May 17, 2023

REVIEW Radiant Sin (Dark Olympus #4) by Katee Robert

Radiant Sin (Dark Olympus Book 4) by Katee Robert
Rating: 4 Stars
Release Date: February 7, 2023
Format: Audiobook (Personal Library, Bought from Libro.fm0
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Katee Robert’s Radiant Sin, the fourth book in the Dark Olympus series, picks up after the events of Wicked Beauty with the power dynamics in Olympus once again shifting. New arrivals to the city have disrupted the usual ebb and flow, and a failing boundary system has left all of the members of the Thirteen desperate to shore up their power base and not show weakness to those outside of the city looking to strike.  

Radiant Sin gives readers a different viewpoint on the world of Olympus. Instead of most of the story taking place in the main city, Apollo and Cassandra journey to Minos’ country estate to attend a house party and try to determine his ulterior motives. The action that happens there is reminiscent of the board game Clue or the movie Knives Out, as the duo is thrust into an evolving mystery that they must solve before the ‘villains’ can make their move. The house guests add an extra element of fun to the story, as you have the ever-mischievous Hermes, the laid back party loving Dionysus, and the chaos-inducing Aphrodite (formerly known as Eris) as just a few of those present at the event. 

I’ve constantly been left amazed by the author’s creative ways of reimagining the Greek myths. Apollo and Cassandra’s roles in Olympus take very loose inspiration from the original tales. For example, there are never any references to poetry, healing, or music with Apollo’s role in the Thirteen. Apollo is also not a package deal with Artemis in this book (they’re cordial at best). There’s also no reference to Cassandra’s role in the Greek myths as the ‘mad prophetess’. However, despite the inspirations being loose, I do think Ms. Robert managed to maintain the spirit of those figures as well as their recognizability. 

Overall, Radiant Sin was an excellent read. Zara Hampton Brown and Alex Moorcock did an excellent job bringing Cassandra and Apollo’s perspectives to life in alternating chapters within the book (I really love all of the books they’ve narrated for Katee Robert). As with the other books in the Dark Olympus series, I would recommend Radiant Sin for mature fans of steamy, romance-filled mythology retellings. While Cassandra and Apollo’s story stands alone, a lot of the happenings in this book take up the story threads from Wicked Beauty and really set up the foundation for what should be happening in the next book, Cruel Seduction. I’m really excited to see Ms. Robert’s take on the story of Aphrodite and Hephaestus, and how she will incorporate Pandora and Adonis into that relationship.  

CONTENT WARNINGS (Courtesy of the Author): Body Shaming (referenced briefly, historical), murder, blood, guns, boss/employee relationship

About the Book
There's nowhere more dangerous than Olympus...and no one more captivating than its golden god: Apollo. Keeper of secrets, master of his shining realm...and the only man I am powerless to deny.

*A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Apollo and Cassandra that's as sinful as it is sweet.*

As a disgraced member of a fallen house, Cassandra Gataki has seen firsthand what comes from trusting the venomous Thirteen. But when the maddeningly gorgeous and kind Apollo asks her to go undercover as his plus-one at a week-long party hosted by a dangerous new power player...Cassandra reluctantly agrees to have his back.

On one condition: when it's all over, and Apollo has the ammunition he needs to protect Olympus, she and her sister will be allowed to leave. For good.

Apollo may be the city's official spymaster, but it's his ability to inspire others that keeps him at the top. Despite what the rest of Olympus says, there's no one he trusts more than Cassandra. Yet even as their fake relationship takes a wicked turn for the scaldingly hot, a very real danger surfaces... threatening not only Cassandra and Apollo, but the very heart of Olympus itself.

About the Author


Katee Robert is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Entertainment Weekly calls her writing “unspeakably hot.” Her books have sold over a million copies. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, children, a cat who thinks he’s a dog, and two Great Danes who think they’re lap dogs.

 

Katee is represented by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency.


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