Lore Olympus vol 2 by Rachel Smythe

Persephone is still reeling from the fallout of her assault from Apollo, as well as the night-after the big Olympus party where she ended up in Hades' house. A tabloid publishes a photo of the two of them leaving and accuses her of being a flower nymph sleeping her way to the top. Hera decides to meddle further and approves an internship for Persephone in the Underworld, meaning she'll be working closely with Hades. Minthe, Hades' sometimes paramour, grows jealous from the photo. On Persephone's first day in the Underworld, Minthe gives her terrible directions and lands her in Tartarus with some volatile shades. As soon as Hades realizes Persephone's in trouble, he sprints off to rescue her just as she's being attacked by a shade. Hades can't come to terms with his feelings for Persephone, and worries about his attraction to a goddess who is much​ younger than he is, so he decides to bottle it up and try to work things out with Minthe.

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In volume two, we get even more Olympians piled on, but Smythe has an excellent way of characterizing them all into their own people. There aren't very many redeeming characters, just as there really aren't that many great gods in the classic stories. Sure, some gods came around to help humans every now and again, but most of them were jealous and had rage problems. Turning the Olympus-sized problems into workplace drama really grounds the stories for a modern audience and gives the whole world a delectable setting that is fun to lurk in.

Smythe's art is fantastic as always, and hopefully readers are paying attention to what shade she chooses for each god. This is not only good for keeping track of who is who, there are probably whole essays on the meaning of the choices Smythe has made for each character.

Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1
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Publisher: Del Rey
Publication Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 9780593160305​ (Hardcover)

​Tags: Rating: 10/10, Suitability: High School, Graphic Fiction, Mythology, ​Romance, Del Rey