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gabicreads's review
4.0
Original review at Gabic Reads. ARC received from Netgalley -- Thank you.
My Life From Hell picks up a few months after My Date From Hell ended. The very end of the book (and the series) was perfect. I got really confused in the middle though. I didn't know if Sophie was transported back in time or if it was an enchantment (it was an enchantment, fyi). My favorite part was the understanding of Persephone's life Sophie came to. She didn't find that Persephone was a spoiled girl who everybody loved like she thought. Persephone turned out to be deprived of love, or at least real love. The gods have a twisted sense of love.
Sophie is awesome. She's spunky and sassy. She won't let anybody define who she is her sharp tongue and quick temper make her a very entertaining character. The conversations her and Kai have are hilarious. Sophie does tend to make Kai out to be the bad guy most of the time. He defends himself though, and makes Sophie see his side of things. In that way, I think their relationship is perfect. Pierce and Hannah are also really cute together. I wish we got to see more of them. Sophie and Fee's interactions are awesome. Their minds are so similar it's scary ;)
The Blooming Goddess trilogy is the best Persephone retelling I've read. So go read it now. Right now. Before you forget how awesome I told you it was.
My Life From Hell picks up a few months after My Date From Hell ended. The very end of the book (and the series) was perfect. I got really confused in the middle though. I didn't know if Sophie was transported back in time or if it was an enchantment (it was an enchantment, fyi). My favorite part was the understanding of Persephone's life Sophie came to. She didn't find that Persephone was a spoiled girl who everybody loved like she thought. Persephone turned out to be deprived of love, or at least real love. The gods have a twisted sense of love.
Sophie is awesome. She's spunky and sassy. She won't let anybody define who she is her sharp tongue and quick temper make her a very entertaining character. The conversations her and Kai have are hilarious. Sophie does tend to make Kai out to be the bad guy most of the time. He defends himself though, and makes Sophie see his side of things. In that way, I think their relationship is perfect. Pierce and Hannah are also really cute together. I wish we got to see more of them. Sophie and Fee's interactions are awesome. Their minds are so similar it's scary ;)
The Blooming Goddess trilogy is the best Persephone retelling I've read. So go read it now. Right now. Before you forget how awesome I told you it was.
maraya21's review against another edition
4.0
What. A. Ride!
Out of the books in this trilogy this was by far the heaviest. Super heavy. But that didn't diminish it's greatness, it reinforced it.
I can't write anything more specific without giving away important info about the book. What I can write is that this trilogy is worth a shot, it genuinely surprised me and now that it's over I love the characters even more.
Friendship, family, love, choices, consequences, learning, character development. It's all here and it's done well.
Now, with that said, where is my very own hot god? Here kardia mou, I don't bite (ヅ)
Out of the books in this trilogy this was by far the heaviest. Super heavy. But that didn't diminish it's greatness, it reinforced it.
I can't write anything more specific without giving away important info about the book. What I can write is that this trilogy is worth a shot, it genuinely surprised me and now that it's over I love the characters even more.
Friendship, family, love, choices, consequences, learning, character development. It's all here and it's done well.
Now, with that said, where is my very own hot god? Here kardia mou, I don't bite (ヅ)
nicolemhewitt's review against another edition
5.0
This review and many others can be found on my blog - Feed Your Fiction Addiction
***This review may contain spoilers for books #1 & 2 in this series.***
My Life From Hell is the awesome final showdown in the Blooming Goddess Trilogy. In this book, Sophie tries to prepare for the apocalypse - rather unsuccessfully and ends up getting sent back to Persephone's life in order to learn the lessons she needs to win. But can she figure out what those lessons are?
What I LOVED:
The characters.
We got LOTS more of all the characters we love in this book! Kai and Sophie are still together, but they're having some communication issues (they've spent quite a lot of time avoiding their Persephone issues by making out). Sophie's relationship with Hannah also gets a bit sticky. We get lots of Theo and Festus in this book. And we get to see all of these characters in their pre-Sophie lives, which I loved! We also meet a new character named Oizys, a cool goth type girl who I ended up absolutely loving. Her snarkiness definitely rivaled Sophie's!
Twists and turns.
I was never quite sure what was going to happen next in this book! There were tons of interesting twists and turns that led us to that final battle. And then the showdown itself - some big surprises!!
The final message.
In the end, Sophie learns some pretty important lessons about herself and about what's really important. The final battle wasn't won in the way I expected at all, and Sophie's premonitions all come true in ways that were surprising too. I don't want to spoil what happens or what Sophie's conclusions were, but suffice it to say that Darling put some powerful messages in her book that really lifted the series to a new level.
The negatives:
Nothing.
I don't really have any negatives for this book. I will say that it didn't quite capture my attention as much at the beginning as the first two, but I was really distracted while reading this one (I was in the hospital with my daughter - everything's okay, but it didn't make for the best uncluttered reading time). So, I'm not even counting this as a real negative.
Darling has given us an exciting conclusion to The Blooming Goddess Trilogy! I'm sad to see this excellent series end. I give it 5/5 stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by NetGalley and Te Da Media in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
***This review may contain spoilers for books #1 & 2 in this series.***
My Life From Hell is the awesome final showdown in the Blooming Goddess Trilogy. In this book, Sophie tries to prepare for the apocalypse - rather unsuccessfully and ends up getting sent back to Persephone's life in order to learn the lessons she needs to win. But can she figure out what those lessons are?
What I LOVED:
The characters.
We got LOTS more of all the characters we love in this book! Kai and Sophie are still together, but they're having some communication issues (they've spent quite a lot of time avoiding their Persephone issues by making out). Sophie's relationship with Hannah also gets a bit sticky. We get lots of Theo and Festus in this book. And we get to see all of these characters in their pre-Sophie lives, which I loved! We also meet a new character named Oizys, a cool goth type girl who I ended up absolutely loving. Her snarkiness definitely rivaled Sophie's!
Twists and turns.
I was never quite sure what was going to happen next in this book! There were tons of interesting twists and turns that led us to that final battle. And then the showdown itself - some big surprises!!
The final message.
In the end, Sophie learns some pretty important lessons about herself and about what's really important. The final battle wasn't won in the way I expected at all, and Sophie's premonitions all come true in ways that were surprising too. I don't want to spoil what happens or what Sophie's conclusions were, but suffice it to say that Darling put some powerful messages in her book that really lifted the series to a new level.
The negatives:
Nothing.
I don't really have any negatives for this book. I will say that it didn't quite capture my attention as much at the beginning as the first two, but I was really distracted while reading this one (I was in the hospital with my daughter - everything's okay, but it didn't make for the best uncluttered reading time). So, I'm not even counting this as a real negative.
Darling has given us an exciting conclusion to The Blooming Goddess Trilogy! I'm sad to see this excellent series end. I give it 5/5 stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by NetGalley and Te Da Media in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
erinarkin20's review against another edition
4.0
Great end to the series!
My Life From Hell is the third (and final) book in The Blooming Goddess series by Tellulah Darling. I am a bit sad to be saying goodbye to these characters. This series has a great mix of snarky characters, serious challenges, and swoony boys….all my favorite things. If you haven’t started this series yet, definitely check it out. Darling mixes in the trials of being a teenager alongside the issues one would face if they suddenly found out they were a Greek Goddess living in a human body.
Book three dives right back into the story and if you remember, My Date From Hell ended with a bang….or knife to the stomach (literally). Sophie has been living with Festos while recuperating from the wound that Bethany gave her since she can’t go back to Hope Park. Another piece to this is now that Sophie remembers everything Persephone did; she is also having visions and doesn’t really know what they mean. Things begin to click as the story progresses but they are just adding to the stress that Sophie is dealing with. Added all together, things are getting really tough for Sophie and I was definitely worried about whether she was going to get through this whole thing.
Along with all that trauma, Sophie has been trying to get Kai to talk to her. Since he found out that Persephone was actually going to betray him the first time they were going to do the ritual he has been closed off and although they have some killer make out sessions, he refuses to discuss anything with Sophie and is still more than a little angry. BUT – Kai is Kai and I do love him. Although he struggles with the past, he really does love Sophie. Trust definitely doesn’t come easy to either of these characters because of how they have grown up but once they get past all the junk, they really are good for each other. I think Sophie says it best “Boys who slay monsters for their friends are dreamy.”
I have to say, Sophie has changed quite a bit since book one and has learned a lot about herself. I liked seeing the growth and seeing her move into being more accepting of who she is and what she can do. I think at the end of this one, with the help of the people around her, she realizes just who is important (Family = Kai, Theo, Fee, and Hannah) and what she values. Her relationships have also changed – throughout this book we see Sophie struggling a bit with the change in the dynamic of her relationship with Hannah as well as Theo.
As usual, this book has quite a bit of action. It also has a few twists I didn’t expect. I won’t give anything away but one of the great parts was getting to see Persephone’s point of view and seeing both Persephone and Sophie together (in a sense). One of the things I like best in all of Darling’s books is the dialogue between the characters and it definitely continues through this final book. It gave me a view of how these characters interact with each other and the dynamic between them. Things have changed throughout but there is always a lot of love with a dose of sarcasm and wit.
The secondary characters definitely shine in this book. With Hannah taking a bit of a back seat in this book, we are introduced to a new character named Oizys and she was a solid fill in. As the goddess of Misery, she is the opposite of everything Persephone is and this created a great dynamic with Sophie. Demeter/Felicia also has a bigger part in this story and we learn more about the relationship she had with Persephone and Persephone’s feelings toward her on top of Sophie coming to some realizations about Demeter/Felicia. When Kiki/Hekate was introduced and put her spin on the story, things started to come together.
I thought Darling did a great job of tying together the past and present as well as giving the reader some insight into all of the different relationships. There were some things that came out in this book (e.g. the friendship between Kai and Festos) that although there was clearly something from their past that impacted their relationships today, we weren’t really aware of and I was happy to get the clarification.
This was a wonderful wrap up to Sophie’s story and although I am sad that her story has ended, I appreciate the way that Darling wrapped it up. If you enjoy Greek mythology, solid characters, and a great story, definitely check this one out.
Thank you to Tellulah Darling and Netgalley for the review copy.
My Life From Hell is the third (and final) book in The Blooming Goddess series by Tellulah Darling. I am a bit sad to be saying goodbye to these characters. This series has a great mix of snarky characters, serious challenges, and swoony boys….all my favorite things. If you haven’t started this series yet, definitely check it out. Darling mixes in the trials of being a teenager alongside the issues one would face if they suddenly found out they were a Greek Goddess living in a human body.
Book three dives right back into the story and if you remember, My Date From Hell ended with a bang….or knife to the stomach (literally). Sophie has been living with Festos while recuperating from the wound that Bethany gave her since she can’t go back to Hope Park. Another piece to this is now that Sophie remembers everything Persephone did; she is also having visions and doesn’t really know what they mean. Things begin to click as the story progresses but they are just adding to the stress that Sophie is dealing with. Added all together, things are getting really tough for Sophie and I was definitely worried about whether she was going to get through this whole thing.
Along with all that trauma, Sophie has been trying to get Kai to talk to her. Since he found out that Persephone was actually going to betray him the first time they were going to do the ritual he has been closed off and although they have some killer make out sessions, he refuses to discuss anything with Sophie and is still more than a little angry. BUT – Kai is Kai and I do love him. Although he struggles with the past, he really does love Sophie. Trust definitely doesn’t come easy to either of these characters because of how they have grown up but once they get past all the junk, they really are good for each other. I think Sophie says it best “Boys who slay monsters for their friends are dreamy.”
I have to say, Sophie has changed quite a bit since book one and has learned a lot about herself. I liked seeing the growth and seeing her move into being more accepting of who she is and what she can do. I think at the end of this one, with the help of the people around her, she realizes just who is important (Family = Kai, Theo, Fee, and Hannah) and what she values. Her relationships have also changed – throughout this book we see Sophie struggling a bit with the change in the dynamic of her relationship with Hannah as well as Theo.
As usual, this book has quite a bit of action. It also has a few twists I didn’t expect. I won’t give anything away but one of the great parts was getting to see Persephone’s point of view and seeing both Persephone and Sophie together (in a sense). One of the things I like best in all of Darling’s books is the dialogue between the characters and it definitely continues through this final book. It gave me a view of how these characters interact with each other and the dynamic between them. Things have changed throughout but there is always a lot of love with a dose of sarcasm and wit.
The secondary characters definitely shine in this book. With Hannah taking a bit of a back seat in this book, we are introduced to a new character named Oizys and she was a solid fill in. As the goddess of Misery, she is the opposite of everything Persephone is and this created a great dynamic with Sophie. Demeter/Felicia also has a bigger part in this story and we learn more about the relationship she had with Persephone and Persephone’s feelings toward her on top of Sophie coming to some realizations about Demeter/Felicia. When Kiki/Hekate was introduced and put her spin on the story, things started to come together.
I thought Darling did a great job of tying together the past and present as well as giving the reader some insight into all of the different relationships. There were some things that came out in this book (e.g. the friendship between Kai and Festos) that although there was clearly something from their past that impacted their relationships today, we weren’t really aware of and I was happy to get the clarification.
This was a wonderful wrap up to Sophie’s story and although I am sad that her story has ended, I appreciate the way that Darling wrapped it up. If you enjoy Greek mythology, solid characters, and a great story, definitely check this one out.
Thank you to Tellulah Darling and Netgalley for the review copy.
authorkmg's review against another edition
5.0
from pagetrotter.blogspot.com
YAY! The Blooming Goddess series ends perfectly. Everything is wrapped up with just enough teasing that our minds can go off into Imaginationland and wonder what's going to happen to all of them in the future. Sophie has transformed into the person she needs to be to defeat the Gods and Goddesses. Her character growth has been continuous over all three novels and it's been an important part of each story and it's in fact how she wins in the end.
The message in this novel is fantastic guys! "All you need is love!" It's a song that Sophie hear's throughout the book and it's an idea that's explored throughout all three novels. We have explored all types of relationships in the previous novels, but in the last book the message of loving yourself and my GAWD, Tellulah, I am just filled with empowerment of this!
Of course, Kai fans, we have plenty of him! More importantly, there is plenty of Theo because hellooooo THEO!!! Things heat up in many ways. We meet many new players and some old ones too. Friendships get tested, secrets are revealed, and Sophie is challenged but that's why we read these right? I fully recommend this, it's my favorite of the entire series. Blooming Goddess fans, you won't be disappointed!
YAY! The Blooming Goddess series ends perfectly. Everything is wrapped up with just enough teasing that our minds can go off into Imaginationland and wonder what's going to happen to all of them in the future. Sophie has transformed into the person she needs to be to defeat the Gods and Goddesses. Her character growth has been continuous over all three novels and it's been an important part of each story and it's in fact how she wins in the end.
The message in this novel is fantastic guys! "All you need is love!" It's a song that Sophie hear's throughout the book and it's an idea that's explored throughout all three novels. We have explored all types of relationships in the previous novels, but in the last book the message of loving yourself and my GAWD, Tellulah, I am just filled with empowerment of this!
Of course, Kai fans, we have plenty of him! More importantly, there is plenty of Theo because hellooooo THEO!!! Things heat up in many ways. We meet many new players and some old ones too. Friendships get tested, secrets are revealed, and Sophie is challenged but that's why we read these right? I fully recommend this, it's my favorite of the entire series. Blooming Goddess fans, you won't be disappointed!
indeanna_jones1327's review against another edition
5.0
Captivating
It was everything I wanted! It reminded me of Percy Jackson with a girls voice. Literally could not stop reading!!! I would recommend this trilogy to anyone who enjoys a captivating story AND Greek mythology!
It was everything I wanted! It reminded me of Percy Jackson with a girls voice. Literally could not stop reading!!! I would recommend this trilogy to anyone who enjoys a captivating story AND Greek mythology!
mel_reviews_in_a_pinch's review against another edition
5.0
Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Te Da Publishing, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
My Thoughts: Greek mythology. A topic that quite a few people love learning about, but I find boring, most days. Add in a fictional current day twist and I’m rolling my eyes. I initially requested this book solely based on the cover of the book. I didn’t read the description at all. Stupid right? I would agree in most cases, but I’m pretty happy with my lack of smarts here.
The writing was quite good. There were a few spelling and grammar mistakes, but nothing that wasn’t easily overlooked. It definitely did not hinder the story. The author’s writing style was exactly my cup of tea. It was sarcastic and witty. I was in book heaven.
My Life From Hell is actually the third and final book in The Blooming Goddess trilogy. I have not actually read the other two books (like I said, I didn’t actually read the description for this). It didn’t really matter. The author managed to strike the perfect balance of explanations/descriptions for new readers that pick-up in the middle of a series without boring followers of the trilogy. It’s a hard line to straddle and I thought the author did a fantastic job.
On to the plot. I was completely blown away. I could not believe how interesting every single character was or how quickly I became 100% invested in the story. I cared about the main character, Sophie, from the very first page. The author started My Life From Hell with a top ten list (of ways to die) that appealed to so many different facets of my personality. I really don’t want to gush about a book, but I’m holding myself back from doing exactly that right now.
So, would I recommend it? Let’s put it this way, I already ordered my own paperback copy of My Life From Hell AND the first two books of the trilogy (My Ex From Hell and My Date From Hell). I will be reading the whole trilogy as soon as I get them in the mail and I’m so excited that I’m just beyond words (commence happy dancing and jumping). I would highly recommend My Life From Hell.
For more reviews, check out Reviews in a Pinch today!
My Thoughts: Greek mythology. A topic that quite a few people love learning about, but I find boring, most days. Add in a fictional current day twist and I’m rolling my eyes. I initially requested this book solely based on the cover of the book. I didn’t read the description at all. Stupid right? I would agree in most cases, but I’m pretty happy with my lack of smarts here.
The writing was quite good. There were a few spelling and grammar mistakes, but nothing that wasn’t easily overlooked. It definitely did not hinder the story. The author’s writing style was exactly my cup of tea. It was sarcastic and witty. I was in book heaven.
My Life From Hell is actually the third and final book in The Blooming Goddess trilogy. I have not actually read the other two books (like I said, I didn’t actually read the description for this). It didn’t really matter. The author managed to strike the perfect balance of explanations/descriptions for new readers that pick-up in the middle of a series without boring followers of the trilogy. It’s a hard line to straddle and I thought the author did a fantastic job.
On to the plot. I was completely blown away. I could not believe how interesting every single character was or how quickly I became 100% invested in the story. I cared about the main character, Sophie, from the very first page. The author started My Life From Hell with a top ten list (of ways to die) that appealed to so many different facets of my personality. I really don’t want to gush about a book, but I’m holding myself back from doing exactly that right now.
So, would I recommend it? Let’s put it this way, I already ordered my own paperback copy of My Life From Hell AND the first two books of the trilogy (My Ex From Hell and My Date From Hell). I will be reading the whole trilogy as soon as I get them in the mail and I’m so excited that I’m just beyond words (commence happy dancing and jumping). I would highly recommend My Life From Hell.
For more reviews, check out Reviews in a Pinch today!
merlin_reads's review
4.5
Sassy, swoony indeed!
What a fabulous ending to such a great series!
Well, it all comes down to this. The equinox is upon us and Sophie is nowhere close to being ready to take on Zeus and Hades. On top of that, the whole trying to work things out with Kai thing, yeah, Kai's not much of a talker. He really just wants to use his mouth for other things (not that anyone would mind that, I'm just saying).
While most of this series has been light and funny, Life went a little dark side. It's not surprising considering the epic main event that was happening, but it definitely took the playfulness down a notch. This one went more into the lore and myths than the previous two, which I loved, and it also showed just how deep betrayal lies.
Sophie never wanted this life. She just wanted to be a normal high school girl with her friends. And while she may have whined and complained about that in previous books, she steps into her role here and really grows. Walking in Persephone's shoes also helped her see that the Goddess of Spring wasn't all just sunshine and daisies.
This series has always been about finding your true self and being happy. With some strong girl power thrown in. It will remain one of my top series and everyone should read it. I can't wait to see what Darling has in store for us next.
I received an e-copy of this book from the author is exchange for an honest review.
What a fabulous ending to such a great series!
Well, it all comes down to this. The equinox is upon us and Sophie is nowhere close to being ready to take on Zeus and Hades. On top of that, the whole trying to work things out with Kai thing, yeah, Kai's not much of a talker. He really just wants to use his mouth for other things (not that anyone would mind that, I'm just saying).
While most of this series has been light and funny, Life went a little dark side. It's not surprising considering the epic main event that was happening, but it definitely took the playfulness down a notch. This one went more into the lore and myths than the previous two, which I loved, and it also showed just how deep betrayal lies.
Sophie never wanted this life. She just wanted to be a normal high school girl with her friends. And while she may have whined and complained about that in previous books, she steps into her role here and really grows. Walking in Persephone's shoes also helped her see that the Goddess of Spring wasn't all just sunshine and daisies.
This series has always been about finding your true self and being happy. With some strong girl power thrown in. It will remain one of my top series and everyone should read it. I can't wait to see what Darling has in store for us next.
I received an e-copy of this book from the author is exchange for an honest review.
katsmiao's review against another edition
5.0
I'm so sad it's over. This is a brilliant series.
I loved the other books in the series and I had very high expectations of this one. And it surpassed every one of them.
Wow....what a book. The middle and end totally took me by surprise, one wild twist after another. But then I realized: there was simply no other way it could end. It was perfection.
The writing is still fantastic. Great language, so funny, witty and snarky: so intelligently written.
This book (this series) is among the best ever written for YA.
I loved the other books in the series and I had very high expectations of this one. And it surpassed every one of them.
Wow....what a book. The middle and end totally took me by surprise, one wild twist after another. But then I realized: there was simply no other way it could end. It was perfection.
The writing is still fantastic. Great language, so funny, witty and snarky: so intelligently written.
This book (this series) is among the best ever written for YA.
sofiasierra's review against another edition
5.0
Loved, loved, LOVED the book. Sophie finally discovered who she was and she didn't doubt about doing the right thing anymore. Kai was super sweet and well, new ships, new OTPs. Loved it!