My Ex from Hell - Tellulah Darling

My Ex From Hell by Tellulah Darling
Series: The Blooming Goddess Trilogy #1
Publisher: Te Da Media
Publication Date: April 1, 2013
Source/Format: Netgalley (Thanks!) || e-galley

[I received this book from the publisher. This in no way affects the thoughts expressed in my review.]

Prior to the Halloween dance, Sophie figures her worst problems involve adolescent theatrics, bitchy yoga girls, and being on probation at her boarding school for mouthy behaviour. Then she meets bad boy Kai and gets the kiss that rocks her world.

Literally.

This breath stealing lip lock reawakens Sophie’s true identity: Persephone, Goddess of Spring. She’s key to saving humanity in the war between the Underworld and Olympus, target numero uno of Hades and Zeus, and totally screwed.

Plus there’s also the little issue that Sophie’s last memory as Persephone was just before someone tried to murder her. (adapted from Goodreads)

I’m always interested in books that incorporate Greek mythology, which explains my instant attraction to My Ex from Hell. It sounded quirky and fun, and that’s exactly what you get when you read it. While I did have problems with the storytelling, overall, I did end up enjoying it.

What I Did Like

Sophie Bloom is quite a character. She’s got a great sense of humor, and a mindset that pretty much screamed “teenager”. I enjoyed reading her thoughts, her nefarious schemes and pranks, and even seeing how she managed to talk her way through or out of things. She made for a fascinating heroine, even though there was one thing I really had an issue with.

[Puts on Wakko Warner voice] Well, hellooooooo Kai! Sure, he’s the son of Hades and therefore, he’s pretty much always dealing with death. Plus, usually Hades is depicted as evil and tyrannical and that can’t bode well for someone you want to date. Kai is handsome, and knows exactly how to turn on the charm. While there were certainly moments he infuriated me, it was hard not to find myself attracted to his bad boy persona. Cliché, I know, but I couldn’t resist.

There’s a lot of Greek mythology incorporated into this book. Apart from the gods and goddesses, we also get to see an oracle, a dragon, a nymph and some of the dead. It’s a pretty eclectic combination, and I just thought it was fun that the author managed to utilize those things. She also did create some beings of her own, as inspired by the mythology, which I thought was fairly cool.

There’s a contemporary aspect to the book. Apart from the mythological bits, I liked that there were contemporary bits too. There’s Sophie’s relationship (or lack of one) with her adoptive mother, her two best friends, dealing with the bitchy popular girl, classes and things like prom. I do, however, feel like this got lost as the story progressed (and you can see below for more about that).

What I Didn’t Like

The characters took all this “revelation” of Sophie being a goddess in stride. Honestly, if you found out you were Persephone, would you not really freak out? I know I would and that it would take a while for me to wrap my head around it, let alone the people who find out. But Sophie and her friend Hannah apparently both manage to accept the truth really quickly. That bothered me a lot, mostly because I don’t think that would be the case at all.

The storytelling felt rushed. There was definitely a lot going on in the story, and I felt like a lot of it just didn’t get the extra detail it deserved. We’re in one harrowing situation after another, faced with one enemy after another, and it just felt like it was all done too fast. I’m not saying, of course, that I didn’t enjoy it (I did for the most part), but I do think that it could have been better and more evenly spaced out.

There’s an imbalance between the contemporary and mythological aspects of the story. While the story started with a strong contemporary angle to balance out the mythological revelation, I do kind of feel like it faded way into the background about halfway in. Even though I understand that Sophie was obviously concerned with regaining her memory and figuring out her master plan, I still think it would have made for a nice touch if the contemporary aspect had been more present.

My Ex from Hell was easy and quick to read. I found it fairly entertaining, and the perfect way to kill a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon. Though I certainly had issues with the story, overall, it was pretty fun and I may be enticed into checking out the sequel.