This was a labor of love and insanity.43 s2 comments Spiri Skye432 19

is it bad to say I wanted less plot 14 s Jen ?Star-Crossed Book Blog?607 361

***4.5/5 Stars***

My Dark Beast was a Hades x Persephone retelling, with Sleeping Beauty mixed, making this story intoxicating, unique, and impossible to put down.  With Alice in Wonderland vibes, from the dreamscape, I was left questioning what was real at times.  As the story unfolded, it was dark, mesmerizing, and so easy to love.  The characters will capture your heart. And the ending will leave you smiling while you read two beautiful epilogues!  I can’t recommend this book enough to romantasy lovers and those that love retellings too!
I don’t realize I’ve stopped walking until a deep voice rasps right beside my ear, “The first thing that draws most women’s gazes when they step past my threshold is the expensive art on my walls or the breadth of my entry hall, yet you, Calamity, seem enraptured by my floors.”
“I was expecting the fires of Hell, or the stones to runneth over with blood.”
Calanthe Bloom was helping take care of her mom, while also running her parents business.  Not by choice, but by duty since her mom had Alzheimers.  It broke my heart to watch her interact with her mom at times, and I couldn’t help but shed tears.  Yet through it all, I loved the light and fire that burned within Calanthe.  And her thoughts cracked me up at times too.  I loved how sarcastic she could be.
“The beast has a conscience. Who would’ve thought?”
From the moment Tarian Hadez appeared on the pages, I was obsessed.  He was dark, brooding, and had a way of commanding all of your attention.  Yet while he was a mystery, there were so many things to love about him.  how he called Calanthe, Calamity.  To how he could make simple words so seductive.  To even getting to see a sweet side of him too, which seemed to contrast with how deadly he was perceived.  So when something happened between Tarian and Calathe, I was grasping for breath trying to figure out what was going on.
“Why do I always dream of you?” I murmur.
He watches me, and I watch him. He looks so real. So…tangible.
He stalks closer to the door.
When Calanthe and Tarian were together, the sexual tension that exploded between them was beautiful.  And when you add that into a dreamscape, it was intoxicating.  With steamy kisses, flirting that will have you sighing out loud, being called a good girl, and more, this book was so seductive.  How Tarian could make just a simple lick panty melting was talented.  Add that with Tarian messing with Calamity, and this book was so much fun!
“I’m sorry to have dragged you into my hell.”
She snakes her arm around my middle and takes a step forward, slotting her body into mine. And then she twists her head and presses her cheek against my chest.
Against my dark, bestial heart.
This story held me in the palm of its hands.  I tried my best to put together the clues, but it was challenging since we were taken on such a wild ride with a million and one questions swirling around.  I wasn’t sure who I could trust, but I went with my gut and hoped that would pan out correctly!  So while I’m not saying much, because it’s definitely best to learn on your own, just know that I can’t recommend this book enough!
“You’re not some means to an end. You’re my fucking salvation, Calamity.”
My Dark Beast ended with a beautiful happily ever after, yet it was a journey to get there.  With death bleeding from the pages, and moments that made me shed tears, this book consumed me.  So I was grateful for Tarian’s ability to make me laugh, during moments where I just wanted to cry.  And I adored that we learned this world with Calanthe as the story progressed.  So I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that some of the side characters will get their own stories down the road!  I am not ready to say goodbye to these characters!
“What’ll it be, Calanthe darling?”
“Fuck me,” I breathe out.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book, provided by the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

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adult arcs creatures-gods ...more9 s Tiffany Murphy547 73

"Roses have petals and thorns, my dark flower. You needn't think something weak because it appears delicate. Show the world your bravery."

The Hades and Persephone story has always been one of my favorite Greek myths and there have been other retellings. But, Olivia Wildenstein took her retelling of the story and ran with it, making the story completely her own. It is in a class of its own. This dual point of view, reality/dreamscape perspective was an entirely new perspective. And mixing it with Sleeping Beauty, which is my favorite fairytale, took things to a new level! I was completely swept away by the Atlantean gods with power, who people thought were mob bosses. Those in Tarian's inner circle were so dynamic and well written, even those that I ultimately hated. I loved their wit and the interactions with the family members that Tarian and Callanthe could truly trust. And, Callanthe was a complete BA heroine who wasn't afraid to stand up to those with power, even though she didn't have any. I loved every moment of this story. It was suspenseful, descriptive, and fully immersive. I know that Olivia says she isn't sure if there will be more stories in this world, with these characters but I dearly hope there will be. After all, there could be prequels, and I feel Malachi and Electra need to find happily ever afters of their very own. Besides, there are many storylines that I'd love to see tied up and I'd love to see more of Atlantis! To be honest, Olivia is just one of those authors that I will always want to read their work. I don't even need a synopsis to know I want to read it. Her stories are always right up my alley.epic-fantasy fairytales fantasy ...more7 s Candace RobinsonAuthor 54 books1,068

Loved this one so much!!! I was captivated from the first page, and it was full of everything I could want! Sexy, unique, and oh so good!7 s Aly2,918

Well, this was just not for me. There's almost no plot and 75% of the book takes place in a random dream world where things aren't explained and it's just used as a build up to sex. Callanthe is 'not other girls' in that she's not a size zero and doesn't immediately fall for Tarian (except she kind of does) and I wanted more actual plot.

I did the Atlanteans and their powers and would have d more information about how everything worked. The killings were also kind of cool and I'm always here for people getting what's coming to them. 2024 adult april-2024 ...more5 s R175 26

2 stars.

I wanted to love this so bad. So bad!! And I did, for a long while. The beginning really got me and I YEARNEDDD for Tarian and Calanthe to be together. It was my mistake that I didn’t realize the whole book would go by without the two of them meeting again face to face. Lol.

This book was too long. WAY TOO LONG. The only reason I managed to read through it all was because I thought Tarian and Calanthe would at least meet again somewhere in the middle (aka at 300 pages) and the rest of the book would be about them cultivating their relationship together. That’s what I really wanted.

I would chop out at least half of it and it would make for a stronger book. There are so many needless conversations, so much back and forth between minor characters rehashing the subplots in the book amongst each other, so many different red herrings. The plot is not refined at all. It was extremely difficult to read, no joke. It was tedious. The writing became terrible somewhere in the middle, it was a chore for the author to write it just it was a chore to read. I wanted to start counting the number times there was a palipitating heart, pupil change, or cheek scrunching. There are whole pages where dialogue is buffeted with just descriptions of pounding hearts and pulses. Not to mention the random dictionary words thrown in everywhere.

Calanthe as a character kind of sucked. She distrusted everyone around her (for no reason) and never once shared the full extent of her dreams, or her thoughts around them—only mentioning some key insight 20 pages later as an “oh yeah!” moment. This happened on repeat some torturous cycle. She was also so slow at putting the hints from her dreams together. The people around her never pressured her to spill the beans either, which made no sense at all. Often, Calanthe would be in some dire situation and start paying attention to things the colour of someones shoes or jacket.

Tarian was written mostly a suave player instead of a haunted, powerful supernatural. By the end… I was really done with these two. In the real world, they were even more underwhelming and corny.

So… 2 stars.4 s Katherine356 18

Calanthe runs her parents flower shop with her mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s. Her father passed away and she’s trying to keep a roof over their heads. She loves true crime podcasts. Calanthe gets an order of cacti for a dinner party at the Hadez mansion. She meets Tarian Hadez - bad boy gazlionaire. Tarian is an Atlantean god with magic. He transfers some of his magic into Calanthe by bumping into her so now they can walk into each other’s dreams. Tarian’s immortality is at stake so Calanthe must save him.
Trust no one.

Enemies to lovers. Spicy romance.
Sleeping Beauty meets Hades and Persephone. 4 s Ayesha Farhat28 1 follower

Can’t believe I wasted time on this. Or all the 5 star . Either they love drivel, or I picked up the wrong book.

Was so looking forward to this, as I LOVED Feather, but I’m DNF’ing at 51%. There.. wasn’t anything going for it. I can handle a lack of spice, but a lack of banter is unacceptable. The plot is convoluted and makes zero sense, the “kidnapping” doesn’t even have a sense of urgency surrounding it, and Calanthe is … weak as a character, at best.

So very disappointed.
4 s Natalia126 3

This one was…interesting? I have a question mark here because Im still not 100% sure how I felt about it. It was a new twist on fantasy that I havent run into to yet, so that was refreshing. I think it was supposed to be a Hades/Persephone retelling (ish), mixed with Sleeping Beauty (sort of?). It was oddly entertaining, but I did find myself confused quite a bit.

Basically we have a “mobster” (Tarion Hadez) who is an Atlantean. These atlanteans have magic, and this one in particular has a lot of it due to being granted magic after falling into a magical mine and being gifted all these magical runes from the Atlantean’s goddess, Gia (or Gea?). Anyway, after accidentally “stinging” our FMC (Calanthe Bloom) with a magical rune, he is kidnapped and falls into some sort of sleeping coma. Calanthe is linked to Tarion through this magical rune and is connected to him in dreams. Every time he summons her in his dreamscape, she basically falls asleep wherever she is.

This is where the confusion often occurred, one second Calanthe is in the real world, and the next we’re in a dream and its not always clear right away. Basically, they fall in love in dreamland, while she’s trying to help solve the mystery of who kidnapped him and figure out a way to find him.

Most of the time I wasn’t sure what i was reading, but I will say it was entertaining and for that I give it 3.5.
4 s Joanna Owens88 3

4.5*
Awwww.
She’s gone and done it again!
OW is so masterful creating her female leads, I particularly loved Calanthe, her internal dialogue was so relatable and v amusing! Tarian was obviously a giant, morally grey swoon fest (the best kind).

What I loved: fab characters, something a bit new and original, touching and sensitively told dementia journey, lots of drama, door left wide open to visit characters again in next book.

What I wasn’t so sure about: pace felt a little off for last section of first third of book, use of vocabulary chosen for Tarian felt a little off at times in comparison to the other characters, could have been a little more world building around Atlantis.

This book is fun, wild and very amusing. Read it!

P.S the extra chapter was the literal icing on the cake
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