It shines but does it sparkle?

This book is the second book in the series and follows the love story of Psyche and Eros. As in the first book, this series is set against a reimagining of Greek pantheon of and set in a sprawling city inspired by Olympus. Even if you only know a base knowledge of the characters, the author does a wonderful job of explaining who each character is and overall what there role is in the hierarchy of the story.

Psyche is described to be a trendy, well tempered, plus sized woman. She and her sister live under the watchful gaze of not only their mother. But also are likened to modern day celebrities or influencers, so they have to contend with the paparazzi and media outlets who track their every movement.

Unlike Persephone, book one female mc, Psyche feels more relatable. She is prone to issues of self doubt, worries about her image, and is someone who always does what is expect but not always what she wants. The idea here is that she puts everyone’s else needs above her own. Because of these flaws it is easy to fall in love with her as the story progresses.

Eros is a thug and mercenary who serves his mother Aphrodite. Aphrodite is a vain woman of immense cruelty and craves power at the cost of all else. In her hunger for power she uses her son to bully, beat, or kill anyone that crosses her for any reason. Eros devotion to his mother is admirable if not altogether misplaced.

Eros is different from Hades, the first books male mc, in that he does not wield the same power or sense of loyalt. A loner by nature, Eros is someone who is hard to love at first. He is not remorse for his sins but he does desire something more than bloodshed on his hands. As the story progress and we peel back the layers we find out that this bad boy has a beautiful heart.

Unfortunately there is something missing in this book. Largely do to a somewhat complicated plot and pacing. The first book spreads it story out across several months which allows for the character to explore their feelings. As a read we can make logical sense of the two characters overall stance and see how a love can form between them. But in book two, the story unfolds in a matter of what feels like a single or couple of weeks.

Psyche finds herself the target of Aphrodite wrath. To remedy this, Eros is ordered to kill psyche. But because a moment of kindness in a brief encounter, Eros for the first time is resistant to caring out this order. A deal is made however and a plan hatched that could save both Psyche and Eros but it all comes down to them selling a lie to not only their family and the public but also to themselves.

Because time is of the essence these two have to work fast. Which is where things begin to fall apart. The author established a wonderful world that we only saw glimpses of in the first book. These brief peeks created a desire to find out more. This book does tease the same thing but because we are now in book two the lack of exploration to the world building is frustrating.

The culture could be explored more especially in this story with psyche being more grounded in the influencer role. We are promised multiple times of this sort of pr chess match between Aphrodite and Psyche that never really comes to fruition. What we end up getting is the occasional photo edit, a pretty woman inspire shopping moment, and the occasional buzz feed moment. In this regard we do not get to see psyche shine like we saw her sister shine in book one. While disappointing it does not take away from the romance element of the book.

Neon Gods got to the fiery physical attraction of the two MC earlier than we do in Electric Idol. But when we do get to those scenes the author flexes her writing talents and creates spicy scenes to rival her first book. Attention to detail and a sense of realism helps make these scenes feel more grounded this go round. Psyche is a plus size woman with a health appetite for sex and has no issue living in her truth. While we do have moments of doubt or worry, Eros’s attraction to every inch of Psyche quickly eases those moments in a tender way.

In fact, Eros is a fabulous character in his ability to see Psyche for the beauty that she is and to look past those body image fears. This is done with a respectful hand that does not feel forced or cheesy. Which showcases a positive example of how to handle romance stories with curvy mc. So much so that when the author describes Psyche clothing choices to how she moves, we get a visual image of a beautiful confident woman who is not the thin fit women that are often the standard for female characters in this genre.

Again the author makes wonderful choices in the character portrayals, sex scenes, and the chemistry between these two mc. But it is a book that feels like it is missing something. Perhaps the missing element is the hint of magic that colored the first book. While I do not expect huge fantasy moments in this series, the first book hinted to a magical element.

There was a sense of otherworldliness that drew readers in book one, from the magic that separated parts of the city, to the sudden and unexpected appearance of Hermes, and doors that seemed to lead to unexpected places. All in all book one had a more fantasy element to it that acted as a glue to help merge the theme of the book being about god inspired characters to this reimagining of those characters. This book lacked those movements that would have help better connect us to the world building and connect the two book to feel more cohesive. This is more disappointing than anything else.

With interesting plot twist, if not possibly predictable, ending we find that the book does have a HEA. There is a cute scene at the end of the book that reunites us with the mc from book one. Some more twist would suggest that we have the making of what is going to happen in book 3 excepts it appears that book three will depart to focus on a completely different set of characters you would expect based on the ending of this book. Which forces us to wonder why the author made some of the choices she did towards the end of book and how those might play out in the next book.

The hopes is that the series will not serve us diminishing returns on what has been a fantastic start in book one, a slightly jarring if not disappointing at times but altogether great book two, for a potentially crowded book three. The beast that often stalk commercial success can sometimes be overly high expectations for new entries in the series. Let’s hope that this author can pull off a turkey, and score three strike out books to an intriguing and wonderful series.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

A must listen!

This story draws you in and wraps you up. I listened to it throughout the day while doing mundane tasks. Spicy, yes, but the story line, the developed characters, and the plot twist are pure gold. I wish there was more! A truly immersive experience of a book. 5 stars for sure!

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Oh my wow

I literally couldn't stop listening. I want so much more! I am unconditionally addicted to knowing what's going to happen next! I look forward to the next gripping and tantalizing tale.

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modern Greek mythology

I loved it. i love Greek mythology so its nice to see a modern spin on it. I loved hades more than aros but still an amazing story

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Loved the Story, Great Audiobook

4.5 Stars

Psyche knew the world she lived it was dangerous and different from the rest of the world, she knew her family would eventually have to pay for Aphrodite's ire, but she never thought her heart would literally be the price to be paid and she never expected Eros would be the one tasked with killing her. All because of her mother's ambitions and because she chose to help Eros in a rare moment of need.

Eros is used to be his mother's fixer, he's been doing for far longer than he would care to think about, and he's never really struggled to complete the tasks given to him, but Psyche is different. He can't figure out why she is different, but killing her isn't an option, so he's left with only one choice, marry her. Marrying might save her life, but at what cost?

This was yet another great book from Katee Robert, she is quickly becoming a favorite author and this is definitely a favorite series of the year for me. I absolutely adored the way Psyche and Eros interacted with each other and the development of their feelings and their relationship was fantastic. And Psyche and Eros as characters in their own right were so great. They were such strong characters and their understanding of each other was so beautiful. I loved that both of them refused to see just what the public said about the other.

Katee's writing style is so great, the story was clearly well thought out and the characters we so well developed. I cannot wait to continue this series and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the following.

✔️ Marriage of Convenience
✔️ Forced Proximity
✔️ Touch Her and Die Vibes
✔️ Plus Size Heroine
✔️ Retelling
✔️ First Person Dual POV
4.5 🌶

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I am Hera for this!

Dark Olympus makes my dreams reality. It is everything we want in a smutty book and more.

I am a big-time lover of crossovers in book worlds, movie worlds and real worlds. I love that tie in aspect as an added dimension/layer.

I was obsessed with the heat that Psyche and Eros were feeling but, of course, avoiding to admit said feelings until the last possible second. But it’s okay because we were all privy to the fact that it was mutual.

As a plus size gal myself I love, love, love that he is so attracted to her and doesn’t see her as less beautiful just because she is not like the rest of the lasses in Olympus.

Dark Olympus just keeps getting spicier and spicier and I am HERE.(rather Hera) FOR. IT.

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A beautiful scandalous story

This is a steamy, sexy piece. Everyone should read this series. A modern take on the world first scandalous stories.

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A must listen!

SOOOO GOOD!! The corruption, scheming, family drama, assassination attempts!! Aphrodite is a seriously evil c*nt 🤬 Loved this fake romance between two unlikely character. Damn they're 🔥🔥🔥 together! I need the next!

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FREAKING AMAZING

This was one of the most amazing books. Katee Robert has done a fantastic job of creating this world of the Greek Gods in mythology, in contemporary times! Electric Idol is the 2nd book in her Dark Olympus series. This tale of Eros and Psyche was so great, I loved it! I especially loved that Psyche was a plus size beauty!!! Absolutely can't wait for the next book!!! Sara Hampton-Brown and Alex Moorcock were both fantastic narrators for this book!!! ❤❤❤

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great listen

I saw a lot of negative reviews for this, but I highly recommend trying it out for yourself. I really enjoyed the story and the book kept me engaged, I found it fun, thrilling and sexy. I'm really enjoying this series and can't wait to continue it!

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