A Veil of Gods and Kings (Apollo Ascending Book 1) by Nicole Bailey – Review by Emily Nolden

A Veil of Gods and Kings by Nicole Bailey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Veil of Gods and Kings by Nicole Bailey
5 out of 5 stars

“It’s going to rip my heart into pieces and leave nothing but shreds remaining. And centuries—millennia from now— I will still bleed for you.” – A Veil of Gods and Kings

Apollo, a deity, running through the motions of unfulfilled relationships, and an unwanted destiny bound to him.
Hyacinth, a prince, striving for perfection at every turn, but never thinking of himself and the world outside of his palace.

Apollo is half mortal, half god, or a deity, and is avoiding his fate, unwilling to accept his spot as god of the sun. He drowns himself in pointless and meaningless relationships, keeping a veil over his identity and his heart. Never letting anyone get too close, except his mortal sister, Temi. Temi, perfect at everything in every way, but surrounded by pain and sorrow in her past, like Apollo. All they have is each other, or so they thought…
Apollo had no choice in his life, except one, either ascend and become the sun god, or spend a year mentoring under mister perfect, Hyacinth. Apollo had to decide which was the better of two evils, but he chose the option that would keep his sister by his side. Spend a year with the dreadful Hyacinth.
Prince Hyacinth, mister perfect, in looks, charm, work, being a son, brother, everything. To Apollo he was obnoxious and insistent, or so he thought. Prince Hyacinth thought Apollo had an over-inflated ego, and could not be around him for more than five seconds, but wanted to please the god, Zeus, and keep his city safe. These two together, sparked a dangerous fire that burned hot. They taught each other things they never knew existed, and experienced life together.
While Apollo was falling in deep, Temi had a mind of her own. That was releasing Epiphany of her princess duties, and taught her how to let go and live life. At first a distraction, sparked a friendship that was unbreakable.

In this retelling of Prince Hyacinth and Apollo, lies a story of enemies-to-lovers romance. But Nicole could not stop there, she twisted this retelling into SO MUCH MORE. Finishing the book, as the reader, I am left with wanting more. Even though the beginning started off slow, it was so important to build this world. I have never read a retelling of a Greek mythology story like this. Each character was eloquently built, not just in the world itself, but their back stories, their emotions and their relationships. Each chapter unfolded a new leaf to each character’s story. Besides the slow build, due to building such a breathtaking world, there was not large gut wrenching moments until the last fifty pages, especially the last three chapters of the story. Thankfully, Nicole was able to keep your attention even during the slower moments. The romance was very slow burn, and not graphic, vague in a sense, but still showed the affection of each character. If you are looking for a romance with some description, but not very detailed or in depth, to the point of, “holy smokes that is smut”, this is the book for you!
I cannot wait to read the next book in this series!

View all my reviews