Hi Everyone and happy June
I am beyond excited for this review today since it's been one of my most anticipated releases of the year. Katee Robert has quickly become one of my favourite authors and the Dark Olympus series is at the top of my favourites as well. Not to mention I was seriously looking forward to the relationship in the book being polyamorous. This book did not disappoint and I'm already looking forward to book 4! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Source Books Cassablanca for the ARC.
Another phenomenal Dark Olympus book! If I didn’t have a bias towards Hades & Persephone as characters I’d say Wicked Beauty is my favourite in the series, but at the very least it’s definitely tied with Neon Gods for top favourite so far. I love the plot of the book and love the characters even more. Helen entering the competition to become the next Ares even though she’s supposed to be part of the prize for the winner is honestly such a power move. Helen does not want to be just the wife of a god and she truly put everything into proving her worth.
I loved the power dynamic between Helen, Achilles, and Patroclus. Helen and Achilles are both so strong, dominant, stubborn, determined and ambitious that even though they clash over some things they make a great duo. Patroclus is the more levelheaded and calm of the three and he fits in so well, calming the others out a bit and being the voice of reason more often than not. Not to mention the smut is 100% more steamy than the other two books in the series. The three of them are such a fierce trio in general, but you can really see the power dynamics come out to play when they’re all in bed together. Also…. the first scene just between Helen and Achilles, the hate-sex is such a way to start what becomes their relationship. And I loved seeing the polyamory aspect, it was nice to have that talked about especially at the beginning.
Katee definitely had me on the edge of my seat the whole time since I couldn’t seem to figure out who was going to win the competition. I had hopes but was definitely skeptical of what the outcome would be at times. In the end I will say I thought the outcome was perfect and I couldn’t have been happier with it. I’m glad the suspense paid off in such a great way.
And without saying anything to spoil the end, I’ll just say I’m so curious to see what happens in the rest of the series because what was talked about towards the end is definitely going to show up throughout the next few books.
Until next time,
Emily Marie