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Formats
Paperback Details
  • 07/2022
  • 978-1-7377991-0-8
  • 450 pages
  • $17.99
Monica Brillhart
Author
The Rape of Persephone

Adult; General Fiction (including literary and historical); (Publish)

Crete, 1694 BCE. They call her Kore, nameless term for girl. But Kore is no mere girl. She is the blossoming daughter of Demeter, High Priestess of Knossos, and Zeus of Olympus, famed liberator who led the Titan War. Stripped of identity at birth, Kore was sworn to the gods as a virgin priestess. When Kore vanishes amidst the turmoil of a quaking earth, Demeter launches a desperate search for a girl who does not wish to be found. For Kore has not vanished. She has escaped. Her quest for independence quickly lands Kore inside a much firmer grip. Hades of Erebus, her cold but captivating uncle, rules the southernmost mainland. Notorious for judgment, atonement, and godlike abilities that earn him the name “the Unseen,” Hades will one day be immortalized as a god, like her father. Wildly smitten, Kore trusts her uncle’s promise: Soon, he will let her go. Does girlish infatuation overshadow the truth? Hades exhibits no urgency in releasing this “Kore.” In fact, a secretive Hades has other plans. Plans that give rise to a powerful new destiny. Interweaving Greek mythology into a Bronze Age setting, The Rape of Persephone unravels the origin story of Persephone and Hades. The Rape of Persephone is the first novel in a trilogy.
Plot/Idea: 7 out of 10
Originality: 9 out of 10
Prose: 8 out of 10
Character/Execution: 9 out of 10
Overall: 8.25 out of 10

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

Reviews
Brillhart’s debut breathes new life into familiar Greek mythology and rejuvenates their famous characters. The story is adapted from the Homeric hymn to harvest goddess Demeter, the account of the kidnapping of Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, by Hades, the god of the underworld. While the bones of the ancient tale remain intact, this version expands on the original to create a cunning saga of family drama and political intrigue, incorporating people, places, and events from across Greek mythology. Brillhart’s tantalizing retelling shades the characters with sharper motives and energizes its plot with remarkable pacing and surprising seduction.

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

Formats
Paperback Details
  • 07/2022
  • 978-1-7377991-0-8
  • 450 pages
  • $17.99
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