Kore

The Taking of Persephone Series, Book 1

De: Ambrosia R. Harris

Narrado por: Ruthie Bowles

Who was Persephone before she was the queen of the underworld?

She was merely a child named Kore.

Kore, the goddess of spring and daughter to Demeter, had kept few secrets from her mother.

One being the true extent of her divinity and the other being her few chance meetings with the King of the Dead.

It was upon one of these secret meetings, on her seventeenth year that the God of the Underworld gifted Kore a simple crystal from his realm.

Determined to pay the King a visit of her own, along with overhearing some unfavorable news Kore soon finds herself fleeing to the Underworld in hopes of gaining sanctuary with the King.

What seemed like a simple journey at first, quickly turns into a fight for her immortal life. Facing cyclopes, monstrous shades, and vengeful Gods of the realm, Kore soon realizes the journey through the Underworld is not the safest for one such as the Goddess of Spring.

Or is it?

©2021 Ambrosia R Harris (P)2024 Ambrosia R Harris

Outstanding writing

One of the BEST retellings of this myth that i have ever read. An absolute cliffhanger, get all three!!! What an epic story.

Wonderful Performance!

I’ve always loved stories of Hades and Persephone, and this was one I wasn’t expecting. I thoroughly enjoyed this perspective and Ruthie’s performance of it!

True performative storytelling

The lilt of the voice actor told the story as one would read it, embodying the feeling of the actors rather than just applying a series of stale accents to each character.

Meh

I found this book/series randomly on the home page of my Kindle app and purchased the entire series and the novels as well to give the books a proper chance.

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This book follows Kore, who is the daughter of the Goddess of the Harvest. She has been keeping secrets from her mother, Demeter, including the true depth of her divinity and a few chance meetings with the God of the Dead.

What Kore doesn't realize is that a choice to meet the God of the Dead after she finds out about her mother's deception to marry Kore off to Ares changes her life forever in ways she never could have imagined.

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I feel like this book isn't normally my vibe, which is fine with me. I felt myself going crazy at the incredibly slow burn between Kore and Aidoneus, though. It was driving me absolutely insane. I wanted a quicker burn, honestly.

I guess I've been reading too many Greek myth retellings because that's what I've become used to. I did like the changes I feel the author made with this retelling. I felt like I liked this portrayal a bit more than others I've read, even if I also felt like this book isn't normally my jam.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book because I did. I stayed up longer than I normally would on my day off (I work night shift) to finish this book so I feel like that says a lot about the book. lol I meant that in a good way, of course.

I want more so I know I'll be continuing the series, especially with the ending we got with this novel. I'm so glad we get a direct continuation with the next book. Or, at least, I'm hoping we get a direct continuation, anyway.

I took my time with going through this book and I felt like that worked in my favor in the long run. I wanted to take my time with this book since I feel like I've been reading like it's a race lately. I wanted to take more time to enjoy what I'm reading, which seems to have worked in my favor.

Yes, I would recommend this book. The fact that the author is BIPOC is even better, in my opinion. I want to support indigenous and BIPOC writers more and this book/series is a definite step in the right direction.

This Kore kicks Butt

Wow, I devoured this book. I didn’t stop listening. Not at home in the car or walking the dog. Even slipping in my earbuds at the gym to hear what what happened to the characters next. (Instead of music) My only disappointment is that the next book isn’t available yet. If you’re interested in Greek mythology, love feminist literature and touch dark romance I think you will enjoy this too. It’s clear that the author has a deep love for Greek tragedies and mythology. It’s that Tapestry of lore that weaves in and out of the book. I get the same essence of the Greek gods that I experienced when I’ve read some of the original myths. I think this book takes the heart of the story of Hades and his queen to a whole new level. Harris gave Kore and other characters such strong voices and magic I feel like any other retelling will fall short at least in my heart. Please give it a listen and be patient with the first few chapters. Dear listener, as good story telling takes time to build up.

Enjoyable storytelling

the more I've been studying this myth and reading modern retellings and trying to find more that fit my perspective better. I found this book, didn't want to look too deeply into it. Other tales so far feel too modern. I really enjoyed your telling of Kore and what her life could've been. Even if most feel it's inaccurate. how do we know for sure... I just love to see what we can do to make a horrible situation.. seem palpable.

Amazing Interpretation Of Kores Story

I loved this Audio, Ruth Did an amazing job and The author is an amazing storyteller. I had goosebumps at the end and wanted to continue with the story! I'll be picking up Hades and Demeter asap. If you love lore and mythology with a spicy twist this is for you. Run don't walk to get this!

Cliffhanger

Ugh. I wish I’d known it had a cliffhanger before starting. We all know Kore/Persephone becomes queen of the underworld so it’s not too much of a cliffhanger but I didn’t realize this is really just the beginning of their story.
Otherwise I really enjoyed it. Can’t wait for the next book.

A great listen

I listened to Kore as an audiobook as well as reading along physically at times.

I really loved the way the characters came to life while listening and the story felt like a full on adventure. It focused on Kore and her journey to and through the Underworld to reach Hades.

Hades and Persephone has always been one of my favorite stories and I'm always intrigued when there's any sort of retelling or reimagining. This was a fresh take through the lens of Kore and how she made the choices. She pursued Hades and not the other way around.

Kore's magic was so interesting to see blossom and it's the one thing I wish I got to see more of throughout the story and not just in times of great emotions. I would have loved to see more growth from Kore in terms of the way she responded to things as the story progressed. As part of her chaotic nature, she almost always did whatever she wanted despite any warnings against those actions, and I would have liked to see her grow from those impulses, even just a little.

The story does fully embrace that chaos and we get to experience the ups and downs of Kore's journey to find Hades. I'm excited to get into the next book and see where the story goes.

Hail Persephone!

This story was so amazing I was hummed out when I reached the end. I also love how the narrator read the story and her voice overs were amazing. it felt like I was there throughout the story of Persephone. She is one of my goddesses that I worship and I love how the author gave Persephone her maiden name so to speak lol it made me fall in love with Hades too and of course I love reading about Hekate too! I cannot wait for the upcoming book for this series! I totally recommend to anyone looking for a good story!