Synopsis
Since Ancient Greece, a handful of mortal bloodlines have participated in a game called the Agon. Every seven years, the gods and goddesses of Olympus become mortal for a week and if a mortal kills them, they will gain their power and godly status. At least until the next games. Lore was raised for this life and to compete in these games, but after her family was killed by a rival bloodline she swore to have nothing more to do with it. Now the Agon is on again and Lore is being pulled back in.

"Anger was like a disease to the soul and no aspect of it was more contagious than violence."

Tropes & Themes
- Deadly competition
- Gods & Demigods
- Greek Mythology
- Vengeance

"I was born knowing how to do three things - how to breathe, how to dream, and how to love you."

Content Warnings
- Descriptions of murder of children
- Violence

"The exceptional among mortals will always stand alone, for no one in the world was made for their task. Take confidence in that, and let it be poison to your fear."

My Thoughts
- I found this book gripping from the intrigue of what happened in Lore's past, where the aegis, what happened to Castor and who could be trusted, even as the not-knowing sometimes frustrated me.
- Some of the flashback scenes were hard to read, especially those concerning the deaths of Lore's family.
- Overall the book is quite fast-paced, but although the flashbacks provided the necessary back story and exposition, they interrupted and slowed the pace of the narrative in a way I sometimes found frustrating.
- I enjoyed Cassian & Lore's past and evolving relationship. I appreciated how it wasn't a primary focus of the narrative and it didn't feel misplaced or emphasised over the main plot, which was focused on the Agon and the bloodlines.
- Miles and Van's attraction to each other was very clearly spelt out so I'm not sure why the other characters in the book were so surprised!

"An oath was, after all, a curse you placed on yourself."

Content Warnings

aeori's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Content Warnings

kat221's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Content Warnings

juliabea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Author did a great job sorting characters and keeping Greek myth clear. It was a lot of information at first, but definitely fed into the plot of the story. Was a page turner, and excited to read more from this author. The

Content Warnings

r1vana's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

“A feather fallen from a wing is not lost, but free.”

This story proves that we can’t trust man and people in power.

The story started off so good after 35%. Even tough it is a stand-alone I felt that it keeps getting dragged. One thing is that when it comes to Greek Mythology, I get confuse(that is a me problem, not the authors…) and since I was really interested in that topic, I had hoped we got more infos/fiction from the author.
But around 75%, the plot started to pick up. And there was one time, I audibly gasped because of several “unexpectedly expecting”plot twists.
—

I love the FL, she was shown as a strong lead with a dark past. We get to see how flawed she can be and how naive and vulnerable she becomes when she is betrayed and being forced to suppress herself…

RTC

“You may deny the Fates, but they will not deny you. Fighting them will not save you from what is ahead. It will merely quicken the course of things."

TW: Murder; war; power hunger; men; grooming; suggestion of adult/minor marriage; death/massacre of family members

Content Warnings

sunflower_tea's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

It’s written in a personal she narrator.

Content Warnings

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