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nrogers_1030's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: War, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Excrement
lilybear3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
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
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
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.
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Animal death, and War
bookswithlee's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Murder and Child abuse
mallorychristine's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual harassment, War, Police brutality, Misogyny, and Medical trauma
cobwebshelves's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Gore, Vomit, and War
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Xenophobia
marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Blood, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent, Gun violence, Sexism, and Racism