YA Queer Book Review: The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer
From Goodreads:
Three thousand years ago, a god told a lie. Now, only a goddess can tell the truth. Persephone has everything a daughter of Zeus could want--except for freedom. She lives on the green earth with her mother, Demeter, growing up beneath the ever-watchful eyes of the gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus. But when Persephone meets the enigmatic Hades, she experiences something new: choice. Zeus calls Hades "lord" of the dead as a joke. In truth, Hades is the goddess of the underworld, and no friend of Zeus. She offers Persephone sanctuary in her land of the dead, so the young goddess may escape her Olympian destiny. But Persephone finds more than freedom in the underworld. She finds love, and herself.
The good thing about a stomach virus on Thanksgiving break: reading more in bed! The Dark Wife had me at "lesbian Hades & Persephone retelling." Overall, I enjoyed it, especially the details about the souls in the Underworld becoming jealous of the heroes in the Elysian fields; the conclusion was great. While this was a fun and cute read and didn't necessarily lack complexity, I found many of the characters besides Persephone to be one-toned, including Hades. I love love love the idea of Hades being compassionate, but it felt as if that was her only quality, and she only praised and complimented Persephone. Not that I want the opposite, but this story lacked conflict while Persephone was in the Underworld, and therefore the momentum lagged. Don't get me wrong; I like the consensual take on this myth, where Persephone chooses to go to the Underworld to protect herself from Zeus (especially if you go by the Orphic hymns—this book actually has a nod to Zeus' tendency to exploit Persephone through glamor). It's close to my own interpretation of the myth. Still, the lack of tension made me feel like I'd have taken a lot more time (and much less enjoyment) getting through the story if it were longer. I needed more of Persephone coming to terms with her transition from endless beauty and flowers to a more dour, darker place, and then how this causes doubt and conflict toward Hades, who is the embodiment of the Underworld. She transitioned into her feelings for Hades and accepting her new home after centuries of being sheltered in one world way too quickly for me. I wanted more fight, more doubt; because I wasn't worried about the characters getting through everything, or coming to terms with each other, I wasn't as gripped as I could've been. But overall, I had fun with this. Good, light reading on an uneasy stomach. The language was great, and it had many powerful emotional moments. I will definitely check out more stuff from Diemer; I'm excited to see more LGBT voices writing LGBT stories. Also, as always, screw Zeus