I LOVED Spin the Dawn, it was one of my favorite books when I first read it, which set up exceedingly high expectations for the sequel, I will admit. Unravel the Dusk starts off almost immediately from where its predecessor leaves off, with Maia trying to save her kingdom by ensuring the emperor marries Lady Sarnai, but of course Sarnai has other plans. When she runs off, Maia has to step into her shoes and hope no one notices, which isn’t even a good plan on paper given how widely different in temperament both these women are. When the emperor’s foes wage war in force again, it’s left to Maia to find a way to save her country, which becomes harder and harder as she loses her internal battle against the demon inside of her. Gone is the fun plot line from the first book where Maia learns to wield her magic scissors to weave garments worthy of the gods, and instead is replaced by demon magic that, I felt, got overly repetitive.

Are you like me and hold a special place for Greek Mythology in your heart? Do you also enjoy YA dystopians with some seriously tragic characters? Then let me introduce you to “Helm of Darkness”. In a nutshell, this book is about the classic Greek Gods (Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, you know, that old gang) getting fed up with being forgotten by us mortals. So, in classic Greek God fashion, they destroy the world and make all us mortals worship them once more. How charming. Except there’s this prophecy, because of course, and this prophecy says that two mortals are going to save the day! Usually I am not the biggest fan of these types of tropes, but I was here for it this time.

“The Gorgon Bride” is a whimsical story about a whirlwind romance and trying to discover if that romance is the real deal, or just a passing fling. As someone who adores Greek Mythology, I was instantly intrigued by this book, and for the most part, the author does a nice job of touching upon a great number of myths and portrays the Greek gods well enough to where you don’t necessarily need to know all the stories for the various people who make cameo’s in the book, but it certainly does help. The reader follows Alex, though, a modern day man who finds himself suddenly dead, the Greek gods are suddenly back from their centuries long hiatus, and that Athena has taken an interest in Alex in particular. Why Alex? That’s never really explained….

****I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review****

Norse Mythology lovers, rejoice! “The Exile of Fenrir” is just the thing to scratch that mythology retelling itch you probably didn’t even know you had—until now. This is the story of one of Norse Mythologies shapeshifting giants, Fenrir, and his siblings as they run afoul of the gods in Asgard, and the punishment/judgement they face thereafter. The names you recognize thanks to the Marvel movies, such as Thor, Loki, and Odin, all make an appearance, but stay in the role the mythology originally intended. So, if you are looking for a heroic tale of Thor battling creatures of legend, this isn’t the story for you, though if you are a fan of Thor and his friends, I’d still recommend giving this a read anyway as it presents a different perspective. Ultimately, if you love mythology retellings that stick a bit closer to their source material, then I urge you to give this book a read!

“The Dark Wife” is a reimagining of the Persephone and Hades story from Greek mythology. Essentially, Diemer takes what we know about the classic mythos and flips it on its head in order to create a young adult lesbian love story. Which, ultimately, I find charming because there just aren’t enough books for LBGT kids that speak and represent them. And I’ll be honest, this was my first time reading a love story like this, and I’m glad I did. In this tale, Hades is not a man, but a woman who is called “lord” of the Underworld as a slight by Zeus for preferring the company of women. Persephone is not tricked and whisked away to the Underworld where she is raped and forced to stay there for part of every year like it is in the myth. Persephone chooses to go to the Underworld. She chooses Hades.