I got this book at a local Barnes and Noble. (I love the Grecian-urn-style illustrations on the endpapers - including the front one, showing Hades on his throne, with Eros' arrow sticking out of his forehead!)

The story's inspired by the legend of Hades and Persephone (aka Kore), but here there are a LOT of complications. It starts when Hades gets one of Eros' arrows right in the middle of his forehead, apparently after the rest of the gods started debating about finding him a wife. (His brothers Zeus and Poseidon are both married, though as we all know Zeus is hardly a model for matrimonial bliss; still, they seem to think that Hades would be happier if he got married too.) Anyway, Hades claims that the arrow won't work on him - but he's blindfolded himself just in case, as it works by making the victim fall in love with the first person they see.

Cue Kore, who has broken into Hades' palace for reasons as yet unclear, and winds up being the first person he sees because he thought he could go without the blindfold while alone in his room. But he doesn't feel anything for her, and thinks the arrow's a dud - or he's immune...

The story proceeds to bring in all sorts of rom-com plots, as Hades' minions Thanatos (Death) and Hypnos (Sleep), along with the major deities, try to find the perfect wife - including presenting Hera herself, despite the fact that she's already married to Zeus. Athena, noted as a virgin goddess, suggests that she and Hades have an in-name-only marriage. And in each situation, Hades has to find a way to talk everyone out of their plans without causing permanent rifts.

Amusingly, his attempt to convince Hera that her own marriage and Zeus' many infidelities prove that marriage is not the be-all and end-all of relationships - but Zeus turns up with full-blown charisma on display, to convince Hera that "you are my eternity". [Why she keeps buying into this is another story. Ahem. But the scene's both funny and rather touching.]

Demeter turns up, with her own ideas about Hades' marriage - and with a goal of keeping her daughter Kore pure forever. She doesn't know that Kore's currently in Hades' realm, and Kore doesn't want Hades to tell her, so more rom-com shenanigans result.

And then the Gorgons turn up with Medusa suggesting that Hades owes them marriage because it was his gift of a magical helmet of invisibility that helped the hero Perseus slay Medusa. (She got better - sort of; her head's reattached but all she can say is "marriage...") Given that the Gorgons were cursed in the first place because Poseidon couldn't keep it in his pants - and his victim got blamed rather than himself, surprise surprise - I did feel badly for them, though as they're represented here they're pretty annoying.

Poseidon himself shows up to resolve the Medusa crisis, and it's both funny and rather dark; the reason he's immune to the turning-to-stone gaze is that he never looks women in the eye, but in the cleavage. (Sounds about right for a Greek god.) He's drawn here as a sexy surfer-boy with shark-teeth, and though he does have a wife he claims that Medusa is his beloved.

Eros turns up again, drawn as a cheeky winged youth (cheeky in more ways than one, as he's generally showing his perky and mostly-bare ass), and delivering speeches about love and lust - while noticing to his own amusement that his arrow did leave a mark on Hades' brow, invisible to everyone else but indicating that love is indeed starting to bloom...

Looks like a rather fun series, mingling tidbits of actual mythology (or some of the many variants on it) with the author's form of "Love Boat" shenanigans. Lovely artwork despite the frequent silliness.

I left this book in the Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

Released for:

** 2024 Allergic to A challenge **

** 2024 June Brides challenge **

** 2024 Never Judge a Book By Its Cover challenge. **