B

Persephone

Persephone is a graphic novel that re-imagines the Persephone story from Greek mythology as a fantasy about science, magic, mothers, and daughters. It’s not a romance. Instead, it’s a coming-of-age story about a girl who has to emerge from her mother’s shadow and find her own identity.

In this version, the world above (Eleusis) and the world below (Hades) existed in peace until Hades, Lord of the Underworld, became paranoid and launched war on Eleusis. Hades (the guy) died and Hades (the world below) lost the war. Hades is cut off from the world above and its people face starvation. Meanwhile, in Eleusis, Demeter is a powerful mage and war hero. Only the children of mages can become mages themselves, so there’s a lot of pressure on Demeter’s teenage daughter, Persephone, to follow in her mother’s footsteps. When Persephone is kidnapped and taken to Hades, Persephone has a chance to solve the mystery of her past and pursue her own future while helping the two countries heal the literal and figurative rift between them.

The art in this story is lovely. It is dreamy, with soft pastel colors and a lot of wavy lines. There’s a lot of visual details, especially in the drawings of Eleusis. Persephone is aided by a prince (Hades’ son), a fox warrior, and some kindly residents of Hades in her efforts to understand her past and find a place for herself in a new world. The characters are relatable and the mother/daughter relationship is a combination of love, warmth, frustration, and tension that an awful lot of mothers and daughters will relate to. Also, there’s botany, and I sure do love me some science. This was an enjoyable and creative story, but it left a lot of unanswered questions. Also, even though I liked the characters, they don’t get much depth. A little bit more characterization would have earned this an A – as it is, it’s an enthusiastic B.

– Carrie S

French author Loïc Locatelli-Kournwsky presents a modern-day retelling of the Greek myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone in an exciting universe that blends high-fantasy adventure with visuals reminiscent of Japanese anime and 1950s American-style comics. Persephone may be the adopted daughter of the famous magician Demeter, but she struggles to find her place alongside such a force of nature. Persephone’s desire to find out where she belongs takes her on an epic adventure deep into the Underworld, where she’ll discover who—or what—she is.