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Rei

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Dearly Departed

by Chip Pons (Goodreads Author)

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Rei said:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

" I want to start off with this review saying I overall enjoyed the book. The moments of banter were really cute, love Hayden and Levi, and I like all the situations Chip Pons puts them in. However, there were a few problems.

First, there were many time I want to start off with this review saying I overall enjoyed the book. The moments of banter were really cute, love Hayden and Levi, and I like all the situations Chip Pons puts them in. However, there were a few problems.

First, there were many times that something would be said that I feel like was clear already and sounded redundant. That was the common theme in most of the problems I had with the prose. There was a lot of telling, and over telling.

Second, Hades/Hayden's plot was a bit confusing and, even by fantasy standards, a little hard to believe. So, there was a contract to be mortals, and he has spent let's say 4,000 years give or take to find a "loophole". And I understand there is meant to be mystery, but really I was left really confused and could not subscribe to Hayden's stakes. Not to mention, I wish there was a tad bit more elaboration on his attraction to Levi. It just feels sudden, and it's a tad hard to believe that of his thousands of years of existence, suddenly Levi is the one.

We got better stakes set for Levi, however I think we could've seen more with his business. I really wished we got more casual scenes between him and Naomi. Cause where it stands, both characters only traits are "yearning for this man" and some extra trait of gardening and funeral director. They don't feel like characters outside of each other.

Third, I'm so sorry. I don't want to be that guy, but some of the Greek Mythology was incorrect, in a way that cannot be brushed off as "this is a romance". Not a lot, but to start, Hades is not the god of death, nor the bringer of death. He just rules the dead in the underworld. Thanatos is the god of death, the bringer of death. Then, Zeus and Hades were not born at the same time. Zeus is the youngest; otherwise all the Greek gods as we know them would not exist because Zeus and his siblings would be stuck in Kronos's stomach.

Fourth, this book falls into the category of "really... all the Greek gods are actually just stuck in America?" I know it's just a rom com, but have Hades having to take a trip to anywhere outside America for business or something. Have it so he's forced to move at some point in the story because someone is catching on that he isn't aging. That would pull at Levi's grief of sudden abandonment, and create conflict of "do you love me enough to leave?". Flaw on Hayden's part and define Levi as someone who has genuine roots in Stonevale. He can't just leave.

I really don't want to sound mean. This book is still worth a read. There were just a few issues that held it back.

My biggest suggestion would honestly be to make this a single POV (of Levi's), to really make Hayden a mystery. Cause knowing him right off the bat as Hades and his life takes the whole mystery out of him. I think the moment Levi pieces it together would be so much more satisfactory if we didn't know Hayden was Hades. The shock of the Fates being in city hall would be more believable. Not that it isn't from Levi's perspective, but it doesn't read as a big deal to the readers cause we already know. I could go on. ...more "

progress:

(page 330 of 400)
— Jul 17, 2026 07:15PM

Jul 17, 2026 07:53PM · see review