I’ve been reading and enjoying the Dark Olympus series since the beginning. Midnight Ruin is the latest in the epic and it might be one of my favorite relationships in a while. Keep reading for my full thoughts in this book review of Midnight Ruin.
Summary
Eurydice Dimitriou has always been the innocent sister, but she’s finally ready to step out of the long shadow cast by her powerful family…and the ex who shattered her heart. Perhaps rough hands on soft skin are exactly what she needs to forget her heartbreak once and for all?
Charon Ariti has been Hades’s right-hand man for years. He’s given everything to the lower city, but now he’s ready to take something for himself. He’s only too happy to give Eurydice a special kind of education…but is her heart really free enough to be claimed?
Orpheus Makos will do whatever it takes to make things right. Once the golden boy of the upper city, he’s now a shadow of his former self. He’ll do anything to get Eurydice back…even if it means she’s not coming into his arms alone. Three hearts. Three futures. Countless ways to get it wrong.
But with enemies slipping through Olympus’s faltering barrier to lay siege on the lower city, a trio of broken hearts will be the least of these would-be lovers’ worries…
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
My reviews of the series always touch on the Mythology, the World, the Characters, and the Relationships. Mythology, I think we’re fully off the rails at this point. While this one brings it closer than for example Radiant Sin with the addition of Orpheus and Eurydice, it’s rather loose. I did enjoy the small nods to the original with Eurydice staying in the Underworld and the regret of Orpheus, so in terms of mythology, not my least favorite of the series.
For the world, this seems almost isolated in the world until about the last 25%. It’s mostly about Eurydice trying to find out the information from Ariadne – who will be the next book – so most of what we see is very much only there to advance the overall plot. But in terms of what we see, it’s world lite, until it hooks us for the sequel. I think my favorite elements were the characters and their dynamic. Each of them have a strong history – very much like Cruel Seduction. But because we only have three main POVs, everything is allowed to be more streamlined, plus they all seem to be connected more than the previous group of lovers.
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There’s this core relationships between Charon and Eurydice and Orpheus and Eurydice so the only ones that need to be ‘built’ are Charon and Orpheus. And I think that is what makes Midnight Ruin work for me better than Cruel Seduction. You’re able to get to know more of the characters in depth as well as see this new dynamic on the foundations of the old. It’s obvious they all care for each other and are rather protective. And so here it just works and their triad is way more believable as a synergy. Spice level wise, it’s a Katee Robert book so of course it’s excellent if you were wondering. Overall, this one is one of my favorites in the series!
Find Midnight Ruin on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.