A review by readwithevelane
HADES: Stephanie and the Merciless Reaper by Theodora Taylor

dark tense medium-paced

3.0

 β€œπ‘° π’˜π’π’–π’π’… π’˜π’‚π’Šπ’• 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’šπ’†π’‚π’“π’” π’Šπ’‡ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’Šπ’• π’•π’π’π’Œ. 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’˜π’‚π’π’• 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’šπ’π’–. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’π’π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆.”
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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Spice: πŸ”₯
Tropes: Dark romance, interracial couple, love at first sight vibes, MC romance
Series: Ruthless MC #5

⚠️Check triggers before reading⚠️

On Stephanie's 21st birthday, she finds out her dad made a deal to hand her over. Why? Because he owes a blood debt to a ruthless MC President named Hades. Stephanie knew Hades before he was President. They saw each other one time were lovestruck. But tragedy struck before they had a chance to explore their feelings.

Hades never physically harms Stephanie, but he does some really awful things to her. He has feelings for her, which complicates things around settling the blood debt owed to him. Stephanie shows kindness to him (frankly he doesn't deserve it), but he is weary as he believes her to be a liar like her father. Hades frustrated me because he refused to see how sweet Stephanie is and let what her father did influence how he viewed her. I had a hard time connecting to him or rooting for him. I'm hoping Theodora can redeem him in part 2 because I want to love him.

Stephanie is the best part of this book. She is put through the ringer and I don't know how she didn't completely break. She does what she has to do in order to survive, but even then the fire inside her is still there. I loved her intelligence and her ability to adapt. She was sweet to Hades and you could tell she did have a level of care for him. I hope she gets to be happy with her sister one day πŸ₯Ί

The premise was there for this story, but for me the pacing is what made this a challenging read. The time jumps were confusing at times and I had to reread parts to make sure I understood what was going on. The epilogue confused me (I thought it was all a dream at first) and it took me a beat to figure out what was going on. I am very intrigued about what happened that influenced that cliffhanger. We only got bits and pieces to give us some insight. I'm very curious how we went from the Bayou to a completely different state.

I look forward to part 2!