Neon Gods: 1 (Dark Olympus, 1)

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The book starts out with Demeter selling off Persephone to marriage with Zeus without informing her daughter of this previously. However, Persephone runs away after being forced to say yes. She runs across the River Styx and ends up running into Hades. He saves her once she reaches him on her own accord, as he is forbidden to help due to a treaty he has with the rest of the Thirteen. Though his position is all but a myth at this point thanks to Zeus. Persephone strikes a bargain with him the following morning that she will stay with Hades and he’ll ruin her reputation so Zeus will no longer want her. This means public sex at private parties that Hades throws. He is reluctant to agree at first. Though he’s attracted to her, he doesn’t see it as consent. Something he’s very strongly for in all aspects. Eventually, he agrees to it, and the two set ground rules for their relationship. Even establishing her safe word of pomegranate and limits of what acts of BDSM she’s ok with or interested in. Granted other than sex in public, there really isn’t any in the book performed by them though there is mention of bondage performed by others during one of the parties. Charon Ariti has been Hades's right-hand man for years. He's given everything to the lower city, but now he's ready to take something for himself. He's only too happy to give Eurydice a special kind of education...but is her heart really free enough to be claimed? Got it? Now imagine you find that book—the one you dreamed about—delivered right into your hands. And boom, you have my review for Neon Gods by Katee Robert. Not convinced that you need this book in your life yet? Alright, let me elaborate. I love the city. I love it all. I love its alleyways and its theatres, blaring white light into their moaning and shrieking faces. I love the pristine slums, scrubbed to the bone, like any self-respecting city should have. I love its ancient monuments, destroyed and cast again in metal, to be destroyed again and recontextualised in the future. I love it all. Eurydice Dimitriou has always been the innocent sister, but she’s finally ready to step out of the long shadow cast by her powerful family…and the ex who shattered her heart.

The rest of the plot was rather simple. For all the myths about Hades, he was pretty chill. His people don’t fear him, which is the case in almost every Hades retelling. He might be dominant but he’s a softie that looks after his people. And without sharing spoilers, the ending was a little anticlimactic. A note that is called out by Hades. Since it’s told him his perspective, and he notes that it doesn’t resolve much for all the turmoil he’s gone through in his life. Not that it ultimately would. It wasn’t bad, but it was a simple solution. One that makes pretty much everyone but Zeus (the bastard who killed his last three wives and has unspeakable things done to other individuals) happy.If you need me, I’ll be in my room, silently begging Katee Robert to give me the rest of the Dark Olympus series before I spontaneously combust. In the city of Olympus, people only speak about Medusa in whispers. She’s Athena’s knife hand, the one sent when Athena wants someone to disappear. No one asks Medusa what she wants, but she owes Athena her life, and if staining her hands with blood is the only way to repay the debt, it’s a small price to pay. On one condition: when it's all over, and Apollo has the ammunition he needs to protect Olympus, she and her sister will be allowed to leave. For good. Although the Neon God was apparently unstoppable and would inevitably take over the entire multiverse, it was stated that because of the nature of how the multiverse worked, following the Neon God's takeover a second multiverse would be created in which the God didn't exist or takeover. In one universe taken over by the Neon God a simple but strong storm proved to be capable of destroying the false city it created, which also freed the inhabitants from the God's influence. Being the embodiment of the human desire to live together with each other, the Neon God didn't really have a personality of its own and only sought to achieve that desire by converting all land it came across into one city. Moreover, it didn't have any real understanding of what a city was or how it was supposed to work, and instead the city it created just superficially resembled one, with chaotic and nonsensical placement or proportions of the buildings with a random number of rooms which attempted to become real regardless of the God's efforts. The inhabitants after becoming possessed, they lost their minds, becoming emotionless and obsessed in living lives that were befitting to citizens. Its worshipers made their own interpretation of the Neon God as a being which represented the negation of everything and the destruction of all meaning, making it appear as a much more complex and profound being than it actually was. The God was shown to be emotionless with no real understanding of life or mind of its own. Beside wanting to transform all land it encountered into one unified city it also sought to bring in numerous people to become the inhabitants of its city. It was later stated that the Neon God felt some jealousy on how to other cities it had witnessed appeared and worked, and it wished to create a city of its own, but again it didn't understand how those other cities came to be and how they were supposed to work. When parts of its city were destroyed as a result of natural occurrences the Neon God was described as crying as its city couldn't withstand destruction.

With no options left, Persephone flees to the forbidden undercity and makes a devil's bargain with a man she once believed a myth...a man who awakens her to a world she never knew existed. As I mentioned in the intro, Neon Gods is a modern retelling. Instead of their being gods and goddesses, the characters are human. The names Demeter, Hades, Zeus, Hera, Ares, Hermes, etc. of the big thirteen gods that rule Olympus are titles. They have similar roles to Greek mythology but ultimately they are just jobs/positions. The only legacy roles that go from father to son are those of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. The rest of the characters and their family relationships are quite different. In this version, Persephone has three sisters: Psyche, Callisto, and Eurydice (who is dating Orpheus for the majority of the book like in Greek mythology). Though they are not sisters in real Greek Mythology.

If you’ve got the right group of players, Neon Gods is a blast. It's a great game because it has a strong aesthetic and is a good way to let new board gamers try out some more complicated mechanics without overwhelming them; it also isn't too light, so more experienced players won't feel as if there's nothing on offer. If you’re looking for an area control game that’s on the lighter, sillier side, or if you’re just into the over-the-top 80s setting, I would absolutely recommend it! I'll say one thing for sure: I never thought I'd be trying to use the world Blurp so seriously in public. Beyond the impeccable romance, there’s also a greater plot at large and without taking too much away from the story, I’ll just say that the politics and scheming of these Gods does not stop just because this is set in contemporary times. If anything, the advances of technology and the likes only add to their powers. Zeus is terrifying enough in the ancient mythology, but in here, he’s downright omnipotent, it seems. Not to mention that the rivalry between Hades and him left me breathless at times. There’s also an amazing cast of secondary characters that any mythology fan will love (Hermes is a personal favourite) and they added so much to this well fleshed-out story. I loved the glimpses we’ve gotten at the other people who are vying for a seat at the table (or, like Demeter, will do anything to keep theirs and advance their ambitions) and I cannot wait to see where this series will take us next. Hades finally smiles and, good gods, it’s like being hit by a laser beam. Heat strong enough to make my fingertips tingle and curl my toes. I stare up at him, caught in the intensity of those dark eyes. And then he’s shaking his head, smothering the rush of strangeness through my body. “No.” “What do you mean, no?” “I’m aware that you’ve likely not heard the word often in your privileged life, so I’ll spell it out for you. No. Nein. Nyet. Non. Absolutely not.” Neither expect infamous beauty Helen Kasios to be part of the prize...or for the complicated fire that burns the moment she looks their way.

Of course, all of those are just different means to the same end, because it’s all about the Blurp. Everyone wants it, everyone needs it, it is your one and only win condition. Who controls the Blurp controls the city. I have no idea what Blurp is. They never define it, which is part of the humor of Neon Gods. It's a slang term, but obviously everyone already knows what Blurp is, so there’s no need to explain it. I’m not even sure if Blurp is a noun or a verb, so for now I’m just going to assume that it works like Smurf.

I get shivers just thinking of their interactions. SHIVERS."-Mimi Koehler for The Nerd Daily for Neon Gods I blink. It's so close to what I was thinking that it's almost eerie. "You are the strangest man I've ever met."