Promises and Pomegranates by Sav R. Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
”Maybe Hades was lonely too, and he brought Persephone to his realm because he knew she’d bring the light with her.”
SUMMARY
(Taken from Goodreads)
Elena
To most, Kal Anderson is a villain.
Harbinger of death, keeper of souls, frequenter of nightmares.
Doctor Death. Hades incarnate.
They say he stole me.
Usurped my fiancé and filled the cracks in my heart with empty promises.
Imprinted his crimson fingerprints on my psyche and tried to set me free.
They’re not wrong, per se.
Except it was my choice to stay.
Kal
To most, Elena Ricci is an innocent.
Goddess of springtime, lover of poetry, angel of my nightmares.
Little one. Persephone personified.
They say I ruined her.
Shattered her virtue and devoured her soul like a succulent pomegranate.
Embedded my evil as deep as I could possibly get and tried to set her free.
They’re not wrong, per se.
Except it was she who ruined me.
OPINION
This book is based loosely on Hades and Persephone, Kallum Anderson usurps Elena Ricci’s fiancé and essentially takes his place the day of their wedding. Then he whisks Elena off to Aplana Island, where they stay in Kal’s home, The Asphodel. Honestly, the Greek references are one of the only reasons this book has any depth.
I advise reading the trigger warnings in this. A lot of uncomfortable subjects come up. Graphic violence. Grooming. Abuse. Explicit sex scenes. As a nurse in training, the blood sharing kink had me more horrified than the decapitations.
I found this book mainly infuriating and minimally enjoyable.
The chemistry between Elena and Kallum was average. To be honest it got a bit annoying, all Elena has to do is speak and Kallum gets hard. It was difficult to melt into the depths of their relationship when EVERY single interaction began with a boner.
The spice is where this book really shines. There’s a lot of it, and it’s not shy. It’s detailed and graphic and there’s a lot of public sex and scarification and so many mature themes that can either make the reader cringe or swoon.
Unfortunately, the plot was pretty bad. There were so many plot points that were left unexplored and undeveloped. And the family dynamics were all over the place. For example:
– What was the danger Elena was in that forced Elena and Kal into marriage in the first place?
– Even though her parents get some thugs to rough Elena up, Elena doesn’t ever worry about her sisters?
– Elena is described as the apple of her fathers eye, has spent her whole life gaining his approval, and yet he seems wholly indifferent to her in his actions?
– Kal’s grandfather? Is he still alive? Why did Kal think of him when Elena asked if he had other secret relatives?
– What was with Marcelline’s unfriendliness?
– Lacked any sort of resolution between Elena and her father, even after she finds out the vile things he’s done.
– How did Carmen ‘break’ Kallum if he wasn’t in love with her and she decided to stay with her husband?
– And more importantly, how did that lead to a STAB WOUND???
– I was convinced Jonas Woolfe was going to be a bad guy. But he seems to be forgotten about.
In contrast, the writing is good. The characters have much more potential, as does the plot. I’d definitely read more by this author. Perhaps it’s just this book that hasn’t hit all my sweet spots.
RECOMMENDATION
I recommend reading the trigger warnings before going into this one. I recommend lowering your expectations for a decent plot and raising your expectations for smut scenes.
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