REREAD REVIEW: Goddess Girls 2

UK cover

My original review for this book was:

"The second book focuses on Persephone, who has two big problems. First, her mother always told her to "go along to get along," so she gets roped into doing things she doesn't want to because she can't say no. Second, Demeter is extremely overprotective. She meets Hades early on and likes him a lot, but struggles when both her mother and her friends disapprove. He's got a bit of a bad rep in school, which Persephone eventually gets to the bottom of. She spends the book finding herself and realizes she's a cute balance of light and dark things, as she should be. Hades and Persephone are the only couple I really "'ship" from this series. They're adorable. I really love Persephone. She's my favorite of the main four, though unfortunately, she's the most underused. She doesn't even get a second book until #11."

German cover

Those comments still stand. I like this book a lot, although it doesn't make the other Goddess Girls look very good. They're so quick to jump to conclusions and rumors about Hades that they give him zero chance, which may not be the best look for three of your four series heroines.

Persephone takes the stage and you don't see much of the others. The book opens with a scene at the Immortal Marketplace, which Persephone didn't want to visit, where she buys makeup and yarn she doesn't want, all because her mother told her to "go along to get along," which Persephone takes as meaning to do what others want with no regard to your own feelings.

Adorable Indonesian cover!

I like Persephone's journey in learning more about herself. She likes darker things that others don't. She's interested in death, cemeteries and the Underworld, where the other MOA students are so afraid of it that they never give Hades a chance. Kinda makes no sense, considering most of them are immortal. How is death a scary thing when it doesn't apply to you?

We do meet some more new characters in this book. The four Goddess Girls are there, as well as Pheme and Pandora, but we also meet more of the boys. Aside from Hades, Ares has the biggest scene. Poseidon and Dionysus are mentioned again. Atlas is introduced with an amusing "Atlas shrugged" line. And Artemis' twin Apollo gets a mention. Thanatos and Hypnos are winged men who work in the Underworld, and of course there's also Charon. The most unknown of the new additions is Ares' friend Kydoimos. It's not clarified who he is, but in myth, he's the personification of battlefield confusion.

My real wish for this one is that it had been longer! The myth of Hades abducting Persephone is a pretty big one. I liked how they made it her choice to run away and he returned her, but I wish we could have spent more time with these characters. Even after all this time, Persephone and Hades are the only couple I really ship for this series.