I love how so many things happened in the book. I could not keep myself from the book because it was so good this is the best book in the series

This preview has me so excited to read this latest story by Katee Robert! I loved the previous two in the series, and based on what I read here, I know I'm going to love this one, too. Each character has such a distinct voice, and I can't wait to see how their stories intertwine and play out.

I loved this preview of Wicked Beauty. I love Katee's imagination and creativity. I have always had a fascination with Achilles, so I knew this book was going to be just what I needed to read. I will need to read the rest very soon.

OMG I cannot wait for the full version to come out. This story will be amazing and I just read the first few chapters and it feels like a cliffhanger to me.

I admit I didn't really enjoy the first book all that much but this preview definitely makes me want to give this book a go.

As soon as I finished my library loan of Electric Idol, I logged into my NetGalley account and downloaded the first five chapters of Wicked Beauty onto my e-reader. The world of Dark Olympus was just so engaging that I wanted to tarry in it a little longer. And we left it in such a precarious position - of the Thirteen, Aphrodite was exiled, Ares was ailing, Zeus was a neophyte, and Hera was rising.

Wicked Beauty took an unexpected turn for me. Since the first two books followed two of the four Dimitriou sisters, I expected Wicked Beauty to follow a third sister, Callisto, as she transforms the title of Hera. Instead, it is a retelling of the Achilles myth, drawing in both Helen and Patroclus, as a competition for the Ares title.

The first few chapters nicely established the primary conflict of the novel: Helen wants to win the competition for herself rather than be a prize for the winner. It is told in three first-person voices, although it was difficult for me to separate the Patroclus voice from the Achilles voice at times. Initially, Achilles is cast as the brawn and Patroclus is cast as the brain. I suspect, as the novel develops, that it will become either increasingly difficult or increasingly easy to tell the two male voices apart, depending what turn the narrative takes.

Although the first five chapters set up the primary conflict of the novel, they don’t make it easy to see how that conflict will be resolved to give each of the three voices a happily ever after. There are multiple possibilities and, knowing how the last two books worked out, the ending will probably be something completely unexpected. However it works out, I do hope that Callisto figures heavily in it because this really should be her book.

I will definitely pick up this book to read to the end when it is released in early June, more because I’m invested in the universe than because I’m invested in any of the characters. I do think that this novel will be harder to read as a stand-alone because there was minimal background on the characters and the world-building in the chapters that I read.

This review is only of the first five chapters of the book, which was provided as a digital advance reader copy by NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

****** Updated Review of Entire Book (July 2022) ******

I listened to almost half a dozen Katee Robert books from the Wicked Villains series between finishing the five chapter excerpt of Wicked Beauty from NetGalley and finishing the entire book from hoopla. That series is rife with throuples of the “Why chose?” variety; therefore, knowing the author had a polyamorous predilection, the resolution of the romantic arc was easy to predict once I finally restarted the finished book. The resolution of the dramatic arc - who will be named the next Ares? - was less predictable, but still quite satisfying. I had to read the chapter about the third competition two or three times over just to slow things down enough to absorb the ending.

Overall, I didn’t think this book was as novel as first two because I felt like the romantic arc followed too closely some of the Wicked Willains stories. But I’m still stalking NetGalley almost daily to see when Radiant Sin is available. Hopefully, that will be much more engaging.

As someone who is obsessed with Troy (movie and all) I was soooo excited to see the next storyline of the Dark Olympus series!!! Katee Robert never ceases to amaze me with her ability to turn these Greek stories so modern.

I did read this small preview, but now have purchased the book, so I can't wait to see where the story goes from here!

This book is my current favorite of Kate Robert’s Dark Olympus series! After Helen’s cameos in the first two books, especially in Electric Idol, I was thrilled when her story was announced as the next book.

Helen, Patroclus, and Achilles each are beautifully written characters on their own, but their relationship is one for the ages. I loved the dynamic and conversations between the self-proclaimed triad and loved how they were willing to put each other before their own political goals. Finally a Greek mythology retelling that ends happily for Helen of Troy! This story is one you don’t want to miss!

I can’t wait to see what Katee Robert does next! Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for originally providing me with the first five chapters in exchange for an honest review. Those chapters made me eager to get my hands on the finished version!

I would like to thank NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel. All opinions remain my own.

This series holds a special place in my heart, I am such a fan of each of these books but this one was everything I could have ever wanted. It was sexy, queer, poly, competition, greek mythology? What more could I ask?

Helen is such an interesting character. She is so strong and I found that the way she reacted to the abusive situations she was faced with was very accurate. She felt real. Like a fully fleshed out person with motives that made sense.

Achilles, oh my sweet Achilles. He and Patroclus have such a beautiful bond and relationship. I loved their open communication and how honest they all were about their feelings. Also finally a healthy beautiful portrayal of a poly relationship.

The plot was just as strong as the romance for me, the entire thing felt very high stakes.

I wish I could give this book about 500 stars. Katee Robert, just take my bank account number and charge me accordingly because this blew me away.

**ARC  of Chapters 1-5 provided by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Katee Robert's Dark Olympus series continues!

Wicked Beauty follows a familiar side character that we got to see a bit of on Electric Idol, Helen Kasios, sister of the new Zeus, as she decides to stand up and fight for her own independence by throwing her name in for the trials that would lead to the victor and newly appointed Ares. 

The only hitch? She's got quite a bit of competition in Achilles and Patroclus, her sleazy ex Paris and his brother Hector, some outsiders who are unknowns to the rest of them, and Atalanta. 

Of course, things become more complicated when her brother does something that only her father could have thought of: add Helen's hand in marriage as a grand prize for the winner of the trials. 

I was able to read the first few chapters as a preview and though it was a bit slow going, setting the scene for not only Helen, gaining insight into where her head's at, but also giving readers more background on Achilles and Patroclus' relationship.

Things are a little on the slow-burning side of things and at roughly 400 pages long, it might continue that path. The expositional build up definitely has piqued my interest in terms of each of our trio's backgrounds and curious about whether we'll see more of it as I read on. 

Despite the foundation building, the tension between the trio are still there. In the memories Patroclus has of his and Helen's short time together as children as she stood up for him, in the way that Achilles warns against any interactions with Helen. Their actual interactions even early on, don't do much to dispel that tension.

It's clear to see that things will definitely be heating between these three but, much like Electric Idol, the trio come with their own baggage and with their safety and a position with The Thirteen on the line, it's anyone's guess how this can turn out considering they're all competing for the same name.

I'm excited to see the trio's story take off and what Helen, Achilles, and Patroclus' story will bring into the Dark Olympus-verse. 

My Rating: 3.5 stars

I just finished the full book and it was fantastic! I was never a fan of throuples until I started reading Katee’s books. She does them so well! Loved the enemies to lover vibes going side by side with the friends to lovers vibes. Can’t wait to read more of this series!

This little tidbit wasn't enough! I'm so excited to dive into the whole book. I'm excited to see what Katee has in store for us with this one!

I ended up waiting to review this until I could read the whole story…and it’s fantastic. This book was everything that I wanted it to be. The plot, angst, jealousy and spice were alllllll so perfect.

I cannot say enough GREAT things about this series! And in Wicked Beauty we get an MMF?! Heck yeah! This is going to be outstanding!

Preview of the next Dark Olympus book. Love how it started and looking forward to reading the story in its entirety very soon!

A dirty little taste. I’m looking forward to getting the full story when it releases. It’s already apparent that the trio have an interesting dynamic and I like the allusions to Hercules (from the Wicked Villains series).

Just a preview but oh did it pull me in!! I’m looking forward to the full copy. Thanks for the excerpt

DNF @ 27%, so no official rating, except where I'm forced to leave one.

Tag line: Zara Hampton-Brown’s narration was a highlight for me with Wicked Beauty.

Full review will be posted on FreshFiction.com.

✨Book 12 of 2022✨

✨Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶✨

✨ I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca. Thank y’all so much! I was super excited to receive a hard copy, my first hard copy ARC 🥰. ✨

✨Okay. Y’allllllll. This. Book. I fucking loved this book. It was so smutty and spicy 🌶🥵! Probably one of the smutty books I’ve read in a long time.. if not ever. It was also my first throuple book, and it did not disappoint! I loved how the author made this book where yes, it’s smutty and sexy, but there’s more to the story than that. The characters have to deal with all the emotions that one would think of when having this kind of relationship. There was also more action that happened in this book than the others in the series, but it was fun and helped move the story along. I also love the representation in this book! LGBTQ+ and feminism coming in for the clutch! 😍🤩 ✨

✨Oh and the ending was perfect! I kinda wish there would be like a novella or something with the three of them after the Ares trials, just so we could get a closer look at their new roles and life.. but still a perfect ending. Highly recommend this book if you like the other books in this series, if you love smut, strong female and male characters, and a good story. I’m super excited for the rest of this series!! ✨

This was just a sample of the next installment of the Dark Olympus series and all I have to say is...I can't wait! Katee Robert knows how to dial up the steam and intensity! Polyamory anyone???

Thank you to Katee Robert for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.