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readingwhilemommying
4.5/5
I’ve never read any of Katee’s books, but the most common thing I’ve heard is that they’re HOT with capitals H, O, & T. This one is definitely that. It’s the start of her new Dark Olympus series. First up? Hades and Persephone (my fave Greek God pair!).
Synopsis: Above the real world is an upper echelon where the Greek Gods live. It’s ruled by the main 13, yet, as far as Demeter’s daughter Persephone knows, it’s really 12 since Hades is a myth. The twist here is that the Gods aren’t immortal—when they die, a new person becomes the “new” Hera, etc. And, in this world, the Hera slot is open since Zeus can’t seem to resist murdering his wives. The next in line? Persephone...after her mother offers her up as Zeus’s fiancée without her consent.
Persephone is not interested in being Hera #4, especially Dead Hera #4. So, she makes an escape...into the arms of a very much alive Hades who rules the human world (the world "under" Olympus). Zeus is pissed but can't get access to Hades or Persephone due to a treaty between the upper world and the underworld. So Hades and Persephone come to an agreement--they'll pretend they're together (co-conspirators WITH benefits) for the 3 months until Persephone turns 25, gets her trust fund, and gets the heck out of Olympus for good.
First, yes, it's suuuuper steamy but, thankfully, the emotional connection between H & P is as built up as the sexual connection. Yes, H is hot, but he's also got that gooey, mushy center--he's sinful & sweet. He cares for P AND is a wonderful ruler to the humans he oversees. P is not some TSTL (romance speak for "too stupid to live") heroine, either. She's strong-willed, smart, and totally on-board with Hades' exhibitionist side. This is a sex positive book (there's kink, so definitely check for trigger warnings), and Katee does a great job organically weaving in the issue of consent into the spicy narrative.
If you're looking for a summer romance and like extra steam, this one is a great choice!
I’ve never read any of Katee’s books, but the most common thing I’ve heard is that they’re HOT with capitals H, O, & T. This one is definitely that. It’s the start of her new Dark Olympus series. First up? Hades and Persephone (my fave Greek God pair!).
Synopsis: Above the real world is an upper echelon where the Greek Gods live. It’s ruled by the main 13, yet, as far as Demeter’s daughter Persephone knows, it’s really 12 since Hades is a myth. The twist here is that the Gods aren’t immortal—when they die, a new person becomes the “new” Hera, etc. And, in this world, the Hera slot is open since Zeus can’t seem to resist murdering his wives. The next in line? Persephone...after her mother offers her up as Zeus’s fiancée without her consent.
Persephone is not interested in being Hera #4, especially Dead Hera #4. So, she makes an escape...into the arms of a very much alive Hades who rules the human world (the world "under" Olympus). Zeus is pissed but can't get access to Hades or Persephone due to a treaty between the upper world and the underworld. So Hades and Persephone come to an agreement--they'll pretend they're together (co-conspirators WITH benefits) for the 3 months until Persephone turns 25, gets her trust fund, and gets the heck out of Olympus for good.
First, yes, it's suuuuper steamy but, thankfully, the emotional connection between H & P is as built up as the sexual connection. Yes, H is hot, but he's also got that gooey, mushy center--he's sinful & sweet. He cares for P AND is a wonderful ruler to the humans he oversees. P is not some TSTL (romance speak for "too stupid to live") heroine, either. She's strong-willed, smart, and totally on-board with Hades' exhibitionist side. This is a sex positive book (there's kink, so definitely check for trigger warnings), and Katee does a great job organically weaving in the issue of consent into the spicy narrative.
If you're looking for a summer romance and like extra steam, this one is a great choice!
This book is wonderful! I really don't think I've laughed out loud this often reading a book in a long time.
Ex-TV star and recluse Patrick O'Hara lives in Palm Springs, CA, and is perfectly happy wearing caftans, interacting with just his housekeeper Rosa and the throuple next door, using his washlets (aka fancy toilets), and staying as far away from his family and Hollywood as possible. Yet when his best friend/sister-in-law Sara dies and his brother enters rehab, someone has to take care of his niece Maisie and nephew Grant for the summer. At first Patrick is loathe to have the children invade his secluded enclave, but soon relents. GUP (or Gay Uncle Patrick) is on the case; let the fun begin!
While each interaction between GUP and the kids is adorable and funny (he's got a running list of Guncle Rules, he continually quotes movies lines to them that they don't get, the little guy thinks Patrick's Golden Globe is his reward from the Tooth Fairy), there's sweetness, humanity, and realness to the interactions that gives this book a lovely amount of emotional weight beneath the laughs. All three of the main characters are dealing with the grief of losing their mom/BFF, and how they navigate that while growing closer to each other is heartwarming to see. I especially loved the "small" moments that comment on larger issues—Maisie wanting to wear shorts and tees to swim instead of a typical girl's swimsuit, the throuple lamenting how they'll never be allowed to adopt kids, Patrick feeling guilt from the death of his partner, etc. With a ton of humor, heart, and depth, this book is an absolute delight. Highly recommend!
Ex-TV star and recluse Patrick O'Hara lives in Palm Springs, CA, and is perfectly happy wearing caftans, interacting with just his housekeeper Rosa and the throuple next door, using his washlets (aka fancy toilets), and staying as far away from his family and Hollywood as possible. Yet when his best friend/sister-in-law Sara dies and his brother enters rehab, someone has to take care of his niece Maisie and nephew Grant for the summer. At first Patrick is loathe to have the children invade his secluded enclave, but soon relents. GUP (or Gay Uncle Patrick) is on the case; let the fun begin!
While each interaction between GUP and the kids is adorable and funny (he's got a running list of Guncle Rules, he continually quotes movies lines to them that they don't get, the little guy thinks Patrick's Golden Globe is his reward from the Tooth Fairy), there's sweetness, humanity, and realness to the interactions that gives this book a lovely amount of emotional weight beneath the laughs. All three of the main characters are dealing with the grief of losing their mom/BFF, and how they navigate that while growing closer to each other is heartwarming to see. I especially loved the "small" moments that comment on larger issues—Maisie wanting to wear shorts and tees to swim instead of a typical girl's swimsuit, the throuple lamenting how they'll never be allowed to adopt kids, Patrick feeling guilt from the death of his partner, etc. With a ton of humor, heart, and depth, this book is an absolute delight. Highly recommend!
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe (read by the author)
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Author Claire Boyles has been a farmer and teacher, but throughout it all, she yearned to write. This novel is her debut collection of short stories.
An intimate exploration of the lives and livelihoods of all-too-human people living in the American West (Colorado in particular), this collection is vivid, in both its depictions of the human emotions that define the characters and the beauty of the land that they call home.
The stories converge around a general theme: Earthly existence for humans is both a struggle with their fellow humans (and the nature of emotions--both good and bad--that that entails) and with their environment, which is made particularly difficult thanks to man-made governmental and political issues disrupting that natural connection. Each story explores an environmental justice issue--water laws, fracking, endangered species, etc.--within the confines of characters struggling to make sense of their lives and the people in them. The idea of “site fidelity” is a concept of animals staying in, or habitually returning to, a certain area. The characters in these stories experience the same pull. They love their families and the land they call home, even as they hurt, challenge them, and break their hearts again and again.
While all the stories were gorgeously written and emotionally resonant, I especially enjoyed the interconnected stories that followed three sisters through various stages in their--and their families’--lives. In “Sister Agnes Mary in the Spring of 2012,” Sister questions her relationship with her priest and God, while trying to stop a fracking operation from going up near a children’s playground. Her sister, Ruth, delivers her own baby in “Alto Cumulus Standing Lenticulars,” while also questioning whether to leave her absent husband and pursue the career she longs for. The third sister Mano, gets her story in “Early Morning Systems,” where she must decide how much of an activist for environmental justice she wants to be, while sussing through her messy love life. Learning about these women’s lives--and their complex yet real relationships with each other--was a novella of sorts in-and-of-itself and thoroughly engrossing.
Boyles uses evocative language to describe the land in all its beauty--and stark descriptions to reveal how its natural elegance can be marred by destructive humans and the systemic policies that threaten its destruction. This was such a distinct theme/idea to build this collection around. You certainly can see Boyles love of the land and her fellow humans shining through. I highly recommend this powerful collection.
Many thanks to W.W. Norton for a free digital ARC of this short-story collection in exchange for an honest review.
An intimate exploration of the lives and livelihoods of all-too-human people living in the American West (Colorado in particular), this collection is vivid, in both its depictions of the human emotions that define the characters and the beauty of the land that they call home.
The stories converge around a general theme: Earthly existence for humans is both a struggle with their fellow humans (and the nature of emotions--both good and bad--that that entails) and with their environment, which is made particularly difficult thanks to man-made governmental and political issues disrupting that natural connection. Each story explores an environmental justice issue--water laws, fracking, endangered species, etc.--within the confines of characters struggling to make sense of their lives and the people in them. The idea of “site fidelity” is a concept of animals staying in, or habitually returning to, a certain area. The characters in these stories experience the same pull. They love their families and the land they call home, even as they hurt, challenge them, and break their hearts again and again.
While all the stories were gorgeously written and emotionally resonant, I especially enjoyed the interconnected stories that followed three sisters through various stages in their--and their families’--lives. In “Sister Agnes Mary in the Spring of 2012,” Sister questions her relationship with her priest and God, while trying to stop a fracking operation from going up near a children’s playground. Her sister, Ruth, delivers her own baby in “Alto Cumulus Standing Lenticulars,” while also questioning whether to leave her absent husband and pursue the career she longs for. The third sister Mano, gets her story in “Early Morning Systems,” where she must decide how much of an activist for environmental justice she wants to be, while sussing through her messy love life. Learning about these women’s lives--and their complex yet real relationships with each other--was a novella of sorts in-and-of-itself and thoroughly engrossing.
Boyles uses evocative language to describe the land in all its beauty--and stark descriptions to reveal how its natural elegance can be marred by destructive humans and the systemic policies that threaten its destruction. This was such a distinct theme/idea to build this collection around. You certainly can see Boyles love of the land and her fellow humans shining through. I highly recommend this powerful collection.
Many thanks to W.W. Norton for a free digital ARC of this short-story collection in exchange for an honest review.
Much thanks to NetGalley for the eGalley of this book in exchange for an honest reviewq.
A YA book for ninth grade and up, this well-written and affecting book explores some pretty serious topics with realism, humor, and emotion.
Dane Riley is a high school senior who's survived one suicide attempt and is contemplating it again as his depression gets worse with the unexpected death of his beloved father. Dane's livid that his mother has already moved on by allowing her new boyfriend, his father's best friend, Chuck, to move into the family home. Chuck's nasty son, Eric, goes to school with Dane and torments him. Dane's in love with his next-door neighbor, Ophelia but doesn't know how to make his feelings known. Dane tries to numb his emotional pain by hanging out with his friends and smoking weed, but the lure of suicide continues to beckon. With allusions to Hamlet, this novel explores Dane's serious mental health struggles and the relationships he has with his family and friends.
The frankness of this novel is laudable. I haven't read any of Spears' previous books, but her ability to realistically portray the actions, thoughts, and voices of disaffected teens has been highlighted in every other review I've read. I commend that in this novel, too. Dane's chats with his therapist and his mom, his texts to his Dad's old number, and his discussions with Ophelia and his friends were authentic and engrossing. Spears shows a deft ability to authentically portray all the characters (save Dane's mom--she seemed lacking) that are part of this complicated and serious situation.
At the same time, these portrayals, particularly Dane, may have been too real for me. I absolutely appreciate it, but I felt the depths of Dane's anger, disillusionment, and emotional pain were explored at great length yet not balanced out by enough time spent on redemptive or cathartic moments. I know real life doesn't always wrap up in a bow, but I felt like too much was left unresolved at the end, especially the texts to his "Dad." That plot point in particular seemed to be built up just to fizzle out. The slight resolution to the entire story seemed rushed, too.
Spears has a talent for writing teens, so I will definitely check out her other books. There's absolutely value and a need for serious young adult books like this; however, the exhausting emotional content in this one and its lack of a stronger resolution might be too overwhelming for some kids, particularly those who are dealing with similar mental struggles.
A YA book for ninth grade and up, this well-written and affecting book explores some pretty serious topics with realism, humor, and emotion.
Dane Riley is a high school senior who's survived one suicide attempt and is contemplating it again as his depression gets worse with the unexpected death of his beloved father. Dane's livid that his mother has already moved on by allowing her new boyfriend, his father's best friend, Chuck, to move into the family home. Chuck's nasty son, Eric, goes to school with Dane and torments him. Dane's in love with his next-door neighbor, Ophelia but doesn't know how to make his feelings known. Dane tries to numb his emotional pain by hanging out with his friends and smoking weed, but the lure of suicide continues to beckon. With allusions to Hamlet, this novel explores Dane's serious mental health struggles and the relationships he has with his family and friends.
The frankness of this novel is laudable. I haven't read any of Spears' previous books, but her ability to realistically portray the actions, thoughts, and voices of disaffected teens has been highlighted in every other review I've read. I commend that in this novel, too. Dane's chats with his therapist and his mom, his texts to his Dad's old number, and his discussions with Ophelia and his friends were authentic and engrossing. Spears shows a deft ability to authentically portray all the characters (save Dane's mom--she seemed lacking) that are part of this complicated and serious situation.
At the same time, these portrayals, particularly Dane, may have been too real for me. I absolutely appreciate it, but I felt the depths of Dane's anger, disillusionment, and emotional pain were explored at great length yet not balanced out by enough time spent on redemptive or cathartic moments. I know real life doesn't always wrap up in a bow, but I felt like too much was left unresolved at the end, especially the texts to his "Dad." That plot point in particular seemed to be built up just to fizzle out. The slight resolution to the entire story seemed rushed, too.
Spears has a talent for writing teens, so I will definitely check out her other books. There's absolutely value and a need for serious young adult books like this; however, the exhausting emotional content in this one and its lack of a stronger resolution might be too overwhelming for some kids, particularly those who are dealing with similar mental struggles.
