Daughters of Olympus

A Novel

De: Hannah Lynn

Narrado por: Zura Johnson

A daughter pulled between two worlds and a mother willing to destroy both to protect her . . .

Demeter: a goddess of life, living half of one.

Demeter did not always live in fear. Once, she loved the world and the humans who inhabited it. After an act of devastating violence, though, she hides herself away among the grasses and wildflowers. Her only solace is her daughter . . .

Before she was Persephone, she was Core.

Core is as bright as summer and devoted to her mother, even during their millennia in exile from Olympus. But she craves freedom. Naïve and determined, she secretly builds a life of her own—and as she does so, she catches the eye of a powerful god . . .

The daughters of Olympus will have the last word . . .

Then Hades kidnaps Core and renames her as Queen of the Underworld. In the land without sun, she realizes she may have a chance to gain back what she thought she'd lost forever. But Demeter will destroy anything—even the humans she holds so dear—to bring her daughter back. A mother who has lost everything and a daughter with more to gain than she ever realized, they will irrevocably shape the world: all in the name of something as human as love.

©2024 Hannah Lynn (P)2024 Tantor

Stunning performance

I have never listened to an audiobook narrated by Zura Johnson before and now I will look forward to hearing her again. I especially loved the voice she used for the characters of Demeter and Hades, but all were so well done. Terrific re-telling of a classic Greek myth. Going back to see some of Hannah Lynn’s earlier works.

Outstanding!!!!!!

I just finished this book and I am so sad. It has everything!!!! The narration is amazing. I usually believe it is better to actually read a book, but, with this book, listening was far superior. The story of Demeter and Persephone was so powerful and inspired. I couldn’t wait to listen to each chapter- stayed up way too late and then so depressed that I had to leave the world she had created. You feel like you are there at every moment. You care about the characters deeply. The portrayal of Hades is always varied and problematic. He obviously violates Persephone and as a feminist I am prone to be outraged by his behavior- but, I have to admit I fell in love with him in this story. Right or wrong that is the truth. I realize that it is an easier character experience to be immersed in. All I can say is both sides of this controversy are expressed. I adored every moment of this book. It is a must read.

Excellent

Everything was perfect
From Core to Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, her transformative and empowering journey is awesome. Demeter, just like that of her flower-power nature, blossomed. Demeter found her strength through the love she had for her daughter. Her grief is iciness/ bitter cold. We see how Zeus, Poseidon and Hades tormented Demeter. Characters like Ione (Core’s lover in the mortal world and in death), Orpheus (to save his lover Eurydice), and Ascalaphus (servant of Hades) tied into the story extremely well, creating twists and turns in the story and tying the plot together like a present. Hannah Lynnn is superb! You’ll love Charon and Cerberus. You’ll feel refreshed with Hermes entering into the story. What an excellent depiction of Persephone and Hades’ love. King and Queen.
Never really a dull moment in this one, the end came too quick & that’s with me taking my sweet time with this book!

Beautiful

Incredible narration, beautiful story. I know the myth well, yet this variant kept me guessing. I’m excited to read more from this author.

Very cliche

I must preface this by saying I love the retelling of Greek myths. It is my guilty pleasure. However, this book became redundant and it dragged on and on. The depiction of sexual assault was just skimmed over. It’s as though the main character suffered from a cold she got over. The love story of Demeter and Iaison was so bizarre that it seemed like an deus ex machina device to make a live story which in myth that didn’t really seem to exist. One review spoke of the language used and how poetic it was. It just wasn’t. I found the writing to be simplistic. It is no Circe or Song of Achilles but readers may enjoy it. I however did not. I wanted more. This story has every feminist cliche out there. Woman becomes victim, woman faces adversity, woman finds herself, woman is healed, fixed, whatever. It’s the same formula in all the books that come out now. I just wanted more.

The excrutiating slowness of the narration

The endless descriptions of how hurt the characters were and there ridiculous reactions to everything