Captive in the Underworld by Lianyu Tan

I really don't think I can fully impress upon you how much I loved this book. I have read THE WICKED AND THE WILLING by this author and while I appreciated the allegory of vampirism as the destructive force of colonialist powers, the graphic violence and not-so-happy ending were a tough sell for me. CAPTIVE IN THE UNDERWORLD, on the other hand, takes everything I loved about Lianyu Tan's other book-- beautiful writing, dangerous and morally grey women-- and multiplies it tenfold in what is truly a sapphic dark romance masterpiece.

CAPTIVE IN THE UNDERWORLD starts out with Persephone being nagged by her narcissistic and emotionally abusive mother as they are on their way to a party. Persephone manages to escape her mother's clutches and hobnob a little before accidentally observing Zeus and (female) Hades having a somewhat heated discussion: Zeus wants Hades to bring one of his human lovers back from the dead and Hades says no.

Meanwhile, Persephone finds out that Demeter has been turning away her suitors. Ostensibly because none of them are good enough, but really, because she can't stomach the idea of yielding her oppressive control over her daughter's life. When Persephone fights back, Demeter banishes her as punishment, which results in her being abducted by Hades into the underworld and married against her will. 

Hades is a true morally grey dark romance hero in this book: there is non-con and dub-con and she is brutal and cruel (but just, in a twisted sort of way). She slaps Persephone once, but Persephone throws a water pitcher at her head (to which Hades says, "Are you trying to seduce me?"). I don't normally like physical violence in romance novels from one of the love interests, but knowing that they are Greek gods, and how canonically cruel they are to each other (and not human) made it easier to stomach. I also liked how Tan showed how Hades extended Persephone small mercies that she didn't give others.

Also, you just got to appreciate a dark Greek romance that has female Hades railing Persephone with a strap-on.

But on a serious note, I LOVE how the focus of this book was on Persephone coming out from her mother's thumb, overcoming her mother's emotional abuse and learning to embrace her powers and not second guess herself at every turn. It was beautifully done.

I loved this book so much and my literal only complaint is that there aren't more books in this world.

5 out of 5 stars