Assessment:
Plot/Idea: The story moves forward well and keeps the reader invested. In tackling the myth of Persephone, the author subtly layers themes relating to grief, lust, power, and control.
Prose: The author displays a strong command of language as well as a clear understanding of the source material. Ancient Greece fully comes to life in Brillhart's capable hands.
Originality: While restagings of Greek myths are familiar territory, The Rape of Persephone offers a unique, measured, and often harrowing look at a lesser-examined tale.
Character Development/Execution: The characters, particularly given that they are mythological in nature, are finely fleshed out well and deserving of empathy. The Gods are portrayed with a welcome degree of nuance and substance.
Date Submitted: July 25, 2022
In Brillhart’s take, Olympians such as Zeus, Hades, and Demeter are not all-powerful gods, but instead mortals—and once readers adapt to this change, they will find that the challenges of mortality, such as aging and injury, add intrigue to the plot as well as depth to these characters, as these familiar names struggle to achieve their goals without the benefit of immense power. Brillhart deftly conveys detail and dialogue throughout her wide range of characters: Hecate as wizened crone and healer, King Minos as a reformed and thoughtful judge, and Persephone as a naive girl, hopeful but headstrong in her quest to find her father.
Vividly depicted settings blur the historical and the mythological, transporting readers from the earthquake-shattered city of Knossos on Crete to the vast throne room of Mount Olympus and the dark, foreboding caves of Tartarus. Brillhart’s intricate worldbuilding mirrors the complex relationships of her characters, converting a fairly straightforward exposition on the changing of seasons into a probing examination of human nature’s entanglements. Brillhart has crafted a fascinating synthesis of traditional and contemporary storytelling in this reimagined tale of lust, power, and grief—one that will resonate just as readily with modern readers as it did millennia past in the agora.
Takeaway: This dark, passionate retelling of the myth of Demeter and Persephone will appeal to mythology lovers and fans of paranormal romance.
Great for fans of: Madeline Miller’s Circe, Natalie Haynes’s A Thousand Ships, Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
