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.

First off, I almost fell off my chair when I was accepted for this review! I was beyond excited!

I was fortunate enough to be able to listen to Dark Restraint by audiobook! The dual narration was performed by Zara Hampton-Brown and Alex Moorcock. They were both fantastic and have been the narrators for the series thus far (which I love!). I have no issue with either and they make listening to the story so smooth and enjoyable! 🎧

As with all of the books in this series, you are brought to that line where you may or may not feel comfortable (depending on you and you alone) with the topics presented and I would recommend checking out any listed trigger warnings and descriptions for these modern retellings in order to decide if it’s for you or not. For an overall sense of story line (which continues throughout as a subplot) and character identification, I do recommend reading/listening to these in their recommended/published order.

The storyline, for book 7 of the series, brings the focal point of Olympus to Ariadne and the Minotaur.
This book has action, deception, tension, and spice with the Gods and Goddesses of Olympus. While Ariadne and the Minotaur haven’t been my favorite so far, they still add to the series as a whole and I will keep coming back for more! 🐂

Whether you like Greek Mythology, modern retellings, spicy situations or none of the above, I will STILL recommend this series to you! This series has my heart!

Thank you to the author, Katee Robert, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley, for the opportunity to listen to this book. I received an advance audiobook copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#DarkRestraint #DarkOlympus #KateeRobert #NetGalley

3⭐️ 3🌶️ 5🎧

I’ve been waiting for Ariadne and the Minotaur’s story for what feels like ages now! I love a good forbidden romance with mutual pining. But I have to say I was a little underwhelmed.

In the previous books the MCs were often treated as pawns by others only for them to find their own power, even if they ultimately abandoned it. This book was interesting in that both Ariadne and Asterion were Midas’ pawns but they had zero desire for power. Only the desire to be together and out from under Midas’ thumb. Ariadne’s just wanted to travel the world with Asterion and read fanfics. He just wanted to be with her.

I feel like I was left hanging when it comes to these two more than any other characters in this series and I can’t decide if I’m disappointed by that or if I even care enough about them to want to know more about their future. This felt a bit like a filler book with filler characters. Very little happened that these two characters were needed for. Yes something massive happened, but in the end it probably could have been accomplished without either of them.

However each book makes me more and more excited for Hermes’ book and Zeus and Hera’s books.

The highlight of this book was the beautiful narration by Zara Hampton-Brown and Alex Moorcock. I love these two so much! Zara brings such sweetness to the FMCs and Alex is amazing at brooding growling MCs. I think I would have been even more disappointed in this story if I hadn’t been listening to their amazing performance.

2.5 stars

Ooof, unfortunately this one was kind of disappointing to me! I did not feel invested in Ariadne and The Minotaur at all... The plot was honestly kind of all over the place, but I am excited to see where the rest of the story goes. I think this book works as a plot device to move the overarching plot of the whole series forward, but it just didn’t work for me the way the other books in this series did. I am looking forward to Hera’s book and Hermes’s book the most.

Thank you NetGalley for an Audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed Dark Restraint for the overarching plot that goes through the Dark Olympus series a whole. We’re getting to something that’s been going on for a while in the background. The romance was fine, not my favorite tropes but it was still enjoyable and the Katee spicy standard. Would recommend to fans of the series.

The narrators are the same as I believe the rest of the series. They did great as usual.

the plot is coming together making sense of what is happening in this world, it was darker than previous books, the good kind of dark. Ariadne and the Minotaur is the best couple in the series, with tropes like childhood crush, its always been you probably my favorite so far.

Dark Restraint is a fine addition to the Dark Olympus series, but nothing more than that.

My biggest strife with this book is that I just don't like the couple it focuses on. Adriadne is fairly meek and has no backbone and there is no real explanation for why she is head over heels with the Menotaur. Menotaur doesn't really have any personality traits other than kind to Adriadne and cruel to everyone else. Both their feelings are basically explained as they've always loved each other since they first saw each other. Also, since they are both outsiders to Olympus their story feels squeezed in rather than necessary.

I did like how we got more Dionysus in this book and enjoyed his and Adriadne's interactions. The spice, as always with Katee Robert, is pretty good and I did enjoy how this book advanced the macro plot, but I could've easily skipped this couple.

I just really always want more Hermes (MY ABSOLUTE FAVE).

3.5 stars