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allie_schick's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Death
nrogers_1030's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Excrement
lilybear3's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
This is a beautiful immigrants' story of coming to the U.S. and starting a new life. I loved the different perspectives coming from different time periods. I love novels in verse and this one was so unique.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Classism, and Pregnancy
allibrooks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The cover art for this is what initially drew me in. I mean look at it! The gorgeous art was created by Hülya Özdemir whose Instagram is filled with more amazing art. 10/10.
Call Me Athena is a multi-generational story based closely on the author's own family. We follow our main character, Mary, who is the daughter of immigrants who wants to break traditional gender roles set by society and her family to become independent. Of course, cultural expectations, poverty, and the Great Depression all have a role to play here, making it difficult and even taboo for Mary to accomplish her goals. She wants to work, and not just the "women's work" expected of her. She also does not want to follow through with the arranged marriage her father has planned for her.
Told in verse, Mary's story comes alive as the reader gets to experience the heartache and victories that follow Mary and her family as they try to make their way in 1930's United States.
I loved the incorporation of the letters that Mary finds. And while I did guess that they were her parents pretty early on, the reveal at the end with her father returning to Greece and his family there while Jeanne went back to work as a nurse was a beautiful full-circle ending.
This is definitely an author I want to keep an eye on.
Call Me Athena is a multi-generational story based closely on the author's own family. We follow our main character, Mary, who is the daughter of immigrants who wants to break traditional gender roles set by society and her family to become independent. Of course, cultural expectations, poverty, and the Great Depression all have a role to play here, making it difficult and even taboo for Mary to accomplish her goals. She wants to work, and not just the "women's work" expected of her. She also does not want to follow through with the arranged marriage her father has planned for her.
Told in verse, Mary's story comes alive as the reader gets to experience the heartache and victories that follow Mary and her family as they try to make their way in 1930's United States.
I loved the incorporation of the letters that Mary finds.
This is definitely an author I want to keep an eye on.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Animal death, and War
mallorychristine's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual harassment, War, Police brutality, Misogyny, and Medical trauma
cobwebshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
"This war feels like a virus. No medicine can kill it, only patience, while we wait for the sickness to run its course."
I picked up "Call Me Athena" by chance, intrigued by the cover and the description, and I was absolutely not disappointed. This is a wonderful historical fiction with a dash of coming of age, exploring the struggles of trying to live up to one's origins while adapting to a migrant culture. The audiobook was narrated by Hope Newhouse, Gail Shalan and Ramiz Monsef, whose performances were emotional and enthralling.
The story unravels through three perspectives — Maria, a Greek-French daughter of immigrants living in Detroit, Michigan, during the Great Depression who tries to balance between playing the role of a good Greek girl and wanting to be a rebellious young American woman. By chance, she stumbles upon a bundle of letters that reveal to her stories her parents have kept from her and her siblings since the Great War; Gio, Maria's father, a young man whose tragic circumstances leading to him travelling halfway across the world and back, thrust into a war he doesn't himself understand; and Jeanne, a French girl, admirer of her legendary saintly namesake, Jeanne d'Arc whose paths cross with Gio's at a most unexpected time.
Cedar Smith weaves a beautiful story out of the three perspectives, exploring what it means to abandon your home for the sake of your family, meshing the horrors and pain of war with the youthful hope of the next generation. She does not shy away from describing what it felt like to live through the Great War as a soldier and a nurse, as well as the struggles of poverty during the Great Depression, and delivers some intense gut punches at times. The settings are vibrant, buoyant, full of life; the characters experience highs and lows, "Call me Athena" is charming, at times heartbreaking, and absolutely full of heart, leaving you hopeful for the ending, despite the knowledge of what course history took.
I picked up "Call Me Athena" by chance, intrigued by the cover and the description, and I was absolutely not disappointed. This is a wonderful historical fiction with a dash of coming of age, exploring the struggles of trying to live up to one's origins while adapting to a migrant culture. The audiobook was narrated by Hope Newhouse, Gail Shalan and Ramiz Monsef, whose performances were emotional and enthralling.
The story unravels through three perspectives — Maria, a Greek-French daughter of immigrants living in Detroit, Michigan, during the Great Depression who tries to balance between playing the role of a good Greek girl and wanting to be a rebellious young American woman. By chance, she stumbles upon a bundle of letters that reveal to her stories her parents have kept from her and her siblings since the Great War; Gio, Maria's father, a young man whose tragic circumstances leading to him travelling halfway across the world and back, thrust into a war he doesn't himself understand; and Jeanne, a French girl, admirer of her legendary saintly namesake, Jeanne d'Arc whose paths cross with Gio's at a most unexpected time.
Cedar Smith weaves a beautiful story out of the three perspectives, exploring what it means to abandon your home for the sake of your family, meshing the horrors and pain of war with the youthful hope of the next generation. She does not shy away from describing what it felt like to live through the Great War as a soldier and a nurse, as well as the struggles of poverty during the Great Depression, and delivers some intense gut punches at times. The settings are vibrant, buoyant, full of life; the characters experience highs and lows, "Call me Athena" is charming, at times heartbreaking, and absolutely full of heart, leaving you hopeful for the ending, despite the knowledge of what course history took.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Vomit, and War
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Xenophobia
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