Book Review: For the Love of Hades: (A Hades and Persephone Retelling) by Freida Kilmari

 

Book Description

“I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be staring at her like she’s mine. And I definitely shouldn’t be considering whisking her away to The Underworld with me. But I might.” - Hades

Hades has visited Kore for centuries while remaining invisible, so when he’s given the chance to reveal himself and save her from the imprisoned life Zeus provides, he doesn’t hesitate. He’ll show her what life can feel like if you let it. And he’ll never let her go. But can she give up her life as a goddess to become Queen of The Underworld?

“I was alone for two thousand years. Watching everyone else live their life from the confines of my forced innocence. Until he came along. Until Hades showed me the stars amid the darkness.” - Persephone

***

This is a 30,000-word simple MF Persephone and Hades romantic retelling. This is a standalone novella. Themes of entrapment and freedom are explored throughout, as well as what it means to make your own choices. This is a character-driven story that is intentionally simple and will form part of a larger collection that will, as a whole, show you the entire world.

My Review

When I saw this was a story about Hades and the underworld, I figured this would be a good book to read during Halloween month. Oh boy was I right. 

Hades was banished to the underworld by his brother Zeus. Zeus is the father of Kore, the Goddess of Spring. Zeus is very heavy handed in how Kore lives so that she will remain pure so she can keep her powers and help the humans each year with their fertility and crops. Kore is 2000 years old but Zeus keeps her locked away and away from anyone or anything that might bring her negativity or challenge her innocence. Kore is tired of being kept a prisoner but doesn't know how to escape. 

Hades has been secretly talking to Kore for years. He's usually invisible to her so she can't see who he actually is because Hades doesn't want to scare her. This year at Kore's party, Hades decides to show up to the party and Zeus finally acquiesces and let's him join as long as he behaves. Kore doesn't know he is actually her friend she's been talking to and feels sorry for him since everyone is scared to even approach him. So she does, and asks him to dance. Hades is surprised and excited as from that moment on they are inseparable. 

Hades whisks her away to the underworld once he realizes she wants to escape her home and life. Zeus is incredibly mad but Hades is just as strong as him so they don't fight right away. 

Watching Kore and Hades fall for each other was so much fun. Hades is nothing like what everyone told her he was. He's such a good guy, which even surprised me. 

I knew from the title that this was a Hades and Persephone retelling but I was not expecting the transformation that Kore went through or why. That was so much fun to read. I cannot say enough good things about this book. It was such a fun, quick read with a fun twist in Greek Mythology. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.  

Amazon

Spooky Halloween Pictures

 

I hope you are having a nice Halloween Month. Have you decorated? My grandson is getting excited to go Trick or Treating. Enjoy the pictures.

Halloween Spooky Charcuterie Boards

 

How about a few Halloween themed ideas for Charcuterie boards/snack boards. 

Some of these are cute but they would all be a great centerpiece for a Halloween get together. 

I found all of these pictures on Pinterest. 

Spooky Caramel Apples For Halloween

 

If you're looking for some spooky Halloween caramel apples, I have found a few places that have some interesting ones. You can find these at Savannah's Candy Kitchen and these 4 candied apples will cost you $79.95. They are cute though. 

Mrs. Prindables 6pc Individual Halloween Apple Assortment at QVC. These were $39.98 at the time I made this post. 

I found these on Etsy by CraftDLisa. You get 4 caramel decorated apples for $45.00. 

You can find these on Etsy by TreatsByTaryn. You get 6 caramel apples for $50.00. They are nicely decorated. 

Now if you'd rather make your own, you can find a lot of recipes for caramel apples on Pinterest. I found this and the next two on Pinterest. 

I've never made caramel apples and I do like apples and candy so they always look really good. Have you ever made caramel apples?

Apartment Life #340

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

The police were here right a the sun was going down on Tuesday. They were using their flashlights to look at the sidewalk again. I don't know if they found anything because they left soon after. 

There was a loud argument in my courtyard on Wednesday. The lady who moved in a while back and was taken away in the ambulance who had cancer, never came back home. I think she might have passed away. There are now tweaker(drug addict) family members living in her apartment. I see a lot of people coming over, staying for a few seconds and leavin again. It looks like they are dealing drugs to me. Well they got into a fight with each other and the police were called. I didn't see anyone get arrested though which is surprising because it was obvious that some of those people were high as hell. 

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This grocery cart was sitting on the sidewalk and I noticed that someone had lit a fire inside it and melted part of it. I've seen homeless people use these as BBQ's before and that's likely what happened but this is plastic one not a metal frame cart that they could use for that. 

It was melted pretty good. 

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Here's an update on the weird bullet situation. A couple of weeks ago I told you my daughter was finding bullets out in the alley. This week I noticed there were three single bullets in one of my neighbors window sills. Now I have no idea if he found them or if they are his. Then I noticed these three bullets in front of his door that someone had stood upright. He was in his apartment at the time and they were right in front of his door so he couldn't have put them there and opened his door to go in. Someone had to have put them there. 

That's weird, right? 

Here are two bullets in his window.

Like, why? I want to ask him what's up but I'm not sure I want to really know if it's a weird reason. A couple of days after these pictures were taken, the manager and security showed up and evicted the guy who was staying there illegally. His sister had rented the apartment and she moved out last month and he had been staying there without paying rent since then. They locked him out/changed the locks and I've seen him hanging out with the homeless people since then. 

This is a screenshot from my 2 window cameras on Friday around Noon time. The bedroom camera was all cloudy skies while the living room camera shows blue clear skies. I thought the contrast was cool. I can pull up both cameras at the same time and see what's happening in both areas. 

The high this week was 91F/32C

The low this week was 58F/14C

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Halloween Decorations

 

My daughter made some Halloween pillows. My daughter was selling them on her Ebay Store there are other things on there for sale as well. 

This is on the front door.

The shelf on my desk. 

The Halloween tree has tiny Halloween ornaments on it. 

The living room wall. 

The living room window during the day.

During the day.

The living room window at night. 

Living room shelf.

Living room shelf.

Living room corner.

A different corner. 

Camp Crystal Lake- lights off.

Lights on. 

Bathroom door. 

Kitchen with lights on.

Freddy!

More lights from the projector.

This color on the ceiling is my favorite. 

Bathroom door.

More shelves with little knick knacks.

Creepy tree.