Wicked Beauty

Wicked Beauty is book 3 in the Dark Olympus series, and I swear this series is exactly what I was looking for recently. Interesting retellings set in a modern day Olympus, lots of spice, high stakes, romance, character development, and plenty of drama.

It was simply a masterpiece. I loved this retelling of Helen of Troy, Achilles and Patroclus. It was extremely well done and I loved the plot taking place in the form of a hunger games-style tournament for the rights to the title of Ares. Everyone loves a good FMC who is undervalued and overlooked coming in to kick some ass while dealing with the inner trauma of her life. Everyone also loves that same FMC meeting 2 smoking hot men and them inserting her into their relationship for some steamy action. I personally did.

Helen is a really wonderful and relatable FMC. She was taught to hide behind a mask of the playful rich princess girl and hide all her true feelings and vulnerabilities from everyone. She was betrayed by an ass of an ex boyfriend who emotionally abused her and cut her down so far inside her head she struggles to believe in herself, while also not being able to trust/open up to anyone else. Aside from all this, she is strong, intelligent, crafty, and a general bad-ass while looking sexy as hell. While I can’t relate to her struggles, I really truly felt for her and everything she went through. It was described really well, and make me feel strongly invested in her as a character.

Achilles and Patroclus were great together, and I definitely preferred Patroclus over Achilles, but I personally did not love the way things started off with Helen and their blooming jealousy and mistrust of one another. It was weird to use Helen, and then a little weird that they all the sudden were both fine with it? IDK, that doesn’t foster good relationship foundation vibes to me, even though they have been together for 10+ years.

The spice was great in Wicked Beauty. It was intense and seductive and hot and sexy and 10/10. I really liked how it was different between Achilles and Patroclus, Patroclus and Helen, Helen and Achilles, and the 3 of them together. Each coupling had a different vibe and energy to it and it was all fantastic while being totally different. We had the long term lovers, the passionate, the hate fuck, and the sexy triad.

I wished there was a little more of the challenges in the book, but what was there was written very well and added to the plot wonderfully. I just enjoyed the scenes and wish it drug out a bit more.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert. It was empowering, sexy, tense, and I struggled to put it down until I was done. I would definitely recommend it and can’t wait to continue reading the rest of the Dark Olympus series.

This was probably my least favorite out of the Dark Olympus series... now that doesn't mean it's bad. It felt like the entire subplot was build up for the next book and we didn't really get closure at the end.. Wicked Beauty follows Helen, Achilles and Patroclus in the trials for becoming the next Ares. The prize is to win Helen as their wife but Helen doesn't want to put her life into someone's hands so she takes matters into her own.

I enjoyed all three of our characters. Helen is badass and let's no man take advantage of her. She will now bow down to be married off to some stranger so she decides to create her own future. I admire her ambition and strength. She is often described by others as a spoiled princess living off the last Zues but there's so much more to her than others see.

Achilles and Patroclus are already in a relationship at the beginning of the book. Achilles is trying to win to become the next Ares and has Patroclus there to help him win. Their dynamic is interesting. Felt like a sub/dom relationship till Patroclus finally started to get a backbone. Helen fits well with them and I liked them all together. The sex scenes were good but I know Katee Robert can do better.

Now for the disappointing part... the ending. That's just it though. It just ended... we got no conclusion for the relationship. The main issue in Olympus was just talked about but we learned absolutely nothing about it. I'm assuming we will learn more in the next book but it just felt incomplete. I hope we do learn more in the next. This book just felt like a the hunger games.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me this ARC in return for my honest review.

I don't usually enjoy poly romances, so I was prepared to struggle with this one even though I really wanted to read it. Guess what? I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it!

Helen is tired of being used like a pawn, by her family, in the Olympus game. However, Helen's brother after assuming Zeus' mantle is doing it again. But now, for once in her life, she stands up to Zeus and the Thirteen by going after what she wants: Ares' role. However, that puts her competing against others that will do anything to win. Achilles has wanted a bigger role since he was a child. As soon as Ares' spot is available, he doesn't hesitate. Patroclus, his boyfriend, enters the competition too, but he only wants to help Achilles win. When Zeus announces that he'll offer the new Ares Helen's hand in marriage, after the competition ends, everything gets a little convoluted, particularly because there's a powerful attraction between all three of them. But when Helen enters the competition too... everything goes up in flames!

It was heartbreaking to see Helen dismissed as a potential candidate during the first half of the book, even by Achilles. Patroclus, as the true strategist he was, saw way more in her than her beauty. Their connection was immediate from the start. Achilles caught up, eventually, and started to see the fierceness in Helen. Even though Patroclus and Helen had a deeper connection from the beginning, it was interesting how Achilles was the one that could read her so effortlessly and understood deeply how badly she was dismissed and mistreated by others. It was fun to see how their dynamic slowly changed and deepened. Helen, Achilles, and Patroclus complemented each other perfectly! I also loved the forced proximity aspect of the story. And one of my favorite aspects in this was how the trials ended: pure GOLD!

These 3 characters had me hooked as soon as we got their first interaction. I was invested in the story, plot, character's goals and fears, and chemistry between all three of them... hot, hot, hot!
The pining, the angst, and the steamy scenes made this story a fantastic read. I also really enjoyed the trials and the Olympus politics.

I'm enjoying this series a lot. Super interested to see where it's going to go next.

Please, don't go into this book expecting a retelling, it's very loosely inspired by greek mythology (hence it doesn't feature Briseis and Paris takes an entirely different role here).

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