Discussions

Last year I read and adored Neon Gods by Katee Robert, the first book in her Dark Olympus series. I knew immediately that I had to keep on reading this series. So as soon as Electric Idol arrived in-store at work, I got it. And pretty much started reading it right away. And it came as no surprise to me that I absolutely adored Electric Idol. While I love writing full reviews, I also love sharing with you the reasons why I love a book. So today I thought I would share the 5 reasons why I loved Electric Idol. 

If you haven’t checked out my Neon Gods post from last year, you can now. I also shared why I loved reading it so much. Now let’s get right into this post. 

Electric Idol (Dark Olympus #2) by Katee Robert

Pages: 384
Publish date: January 18, 2022
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
ISBN: 9781728231761
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Electric Idol:

Trigger and Content Warnings include abuse (emotional, financial), body shaming (ch 1, 3, 31), murder (off-page), guns, explicit sex.

Electric Idol follows the story of Eros and Psyche as they try and navigate the world of Olympus. When Aphrodite becomes jealous of Psyche she tasks Eros to take her heart. But he can’t do that, but you know what he can do? Marry her. Now married Eros can protect Psyche in more ways than one. And what started out as a bargain turns into something much more dangerous. As one of my most anticipated reads of the year, I had very high hope and you know what? Katee Robert delivered. 

The romance is hot! 

The romance in Neon Gods was spicy. It’s off the page hot. I’m not just talking about sexy time. I’m talking about everything from the tension between Eros and Psyche to the small little things that they do for one another. From the start, the reader is able to see there is something between these two. They just hit it off with one another so well. It’s this great sense of our mothers hate one another, but hey you are hot. And then Eros is sent to kill her, but hey he can’t do that, so let’s just marry instead. And that creates this fantastic chemistry between the two of them that I didn’t want to stop.

It was steamy and sexy and just so right. Eros is feral but in a good way. I don’t know how to explain it, so it doesn’t sound weird. But he hasn’t felt love for any of this life. He has been trained to kill and do his mothers dirty work. But Psyche just grabs him and he is gone before he even knows it. The sexy time in Electric Idol is very different from the first book, but still very spicy and sexy. It’s this perfect combo of being kinky and heartwarming at the same time. 

Photo by Tuva Mathilde Løland on Unsplash

Plus-size heroine

One of my favourite things about this book is that Psyche is plus size. I absolutely adore seeing plus-size heroines in my romances and Katee Robert has just made it so good. She doesn’t hide away from Psyche having insecurities about her body, but she also explores Psyche owning her body. It’s this fantastic combination that just works so damn well for me. The reader is also able to see Psyche grow more confident with her body and own it even more. While Eros isn’t the one to help her see it, he shows her how to love her body even more, by loving it himself. 

I also really enjoyed that she was an influencer. I normally hate when any of the main characters are influencers in a novel. But it was really well done here. It didn’t take over the storyline. Psyche wasn’t made to be entitled and it actually fit very well with the story as a whole. Another thing that adored was that Psyche embraced fashion while also criticising it. 

I have been told to kill you but I can’t, so let’s marry 

Okay so I love a lot of different tropes and Electric Idol has a lot that I love, from a fake relationship to a marriage of convenience, and let’s try and make this look real. But one that I haven’t seen a lot that worked wonders here is ‘I’ve been tasked to kill you, but I can’t so let’s marry. It’s such a specific trope and oh was it done well. 

Eros does a lot of what his mother tells him to do. And for most of his life, he never questioned it. But this time, he is told to take the heart of a woman that hasn’t done anything wrong. And when it comes to it. Eros cannot kill Psyche. And the only other way that he can think that might keep her safe, even for a little, is to marry her. 

I really enjoyed seeing the dynamics of these two together. Not only did Electric Idol use the trope of fake relationship/marriage of convenience, but there was also forced proximity, I don’t like you, but you are hot. Let’s only have sex but only while we work this out. And they all just worked so well together. 

Photo by Ash Edmonds on Unsplash

World Building 

I talked about this before, but I loved the world that Katee Robert has built for this series. While it isn’t a classic retelling, I feel it still has the feel that I want from a retelling. But it’s not even that part that made me love the book. It’s the way that Robert has created this modern Olympus where the gods aren’t actually true gods. They are decedents or a person that the previous ‘god’ has chosen as heirs. It’s a really interesting concept that leads the novel to have a lot of court and political intrigue. which if you didn’t know I absolutely love. 

We get to see it so much more in this book and I can’t wait to see it expanded as the series goes on. In the first book, everything is starting to build. But it hits some bumps in this book and we get to see more interactions with different gods. 

Eros

I didn’t know how I was going to feel about Eros. I could have loved him, I could have hated him. What I didn’t expect was for him to be sort of soft. While he is a hard ass and has done a lot of horrible things on behalf of his mother, he has missed out on a lot of things. And it isn’t until he is with Psyche that he is able to see that. I think I loved his character development the most. The reader is able to see someone, who has done everything that his mother has told him to do, to finally stand up for not only others but himself. It took a lot of power to turn against his mother. And it wasn’t an easy trip. It took a lot out of him. 

One of my favourite things about Eros is seeing how much he cares and how protective he is of Psyche. It’s the touch her and I will kill you kind of protection and I loved it. There is a scene where Psyche is getting some hate comments on her social media post and his reaction – damn!

Photo by zelle duda on Unsplash

Overall, I loved Electric Idol by Katee Robert. It’s hot, sexy and everything that I wanted it to be. Eros and Psyche are one of my new favourite couples and just make me smile. They lit up the page and I wasn’t able to put the book down. Electric Idol adds another layer to the Dark Olympus world and I cannot wait to see where it’s taken in the next few books. If you are looking for a Greek Mythology inspired series that is sexy and smutty, while also being very sweet. I’m so excited to continue this series that is for sure.