ARC REVIEW: Hades: Stephanie and the Merciless Reaper by Theodora Taylor

Book Review

"𝑰 π’˜π’π’–π’π’… π’˜π’‚π’Šπ’• 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’šπ’†π’‚π’“π’” π’Šπ’‡ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’Šπ’• π’•π’π’π’Œ. 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’˜π’‚π’π’• 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’šπ’π’–. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’π’π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆."


Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Spice: πŸ”₯
Tropes: Dark romance, interracial couple, love at first sight vibes, MC romance
Series: Ruthless MC #5

*Check triggers before reading*

On Stephanie's 21st birthday, she finds out her dad made a deal to hand her over. Why? Because he owes a blood debt to a ruthless MC President named Hades. Stephanie knew Hades before he was President. They saw each other one time were lovestruck. But tragedy struck before they had a chance to explore their feelings.

Hades never physically harms Stephanie, but he does some really awful things to her. He has feelings for her, which complicates things around settling the blood debt owed to him. Stephanie shows kindness to him (frankly he doesn't deserve it), but he is weary as he believes her to be a liar like her father. Hades frustrated me because he refused to see how sweet Stephanie is and let what her father did influence how he viewed her. I had a hard time connecting to him or rooting for him. I'm hoping Theodora can redeem him in part 2 because I want to love him.

Stephanie is the best part of this book. She is put through the ringer and I don't know how she didn't completely break. She does what she has to do in order to survive, but even then the fire inside her is still there. I loved her intelligence and her ability to adapt. She was sweet to Hades and you could tell she did have a level of care for him. I hope she gets to be happy with her sister one day πŸ₯Ί

The premise was there for this story, but for me the pacing is what made this a challenging read. The time jumps were confusing at times and I had to reread parts to make sure I understood what was going on. The epilogue confused me (I thought it was all a dream at first) and it took me a beat to figure out what was going on. I am very intrigued about what happened that influenced that cliffhanger. We only got bits and pieces to give us some insight. I'm very curious how we went from the Bayou to a completely different state.

Thank you to Theodora and Valentine PR for the ARC!

Book Information

Release date: April 26th, 2022

Description:
*The description comes directly from Amazon's website*

I was born a few moments after midnight on January 1st. On my 21st birthday, my father throws me the most lavish New Year's Eve birthday party Baton Rouge has ever seen—then he tells me I'm a woman now, and that means I belong to a man he owes a blood debt.

No, not a man. A demon who feeds on my family’s pain and suffering. Especially mine.

His name is Hades Fairgood. But he is neither good nor fair.

He's the twisted ruler of a biker underworld, and everything my dead mother warned me to avoid. Dirty rich, stupid hot, and merciless. There's not even a smidge of human left in his bitter, vengeful heart. I find that out the particularly cruel way when he renames me Persy--short for Persephone and has PROPERTY OF HADES tattooed across my back.

So that I never forget...

I'm his possession now. He owns me, mind, body, and soul.

He’s a needlessly beautiful monster who I must escape. Of course, I must.

It’s just…

The longer I’m with him, the more confusing it becomes. Is he a merciless monster or a wounded man in need of love? My love?

It doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter either way. I just hope I can escape his wrath before he ruins me.

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