What if you were the missing piece in one of the world’s most epic legends?Despite being an art history student, Summer isn’t thrilled to be stuck with her archeologist family all summer in Greece. While the rest of her college friends are posting a million selfies by the pool together, Summer is stuck alone, trying to entertain herself alone in a place where she doesn’t even speak the language. … even speak the language.
Upon her arrival to Greece, strange dreams and even stranger shadows seem to haunt Summer, leaving her to ponder the meaning of pomegranate seeds and twisted, darkened faces.
Suddenly, her stay abroad leads to tragic twists, leaving Summer in the arms of a dark stranger, who claims to be the god, Hades, whom she feels like she knows from another life. In a whirlwind through the busy streets of Athens, Summer is seduced to the lowest point of Greece where Hades’ lair awaits…the Underworld. Determined to find out who she is and where she belongs in an age-old myth, Summer joins Hades to discover that the secrets about her past life are beyond anything she could have ever imagined.
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Received a free copy in exchange for a review.
DNF @ 17%
The premise of this book, and even its second sounds AWESOME. I am shocked I wasn’t getting into this because it’s exactly up my alley. I couldn’t get behind the main character. I hated her dialogue – often she sounded too young. She just didn’t attract positive attention from myself, was horrible to her mother, and even admits to wondering why her father would have married her. I could tell the author was setting up for the future of the book, but still, there was other ways she could have described the mother being opposite from her father.
I struggled to get this far in it. It hasn’t been holding my attention for days. I wanted to keep trying, but in the end, I have too many other books on my roster to wait for this one to get better.
3.5 Stars for this one!
I was really torn between giving this one 3 or 4 stars.
I really liked the main characters, Darce (Hades) and Summer (Persephone), and the way the author wrote their relationship. Have no fear, even though the H/Hr are fated to be together, this was not an insta-love story. Quite the opposite really! Summer doubts both her sanity and that of the mysterious man who calls himself, Darce. A man who she feels inexplicably drawn to despite his outlandish claims about being the God of the Underworld.
I found this one to be a slow moving story, even as Summer gets better acquainted with Darce in the Underworld, things just kind of mosey along. The relationship between the H/Hr was definitely a slow burn as well. I never felt BORED but I also wasn’t completely gripped by what was happening. I just love Greek Mythology and I think that’s what kept me reading. Oh, but I really liked the chapters that showcased Hades past encounters with previous reincarnations of Persephone.
By the time I got to the end, it felt like I was just hitting the half way point. I needed more and didn’t feel like much happened. I mean, it ends with the characters in a much different/better place than they started out at but…still didn’t feel like much was accomplished. I plan on reading book 2 because I’m still curious as to what happens next and really love the side characters (Thanatos, Morpheus, and Arae).
I came across this book and was immediately fell in love with the cover, I then read the blurb and knew I just had to have it. The blurb itself sucks you in and makes you want to read it. I was loving the modern twists to an Ancient Greek mythology. The the cover and blurb right away did what they were supposed to do!
As I started reading I was instantly brought into this new world that was new and amazing both to the readers and the main character Summer. So we got to experience everything together. We meet summer at the airport on her way to Greece for 3 months. Once the plane arrives Greece is described for us in a way that we can see ourselves right there. Turned out Summer is more than she knows and is taken by Darce aka Hades down to the underworld. There she meets Morpheus God of sleep and dreams, Thanatos God death, Erebus God of darkness, and Arae spirit of curses; curses placed by the dead onto the ones who are guilty about their deaths. The four of them are a hoot. They have such vas personalities but make hell a little less dark. Their Summer leaves about her and Darce’s past together and how the world is against them coming together. There are twists you may see coming and twists you don’t see coming. All leading up to a massive cliff hanger that leaves you wanting and needing more.
It was beautifully and expertly written. The history written so you aren’t lost and the modern twist leaves it brilliant. The way it’s written sucks you right in. The characters are expertly written and well thought of. You can’t help but loving them and rooting for them. And I absolutely love how there’s chapters set aside for Hades and Persephone’s past. That right there was absolutely brilliant. This was my first every book by this author and I can honestly say it will NOT be my last.
Bring on book two!
Greek Mythology seems to have grown in popularity over the past several years, not only the tales of Zeus and Hera or even the trials of Hercules, but now others have been widely trendy. Gadoury has a riveting story about the retelling of Hades and Persephone and the lengths that two souls with travel to find their way back to each other. This is a mesmerizing tale that will engulf readers in a journey from the human world into the Underworld and beyond.
Darce is code name for Hades…in this world. He has resurfaced from the Underworld to search for his long lost love, Persephone. The Goddess slips through his fingers every time he finds her…in every life that she has come back to the world in. In this new life, Persephone’s soul travels with a young woman named Summer, which is quite fitting to the Goddess. After a fatal car crash and the immediate loss of her parents, Summer is forced to walk the world alone. Darce must make a choice to leave her be in this world, to leave her to her pain and suffering, or coax her into following him to the Underworld where he can then attempt to regain the love that he once lost and restore the memories of their past together.
Gadoury has a superb first installment, filled with adventure, romance, longing, deceit, and secrets. Readers are drawn to this characters from Greek Mythology with this new spin on Hades and Persephone’s tale. Since this is complimenting the audiobook, Webb makes this story really shine. Her voice relay with this installment is absolutely stunning. She adds so much to the already enticing story. Readers may find themselves impressed with how attentive Webb is to the characters personalities and emotions. If you are a reader of young adult fantasy and mythology, this may be perfect for you. Since this is the first installment, readers are able to dive right in.
An audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by The Parliament House and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a five-star rating to Blinding Night by Chantal Gadoury.
Summer is made to accompany her mother to Greece for the summer so they can spend time with her father together as a family. She isn’t thrilled to be away from her friends and to make matters worse she’s seeing strange shadows and having just as strange dreams about pomegranate seeds and a seemingly familiar and darkly captivating man. Then tragedy strikes leaving Summer to flee with a stranger claiming to be Hades, God of the Underworld….who believes that she is in fact Persephone…
I was so excited to receive an early review copy of this book from Chantal because this was one of my most anticipated Parliament House releases of the year!
First I want to say how much I love the original story of Hades and Persephone so seeing a retelling I just had to dive into it! I enjoyed the fresh spin placed on this rendition by Gadoury, I won’t go into too much detail though because Spoilers! Just know that Chantal’s penchant for writing often whimsical scenes that are all too easy to picture in your mind are present here as well.
The character development was well done and I found myself enjoying all the characters, not just our leads of Summer and Darce/Hades. I found myself laughing often at the Disney and pop culture Hades references that helped to lighten the mood. My favorite parts of the book definitely take place in the glorious Underworld though. I was extremely satisfied there was no insta-love and no love triangles!! When I was finished I wanted to start the next book right away because of the dramatic conclusion!!
I’d recommend this book to anyone with a love for YA, romance, and Greek Mythology!
I give Blinding Night 5 Stars.
I’ve always loved Greek mythology, and Hades and Persephone’s romance has always been one of my favorites. This isn’t a retelling of that original story. Rather, it takes the idea that something went wrong with the arrangement of Persephone spending part of the year with her mother and the other part with her husband. The story is set in modern times from Summer’s perspective, with the exception of a few scenes in Hades’ perspective in the past. I really hope that there will be a sequel because I felt that while certain things resolved, there is still a lot more to this story that needs to be told. The end was a little ambiguous about what would happen next other than the immediate future.