Infernal (Shadow Guild: Hades & Persephone #1) by Linsey Hall
Published: October 14th 2020
Review:
Myth: 3/5
I had not read any other Shadow Guild books before starting this one, I was just looking for a Hades & Persephone retelling. I felt like I was definitely able to jump right into this book and was given enough context to understand what I needed about the world and past friendships.
This absolutely delivered on a Hades and Persephone retelling, though the main character still wants to go by Seraphia, we’ll have to see how long that lasts. I wasn’t super into this presentation of Hades. He was repeatedly compared to a machine and much of his character echoed that. His dialogue felt forced (machine like) and that could totally be intentional in this first book as I think there are a lot of layers to him that Seraphia will need to break through, but it lasted through over 75% of this book, so I had a hard time even wanting her to empathize with him.
Magic: 3/5
This is the first book in a trilogy, so a lot was left to unravel. As far as her magic goes, Seraphia does seem to have a lot and we sort of have yet to discover if her magic is bound and why. I’d also definitely hope to see more of the other Greek gods in the rest of the series.
Overall: 3/5
A Hades and Persephone retelling with a cold and calculating lord of the underworld. There are definitely some hidden twists to the Hades character that I’m sure Seraphia will explore in the rest of the series.
