Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
I'd heard a lot about this book before picking it up, and the idea of the Greek pantheon all living in modern London was definitely appealing to me. At the core, though, it's a romantic comedy with Greek gods thrown into the mix to cause extra problems (and, later, help with the problems that they made worse).
Artemis walks dogs for a living, Aphrodite does telephone sex, and Apollo is filming the pilot for a psychic TV show. The gods and goddesses (down to even Hera and Zeus, although sadly they don't get much time) are all caricatures of themselves to really silly extremes at times, but all of them are pretty accurate as to how they would most likely be acting in modern times. The Greek gods and goddesses, according to myths, was always a bickering group that was as shallow as humans, and they're still definitely like that.
I honestly felt like I was reading a Terry Pratchett novel, with Marie Phillips' writing style. No complaints there, considering he's one of my favorites.
It wasn't fantastic, but it was a good, light read that was worth the time it took to finish it (which isn't long with it being less than 300 pages and written very conversationally).
Artemis walks dogs for a living, Aphrodite does telephone sex, and Apollo is filming the pilot for a psychic TV show. The gods and goddesses (down to even Hera and Zeus, although sadly they don't get much time) are all caricatures of themselves to really silly extremes at times, but all of them are pretty accurate as to how they would most likely be acting in modern times. The Greek gods and goddesses, according to myths, was always a bickering group that was as shallow as humans, and they're still definitely like that.
I honestly felt like I was reading a Terry Pratchett novel, with Marie Phillips' writing style. No complaints there, considering he's one of my favorites.
It wasn't fantastic, but it was a good, light read that was worth the time it took to finish it (which isn't long with it being less than 300 pages and written very conversationally).
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The premise is great, the opening is good, but the book really fizzles out before it even gets to the halfway point. The characters are not fully realized and the writing is just plain sloppy toward the end. A very predictable end. In fact, the ending was so predictable, I thought it had already been written several chapters prior. I gave myself an ice cream reward for finishing the thing.
A fun, smart, light and fast-moving novel--it reminded me in a good way of Neil Gaiman's work. It also seemed a little subversive in how her version of reality differs from ours. It felt very well thought-out.
Gods Behaving Badly was voted as the August beach read for 1book140 (The Atlantic's Twitter Bookclub), so I had never heard of it and had no idea what to expect when I picked it up.
I loved it, though I should probably mention that I have a severe soft spot for fiction based on any ancient group of gods.
The characterization of the Gods in the 21st century was hysterical - Artemis is a dog walker and Aphrodite is a phone sex operator. Ares was one of my favorites. Though he plays a minor role in the novel, he says things like "There's always Russia, but they've been harder to provoke since the end of the Cold War." and got a laugh out of me every time.
As in any Greek myth, you need a hero. Phillips' mortal hero was a nerd, and I loved him. He loved board games, and organized his DVD collection in chronological order of purchase to better observe his "developing tastes." He was great.
There is a bit of dirty humor, especially in the Apollo-Aphrodite relationship and Aphrodite's constant teasing of Artemis (being the virgin God). I found both hysterical in the books context, but it may not be for everyone.
I loved it, though I should probably mention that I have a severe soft spot for fiction based on any ancient group of gods.
The characterization of the Gods in the 21st century was hysterical - Artemis is a dog walker and Aphrodite is a phone sex operator. Ares was one of my favorites. Though he plays a minor role in the novel, he says things like "There's always Russia, but they've been harder to provoke since the end of the Cold War." and got a laugh out of me every time.
As in any Greek myth, you need a hero. Phillips' mortal hero was a nerd, and I loved him. He loved board games, and organized his DVD collection in chronological order of purchase to better observe his "developing tastes." He was great.
There is a bit of dirty humor, especially in the Apollo-Aphrodite relationship and Aphrodite's constant teasing of Artemis (being the virgin God). I found both hysterical in the books context, but it may not be for everyone.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A quick, fun read. Neil Gaiman-lite, with a lot more sexy talk.