Blog Tour - Review + Giveaway: Death is but a Dream (Elysium Legacies #1) by Erin Hayes

I am so happy to be part of this blog tour! First of all, this book was AMAZING! Second of all, GREEK MYTHOLOGY! I heart it! And third, we have an epic giveaway for you guys! make sure you enter! :)

Title: Death is but a Dream

Series: Elysium Legacies #1

Author: Erin Hayes

Genre: Adult, fantasy, Greek mythology

Publication date: Fall 2013

Published by: Erin Hayes

Source: To review for blog tour

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Synopsis:

Caught between life and death, all Callie wants is to live again.

Homicide detective Callie Saunders knows that death isn’t all pearly gates and angels. After being hit by a bus, she finds that it's the ancient gods and goddesses of Greek mythology who are in charge of everything.

So when Hades offers her a deal, she accepts. If she wants to be brought back to life, she’ll have to figure out who is trying to kill his son. But if she fails, both her soul and the world will be destroyed.

With the odds mounting against her, it’ll take everything she has within her to wake up from death. But the rules are constantly changing. And someone wants her to stay dead.

My rating: ★★★★★
Holy Hades, this book was amazing! I'm sorry, I just had to say that ;) lol

When I got the e-mail about this blog tour and I saw that it was about Greek mythology, I knew I HAD to read it! I'm gonna be honest and say that I don't usually read Adult novels, but this one just sounded so great that I couldn't resist! And I am so glad I got the chance to read it!

So, here we have Callie, a homicide detective who is kinda dead but kinda not... it's really not as complicated as it sounds, lol. Anyway, when she arrives at the Underworld, Hades makes her a proposition: he will allow her to live again if she can figure out who is trying to kill his son, Plutus, the god of wealth. Callie agrees, but she has no idea what she is getting herself into! Not only is someone out to get Plutus, but now the same someone is out to get Callie out of the way. AND she may or may not be developing feelings for the god ;)

I absolutely loved the concept of the story! In classical myths, it really isn't mentioned that Hades has any godly children, while sometimes one very unknown goddess is mentioned (Macaria). Also, when we first came accross Plutus it sounded very familiar, and this is why: First, Pluto is the Roman counter part of Hades (and Hades/Pluto is also a god of wealth). Second, the one Plutus I remembered was son of Demeter, and he was the god of wealth, but his wealth had more to do with harvest, which makes sense. But anyway, my point here is that the concept of Hades having a son, a god of wealth, and someone is out there trying to kill him was absolutely brilliant! There are SO many Hades/Persephone books out there, almost all re-tellings of Persephone's abduction, and it is just refreshing reading about these Underworld deities in a new situation!

Speaking of deities, my favorite god was in here, woot woot! I *HEART* Apollo (but don't tell the other gods)! ;D

I also really liked that minor gods were mentioned. Pfft, everyone knows The Big Tweleve. It's about time the minor gods got a little time in the spotlight! Deities such as, Asclepius (Apollo's son, who is just as amazing at healing as his father) and his kids, Lamia (she's more of a monster), and Ilithiya who almost nobody knows about and don't realize she is actually a daughter of Zeus and Hera! Anyway, I really liked seeing these minor gods :)

And if you have not already noticed (or if I haven't mentioned it enough), I am a HUGE Greek mythology fan, so I definitely loved that about this book! I thought it was incorporated nicely, and I am actually very picky and cant help but notice when things in the book contraindicate things in the myths... it's a pet peeve I have! But Erin did a fantastic job following the myths, yet making them her own at the same time! I especially liked The Fury Tisi, I thought she was a fantastic character! She is very bold yet very caring and a great friend. Erin also did a great job in portraying the gods. They can be selfish, they can be nice, they can be bipolar and their attitudes changing from one second to the next. They can also be a**holes... I found myself thinking this about several of the gods *cough* Zeus *cough* Hades *cough* Just saying ;) I mean, sometimes they are just not very nice!

Anyway, Callie I really liked and, can I just say, she was a badass heroine who knows how to kick butt! Plutus was such a sweet guy! He was very mysterious and brooding in the beginning, but I really warmed up to him.

As I already said, I love a good mystery, but this one was a bit predictable at times. There was a ton of action, which I also loved... lots of fighting monsters! Whoo! And the romance... *swoons* One important thing about books is that they have to make me feel. And this book definitely did that! I cared what happened to our protagonist, I swooned over Plutus, and I got very emotional there at the end... the very bittersweet end. I guess that's the only thing about this book I was kinda "ehh" about. It was a good ending, but I like my endings sweet, not bittersweet. It definitely left me thinking, and I was all emotional and stuff with Plutus and Callie and the whole situation!

But overall, I thought this book was a great Adult Urban Fantasy read with a Greek mythology twist! The concept was intriguing, the descriptions were vivid, and the myths were precise! I really enjoyed the read and opportunity to explore the Greek mythological world with Callie. I'll definitely be keeping Erin Hayes and any future works in my radar!

Prizes:

--2x signed copies (US/CAN)

--3x ebook copies (INTL)

--One Kindle Fire (INTL)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a comment! :)