Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai

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With just two prompts left to get a blackout on the Bang in the Night Bingo Challenge, I was looking for a novella that would fit the own voices retelling prompt. I couldn't really find much on my own and started looking at what others were using on their boards. One of the more popular choices was Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai. It also covers the prompts published in October and a Hades and Persephone retelling. I also was able to use this for the Fall in Love board 2 prompt starts with an H. Hot as Hades also worked for the prompts dark, red or purple cover, novella, new to you author and read in one sitting for the Smutathon.

Persephone has suddenly landed in Hades lap while taking a bath. Having been adopted by Demeter and kept away from most of the Olympiad, she's only vaguely heard the stories of Hades. Once they both realize she didn't mean to end up in the Underworld, Hades tries to send her back. When he can't, they both learn that Zeus has sent Persephone to Hades for protection.

This was a retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth. I am a big fan of that myth and am a little more critical of my thoughts about how it is done. Now, Alisha Rai did have in her author's note that she took a little bit of liberties with things she was fond of (like the fact that technically Persephone is Hades's niece). This was okay and the steam was really well done. Where I wasn't the biggest fan is some of the liberties she took. Okay, making Persephone adopted, fine. I wasn't a big fan of Cerberus talking. I loved that the three heads had different personalities, but I didn't want him to talk. I wanted him more guard dog. But that's just my preference. I also wasn't too fond of the Zeus interfered and why Persephone was forced together with Hades.

My rating is definitely more of a 3.5-stars, but I will keep it rounded up to 4. I think if maybe I read the author's note first and was able to better temper my expectations before reading it would've been rated higher. While it hit the plots points that I like to see in a retelling, it just didn't quite meet everything I wanted. It was still a fun and quick read and I do recommend it if you're looking for some Hades and Persephone books.

I have heard mixed things about Alisha Rai's books and am definitely more intrigued. The writing style was so easy to read and I enjoyed it. My issues were more with the choices made and plot. I will probably pick up another Alisha Rai in the future, but I know she mainly writes contemporary so we'll see how long it takes for me to pick any others up.

Have you read Hot as Hades?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Hot as Hades, Alisha Rai, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 99 pages, published in 2011