The Surrender of Persephone

<i>Adult review for erotic content</i>. Trigger Warning : Dubious Consent.<br /><blockquote> <b> <i>"Aidon, are you trying to recapture your youth with nubile young virgins? What's next, a new red chariot?"</i> </b> </blockquote><br /><b>The first thing you should know :</b> <i>Surrender of Persephone</i> is PwP (Porn Without Plot) erotica. Here's where I pull out my apples-to-apples genre rating comparison because I'm only rating this compared to other PwP, not other "stories" in general. Now, PwP doesn't necessarily mean that there is no plot at all; what it generally means is that there is a higher ratio of sex to plot than a normal romance or mainstream erotica. In the case of <i>Surrender</i>, I consider the book to be one long rolling sex scene with some cool mythology references thrown in. Even though the story itself is sparse, the author still brought her own unique spin on the Hades/Persephone tale. If you've read into the darker tones of the myth involving the kidnap and conquering of Persephone, then you might understand why the author chose to take her story down the BDSM path.<br /><blockquote> <b> <i>His eyes glowed in the dimness, and he had a small, satisfied smile on his face. "You like the struggle, don't you?"</i> </b> </blockquote><br />Now, as far as PwP goes, it's no secret that if I'm in the mood for it, I'll generally pick up Selena Kitt. Why? Because I like the way she writes sex. This woman writes sex how it feels, smells, sounds, etc. taking the reader to a place where it's not hard to imagine being there in the story.<br /><br />In true Kitt fashion, there's always going to be a scene or two that runs over-the-top. In this case, the story's very first sex scene starts with spoiled little Persephone frolicking and engaging in a very giggly threesome with Artemis and Athena, sure to please any man's barely legal lesbian fantasies. <br /><br />They roll, tumble, twist their bodies in every position imaginable as three young, nubile young ladies get each other off over...and over...and over...<br /><br />Yeah. I smile with amusement because it's kind of hot, in spite of how the girl-on-girl scenes in Kitt's books tend to run toward "oops, did I spill something on my see-through shirt?" kind of a blatant hook.<br /><br />So I read through the "come on in!" intro and waited for the main event to happen - the appearance of Hades (translated to Aidon here) and his kidnapping of Persephone. Because that's when everything is going to change from giggly play to dark and dirty deeds.<br /><blockquote> <b> <i>"I will be the instrument of your greatest pain and pleasure."</i> </b> </blockquote><br />Yep. That's where we're going. And clothing isn't optional - it's completely forbidden. <br /><br />BECAUSE IT'S EASIER TO HAVE NON-STOP SEX IF YOU ARE NAKED ALL OF THE TIME.<br /><blockquote> <b> <i>The sound of his palm biting her flesh made a resounding slap and she bit her lip, trying not to cry out. <br /><br />"I will be your sun...your moon...<br /><br />Your day...your night..."<br /><br />Persephone felt the impact vibrating through her. <br /><br />"Your heaven...your hell..."</i> </b> </blockquote><br />Sure, there were cheesy sex terms aplenty. But I forgive some of it with Kitt's writing because I like the overall result. <br /><br />And for the glaring lack of plot, the mythology was surprisingly well-done. Each character's position and how they related to the Underworld was tied back to the actual mythology. The names weren't just thrown out there; each character was a fleshed-out representation of the god or being they were named after (well except for Athena and Artemis because they were just the barely-legal candy to get the party started). <br /><br />And I LOVED that Hephastus was put to good use making epic sex toys. This was never covered during my read of Percy Jackson (it was a joke, people - don't freak out). <br /><br />Do I have any Complaints? It's probably the usual one for books like these. I prefer my PwP to be shorter in length, if I'm going to read simply for titillation's (I can't even write this word without laughing) sake. It's always sort of strange to start a steamy read before bed, then find that you need to break and pick up the second half the next night. It's much more enjoyable if you can tackle the entire thing in one shot before drifting off to sleep and possibly some interesting dreams.

OK I like my smutty reads and I can take a lot of smut but this was just too much. This was just smut with absolutely no plot line whatsoever and barely had any of the mythology that I love.DNF

Retells the Classical Greek myth of the virgin goddess of spring, Persephone, and her abduction by the god of the Underworld, Hades. In myth, Persephone grows into her role as queen of the Underworld to become a powerful and mysterious goddess. In Kitt's uncensored version, Persephone chafes at her mother Demeter's restrictiveness and dim view of males, both human and divine.<br /><br />On her way to gather wild flowers for her mother's harvest festival, Persephone pauses to watch a mortal laborer bathe in a stream, entranced by his beauty. She gets sidetracked by the goddesses Artemis and Athena, "virgin" goddesses who are off-limits to males but more than happy to dally with other immortal women. Despite such pleasurable divine intervention, Persephone still wonders, "Will the ache between my thighs only be satisfied by a man?"<br /><br />Up from the depths of the earth comes Hades, also known as Aidon. He lifts Persephone into his chariot and takes her to the eerily lovely splendor of his Underworld kingdom, the land of the dead. In his mind, this is a perfectly acceptable arranged marriage, a deal between Aidon and Persephone's father Zeus. Persephone feels a mixture of fear and attraction to the handsome, amber-eyed god. Slowly, he introduces her to a world of sensual delights balanced with controlled pain.<br /><br />I'm not usually into the male dominant/female submissive genre, but I really enjoyed it, even if it was out of my usual comfort zone. Aidon dominates Persephone, and from Kitt's skillful writing, it is also abundantly clear he loves her. The couple comes to love one another and seem to be meant to be together. The sweetness balances the S&amp;M themes.<br /><br />'The Surrender of Persephone' is a highly enjoyable erotic romance. Pour yourself a nice cup of pomegranate tea and settle in for a good read.

I am a big fan of the Hades and Persephone myth and when I heard about this book, I was definitely curious to read it! Persephone felt like a real character to me, smothered by her mother and all. Her thoughts and emotions felt real, and Hades sounded very hot. The story was overall faithful to the original myth and the main characters were concrete enough to be convincing.<br /><br />However, this story took a turn into BDSM with several painful scenes that I didn't expect. Ms. Kitt is a good author who has a wonderful way with words, and many scenes in this story was wonderful, but several scenes bothered me as well as the enforced nudity, though the author did have a decent explanation for that. This is also the first and only Ms. Kitt work that I have ever read, so perhaps her other books also had similar themes in them and Ms, Kitt (and BDSM) fans would enjoy this book more than I did.<br /><br />My rating is not because of Ms. Kitt's writing ability, she IS very talented, it was just for the BDSM in it. I honestly feel this book could have done with less (like taking out the branding, for example) but some of the scenes, including the erotic scenes, were SMOKIN' HOT.

God's, Goddesses and kinky sex, this was a fun enjoyable read.

It was really interesting twist to Greek myth of Persephone and Hades. <br />Very very kinky twist with elements of BDSM and F/F/F. <br />Fun read.

I loved this BDSM elaboration of an ancient Greek myth &amp; legend. Selena Kitt has taken the legend of the god Hades AKA Aidon who captures goddess of spring Persephone and whisks her off to his underground world that he rules over. Kitt uses delightfully descriptive BDSM themed sex scenes for Aidon to seduce Persephone, bed her and wed her, making her Queen of the Underworld to reign and rule beside him but never to return to the earth's surface. This legend is brought to life, characters given personalities, sexual needs and desires fulfilled, whilst other myths and legends are interspersed and interwoven throughout to enrich the story with other vibrant characters, while still retaining there original essence. This novel incorporates a wide spectrum for example, the sexual games of the three virgin goddesses; to the distraught goddess Demeter whose loss and pain of her beloved daughter wreaks vengeance by enforcing winter and refusing the return of spring until she has her daughter safely returned. The English language used is good and the story well edited. I hovered between 4/5 stars but feel it's closer to 5 stars.

This was a very clever erotic retelling of the Persephone myth. Although the story is based firmly in the magical world of gods and goddesses, the characters themselves are quite human in personality. I enjoyed watching Persephone grow from a self absorbed girl who is chafing at her mother's restrictions to a queen in her own right and able to make mature decisions and compromises.

Before u roll your eyes...yes its an erotic novel. But, i went through a greek mythology stage and this stuck to facts and entertained me completely if i could give more than five stars i would!<br />

It always amazes me how this author takes me away in a story. Her books are always very steamy, but they're more substantial than most smutty books. They tell a story of love with well developed characters. In this case, she retells mythology. It makes me want to reread myths again. Unfortunately they'll never be as satisfying as Kitt's tales.