SYNOPSIS

Hades spots Persephone in a club and is blown away by her beauty. He says that Persephone’s beauty outperforms Aphrodite’s, who overhears and is greatly offended because no one can be prettier than her.

To spite Hades, she concocts a plan to drug and kidnap Persephone by the hands of her son, Eros, and leave her in the back of Hades’s car. This way, when Persephone awakes, she’s creeped out by Hades, suspecting he drugged her, and will want nothing to do with him, breaking Hade’s heart.

What could happen?

RECAP AND REVIEW

Lore Olympus is a graphic novel that started as a webtoon. This is the first volume out of seven so far, with the eighth due to be released in May 2025.

We’re introduced to a couple of characters, but the leads are Persephone, the Goddess of Spring, and Hades, The God of the Underworld. This is a modern approach on Greek mythology and I’m unsure about the accuracy of what happens. I personally don’t mind it, but throwing that out there in case you do.

Persephone spent most of her life in the mortal realm, and locked in her house because her mother, Demeter, was unhealthily obsessed with keeping her safe. Now in Olympus, Persephone is slowly unraveling her sheltered mindset. She is besties with Artemis, who is protective over her because she knows how naive Persephone can be.

Hades is a player, smitten by Persephone. People are afraid of him, because he’s the God of the Underworld. He’s funny and trying to ignore his infatuation, though it seems impossible, especially when he actually meets Persephone and they talk. The banter between them was super cute.

Hades and Persephone have chemistry when they meet and there’s mutual pining when they’re apart.

The story has a dark note before it ends with a rape/sexual assault scene. Although it was hard to read and *redacted* (Not Hades) is an ass, I would argue that this scene could be important for readers with similar experiences, showing that SA and rape doesn’t only happen at gunpoint. It’s the second to last scene from the end, third if you count the bonus content. Be mindful of the various triggers within this story before deciding to read it.

This graphic novel is adult, discussing sex, infatuation, people’s bodies, strip clubs, etc. freely.

We get some mini backstories on the other characters introduced to add context to the larger love story. Eros’s story was sad, and I felt so bad for Psyche (his love interest), but Eros was also wrong in a way for not being upfront about being a god. His mom, Aphrodite, is ridiculous, if that’s not already clear by her plane with Persephone.

The added bonus scene at the end of the copy I read was a perfect addition to the story.

I liked the colors used and illustration, though something about the layout I can’t put my finger on bothers me a little. Maybe it’s the spacing and how much is on each page. I also needed reminders on who was who, but it’s differentiated by color, and I honestly think I’m the problem in this aspect. In the same breath, I liked how the font was also tied to what was happening in the scene, like becoming blurry in certain settings.

OVERALL

Overall, I give this a 4 out of 5 stars. I don’t know much about Greek mythology, but I really liked the modern twist the author put on it. I laughed out loud reading and felt emotional in tense and sad moments. The story is relatively straightforward and I have the next one already from the library to continue on.