Promises and Pomegranates - Sav R. Miller

Promises and Pomegranates is a dark contemporary romance based loosely on the story of Hades and Persephone. Elena is the daughter of a mafia boss and Kal is the enforcer and extractor of information, the one who does the dirty work. Kal forces Elena into marriage and whisks her away to a secret(ish) location. (link)

Review: 2/5

Honestly… I hated this book. Reflecting back, I’m thinking that I should have given this book one star, but I guess in the fog and delusion of finishing it, former Kylee thought it deserved two. It felt cheaply shallow, it was hard to read and (most likely) easy to write. I’m not hitting out at Miller (or… maybe I am?) but this book was extremely difficult to read for me. Honestly, I could come up with a million excuses like coming off the high of reading Alone With You in the Ether, but I think I can compartmentalize my reading pretty well. So, this book sucked.

My main thing was the lack of “sense” NONE of this book made sense to me. There weren’t plot holes, there were gaps in the universe. There were multiple things brought up where I was thinking “uh okay, now what” because the unattainability of the sequences was just astonishing. I read some reviews after reading the book, and most agreed, and some even said that if you read the prequel and second book in the series, the random drop offs are picked back up or explained. But, if a book can’t stand alone and be good, I don’t think there SHOULD be a prequel and sequel. Pick up any of the Harry Potters and there’s a solid plotline to follow. Now that’s a good book series… Another thing was WHEN WAS THIS? WHERE WAS THIS? I know of the island he whisked her off onto, but is this supposed to be modern? I’m assuming so because of their clothing descriptions but when? There was little setting disclosure so I was often confused trying to distinguish what was happening and if it made sense for the time/place. It seemed like this book would make sense set in Gotham more than modern day New Jersey.

One thing I feel I should point out is that if you believe in realism or ethics at all, you might not enjoy it. The whole “touch her and you die” trope has never resonated with me, nor have I ever enjoyed it. Yeah, now is the time to admire my healthy realtionship views and skills that have lead me NOWHERE. I think that’s why this was so hard for me to enjoy, I was sucked into a toxic relationship, and I’ve been in enough of those in real life to have my cup filled.

Music wise, this book transported me back to my emo phase. Yeah... I HAD AN EMO PHASE! The whole book reminded me of a shitty tumblr fanfiction that focused around your mom giving you away to Andy Biersack or something… speaking of, Black Veil Brides IS on the playlist, as well as some Melanie Martinez. And as much as it pains me to put one of my favorite bands on it… Paramore. I’m going to be honest, it was really hard for me to put this playlist together because I hate spending time on things that don’t serve my energy positively… but I did it for my loving and adoring fans. Yeah, applaud me! As a cheat, I did include the songs listed at the beginning of the book as the playlist. If I enjoyed this book, I wouldn’t take such a cheap-feeling shot. Here it is, you animal.

Spotify: LINK