I love this series so much and never want it to end even though I know it will. This is a series that I can reread or listen to many, many times. This book was no different. I excited to go back and reread this series and find anything I missed and get all the spice again.

Thank you NetGalley for an audio copy of this book.

The narrators hit this out of the park! They were perfect for these roles and easily brought the characters to life. All Katee Robert fans will be pleased with this one!

3.5 stars

I enjoyed this and I love the series. This isn’t my favorite of the series and I felt like there was less plot in this book than the previous ones. It was still enjoyable but not my favorite.
I loved Dionysus and I am looking forward to Icarus’ story if he has one.

I enjoyed the audio and thought the voice actors did a good job portraying the characters.

*Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dark Restraint is the seventh book in the Dark Olympus series, but I've only listened to Midnight Ruin from this series. I enjoyed that book because it primarily focused on the main characters' relationship, so I didn’t feel too lost. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for this book—I was completely overwhelmed by the politics and the sheer number of characters, both appearing and mentioned.

Ariadne and Minotaur’s relationship felt more like a subplot, so I struggled to get invested. Ariadne herself was somewhat irritating, and I strongly recommend checking the trigger warnings—abortion is usually a hard limit for me. To fully appreciate the world Katee Robert has built, I think you’d need to start from the beginning. On the plus side, the smut was excellent, which I’ve come to expect from KR, but overall, this was just an okay read for me.

🎧The audio was just fine, I'm not a fan of either narrators but they did a good job

⚠️𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠/𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐤⚠️
- Abortion (off-page)
- Child abuse
- Guns/violence/murder
- Drugging

#DarkRestraint #NetGalley

Of the Dark Olympus series, this one wasn’t my favorite. At times it seemed pretty repetitive. Not gonna lie, I was really hoping for a bit of action with Dionysus. Towards the end it really picked up though and I did fall in love with their love story.

The narrators were exceptional as always!

While not my favorite pairing/dynamic so far in the series, it did actually keep my interest and the characters grew on me. The minotaur can feel troublesome, but a few key lines in the book turned my perspective of him around. I adored Dionysus in this story, and how atypical it feels towards his traditional lore narrative. I enjoyed Ariadne's perspective and she did wonders for grounding and helping the reader navigate the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this ALC!

- I’ve mentioned how this series is struggling to balance everything as the plot becomes more significant, but I think this one did a better job of having enough plot to keep things moving without taking everything over!
- Okay the “Touch her and die” trope mixed with “I’ve been ordered to kill you” created such incredibly delicious tension and I’m obsessed.
- While I wanted more background from both characters, I think the pacing (which was really quick) would have suffered if that was added.
- There are major TWs, and I recommend checking those before reading.
- The audio for this one was so well done, and it really helped me sink into the story!
- I love the headline recaps that Robert has done-it’s been so long since I read the first few, and that really helped me remember what’s going on.

Ohhhhhh did this add another piece to the puzzle! I'll be honest, I'm to the point where I want the storyline developed more than the smut. I have officially reached the, what is going to happen and who is going to make it through, stage. Don't get me wrong, I'm not skipping past the steamy bits but the plot has moved along so wonderfully.

My favorite thing about this book was the relationship trope. Something about the childhood crush, love-at-first-sight tropes always get to me, probably because I love the idea of finding your person so early in life.

I did get lost a bit in the actual Olympus plot, though I'm not sure if that has something to do with me or this major piece of the story feeling like Too Much. Though I guess that tends to happen sometimes in romance novels.

Overall, I really enjoy this series and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next and who the next book will be about!

This was a great addition to the Dark Olympus series. It was interesting learning more about those on Minos's side, although can we really say Ariadne and the Minotaur are on Minos's side?

I've enjoyed seeing Ariadne throughout the previous books, so I liked seeing her perspective of the conflict in Olympus. It was also great seeing more of Dionysus! I wasn't expecting that, so that was a fun surprise. The Minotaur was obviously different than we've seen him before.

I'm interested to see the ramifications of the events of this book and how they will ripple out to effect the others in Olympus. As always, I'm looking forward to the next book in this series!

I didn't think it would be possible to enjoy the political moves better than the couple in these books. Of course the smut is always enjoyable but their relationship was...meh.

Ariadne is the least strong of all the female characters so far. Apart from her hacking abilities, there's not much to her. She's just a sweet girl. The Minotaur is a monster of a man who adores her but I just didn't get the vibe between them.

Plot wise though, this story had it all happening. Major moves, major revelations, double crossing and distrust oozing out of everyone.

The ending gives us a glimpse of the next book's characters (Icarus and Poseidon - sounds like fun) and I also can't wait for Zeus and Hera's book. That is a hate/hate relationship so far so it will be interesting to see where that goes.

This is fun with great spice! I didn’t read books 5 or 6 but I still understood enough of the plot.

This book is a loose retelling of the Minotaur and Ariadne. In this, the Minotaur is not an actual monster but a kind of crime enforcer. He’s been obsessed since childhood with Ariadne, daughter of his crime boss employer. The two share a spicy moment but then Ariadne runs away and, for reasons that didn’t entirely make sense to me, gets into an arranged engagement with Dionysus.

The first half kind of jumps around and is a bit confusing, but the second half picks up and the plot at the end is plotting!

It's spicy. It's dark. We are ratcheting up the mafia-esque tones of this Dark Olympus World with each new book. This story gives us a look at the other side of the equation both outside of Olympus and within. We see a little of my favorite character, Hera. And a refreshingly kind(?) portrayal of Dionysus. It's exactly what you expect from Katee Robert and a nice addition to the series.

This one actually had more plot than the others in the series. I did like that for the most part kind of. So I listened to the majority of the audiobook but switched to the ebook occasionally. I feel like I was more invested in the story/plot when I was reading the ebook. Since this did have more plot than the others in the series, the audiobook made it a little harder for me to focus on that since I’m typically listening while working and doing household chores and getting interrupted a million times. I like the narrators and found the book to be easy to listen to, but again, hard to focus on the plot. Overall, if you are looking for a book that furthers the plot a lot in this series, then you will probably enjoy this one.

Just when I thought this series couldn’t get any better, Robert hits it out of the park. Dark Restraint might just be my new favorite. Not only did I love the dynamic between Ariadne and the Minotaur, but I think this book furthered the overarching series plot the most. A lot of the questions I had from previous books were answered, yet there were still enough mysteries left to keep me intrigued. I am looking forward to seeing what the last few books bring!

As in the previous books in the series, this is basically an episode in the long saga of Dark Olympus. Picking up where the we left off in the previous book, Ariadne has just arrived at Olympus after striking a deal with Aphrodite, only to find that it's Hera pulling all the strings. The Minotaur is not happy she left without telling him she was leaving and he is dead set on getting her back. 

This "it's always been you" chapter in the series focus on their romance, but it feels it took forever for the events referring to the "bigger" story to kick in. Let's wait and see what happens now. I am invested!

Narrated by the amazing Zara Hampton-Brown and Alex Moorcock, this is a a great audio experience. 

Thanks, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook. 

Rep: as in all books in the series, everyone is queer

Content notes (added by author): abortion (off-page, historical), elements of dubious consent, nonconsensual drugging, biting without prior negotiation/conversation, guns, violence, blood, child abuse, and assault (historical, off-page, referenced briefly).

Excellent addition to this series! I cannot quit reading about the world inside of Olympus and I don't intend to even try. This book did great work in furthering the entire plot for all the characters which was great for building anticipation. Bonus points for another curvy FMC!

As soon as I saw this pop up on Netgalley I knew I had to have it. Because her books are always so good and they get me out of slumps. But this one was just ok? Idk. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Ariadne and the Minotaur.

Being honest, I’m not a huge fan of the actual legend itself, so maybe me not fully liking this was my own doing? I went into this thinking it would be the same and I was prepping myself for not liking it before I even started. Come to find out, it was a very loose retelling anyway. But unfortunately it still wasn’t what I was looking for.

The reason behind it I think was the world-building. I wanted so much more out of the world building. Like I wanted to be able to tell you what the minotaur looked like. Was he all man and that was just a nickname? Was he REALLY a minotaur? She wasn’t very clear about all of this. I mean I think I just wanted her to do some more showing vs telling. All of them have been the same way lately. Nothing at all like the beginning of this series.

The plot of this was just ok. Again, they spent the whole time running because this was the maze story. The politics were great, but other than that? I just wasn’t intrigued. Idk it just didn’t hook me other than that lol

Their relationship was ok, but I wasn’t completely sold. It was mostly her saying she doesn’t like him and cussing him out but in the same breath, they got down to business lol Idk, that’s weird to me. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again…… I’m a Scorpio. This is too hard for me to do lol But basically, I didn’t hate it, but it was ok.

Idk I wasn’t exactly a fan of this one, but I still have so much love for this series. I really can’t wait to see more from Katee. I know this isn’t the end, so I can’t wait to see who’s next. Maybe I’ll like that myth more.

As usual, very sexy, very fun, and left me eager for the next installment. I love how Katee perfectly balances spice with plot in this series. I’m always eager for each new story and the relationships that go with it.

2.5 ⭐️ My second least favorite in the series next to Radiant Sin. I’m very ready for this series to come to its conclusion cause while I do love KR, the series isn’t as consistently good as it was at the beginning. Am I gonna read the last 3 books? Yes. I’m so much more invested in the plot and the political intrigue at this point but the romances are a little on the dry side now. I wasn’t feeling either Ariadne or Minotaur. I was just waiting for their story to be over and reading for the overarching lore, which is quite the disappointment since Ariadne as a character had so much potential. Hermes tho?!? EXCUSE ME. Please. I need that book immediately.