Her Dark Wings was a very interesting take Persophone/Hades story. This story was really a story about healing more than anything else.
The set up of the world was a little confusing and it took me quite a few chapters to understand what was going on. Corey was an intriguing character and I could totally understand where all her anger was coming from. I really hated Bree and didn't like that when we get to know more about her and her motives it seems like we're supposed to feel sympathy for her. She was a truly horrible friend.
The main reason I was interested in reading this book was because of the romance and to be honest, there was very little in this book. I would have prefered a much bigger focus on Corey and Hades.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

it’s a hades and persephone retelling, but it’s unique in that regard in that it is far less centered on the romance and more so on corey (the main character) herself and her own journey dealing with friendship and betrayal and belonging and home. it was refreshing in that regard - there are a million hades and persephone retellings out there but somehow this one managed to feel new. it’s also got a modern-and-yet-not setting in the form of an island that’s somewhat separate from the rest of the modern world, and there’s a lot of exploration of light and dark and where we fall in the middle of that. there were a few threads left unfollowed that i would’ve loved to see more of (specifically about corey’s mother), but this was still an enjoyable one for me.

1⭐️

if you had a gun to my head and told me to name one really good scene in this book, i’d be dead 😐

nothing about <i>her dark wings</i> stood out to me and it felt really bland in all aspects. i was excited because it’s a hades x persephone retelling but the characters had the personality of stale bread.

i didn’t dnf this book so that’s a plus i guess ?

thank you so much to netgalley and random house children's for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After wishing her former best friend dead, Corey accidentally witnesses her soul crossing over into the Underworld. And the lord of the Underworld himself sees her do it. He tries to warn her off, but Corey is drawn to the realm beyond and soon finds herself in it—the only living mortal in history who has ever gone to the Underworld willingly.

And her arrival brings out the curiosity of The Furies, the protection of one god and the wrath of another. And the longer Corey spends in the Underworld, the more it begins to change her—and change with her.
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This was such a beautiful, captivating retelling of the Greek myth of Persephone & Hades. I really enjoyed the modern twist as well as bringing The Furies into the mix. Corey was such a great MC that I really felt for and was totally enraptured by her experience in the Underworld. Salisbury did such a wonderful job in creating this world and bringing it to life with such a rich cast of characters. I really hope there’s a sequel to this because I need more of Corey and her garden!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

This is a retelling of the Persephone and Hades story in modern times. It was an interesting spin, and I enjoyed it, but I didn't like Corey, the main character, or her motivations for being the way she was.

Corey is still feeling the betrayal of losing both her best friend and boyfriend when the two of them hook up behind her back. Before she can reconcile her feelings about their betrayal, her best friend dies...the same night Corey kisses a mysterious stranger. Most of the plot revolves around Corey's anger. At times it's nearly unbearable because you want to shake the girl and tell her that everything will work out.

I wished the book delved more into her mother's disappearance and who she was. I kept hoping she'd appear in the book. It felt like a loose end that wasn't explored more. i wanted to know if there was a reason that Corey was the way she was. Overall, this was a 3.5 for me.

I enjoyed this book but wouldn't ever pick this back up or recommend it. It had potential but I feel as though we lacked in basic world building to continue to flesh out the broken friendship of our FMC.

So let's start first with saying this is a loose Persephone retelling. The relationship between Corey, our Persephone, and Hades is pretty minimal which I was disappointed in.
I loved the Furies, while they weren't overly complex characters I still appreciated the darker side they brought to the book.
I loved Hermes, I low-key loved that Hades wasn't this gorgeous all consuming deity. The chemistry between Corey and Hades wasn't there for me, idk if it was because I didn't really love Corey. I found her to be bland.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I loved this retelling! I read a few reviews that didn’t see the correlations between the Hades and Persephone myths and Her Dark Wings. I am not an expert on the subject, but I was instantly able to see parallels between the myth and the book and with a small amount of googling I found even more. My favorite was using the name Corey for FMC. It’s was a not so sublet sublet nod and I loved it.

I loved this book. I thought it discussed the topics of loss, sorrow, growth, and closure in a very creative way. While the world building was needed, it wasn’t dry and it matched the pace of the second half of the book. I was captivated from beginning to end. Most of all I loved that this retelling gave the Persephone character more agency than in the myth. And updated story for modern times.

Her Dark Wings is a retelling of Persephone, but it's also a story about friendship and what happens when we hurt those we love.

This book had so much potential. Not only because it is a retelling of the very interesting story of Hades and Perspehone, but also because I really enjoyed the author's Sineater series. But the story was nothing like I had hoped for, and I just ended up feeling disappointed.

Let’s start with the setting, what was that? It’s a modern Scottish island, which for some reason is devoted to Greek mythology and has ceremonies connected to it. How or why this is the case is never explained in the story. Which left it feeling weird and out of place.

Then the characters weren't much better. I really wanted to like Corey, but it was very hard at times to root for her. Or even care for her. She was the chosen one, in the most boring way. Everything just works out for her in the end, without anything ever feeling like it ever was at stake. Even the feuds are solved with a simple “I’m sorry” and then that’s that. I wish the story had focused more on exploring her anger and aggression. How the Furies teach her to let out her female rage. Because the Furies were easily the best part of this book, and I’m a bit sad how they just got swept to the side for an insta-love with Hades about half-way through. Even Hermes had so much potential, that just ended up not being much of anything.

There were things I loved. The Furies, the setting of the underworld, Hermes.. But when the backbone of the story left me wanting more, it wasn’t enough to carry the story.

When I sit back and think about it, there’s so really cool stuff going on here. This group of 1200 people live on an island relatively removed from the mainland. They practice Ancient Greek rituals and pray to the Gods. There’s a rumor that if one looks over their shoulder while standing on a certain hill, they will catch a glimpse of the Underworld.

The reader gets more than just a glimpse. We travel along the River Styx, hang out with the Furies in Erebus and meet Hades at his place.

I wouldn’t consider Her Dark Wings to be a “Hades and Persephone retelling” but it absolutely pulls from Greek mythology. The story is about a young girl, Corey, who loses her best friend and travels to the Underworld against her will. She discovers that she’s very different from the rest of the people on her island — the Furies can sense that she has powers and they want Corey to become one of them. Overall, there actually isn’t a whole lot of Hades in this story.

Honestly, one of my favorite things about this story is the focus on friendship-love. The romance took a backseat and I appreciated that. Even the relationship between Hades and Corey was a bit understated.

This was a really good young adult fantasy that immediately pulled me in by its stunning cover. This book was very well written and made for an atmospheric read. The author did a great job with the world building in this book and overall this was an enjoyable read.

Read this if you like:

✨ Greek Mythology
✨ Strong Main Characters
✨ Hades & Persephone Retellings
✨ YA Fantasy Romance

“You shouldn’t miss someone who hurt you.”

“Her Dark Wings” by Melinda Salisbury is a retelling of Persephone and Hades for YA. Corey and Bree have been nest friends for their entire lives, until Bree commits the ultimate betrayal. When Bree dies Corey feels even worse about everything in her life and ends up accidentally seeing Bree enter the Underworld. The adventures of Corey have entangled her with Hades, Hermes, and the Furies.

This is a perfect book for Persephone and Hades lovers but for a YA audience. YA: so, it is very chaste and sweet. I liked the modern retelling that Melinda Salisbury wrote because of the fact even though it is Greek Mythology it is modern enough that the teens still act like teens today, they just grown up with different religion than our current reality. I also liked that the book about a teen girl is written like an actual teen girl, Corey is attracted to Hades, but it doesn’t take center stage. What actually takes center stage in the book is her friendships, with Bree and then with Furies and even Hermes. The only complaint that isn’t that much of a complaint is that it is so loosely based on the Greek story, I don’t mind that much but some people might not like the big changes. I gave it a 5 out of 5 stars, I loved all of the book so much and the cover is so beautiful.

Corey was inseparable from Bree until Bree betrayed her. Bree recently died though so Corey doesn't know how to feel. When she sees Bree's spirit, things change.

This one was described as a retelling of the Persephone myth, but I didn't really see that here. I also felt like the writing was too much in a teenage voice, where the author could have edited a little bit more to make the narrative flow better. The overall plot wasn't bad, just different than what I expected based on the synopsis.

Before diving into this review, can we take a moment to swoon over the cover?! Because wow! This was meant to be a retelling of Hades and Persephone, but not sure it hit the mark there. I was super excited for this one, because in general I am a sucker for Hades and Persephone; but as the story went on I did not love it as much as I had hoped or expected. The chemistry between Hades and Corey just wasn’t there. There was definitely more chemistry between her and Alecto. I had expected the story to focus more on Corey and Hades relationship, but the focus was more on the three fates and how it was assumed Corey was one of them. I did enjoy the book, it just wasn’t what I was expecting which isn’t a bad thing.

A good story, but I found the first half to be really slow. I like the idea of a Hades/Persephone retelling though. I liked the character for Hades and how he was portrayed here. The second half went a bit faster. I'm not sure how many students I could get to willingly read this book, but my mythology fans should like it.

Book Name: Her Dark Wings

Author: Melinda Salisbury

ARC

Thank you to Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for a copy of Melinda Salisbury’s Her Dark Wings

Stars: 3

Standalone or Series:

Cliffhanger:

Slow Paced

FMC POV

Modern Mythological Adventure

- Thoughts.
- Lacked a lot of the romance the Persephone myth is known for
- Very Angry/Angsty first half
- Underworld was interesting
- Enjoyed the addition of the Furies
- Friendship and Betrayal takes center stage
- Romance is barely there…

Likening this as a Persephone retelling is doing this book a disservice it a modern mythological adventure in the underworld more in line with something like Lore.

Content Warning: death

+ I wanted to read this book because of the Hades and Persephone retelling. I think it did a fairly good job at keeping this story a modern retelling of the mythology but I do wish there was more romance between Corey and Hades since that’s what I like about the myth. I did like the trip to the Underworld and Furies in the story though – they added a little bit of danger to the story. I also like Hermes!

+ The young adult aspect of the story centered around Corey’s drama with her best friend Bree who basically stole Corey’s boyfriend and when Bree dies – Corey has no closure about their friendship and the betrayal. It is something she works through the story.

~ It’s a really quick read, which is great but I just wanted more, especially between Hades and Corey. They were barely together in the book I feel since Corey was stuck with the Furies.

My Thoughts:

I like that it was a quick read and it was a modern retelling about Hades and Persephone but I just wish there was more world-building and more chemistry and time between Hades and Corey. This was just an okay read for me.

Public review will be posted on 11/29, this review will be updated with the appropriate links | Edited 11/30 to add link.

MY REVIEW: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
👉 I was initially drawn to this one because it's a Persephone/Hades retelling… But what I LOVED is what made it so different: It is very much more women/friendship-focused compared to the typical relationship-driven retellings.
👉 Even as a YA book, the story and characters were still strong, I never felt like it was too juvenile or corny or pandering toward that audience--This is easily one of the best YA books I've read in a hot sec!!
👉 I love love loved that it was set in modern day, where an island still worships the gods (aka where I need to move to ASAP)

For as long as Corey can remember, it's been her and her best friend, Bree. But then Bree betrays her, and, months later, dies, and the anger inside of Corey burns hotter--how can she grieve when she's still so resentful? And then Corey sees the impossible: Bree's spirit, passing into the afterlife, and into the realm ruled by Hades, god of the dead. And Hades sees her in return, starting a wild turn of events that Corey never would have expected.

Her Dark Wings is a Persephone retelling that deviates from the myth and gives a fresh tale of a girl coming into her own power--3.5 stars. I love mythology retellings, and Greek myths are the ones I'm most familiar with. Furthermore, I have a soft spot for Hades/Persephone stories, so this was a must-read book for me.

This novel takes place in a modern world where Greek gods are still worshipped and stories of mythical creatures may or may not be true. Unlike most Persephone retellings, Corey's story is one that is less about a star-crossed romance and more about her own coming-of-age, seen primarily through the lens of her rage and her grief. After discovering that her boyfriend has been cheating on her with her bestie, she feels lost and unmoored--and angry. With her hurt boiling deep inside, she finds herself taken in by the Furies, the deities of vengeance, who claim her as one of their own. What unfolds is Corey's own reckoning with the darkness that lives inside her, and the power that she holds deep within.

I feel like there were some really great aspects of this story. In particular, I liked that this is a standalone that draws on the original myth but makes something completely new out of it. I personally can't think of any novels that are quite like this one. There are familiar bits for mythology buffs, but the plot is something I haven't really seen before.

At the same time, there were some things that I disliked, and unfortunately those are the things that tend to stick out to readers. For me, I think the book suffered a little from vague worldbuilding--for instance, the island that Corey and Bree live on is, quite mysteriously, only referred to as "the Island." Everything else is given to us in tiny pieces that don't really pull together any semblance of a wider setting.

I also think that the book got a little muddled in the middle. It's not a particularly long novel, but it perhaps ruminates a little too long on Corey's relationship with the Furies. The beginning was excellent, if a little contrived in terms of Corey's simplistic focus on her anger. And the ending was interesting in its unexpected climax, though it wraps up a little too neatly for my tastes.

I truly think that this is a book that will get a mixed bag of reviews; some will love it, and others will be a little disappointed. For me, I'm swayed towards the former by the originality of the plot and the focus given to Corey's character rather than a love story. Even though I adore a good romance, this one simply wasn't that type of book--and for the most part, I'm okay with it. This is definitely a great addition for those that enjoy a more creative take on mythology.


This review was posted to Goodreads on November 29, 2023.

Corey is angry. Her best friend, Bree, the person she should have been able to count on for absolutely everything, has stolen her boyfriend and abandoned her. Now, Corey has no one, and nothing but her beloved garden to go back to. But when Corey kisses a mysterious stranger at a local festival, she finds her world changed. In that moment, after kissing the stranger, she wishes her ex-best friend dead, and only a short while later, she is. Only a few days later, Corey herself falls into the underworld, and she has to figure out why she’s there, and why everyone seems to be convinced that she belongs in the land of the dead.

I received an advanced reading copy of Her Dark Wings in exchange for an honest review.

Her Dark Wings is a young adult fantasy novel by Melinda Salisbury. It’s a retelling of the Persephone myth, which many fans of Greek mythology or Lore Olympus are probably already familiar with. And while it’s a retelling, what surprised me the most was how modern it was. The story, the way it was written, felt like it could have taken place anywhere in the present, as the island that Corey starts out in has all the necessary modern appliances, but continues to honor the Greek gods of old, and celebrate them through their specific ancient ceremonies. At first, this juxtaposition of the new with the ancient was confusing to me, but then I really became fascinated by it. It made for a setting I’ve never experienced before, and I really enjoyed the time I spent there.

There’s isn’t too much time spent there, though, as Corey falls into the underworld and quite a bit of the remainder of the book takes place there. I actually struggled with the underworld portion, since it felt like Corey had absolutely no control over any of it, none except over her own state of being. I enjoyed the Furies and their relationship with Corey, and I liked Hermes, but I kept waiting for more to happen, if that makes sense. I was waiting for a big reveal, an explanation about why Corey seemed to be so important and so powerful, and none was coming.

What stood out to me the most in this book was, funnily enough, the relationship between Corey and Bree. Throughout the book, Corey keeps having memories of her and Bree interacting, of moments they’ve had together. She’s grappling with her emotions regarding Bree, and especially now the guilt she feels in her wish having come true. But also, there’s vindication? Basically, there’s a bunch of complex emotions all tied up in here, and I will say that the underworld portion of the book does give Corey a chance to untangle and make sense of at least some of them. But even while they spend so much of the book apart, the falling out between these two friends really shapes the story, and Corey’s character in particular.

Her Dark Wings will be released in the United States on December 12. You can preorder your copy from Delacorte here.