In this reimagining of the myth of Hades and Persephone, Persephone is a young society woman in Olympus, literally counting down the days until she comes into her trust and can leave the city for good. Unbeknownst to Persephone, her politically ambitious mother Demeter has arranged Persephone's engagement to Zeus, a powerful and dangerous man with a string of dead wives in his wake. The night of the engagement, Persephone runs to the river Styx, and ultimately crosses the bridge to evade Zeus' men who have been stalking and hunting her down as she crossed the city. She runs directly into the arms of Hades, who up to this point, was mere myth and thought to be nothing but rumor and legend. But all of those stories make him out to be a dark force in the lower city, possibly more dangerous than the world she escaped. 

The good first. The recharacterization of Persephone and Hades is top notch. Persephone is strong-willed, yearning for independence, devoted to her sisters, and empathetic to the people she meets in the low city. Hades is equally strong-willed, but also a distrusting lone wolf. However, he deeply cares for the people in his charge and longs for real connections (even if he won't admit it, even to himself). The chemistry between them, and the deal they strike, is pure fire. Hades' menace is tempered by Persephone's lightness, and his own devotion to his people.

The bad: I wanted to feel engaged with this plot but it just kind of...stalled. There seemed to be a lot of talk about Zeus being this larger-than-life danger, but it was all talk and little demonstration of power beyond setting up Persephone's sister Eurydice to be kidnapped. The same could be said about Hades' continued assertion that he would rain down power on Zeus that he has been preparing since he was a child...only for none of that to be explained, utilized, or mentioned. Instead, the plot deviated toward back-room dealings and double-agents, but in a way that undermined the promise of this conflict. And the ultimate resolution was...fine. Just fine.

I would still recommend this for anyone who enjoys Greek mythology because there were tons of fun Easter eggs (for example, Eurydice's boyfriend Orpheus is a loser musician, there are three dogs and one is named Cerberus, and Hades' right-hand man is Charon). The spice is spicing - Hades owns a sex club, so there is plenty of open door scenes throughout the book. But reading it for the plot alone, that I'm not so sure.