By Eva Pohler

Available on: Amazon.
Read as part of the Monthly Keyword Reading Challenge.
Overview:
Blurb: This is the story of how Hades and Persephone met, became lovers, and bore godlings into being. An odd little romp through Greek mythos.
Trigger Warnings:
Bastardization of Culture, Bastardization of Mythology, Blood, Bullying, Death, Food, Gore, Murder, Non-Consensual Sex, Off Screen Infidelity, Off Screen Sex, Plot Holes the Size of a Canadian Province, Sexual Assault, Toxic Masculinity, Violence, Violent Imagery, War
Body Count: Oodles, he’s the God of Death
The Specs:
- Series
- Series Name: Gatekeeper Saga
- Book Number: 0
- Genre
- Technical Genre: Teen and Young Adult Greek and Roman Myths and Legends, Teen and Young Adult Coming of Age Fantasy
- Theo Genre: Mythology Rewrite, Greek and Roman Mythology, YA Fantasy
- Page count: 289 pages/2036 KB
- POV: Limited 1st
- Publication information:
- Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
- Language: English
- ASIN: B01AFT7MF6
Other Fun Stuff:
To Read or Not To Read (Again):
Furniture Support
Rating out of five: 1.0 out of 5
Representation, Morality, and Sexism Tests:
- Bechdel–Wallace Test:
- Purpose: to establish actual female characters that act independently of male characters in a story.
- Do two female characters talk about something other than a male character? No
- Pass or Fail: Fail
- Purpose: to establish actual female characters that act independently of male characters in a story.
- DuVernay Test:
- Purpose: to establish characters of color in a story.
- Are there fully actualized characters of color? No
- Pass or Fail: Fail
- Purpose: to establish characters of color in a story.
- Ellen Willis Test:
- Purpose: to show balance in characters regardless of gender.
- Would two related characters still work to carry the story if their genders were reversed? Yes
- Pass or Fail: Pass
- Purpose: to show balance in characters regardless of gender.
- Hays Code Test:
- Purpose: to ignore outdated and queer-degrading/punishing standards that once were the standard for produced mass media.
- Part One: outdated moral guidelines
- Are there any outdated “moral content” rules gloriously kicked in the teeth by this story?
- Are there people of color allowed a happy ending?
- Is there an interracial couple?
- Is there profanity used at all?
- Is there one or more homicidal acts and/or murder?
- Part Two: queer representation
- Are there queer characters that get a happy ending?
- Is there an illegal or otherwise distasteful age gap between characters, queer or otherwise?
- Do the queer characters die tragically, violently, or at all?
- Pass or Fail: Fail
- Mako Mori Test:
- Purpose: to assure that in the story there is at least one female character independent of a male character’s story.
- Is there a female character? Yes
- Does she get her own arc? No
- Does it do anything other than serve to support a man’s story? No
- Pass or Fail: Fail
- Purpose: to assure that in the story there is at least one female character independent of a male character’s story.
- Sexy Lamp Test:
- Purpose: to assure that a female character in the story serves as an active protagonist, not just a device to be used by the male main character.
- Would the plot fall apart if the female character was replaced by a sexy looking lamp? Maybe?
- Post-It Note Caveat:
- Would the character be able to be replaced by a Sexy Lamp with a sticky note on it for information conveyance? No
- Pass or Fail: Half-Pass
- Purpose: to assure that a female character in the story serves as an active protagonist, not just a device to be used by the male main character.
- Tauriel Test:
- Purpose: to help support the existence of competent, independent female characters regardless of a romantic sub-plot.
- Is there at least one woman in the story?
- Is this woman competent in her chosen occupation and not immediately shown up by a newcomer male character?
- If she has or develops a love interest during the story, either implied or explicitly stated, does she suddenly abandon her job and/or chosen path to support or pursue said love interest?
- Pass or Fail: Fail
- Purpose: to help support the existence of competent, independent female characters regardless of a romantic sub-plot.
- Vito Russo Test:
- Purpose: to establish more characters that are on the SAGA (Sexuality And Gender Acceptance), QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color) or LGBTQIAP+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual/Biromantic/Bigender, Transgender, Queer/Genderqueer, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic/Agender, Pansexual/Panromantic, and others not listed here) spectrum.
- Is there a character on the queer spectrum?
- Are they a character beyond their orientation?
- Do they actually affect the plot?
- Is the character something beyond a punchline?
- Pass or Fail: Fail
- Purpose: to establish more characters that are on the SAGA (Sexuality And Gender Acceptance), QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color) or LGBTQIAP+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual/Biromantic/Bigender, Transgender, Queer/Genderqueer, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic/Agender, Pansexual/Panromantic, and others not listed here) spectrum.
Overall review:
Thoughts: Tepid retelling of the classic myth. Literally so strangely written I squinted at least four times in confusion. There are formatting errors in the book itself, font issues and the like, which make it hard to read.
I would not read this again, though I would give the author another chance.
Was it engaging?
At times
Favorite Character:
Hermes
Review format updated 4 June 2019
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