Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language:  Frequent mild swearing (hell, damn, ass) and profanity.  The B word makes one appearance.

Violence:  There is some fighting between different characters at different times.  Hitting and such that lead to some blood.  Piper’s friend almost dies.  Many people die in a storm.  There is a funeral.  Someone bursts into flames, there are burning bodies.  Acacus is turned to metal.  Chloe talks about killing someone.  Piper is held with a knife at her throat.  She is cut below her ear and bleeds.  There are violent pictures on a wall.  A chandelier has skulls screaming in terror.  Piper is kidnapped and held against her will.  Ares feeds off the misery of men.

Sexual Content:  There are several instance of kissing involving tongues and people making out with touching.  A woman sits on her man in ecstasy.  A woman’s breasts can be seen through her shirt.  Her nipples are hard and brown.  Piper comments that Chloe has slept with two different guys that she knows of.  A creature is naked and his genitals are hanging down.  He grabs them and talks about them.  There is implied sex.  There are a couple more instances of kissing and touching where comments are made about nipples being hard and excited.  A man puts his hands down a girls shorts, up her shirt, kissing her and trying to take her clothes off against her will.  There is more implied sex.

Adult Themes:  Piper says her ultimate dream is to get a tattoo because it is a permanent sign of rebellion.  Piper drinks wine with her mother and others.  Piper doesn’t know her dad and grows up thinking he is in prison for terrorist activity.

Synopsis

The only world Piper has ever known is dying.  Global warming has made the temperatures so hot that things are not able to live.  Dangerous heat bubbles threaten whole populations and extreme measures are being taken to protect the people.  Piper is used to extreme measures though.  Her mother’s overprotective ways have left little breathing room and little experience with the outside world.  Then two new guys show up at school bringing with them more danger than Piper even knew existed.  While Piper struggles to find herself and her independence, the Gods of Mythology struggle to dominate her and the underworld.  It is a battle of deadly proportions.  Who can be trusted?

No doubt that this book is fast paced and compelling.  It has a story line that will keep you engaged from start to finish.  I loved the mixing of dystopia and mythology to create a world of both.  Hoover’s descriptions of the underworld left me with movie like pictures in my head.  This book is labeled YA, but due to the ratings explanations above I would suggest an audience of 18+.