A review by just_one_more_paige
Lore Olympus: Volume Three by Rachel Smythe

emotional lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 
This third installation finally made it back to the library after being long overdue. And I sped through it in about an hour, as I have the rest of the series…collection?... I’m not actually sure what to call this, as it’s a compilation of episodes from a previously published web-comic. Huh. Anyways, the point is, I finally got it, and read through it fast AF. 
 
The story picks up exactly where we left it, with the pull between Hades and Persephone being strong enough to pretty much be noticed by everyone around them (and poor attempts to ignore it themselves are central). Plus, they each have a pretty intensely distracting personal/mental health concern, as Persephone struggles with the expectations on her and the emotional repercussions of that mixed with Apollo’s assault and Hades falls back into some old bad habits in his toxic relationship with Minthe. Of course, we get some bonus side story content as well, this time with a focus on how Persephone came to stay with Artemis in the first place and Eros’ complicated (and questionably handled) secret relationship with Psyche. 
 
So far, I have been entertained by, but not totally sold on, this series. As I have mentioned, it might have been the style of the storytelling or the fact that the retelling space is overly saturated right now and perhaps my standards are skewed. But I have to say, this third section of the story was much better, for me. I thought the development of Persephone and Hades together and separately was really much stronger here. Maybe the first two had to take too much time in set up (stories of the gods are very complicated, with lots of faces/characters) and didn’t have the chance to give character depth until this point. But I really enjoyed what we got in these chapters; the story is really starting to settle in and form more strongly. 
 
I also liked the more nuanced emotions we’re getting from Persephone here. I was not a huge fan of her one-dimensional bubbly-sweet naivete. Maybe I’m cynical, but after her formative years being so strict/isolated, and then this “coming out” into a space of such drama as the gods have, and her sexual assault, I feel like her more intense emotions, and some darker ones for sure, should have come sooner. Now, there was a long break between when I read the first two and now, reading this third book, so there’s a chance my perspective on timing is skewed. Regardless, I liked seeing her be vulnerable (the episode where she opens up to Eros and the way he validates and supports her was the absolute highlight), a little angry, and overtly protective of herself. She still has the soft, people-pleasing qualities of before, but now with more depth. And how that’s allowing her to start to be more independent in her thought, and even come into her own powers a bit, lines up nicely. 
 
Hades…well, he is who he is after how long he’s been around. We’ll see how Persephone can soften and heal him with more time spent together. I assume that’s on the horizon and I’m here for it. And with time, we are also starting to get more from others, like Artemis and Hermes and Minthe and Thetis, and that is all great side character development. One last point on development, it was cool to see more of the Underworld and its sections and workings in this collection. I hope we get more of that moving forwards too, the world-building around the inter-character dramatics. 
 
I was going to stop here, if I didn’t feel into this series any more after this third installation. I figured it was only fair to give it this long, since they are *so* fast to read. And I’m glad I made that call, because this one was definitely better enough, imo, to make me want to pick up the next one and see how the story unfolds further, in this iteration of the telling. 
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