I have to say that I think this one might be my favourite of the series so far. Ariadne and The Minotaur are victims of their circumstances, both of them subject to Minos' whims.
I admired that Ariadne had the strength to break free from her father's hold, even though it meant the her life was in danger after she had done so.
The Minotaur playing loyal soldier whilst making plans to whisk Ariadne away from Olympus after the barrier fell and all hell broke loose made me cheer ( he's still very much a morally grey character though).
I thoroughly enjoyed this one, it was definitely action packed and I really liked that.

It's hard for me to rate this audiobook. I love Katee Roberts books, and I do like her Dark Olympus series. However, I didn't like the narration for this book. I can be really picky when it comes to narrators, and I tried to listen to this audiobook, but after a couple of hours I couldn't do it anymore. I've never listened to the Dark Olympus series on audiobook, so when the novel comes out, I'm going to read it instead. I did like the story, so I won't give up on reading it. Just the audiobook option wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the audiobook ARC!

Great addition to the Dark Olympus series! Katee always gives a great balance of plot and absolutely hot spice. I enjoyed this plot with the forbidden love and political scheming. The narrator’s gave a fantasy performance of both male and female characters, even though the word “mine-o-tar” bugged the daylights out of my American accent. Great read!

3.5 stars rounded up

This is a complicated review for me because I enjoyed the overall story, I loved the continuation of the story as the series, I thought the pacing was great, and the writing was amazing, but I hated this couple. Their dynamic felt like that toxic high school couple that shouldn't be together because they are terrible for each other, and then she finally moves on and swears she is done with him, but continues to hook up with him behind her friends backs. I didn't want them to end up together. They also had very little chemistry and so that made the spice not work for me either (which is strange because I normally LOVE Katee's spice).

Obviously if you have made it this far in this series I recommend this book. It does a really great job of moving the overall plot of the series forward and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

I did listen to an advance copy of the audiobook. It is the same narrators and style of narration as the rest of this series and I really love how the audiobooks have been done.

I enjoyed how this book progressed the overall plot of the series, but I wasn't a huge fan of the central couple of this book.

Oh my! I have a lov/hate relasenship with this series. - but still I ahve to read them! I love the woulrdbuilding, the mainstory and the spice! Let's not forget the sice ;) But in the same time there's so many things going on, and I sometimes forget what the plot is. BUT this one was an esay read with lot's of action!
The audiobook was great!

Dark Restraint dives into the story of Ariadne and the Minotaur (in this case, Asterion)- one of my favorite greek myths! I thoroughly enjoyed the subtle references to the inspiration, but the overall plot felt like it was just missing something.

Ariadne and Asterion, who were raised together in a dysfunctional adopted sibling/ childhood friend type of way, developed a sort of “friends to lovers” relationship as adults. Their romance was steamy and full of tension and possessiveness, but felt that it was almost given too easily to them. The stakes were high, but i truly never felt like anything truly terrible would happen to them.

The end of this book has me truly ECSTATIC for Sweet Obsession, though. Poseidon and Icarus’ chemistry in just a few pages was amazing!

3 ⭐ 2 🌶 5 🎧

I liked it, but nothing about this book gave me heightened emotions. I enjoyed how it moved the plot of the series along and Ariadne and The Minotaur were fun. I was expecting more spice, but what we got was good.

The real star was the narration. Zara Hampton Brown was a goddess as Ariadne and Alex Moorcock was fantastic as The Minotaur. Listening vs eye reading definitely kept me in this story.

Ariadne and Minotaur’s story may be my favorite yet!!! This book is high spice BUT it is also heavy plot. Olympus is on the verge of was, and Ariadne and Minotaur are just trying to survive. If you like Greek mythology and smut, this one will be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Audio for an ALC to review. All opinions are my own.

This book is the seventh in the Dark Olympus series and probably my least favorite; it wasn't bad by any means, but none of the characters drew me in as they did with the other books. Perhaps it's because we're following characters from Minos's side of things. Still, I often wondered what was happening in Olympus (and with the characters we've sided with up until this point in the series). The smut was hot, but also just kind of OK (it had more to do with the characters than the writing). The Minotaur's "love" was just an obsession, in my opinion, and we needed to discuss more of their backstory to truly understand what was meant when he said Ariadne was "his."

The political aspect of this book kept me going and intrigued; normally, this stuff bores me to tears, but I was so interested to see how the overarching plot developed from the rest of the series. I'm very excited to see where it continues, and my interest is definitely piqued to see how things go between Icarus and Poseidon.

Dark Restraint is the seventh book in Katee's Dark Olympus series. Picking up closely after the events of the previous book Ariadne finds herself engaged to Dionysus. A political arrangement only. We get some backstory into how her relationship with the Minotaur began. While I overall enjoyed the book the relationship didn't quite hit as much as I wanted it to. It is probably the least dynamic from the series so far. But I really love where the story is going and what we got of the overall plot against Olympus. I am so excited to get to the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars. Dark Restraint is book 7 in the Dark Olympus series, which is loosely (like extreme loosely) Greek mythology characters but in this political, contemporary-ish setting. I was interested in this one because it was Ariadne and the Minotaur.

I’ve read the whole series and I should honestly stop because they just don’t hold my attention anymore. This one in particular had a ton of overarching plot and political aspect happening. Basically the way this world works is that the Greek mythology people these characters “are”, are simply just roles they get or inherit. The characters in this one just never pulled me in sadly.

If I didn’t have the audio, I wouldn’t have made this a priority. So basically, if you are intrigued, maybe try the audio from your library instead. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I received an audio ALC from the publisher, all thoughts in this review are my own.

CW (provided by author): abortion (off page, historical), elements of dubious consent, non consensual drugging, biting, guns, violence, blood, child abuse, assault (historical, off page, discussed briefly)

Thank you so much to Dreamscape Media and netgalley for an audiobook ARC of this spicy story following Adriadne and the minotaur.

Regarding the audiobook itself, the narrators did a good job. I am spoiled because I wish it was a duet. The mimicking of each other's voices is a bit grating, but other than that, I had no problems listening to the narrators. Their voices are enjoyable to listen to.

The story itself, though? Oh my goodness, it is beyond spicy 🤣🤣

Adriadne and the minotaur can not get enough of one another. I also did not expect the minotaur to be how he is. It was really nice to get this window into his mind and how he was thinking. The previous books just made me assume that the minotaur was just bad, but now I think he is just very gray.

There are some warnings, though.
Talk about abortion and loss of pregnancy, off page.
Violence and murder (of course)
Very spicy open door scenes (also, of course haha)

If you haven't read any of the dark Olympus books yet, what are you doing? The overall story continues to progress, and gosh Olympus is in trouble 👀

5/5 Narration
3/5 Plot
Overall: 4/5 with narration

Based on Greek mythology, Dark Restraint continues the political world-building of Olympus while following Ariadne and the Minotaur/Asterion's forbidden romance. Upon revealing her father's plans to Olympus leaders, Ariadne receives protection from Hera and Aphrodite with a forced marriage to Dionysus. Unbeknownst to everyone, The Minotaur has always loved Ariadne and is FURIOUS. To make matters worse, he is ordered by Ariadne's father, Minos, to kill her. Despite being on "opposite" sides, they give into their attraction and attempt to flee Olympus before Circe's plans come to fruition.

The book focused on the political world-building that helped this series push forward. I loved learning of Circe's plans/execution and the secondary characters (Dionysus, Hermes, & Icarus). Unfortunately, with all the world progression, Ariadne and the Minotaur's romance took a back seat leaving me disappointed and wanting more. The easter egg left regarding Poseidon and Icarus leaves me invested in the series.

Zara Hampton-Brown and Alex Moorcock brought Ariadne and the Minotaur to life. I would have loved to have heard them in a duet narration, but the dual narration was great. I could easily visualize the characters and their world without distraction. Zara's voice with secondary characters flowed well and spoke with great emotion, especially with Ariadne's inner dialogue. Alex's voice paired well with the morally grey Minotaur and spoke with perfect aggression when the plot called for it. They were both clear and never sounded distant or distorted. Perfect choices!

Tropes:
Dual POV
Greek Myth world/politics
Morally grey MMC
He fell first

Thank you to Katee Robert, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I adore Katee Robert, but unfortunately, this one didn’t seem to hit quite as nicely as the rest of this series. It was not bad, but just kind of plotless and predictable. The smut was nice though!

Every series I love has one book in it that I really just don’t love. I have a feeling this one is it.

I received the audiobook ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I felt like I was reading Haunting Adeline but not as thrilling. I get that HA is not a healthy relationship, but this one is beyond me. I don’t see it as healthy, especially at first, but CNC is a weird one for me. I don’t really love the stalker trope, and Ariadne drove me crazy at the beginning with the damsel in distress act. The character development is pretty good, though. The political background is the most interesting part for me in this one (minus a couple of very hot scenes anyway).

The smut is smutting. Fantastic. The romance aspect missed the mark for me though and I didn’t like the repetitiveness of a few lines, but that may be because I listened to it as opposed to reading.

Narration was great, I really liked the choice in both narrators. Even the lines from the opposite sex sounded good, that’s hard to pull off.

2.75⭐️

I don’t know why. I just didn’t like it much. Sorry, Katee, you’re still the shit though 🥺

I'm a sucker for this series. I wasn't in love with the couple at the very beginning but Ariadne and Asterion (The Minotaur) really grew on me. I am definitely more invested in the political plot line. It ended on such a cliffhanger! I'm feral. Cannot wait for number 8!!
The voice actors are incredible. It wouldn't be the series without them.

3.5⭐️ First off I want to thank Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to listen to this audiobook in advance in exchange for an honest review. I did enjoy the storyline of this quite a bit. However, the spice between Ariandne and Minotaur was not hitting for me. I just didn't care for them together, I guess. I did enjoy the narration of this book very much. It was very well done.

The politics in this story was fantastic. The plot was pretty good and it did a fantastic job of moving the storyline for the series ahead. It was well written and I did enjoy it.

This was another great installment in the Dark Olympus series. So many big moves and the Minotaur and Ariadne were great characters to push this portion of the story forward. Their romance was unique, and their journey to each other was not easy or straightforward, but that makes them all the more compelling characters. I can't wait to see what happens next.

3.5 stars

I love this world that Katee is created so much. I love the characters, the scheming, the dicete, the smut. It's all fantastic - but I feel like I have been waiting for SO LONG for the two books I ACTUALLY want from this series, that it has made this book feel nearly irrelevant in my overall need from this series.

Essentially, as is typical, Hera and Hermes STOLE. THE. SHOW. in this 7th installment of the Dark Olympus series. Hera & Zeus and Hermes & whoever she ultimately gets with - I have a hunch, but it's still unconfirmed - are my two most highly anticipated books from this series. If I didn't know these two books were still coming down the line, I can't say for sure whether I'd continue reading this series at this point.

I was not invested in Ariadne and the minotaur's relationship - like at all. The smut was ... fine. I'm saying that as someone who typically thinks Katee Robert writes some of the best smut out there. So that was slightly disappointing, especially because I wasn't vibing with the actual FMC and MMC to begin with.

The plot however, was really great! I'm really loving the progression of this overarching plot that's connecting all of these stories together and as I mentioned already, Hera and Hermes really shined.

Dark Restraint left me curious about Icarus and Poseidon - so that has me looking forward to what is to come!

The narrators were wonderful. I find with narrators with accents I sometimes have to slow down my listening speed to keep up with what they're saying, but I did not have to do that at all with Zara Hampton-Brown and Alex Moorcock. They were great and easy to listen to!

Thank you Netgalley, Katee Robert and Dreamscape Media for providing the ALC.