Underworld, breaking every rule that has been in place since our separation.

But he can’t ignore one thing.

The mythical passion that burned our land from the inside out left us both with scars, and it’s reigniting with every second we’re in the same realm. One stray spark could destroy us both.

Indulge in this new twist on the Hades and Persephone myth where the grudges are as ancient as the gods. An intense romance that begins with Of Thorns and Bones and concludes with Of Flames and Thrones. Perfect for fans who want C.N. Crawford to have a baby with K.F. Breene.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Mythology, Retellings, Romantasy, Greek Mythology, Adult

310 pages, Paperback

Published December 2, 2021

About the author

Unlike her namesake of medieval infamy, Heloise doesn’t intend to have her midlife crisis in a nunnery. She’d rather drink 🍸 and chant in 🧚🏼‍♀️ rings. Born with Mississippi mud in her veins, grown "Via Chicago." Written before coffee.

Reviews

[Lorrie (Clockworkbookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hades and Persephone retelling with an abundance of pain, sorrow, conniving, betrayal and secrets. Ends in a cliffhanger of sorts and book #2 Is expected soon, January 2022.

Quotes:

...Psycho ex-wives are severely underrated. ...

...Ancient beings, apparently brought out the sexy in him. ...

... bought at the price of my blood. But didn't all women buy things with blood? Our very womanhood was transacted every month in blood. ...

[Just Jese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boring and Drawn Out

Hmmm
I think 3⭐️ is quite a compromise. The premise itself was intriguing, to focus on a retelling of Hades and Persephone in a similar vein as we saw with the Midlife series and I was totally here for it.
The execution of this idea left a lot to be desired. The flashbacks were a nice touch, but poorly executed. We were never given enough information to truly get behind their love story (seriously, between the birth scene and the next Persephone just gave in and “loved” Hades? No turning point was given when she became all in). Nor did we get an inkling of her relationship with her mother Demeter (the few interactions described didn’t quite mesh with the lore of a mother so deep in sorrow that she blanketed the Earth in winter half the year nor her attitude about her grandchildren). The whole war thing was kinda stupid, even the explanation at the end made no real sense.
Will I read book 2? Probably, but it’ll take some time and convincing.

[Heloise Hull]

She’s here! I mean, it’s here! If you love grittier love stories with a complex web of deceit and revenge, then this one’s for you. Hades hath no fury like a goddess scorned.

[Azure · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Definitely recommended.

I don't really like Persephone and Hades but this book is a masterpiece.
Like those snippets from the past give an understanding of what is in Persephone's mind.

I absolutely love Hades POV and the ending? Mind-blowing.

Can't wait for the last book!

[Lynn Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I knew the Persephone/Hades story, but this retelling knocked my socks off. Persephone has aged into a midlife goddess, comfortable in who she is and ready to burn the world down to get her revenge. The story unfolds with the chapters alternating between Persephone's and Hades' viewpoints, which gives you great insight into how their feels for one another blossom over the course of the book. The flashbacks provide the explanation for why Persephone is hellbent on getting back at those who hurt her before.
I really loved how Hull once again made a middle-aged woman the centerpoint of the story - playing up her knowledge and experience as a weapon rather than a weakness.
I cannot wait for the next book to come out!

[Marcie Gould · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was captivating. Well researched and written. I am hooked on Heloise Hull's ability to create worlds that we thought we knew and make them more

[Samantha]

Dnf at 60%

[Helen Dawkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely love this rendition of Hades & Persephone. While there is a lot of details that are solely the ideas of the author, the version is highly entertaining and mysterious. The one thing I did not like is that it constantly hinted at the betrayal of Persephone but didn't give any details. I understand that the ending made it difficult to reveal to much information on the betrayal, but a little information or hints would have been nice instead of constantly referring to "the betrayal" but no background context to go with it. Why did Hecate hate Persephone so much? Why was Hades on guard 24/7 when it was clear he still was in love with Persephone? The ending is definitely worth the build up, just would have liked some hints here and there about what the heck was going on in her head. The love between Hades and Persephone is iconic, it truly is the definition of a love/hate relationship. Also I would have liked some background information on the Accords and Demon War. While I am well versed in Greek Mythology it was still hard to understand exactly what happened, and why the Gods & Goddesses could not travel through the realms. Can't wait to read the second book and see where this journey takes Persephone and Hades.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started out with such promise, but I lost interest the further in I got. I think my biggest issue was how wholly unlikable Persephone was. Sure, I could buy that someone could get twisted by trauma and be obsessed with revenge. However, the author didn’t do a good enough job showing her as a sympathetic figure in any other way. Persephone was basically manipulative and nasty from start to finish for me, even in the flashbacks.

Like, I didn’t really like Hades either, but at least I could see how there might have been legitimate feelings on his side. It honestly seemed to me that Persephone wasn’t into him at all and she was just there to have someone raise her kid. The story jumped from marriage of convenience and all of a sudden it was some passionate love affair. If the book had better shown the shift from what they were initially then to love (temporary as it turned out to be), maybe I could have got behind the romance better.

Overall, I don’t think I’ll go on the sequel. Aside from the world being kind of confusing and convoluted at times, Persephone was so cold and nasty that I don’t think I’d ever buy the chemistry between the two leads after how their relationship was written in this one.

[Rmplift, Rachel Phillips · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a retelling of the great love story of Hades and Persephone. The book is a lot of flash backs and cat and mouse.

Spoiler Free Summary
Persephone and Hades are legally separated when she comes back and basically magic-less. Hades is currently fighting a war. They had a huge fight 1500 years ago and try to work it out.

Vibes
The book is a fun read until the 200 point. It just goes nowhere. I pushed through just to see where it went and who started the war and it drags on until the very end. I love personally love the story of Hades and Persephone, but this retelling just didn't stand out to me. I was extremely excited when it was finally done. I will not be moving the second book.

[lys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved how this retelling didn't center around Demeters disease for Hades and Persephones relationship. I really enjoyed this twist on the retellings. I wish we got more of their love story and how she finally decided to fall in love. I loved the flashbacks because there weren't too many, making it easy to follow the timeline and because each one told a new story and gave more context their Hades and Persephones dynamic. I also love how this story takes place 1500+ years after they've been married, so it's a more mature retelling and, again, not the same old story of them falling in love. The end really surprised me not sure what to expect for book 2 but I'm excited.

[Rebekah · Rating 1 out of 5]

That almost killed me to finish this book. It was truly so terrible and horrible and everything about it was so vomit worthy. Persephone was a disgusting piece of trash and Hades was an idiotic piece of trash. The whole story was so warped and none of it made sense and it was seriously so gross. I hope to never read a book like this again. These people who gave it a great rating truly need to climb out of that pit and read some real books that are actually good. I am going to be done now before I write the whole book out here and explain why I hated every single part.

[Yasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t decide how much I liked this one. It had great potential, but got super confusing at times. For example, most of the more intimate scenes, I couldn’t tell if they were actually happening or her memory or imagination??

I couldn’t give it less than 3 stars since I read both books in basically 2 days!

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this story of Persephone. I was disappointed with the ending because I feel like it could've been a bigger cliffhanger. and I'm also confused now on Persephone’s story haha! I need to read the second one now! also, hekate was so different in this book than any other I've read about her in. almost a 4 star for me!

[Sarah Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

strange

This is certainly the most original retelling I have read. But it is also so divorced from the story of the pair it is hard to tell if it is enjoyable or not. Persephone leaves a bad taste in the mouth that hopefully later books resolve

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely different from your typical Hades/Persephone retelling. This takes place several millennia later and the 2 have become estranged. You can see how they feel about one another but the trauma they went through is pushing them apart. I can't wait to see where book 2 goes with this.

[Chardonae Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite version of this but it was intriguing none the less. I want to know more about who this version is and the way the story is going to go.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Pragati · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 rounded up to 4)

The story is slow paced but WHAT A PAYOFF. That ending had me on the edge of my seat. I started the next book immediately!!

[Andrea Latham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok but not what I expected and took longer to finish because each chapter was like watching a tennis match.

[Hannah Phillips]

DNF. I'll try again some other time.

[Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

weirdly told, not focussing on H and P. so boring.

it's not what you want from a H and P story. wattpad writers tell it better.

[Laura Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent. A great take on familiar characters and a whole new story. It was obviously very well researched and thought out.

[Alyssia Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not so patiently waiting for the second book. This is not what I was expecting for a Hades and Persephone retelling but still good.