The Book Blog at the End of the Universe: Review + Blog Tour + Giveaway: Daughters of Zeus Series by Kaitlin Bevis

Persephone

Series- Daughters of Zeus Book #1

By- Kaitlin Bevis

Genre-YA Paranormal

Blurb:

There are worse things than death, worse people too.

The "talk" was bad enough, but how many teens get told that they're a goddess? When her mom tells her, Persephone is sure her mother has lost her mind. It isn't until Boreas, the god of winter, tries to abduct her that she realizes her mother was telling the truth. Hades rescues her, and in order to safely bring Persephone to the Underworld he marks her as his bride. But Boreas will stop at nothing to get Persephone. Despite her growing feelings for Hades, Persephone wants to return to the living realm. Persephone must find a way to defeat Boreas and reclaim her life.

Review:
Let it be known that I'm pretty sure I have never disliked Greek myth or retelling. Persephone is a modern retelling of just that, the story of Persephone and Hades and how she became the Queen of the Underworld, however give me a chance to tell you why I think you will love this story too. This isn't your ancient story about a grumpy old God who is just bitter that he doesn't rule Olympus. In fact at this point Olympus has fallen and I don't mean some B movie involving Gerard Butler, a lot of the gods died long before Persephone was born and even longer before she knows who she is really becoming.

Surprised by her mother Demeter that she is, in fact, a goddess and going to be coming into her powers as she reaches the age of adulthood, you can imagine the roller coaster of emotions that she has to deal with and then she gets attacked, only to be saved by the Lord of Darkness himself, Hades. The only way to do that, however, is to marry her and make her the Queen. Goddess, powers, attack and now queen, happy birthday to you, Persephone. All of this can understandably by a little overwhelming for a 17 year old but she actually takes it very well, which surprisingly felt alright reading it. I guess that's what made me like her so much, the fact that she found things out, processed them like a normal person and then accepted what was going on and found a way to deal. That isn't easy to do with a character and in this case it is successful. She is a goddess but Persephone feels like you and me. She isn't over the top or unapproachable and that's what made this story great. However, aking a great lead and mixing them with an awesome ensemble makes a story even better.

Hades for me was the greatest part of the other characters. He is so different than other recreations I have read of him that he was interesting from the start. As we get to know him more, however, is where he really shines. Really all of the Underworld characters where great from Cassandra, Thanatos and Charon to even just the structure of the place itself made for a great place for the main characters to interact and definitely helped the story. It had lots of action and fun just like some popular series like Percy Jackson but this brought an element of both romance and realness to the Gods themselves that it made it a complete package for me. I am really looking forward to book 2!- My Opinion- Buy it!

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Daughter of the Earth and Sky

Series- Daughters of Zeus Book # 2

By-Kaitlin Bevis

Genre-YA Paranormal

Goodreads

Blurb:

Some vows can never be broken.

Persephone thought she could go back to her normal life after returning from the Underworld. She was wrong.

The goddess Aphrodite is born among the waves with more charm than she can control. Zeus is stalking Persephone and her loved ones, and Thanatos is no longer content with Persephone's silence.

He wants her soul.

Persephone can't tell anyone about Thanatos' betrayal, and it drives a wedge between her and Hades. Her mother is still keeping secrets, and Melissa's jealousy of Aphrodite threatens to tear their friendship apart.

Alone, Persephone turns to a human boy for comfort. But will their relationship put him in danger?

Sacrifices must be made, and Persephone must choose between her human life and her responsibilities as a goddess. If she doesn't, she could lose them both.

But will either life be worth choosing once Zeus is through with her?

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The Iron Queen

Series- The Daughters of Zeus Book # 3

By- Kaitlin Bevis

Genre- YA Paranormal

Goodreads

Blurb:

Life is hell for Persephone. Zeus will stop at nothing to gain access to the living realm and the Underworld, and as the only living god with a right to both, Persephone’s in trouble. Captured and tortured beyond the limits of her resolve, Persephone must find the power to stand against Zeus. But will she be strong enough?

Meanwhile, Hades contemplates desperate measures to rescue his queen. Persephone never thought of herself as dangerous, but there’s a reason gods never marry for love. A being with the power to destroy all of creation shouldn’t place more value in one individual than the rest of the planet. But Hades...Hades would break the world for her.

To save the world and stop both Hades and Zeus, Persephone must make a difficult choice. One that may cost her everything.

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Ever wondered who the author would chose to play all these characters if these books where made into a movie? Well, Kaitlin made some choices and told us a little about why she would choose each actor!

I've put way more thought into this than I should. If Persephone gets picked up for a movie, I don't imagine I'll have much say and the ages might be wrong by the time it happens, but come on. Who doesn't imagine their books going to the big screen. I realize my choices aren't that realistic, some of my minor characters are dream cast as big league actors, but hey, this is a dream cast, not a realistic one :). In a perfect world...

I would cast Skyler Samuels to play Persephone . She was awesome in The Nine Lives of Chloe King and everything else I've seen her in. She definitely has the range to pull off the changes Persephone is going to go through during the series, and she looks the part.

(Blogger note: I always enjoy listening to other Whovians talk about The Doctor!)

Hades is tougher. I picture someone like David Tenant, the tenth Doctor, not for any reason in terms of description or attitude, but just because I love him. And authors get to meet the actors playing the parts of their characters, right? Honestly, he could be anyone in any of my books, up to and including Persephone. He's SUCH a good actor. You have to watch his version of Hamlet. He was incredible.

David Giuntoli from Grimm would also do nicely. I know, I never would have thought it either, but there's this one scene (he just figured out Juliette got scratched by THAT cat and is ready to tell her everything) where he gets this look on his face and talks so seriously, so ominously, that I literally jumped out of my seat and paused it so I could try to write down and describe every single thing from that moment because it was SO Hades, and I'd been working so hard to picture how he would look/act during a scene near the end of book two, and that was IT.And I know, both of those men are quite a bit older than Miss Samuels. I wouldn't want to cast Hades as a teenager (or in Holywood land, anyone between twelve and thirty) but I don't want him looking like a creepy old pedophile either.

I've been told by a lot of fans they picture Ian Somerhalder, the guy who plays Damon from the Vampire Diaries, and he absolutely looks the part, but for some reason, he's not what I picture. He'd be a better fit for Thanatos.

I would choose Holland Roden to play Aphrodite. She plays Lydia Martin in Teen Wolf, and she probably wouldn't want to play Aphrodite since she's almost the exact same character, but it would work so well because she nailed the part. Plus she's gorgeous, which is kind of a a requirement for Aphrodite.

I would cast Hailee Steinfield as Melissa. Look for her in Ender's me, she's a phenomenal young actress, and she's exactly what I pictured when I described Melissa. It's really a shame Melissa doesn't get more "screen time" in my books because she's one of my favorite characters. I kept trying to come up with excuses to get her in the book more, but it just didn't pan out. I had a similar problem with Cassandra. Loved the character, just don't need her all that often. Cassandra at let is likely to get her own trilogy with Helen of Troy. Speaking of Cassandra, I would cast her as Ellen Page, she's not who I pictured when I wrote the character, but that sarcastic, dry attitude she has in all of her movies fits Cassandra to a "T".

I have no clue who I would cast to play Helen of Troy. I don't know why it's harder to choose THAT "most beautiful girl ever" than it was to choose Aphrodite, but it feels like a lot of pressure choosing a Helen of Troy, lol. If I could time travel AND choose my perfect cast, I'd get Katherine Heigle from her Roswell days, because I remember watching that show as a teen and thinking she was the most beautiful person ever.

I'd cast Joel as Josh Hutcherson. He has that good natured, boyish, good guy vibe and that's very important to Joel's character.

I don't tend to cast the bad guys in my head. It just feels insulting to say someone would do a great job being...evil. And...I'm going to leave off most of the book three characters because I don't want to spoil which gods pop up in it :) But I'd be pretty happy with that cast.

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