Book Review: Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert

Title: Wicked Beauty
Author: Katee Robert
Genre: Romance, Paranormal Romance
Series: Dark Olympus #3
Date of Publication: June 7, 2022
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Synopsis

She was the face that launched a thousand ships,
The fierce beauty at the heart of Olympus,
And she was never ours to claim.
*A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Helen of Troy, Achilles, and Patroclus that’s as sinful as it is sweet.*

In Olympus, you either have the power to rule…or you are ruled. Achilles Kallis may have been born with nothing, but as a child he vowed he would claw his way into the poisonous city’s inner circle. Now that a coveted role has opened to anyone with the strength to claim it, he and his partner, Patroclus Fotos, plan to compete and double their odds of winning.

Neither expect infamous beauty Helen Kasios to be part of the prize…or for the complicated fire that burns the moment she looks their way.

Zeus may have decided Helen is his to give to away, but she has her own plans. She enters into the competition as a middle finger to the meddling Thirteen rulers, effectively vying for her own hand in marriage. Unfortunately, there are those who would rather see her dead than lead the city. The only people she can trust are the ones she can’t keep her hands off—Achilles and Patroclus. But can she really believe they have her best interests at heart when every stolen kiss is a battlefield?

– Goodreads

My Thoughts

Wicked Beauty is the third steamy and suspenseful paranormal romance with a plotline that reminded me of an adult Triwizard Tournament from Harry Potter.

This book is a little different from the first two books in the series, in that it doesn’t feature an MF couple, but an MMF couple. Achilles and Patroclus have been together for over a decade. Achilles wants nothing more than to become the new Ares, so when the current Ares dies and trials are set up to appoint someone to replace him, he’s eager to prove that he’s the best for the job. The problem is that anyone can enter these trials, including non-Olympians. Patroclus also enters the competition as an ally for Achilles, so that he can help him as far along as he can. But what they don’t bank on? The beautiful Helen Kasios entering the trials, especially when part of the prize is supposed to be her hand as a wife.

Helen is the sister to the new Zeus and her other sister is Aphrodite, and she’s tired of being a pawn and viewed as nothing more than an object because of her extreme beauty. She wants to become Ares–not just to prove herself to her family and everyone else in Olympus, but because she wants to have a meaningful impact on the city she loves.

I loved the dynamic between Helen and the couple, though I did get a little bit of whiplash and feel weird about it at first, because Achilles and Patroclus have been a couple for so long, and their jealousy of each other and Helen gave me cheating vibes. Fortunately, that clears up rather quickly, and all three of them end up becoming the perfect throuple. However, the book does end rather abruptly, and it might have benefited from either an epilogue or a scene set a little while after the end of the main events of the book to cement their relationship as a success.

The trials reminded me A LOT of the Triwizard tournament in Harry Potter, though they were far more vicious and intense. I absolutely loved the intensity of the dynamics between all the candidates and all their rivalries, along with the personal histories that some characters shared. For instance, Helen’s ex-boyfriend, Paris, is competing, and I just loved to hate him. I also appreciated following how all three of the protagonists dealt with the challenges differently. Helen, being physically smaller and not nearly as strong, comes up with clever ways to persevere. Patroclus is a strategist, and sometimes he doesn’t act quickly enough. Achilles is physically strong, but his biggest weakness is not wanting to see Patroclus or Helen hurt.

Just like with the first two books in this series, there’s a lot of political intrigue to get lost in. I love how, while Helen isn’t physically the strongest, her strength lies in her ability to read social situations, figure out people’s motivations and ambitions and act accordingly. She’s a politician at heart. Her skillset perfectly meshes with Achilles’s physical brawn and fight instinct and Patroclus’s ability to always be thinking one step ahead.

All in all, this is another unputdownable installment in the Dark Olympus series!