Reviews

Persephone the Phony by Joan Holub, Suzanne Williams

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ieemee's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

I was disappointed in representation of female characters. The girls are in high school and worried overly worried about looking old. The girls are using make up to make sure they aren’t hideous. What the girls look like is a large part of their personality. The activities that they as FMCS can do as girls even as goddess is like knitting. The illustrations are beautiful. The male character intiate adventure and fmcs follow. Also there’s a scene that made me feel icky….

where the kids drink ambrosia which is alcoholic cocktail with their principal Zeus & he’s telling Persephone how her mother needs to let her grow up

this is behaviour is giving grooming vibes yet saying the behaviour is acceptable & fun

sebbyroth's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

fernthepanda's review against another edition

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3.0

"Persephone pursed her lips in exasperation. 'Ugh, my mom is always so worried! She probably thinks you'd kidnap me, given half a chance.'"

Another adorable installment in the Goddessgirls series. I still find this take on mythology really interesting. It is particularly the little things in these books, ("Atlas shrugged."), that I find so amusing.

mbarkley's review

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

zapkode's review against another edition

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5.0

{My Thoughts} – Persephone is one of Athena’s closest friends. However, she isn’t as un-masked around Athena and the other girls as she is around a Godboy named Hades. Persephone seems to like that she can be her own dreary, emo like self when she is around Hades, and she doesn’t have that option around her other friends. The reason for that is because her mother is always telling her to go along with others and what they want so that she has an easier means of getting along with them. That doesn’t always work out for Persephone though because she ends up being really sad and unhappy afterwards in most cases.

I enjoyed this book a lot, it helps to show children that they have a right to their own individuality. That they shouldn’t let others just push them around, because they are afraid to speak their minds about how it is that they feel. Persephone is a smart girl and she has many interest, but none of them are the same as her friends and because her mom tells her to go along to get along they really don’t know who she is and it isn’t fair to her or them, however, they don’t know it isn’t fair.

I really enjoyed reading about her coming out of her shell more and letting others she her personality and get to know her for her. And well, not the girl she had pretended to be because her mother had told her to. This is a wonderful book and I think it is ideal for children that are shy and haven’t quite figured out how to show others what they want or how they feel.

I look forward to reading more in this series in the near future.