Persephone

Into Shadow #2

by Lev Grossman, Kimberly Woods (Narrator)

A teenage nobody crosses a line that will change her life forever in this short coming-of-age story by number one New York Times bestselling author Lev Grossman.

Ever since her dad disappeared five years ago, Persephone has quietly walled off the feelings she’d rather not feel. There’s no room for pain or anger when you’re just trying to get through the hell that is high school. But one day, the crush of taunts and disappointments is finally too much—and a power breaks loose inside her that she never knew was there.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Young Adult, Horror, Novella

1 pages, Audible Audio

First published November 15, 2022

About the author

Hi! I'm the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Magicians trilogy—The Magicians, The Magician King, and The Magician’s Land—which was adapted as a TV show that ran for five seasons on Syfy.

I've also written two novels for children: The Silver Arrow, which the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, People magazine, Apple and Amazon all put on their best-of-the-year lists, and its sequel The Golden Swift. I do some journalist and screenwriting too.

I grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, the son of two English professors. My twin brother Austin is a writer and game designer, and my older sister Sheba is an artist. Sometimes I live in Brooklyn, New York, other times in Sydney, Australia, where my wife is from. I have three kids and a somehow steadily increasing number of cats.

Reviews

[CC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, this was... lame. I disliked the whiny, snarky main character right from the start, but I persevered, hoping that the "coming of age" theme promised by the blurb might bring some redemption to her character. Nope. I didn't even find any part of this story that has to do with coming of age at all. The first 90% reads like a prologue of a generic, boring dystopian YA. Then the last 10% just... suddenly ends, with such a forced resolution that came out completely unnatural. Ugh. Definitely one of the weaker entries in this collection.

[Reads With Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

What was the point…

[Jaidee (lost in Vegas for a few days) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 "a diversional teenage fantasy short" stars !!

I am reading four long to extremely long books right now. I needed a little break. This short story fit the bill perfectly.

A touch of mythology, a touch of sadness and loss, a release of magic and a possible meeting of a brand new friend and ally....nice yes....but could have been so much more....but as a palate cleanser was still very good.

[iam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to say this but it definitely had "older man writing teen girl" energy. Generally weird vibes.

[Deborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

What?

I have no idea what this short story was about. No clue - maybe it’s me but I didn’t get it.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting…and definitely a lot better than the first one but not anything mind blowing. It follows a teen named Persephone who has special abilities tied to her emotions. Once released, interesting things happen and readers are slightly introduced to this somewhat secret world of people with special abilities that may not even be human. This was definitely middle of the road. Not bad but not super great. Im not sure if there was supposed to be a connection to the actual Persephone myth but I wouldn’t go in necessarily expecting that.

[Krysta ꕤ · Rating 2 out of 5]

the idea of this one actually wasn’t that bad, but it kind of reminded me of a more watered down, wack version of carrie & the institute by stephen king.

[robin✨allthethingssheread · Rating 1 out of 5]

For a time I was convinced this was going to be marginally better than The Garden (albeit not by much) but god it was so much worse.
First person narration with a snarky/sassy teenager clearly written by a middle aged man, so much time wasted on useless high school shenanigans, and the worst executed "Persephone" allegory I have read in a while.
I can't find a good thing to say about this short story. Not about the plot, the writing, the characters, the themes that really were not there. Even the point of giving the character a charged name like "Persephone" and only tying it with the element of pomegranate seeds felt... Weak? Especially because the motif was not well established enough and really got lost amidst the teen angst of it all.
What is worse... I feel like this short story misses the point of short stories entirely. Exhibit A:

“I just get these headaches.” That sounded self-pitying, so I added a joke. “Plus I have crimes to solve. This is just my secret identity, I’m really Supergirl.”

Why even bother to point out something like "so I added a joke"? Would the reader not get her meaning otherwise?

What I'm getting at is that the point of a short story is to tell something in a small amount of words. To make every word count. But Persephone devolves so much of its length to repetition and overexplaining, not to mention the absolute waste of its first fifteen pages (half its length) that just drag on forever in this boring introduction to Persephone's high school life filled with teen angst and sass.
Perhaps I am simply not the target, and that's ok. But this is still pretty bad.

Time to re-read The Six Deaths of the Saints to pick myself up, because right now I have very little motivation to finish this collection.

[idiomatic · Rating 2 out of 5]

there's nothing of substance to this but lev grossman trying his hand at a female protagonist even for just 20 pages is an ick and a half

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up

Experimenting with rounding up because I Goodreads seems to be suppressing reviews of stories in this collection under 4 stars. Not sure if it's just on release day or not.

Persephone is fun- it reads like a speculative YA story about a girl suppressing her emotions until they finally break free in a destructive superpowers sort of way. Nothing to write home about but I enjoyed it and the writing is pretty good.

[Hibbah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish I could go back to 30 minutes ago and stop myself from reading this.

[Fiona Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this collection right as I was wondering if I'd get through my reading goal for the year, so it has me on side by default. The first story though - not for me at all. This one was better, but I'm really hoping for more from the others.

Lev Grossman does write an excellent "get out of the world into a secret base" story, but Persephone should have been the first chapter to a finished book. Not every short has to have resolution, but there's an art to writing a good unresolved ending that neither this or the first piece in the collection nailed.

However - I liked the potential in this story, and I'll be continuing with the Into Shadow collection.

[bri]

It should lowkey be illegal for grown men to write stories from the perspectives of "quirky" and "different" teenage girls. Especially ones that break the fourth wall to emphasize their quirkiness. Just to protect my own sanity.

In all seriousness, I'm quite confused about the audience for this short story. The collection this is a part of does not seem to be marketed towards younger audiences, but Grossman seems to be tonally attempting to appeal to a crowd of 11-13 year olds. And as an adult, I'm not really interested in what reads like a setup to the most generic, chosen one à la early 2000's middle grade story.

The Persephone metaphor (?) was also incredibly underutilized and perhaps even misutilized, and was definitely misleading as a title. Definitely more dystopian superhero vibes than a fantasy short story.

CW: death of father (past), grief, violence, kidnapping

[Elita ₊✩ˎˊ˗ · Rating 1 out of 5]

So unnecessarily vulgar & unnecessary. It felt like a preteen boy learning how to swear for the first time and going crazy to look cool in front of his friends. I don’t even mind vulgarity, but this is a short story and the little amount of pages you have should be used wisely and these weren’t imo there would just be random scenes of strangers making vulgar gestures at her and then we’d move on as if nothing happened like??? What was the point? Genuinely didn’t like anything about this. The plot was barely there, I didn’t get attached to the characters and the writing was suuuper vulgar for no reason. Worst one in this short story collection.

[Alan (the Lone Librarian rides again) Teder · Rating 1 out of 5]

X-Men Rip-Off
Review of the Amazon Original Kindle eBook (November 15, 2022)

I'm not having a good streak with this latest collection of short stories from Amazon Originals. Two Unsatisfactory Ending Alert ™s in a row is not a good sign.

Without giving too much of the plot away, this reads like the first chapter of a novel where so-called "gifted" children are swept up for education at a secluded site, only instead of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, we have the apparently more malevolent Conservatory. It barely gets going and then it ends.

Persephone is the second of seven Amazon Original Kindle eBooks/Audible Audio audiobooks released on November 15, 2022 as part of the Into Shadow Collection of short stories where "Some truths are carefully concealed; others merely forgotten. In this spellbinding collection, seven acclaimed fantasy authors create characters who venture into the depths where others fear to tread. But when forbidden knowledge is the ultimate power, how far can they go before the darkness consumes them?"

Trivia and Links
You can watch for current and past Amazon Original Kindle short stories which are usually paired with their Audible Original narrations at an Amazon page here (link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region).

[h o l l i s · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure this one had enough time to really evoke the sense of crushing disappointments that would cause the main character's power to break loose. Instead things happen very quickly, via a rather whiny or maybe just poorly written female YA POV, and boom, it's like the X-Men or something -- but for only a hot second because then it ends. Which is definitely not the vibe I was expecting from the title or the cover. But I guess that aesthetic is for the whole and not the part? I just wish it vibed, like, at all.

If you're wanting an actual Persephone retelling or homage set aside those wants or.. actually just pass this one right on by.

Overall I didn't struggle with the writing of this one the way I did with the first instalment, which was just trying too hard, but conversely I wish this one had actually tried to do something. Anything.

1.5 stars

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This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.

[urwa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Miss me with that teenage angst

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. This had potential to be interesting, but it felt like the first 15 pages were the introduction and when your short story is 30 pages long, you really just can't afford that. Ending was abrupt and while I don't mind an open ending (especially in a short story), this one just didn't give me even the tiniest feel of where this would go. I didn't care enough to speculate.

P.S. @all authors please, I beg you, stop teasing or referencing persephone's myth if your story has about as much connection to it as a shopping list (buy 1 pomegranate!) 🙃

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was better than the first story and I'd be interested in reading a longer version, if that ever happens.

If it was supposed to be a retelling though...not much of that happening. And the ending was abrupt just when things started getting interesting.

[Mia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Go girl give us nothing

[rach⭑ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭑

I love these Amazon original short stories for my hot girl walks, they’re the perfect amount of listening time.

This was super enjoyable and as always with short stories, I’m left wanting more. I had so many questions about the power abilities people develop and the story as a whole was very reminiscent of early sci-fi/dystopian books I read as a kid.

I wish it had been a couple of pages/minutes longer with some basic answers to my questions but overall I really enjoyed it.

[adela · Rating 2 out of 5]

stephen king's carrie meets... dc comics, i guess

[ren ☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

would work better as a novel. 2.5 ☆

[coffeebooksnao3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much better than the first one
A bit of a slow start but I really liked it

[vicky · Rating 1 out of 5]

efectivamente, está escrito por un señor de cincuenta años (pelado) que no tiene idea cómo piensa ni actúa una adolescente pero lo hace igual porque se cree mil. (encima re aburrida la historia, jubilate marcelo!!!!)

[Deb✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable quick novella about two teens who have extra special powers.

[Sacha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Persephone by Lev Grossman

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4*)

This short story is a part of the „Into Shadows“ short story collection and was my fourth book in this series.

"A teenage nobody crosses a line that will change her life forever in this short coming-of-age story."

This was basically „Carrie“ as a short story. I still liked it or maybe I liked it because of that. Since the ending was different to „Carrie“ and kind of a cliffhanger I would prefer this to become a complete novel. But I can recommend this short story as it is as well. Entertaining, short and with loveable characters. 😁👍🏻

[andi · Rating 1 out of 5]

why
what was the point?

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one a lot better than the first story in the collection. I really liked Persephone and Alonzo and the beginning of their friendship. I just wished it was the beginning of a book.

[Elena Linville-Abdo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stars: 3 out of 5

This was an entertaining short story, but suffers from the same flaw that made me bail out of The Magicians - the teenage protagonist is an eternal pessimist. I mean, yeah, existential dread is part and parcel of that age, but there is such a thing as taking it too far. Her reactions were rather ridiculous in the second part of the story.