The Myth of Persephone

The myth of Persephone is my favorite Greek myth. If you read Abandon by Meg Cabot or The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter, you may have some idea about this myth.

Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of harvest. She was out picking flowers one day when she was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld. Hades, of course wanted to make Persephone his queen of the underworld.

Nobody knew where Persephone taken to. Demeter abandoned her duties and started to search everywhere for her. Droughts began and earth ceased to be fertile. When she found out what happen to Persephone from Helios, the god of the sun, she was enraged. She went straight to Zeus and demanded the return of their daughter from Hades.

Hades reluctantly agree to return Persephone, but before she left he gave her a pomegranate to eat. There are multiple variations for this part of the myth, depending on where the myth is being told. Different climates have different season lengths and the myth was change to fit. Some say she swallowed four seeds. Others say six seeds. Each seed she ate represents a month she'll have to stay in the underworld.

Demeter was overjoyed when Persephone return.Her return from the underworld marks the beginning of spring. Because Persephone ate a food of the dead, she must return to the underworld at the end of harvest and winter begins. 

Review: Darkness Becomes Her

Darkness Becomes Her 
by Kelly Keaton

Genres: Mythology, Paranormal, Romance

Series: Gods & Monsters #1

Pub Date: February 22nd 2011

First Lines: "Under the cafeteria table, my right knee bounced like a jackhammer possessed"

Summary:

Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is. Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.
She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very...different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.
Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed.

My Thoughts:
Darkness Becomes Her completely took me by surprise. I didn't expect that I'll be reading about vampires, witches, shifters, a kick ass heroine and a Greek myth with a twist.

Ari is the type of person who can take of herself. She can easily take down monsters with no problem. Her search for her biological parents takes us to New 2. Along the twist and turns in this journey, romance will bloom and questions will be answered. 

My only complaint with this book is the romance between Ari and Sebastian happen way too fast. Sure he's dark and edgy, but you barely knew each other for a day and you're already smoothing. Yeah..other than that I loved this book.

Darkness Becomes Her is a high originally novel with characters you can't help, but love. I promise you this book won't disappoint. 

My Rating:
 

Cover Crazy: Between the Sea & Sky

 Cover Crazy is a weekly meme hosted by The Bookworms, showcasing covers worth going crazy over.

 

This week I'm crazy about...

Between the Sea & Sky
by Jaclyn Dolamore



I love how the model is floating midair, surround by those swirls of mist. It's very fitting for the title. I also like you only see her body waist up.

I like the colors in this cover. It gives off a calm, soothing feel.







Summary:
For as long as Esmerine can remember, she has longed to join her older sister, Dosinia, as a siren—the highest calling a mermaid can have. When Dosinia runs away to the mainland, Esmerine is sent to retrieve her. Using magic to transform her tail into legs, she makes her way unsteadily to the capital city. There she comes upon a friend she hasn't seen since childhood—a dashing young man named Alandare, who belongs to a winged race of people. As Esmerine and Alandare band together to search for Dosinia, they rekindle a friendship . . . and ignite the emotions for a love so great, it cannot be bound by sea, land, or air.

What do you think about this cover? What covers are you crazy over this week? Leave me a link and I'll visit.

Midnight Summer Festival Kick Off

Today is the start of the Midnight Summer Festival! Hosted by: Rabid Reads, Mission To Read & Deranged Book Lovers.

This event will highlight and cover everything in the name of mythology.

From July 10th to July 20th there will giveaways, author interviews, and posts relating to mythology. Just check out the participating blogs.

Wanna join in on the fun? Just sign up by clicking on the banner above this post.

I love about Greek mythology, especially how it's use to  explain about the mysteries and lessons in life. Take the myth of Hades and Persephone for an example . It explains why there are changes in the seasons.  I'm going to put a huge post about this myth later this week. I can't til you guys see it!

There are so many great mythology books coming out this year. I only read a few mythological books, but my favorite one has to be Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton. I'll tell more about this book in my review that I'll post up on Tuesday. Til then stay tune for more posts :)

Review: The Goddess Test

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Release Date: April 19th, 2011

Genres: Romance, Mythology
Series:  Goddess Test #1

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.
Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.


My Thoughts:

I love greek mythology, so when I heard about the Goddess Test I had to read it.


Kate was a great heroine. She was brave, tough, and so selfless. Her maturity and strength are something that you know she's acquired during the years of taking care of her mother. Henry wasn't exactly what I had in mind for Hades. He had everything to be the bad-sexy-guy, but he was so...sad. I liked him, but he was always silent and never really a protagonist. 

The Goddess Test did a retelling of the myth of Persephone (yay! my favorite Greek myth). It's interesting reading how Aimee Carter creates mythological twists in the novel, such as having to pass all seven testes for immortality. Speaking about those testes, I expected it to be difficult. But they weren't and they were given to Kate without neither her or the readers' knowledge. That was a disappointment considering many girls have tried to pass the seven tests and failed.

The gods in this book were way too normal and average - be it their names or their actions in the book. It disappointments me that the characteristics of the Greek gods were almost not used in the book and I think it would have given and added so much to it.


It's an original, refreshing story and it grabbed me, but I was expecting more. I'm looking forward to see what else the series has in store for us.

Rating: