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Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'
The Widely Unknown Myth of Apple & Dorothy by Corey Ann Haydu
5 reviews
karlybug's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I thoroughly enjoyed this. In fact, I'm planning on picking up my own copy. Obviously there's a level of personal trauma related for me, but I thought the storytelling was so beautiful, as was the prose, and the setting/plot pretty inventive. I also think I'll pick up more by this author. I found this to be a lovely little discourse on grief, death, loyalty, friendship, and what it means to be human.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Car accident
bookbugbex's review against another edition
3.25
The Widely Unknown Myth of Apple and Dorothy by Corey Ann Haydu
Middle Grade, Fantasy, Mythology
September 2023 by Katherine Tegen Books
362 pages
February 19-20, 2024
💬 “No one told me that so many feelings were possible at one time, ones that don’t fit together, don’t match at all.”
đź“– Synopsis:
Our Hill is a town of modern-day near-gods who are descendants of the ancient Greek gods, nymphs, and muses. Once a year they all must visit Mount Olympus to preserve their near-godliness. One year Dorothy’s mother refuses to climb the ladder, thus forcing the gods to revoke her near-god status and turn her into a full human. She soon dies a human death and Our Hill is forever changed. The gods now deliver a ruthless ultimatum on the rest of the population, return to Mount Olympus and live as gods forever or stay on earth and live as fully human. Everyone now must make a choice.
🖋️ Review:
**May contain spoilers**
**May contain spoilers**
The Widely Unknown Myth of Apple and Dorothy by Corey Ann Haydu is an emotional tale about grief, friendship, consequences, the pressure of family expectations, and ultimately, hope.
Haydu, very smartly, chose to write this novel in dual-perspective. We are able to see this story from both Apple and Dorothy’s points of view. Because these two near-gods are opposites in almost every way, getting to peak inside their mind allowed the reader to see the full story from vastly different vantage points. It is a great reminder that situations, and life, can look enormously different depending on your perspective.
The main characters are young girls, aged 11, named Dorothy and Apple. Their parents play a crucial role in the story and their dynamic as well. Dorothy’s mom was the main connection between the girls. After Penny, Dorothy’s mom, passed they both experienced deep pain and had to navigate how to grieve her. Dorothy’s mom was also grieved by George, Dorothy’s father, and Heather, Apple’s mother and Penny’s best friend. They all handled their grief in different ways; some of it was healthy, and some was not as productive. I loved the different ways they all reacted, I think it shows a true picture how death affects everybody so differently and how important it is to process.
I think that a lot of girls could relate to Apple and her relationship to her mom, Heather. Heather attempts to appear near perfect, in charge, and posh. She passes this enormous pressure down to Apple as well, making her try to live up to Heather’s expectations.
Penny, Dorothy’s mother, on the other hand was a free-spirit, go against the grain, type of character. She pushed all of the buttons and wanted those around her to use their own critical thinking rather than just believing everything they have ever been told.
The differences in the two families compounds as the storyline progresses. The chasm between the two grows until there is really no connection left at all. Apple and Dorothy have a strange friendship that began because the mothers were best friends. The girls relationship was based upon forced proximity. After Penny’s accident, Apple takes charge of her and Dorothy’s friendship and drives them to become best friends themselves. Their friendship begins sweet and healing in many ways, but eventually turns toxic, leading to some choices that have enormous consequences. By the end of the story, thankfully, the girls are able to repair the relationship to a healthy state. I do love that this conclusion is not just a pretty box wrapped in a gorgeous bow. The end result is probably not what either of them would have chosen on their own but they are able to be happy with the outcome.
The Widely Unknown Myth had a very strong and clear plot line, but in my opinion, the story was more character driven. Without all of the nuance of the characters, this story could have easily been a short-story or fable. But because the characters were the main focus, the story was able to be fleshed out into a multi-themed novel.
If you are looking for a book about navigating grief, consequences, and relationships, this is a great choice for you! This would be a great book for many adolescents and adults alike. I would definitely recommend this book for any Mother/Daughter reading duo to be able to talk about complex emotions and situations in a less intimidating way.
🌟 - 3.25
Recommendation:
âś… - very quick read with a ton of digestible life lessons
đźš« - it is quite repetitive, the target audience is middle grade, therefore it is not a literary masterpiece, but a great story nonetheless
Recommended by:
⬅️ - Fabled Bookshop & Cafe in Waco, Texas
đźš©Check for potential Triggers!
BookBugBex | StoryGraph | Goodreads
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
aylea's review
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
In a small, special town, the descendants of the Greek gods and mythological figures get to live forever in exchange for a once-a-year visit to Olympus to visit and thank the gods. When Dorothy's mother refuses to go, she dies in an accident soon after. Dorothy and her best friend Apple now have a lot of questions about what it means to be part human, part god, and all grieving. Before the next visit to Olympus, the gods declare that everyone has to decide if they want to return to Olympus to live there or if they want to live human lives. Dorothy never felt like she fit in well as the decedent of Pandora, and without her mother, it's hard to make sense of anything. Her best friend Apple is the decedent of Zeus and Hera and is terrified that maybe Dorothy might make the wrong choice when the time comes.
A major theme of this book is grief. Most of the story involves Dorothy and Apple dealing with grief and change, but as a result, not a lot happens for most of the book. It felt like a strange contrast to the interesting premise about being descendants of gods and mythic heroes. For most of the book, there aren't real goals or actions. When they do happen, the book is almost over, so the action of the book takes place almost all in the last third of the book. I understand that things need to be set up, but it's an odd choice to spend so much time establishing character and grief without action in a middle grade book.
The book does spend a lot of time with character arcs, which are interesting and well developed. Unfortunately, one of the main characters is so much in grief that she doesn't have a lot of agency or spirit. That's understandable for a character who lost a parent, but it doesn't make for a very interesting read in this case. The end gives a nice message about what both girls and the reader are supposed to learn, and the message is very sweet, but it takes forever to get to that sweetness. It's hard to appreciate it with how slow and not very sweet the first half of the book is.
I think the premise of the book is fascinating, but the execution and focus on grief makes it a difficult book to recommend to most middle grade readers. It's not anything like Percy Jackson except for the similar Greek mythological figures, and its slow build with a lot of grief will be hard for a lot of kids to get into. The writing can be really beautiful, and the concepts are interesting.
Overall, I think this is a book that will speak to some people in a special way and for others will fall flat. For me, it fell somewhat flat.
A major theme of this book is grief. Most of the story involves Dorothy and Apple dealing with grief and change, but as a result, not a lot happens for most of the book. It felt like a strange contrast to the interesting premise about being descendants of gods and mythic heroes. For most of the book, there aren't real goals or actions. When they do happen, the book is almost over, so the action of the book takes place almost all in the last third of the book. I understand that things need to be set up, but it's an odd choice to spend so much time establishing character and grief without action in a middle grade book.
The book does spend a lot of time with character arcs, which are interesting and well developed. Unfortunately, one of the main characters is so much in grief that she doesn't have a lot of agency or spirit. That's understandable for a character who lost a parent, but it doesn't make for a very interesting read in this case. The end gives a nice message about what both girls and the reader are supposed to learn, and the message is very sweet, but it takes forever to get to that sweetness. It's hard to appreciate it with how slow and not very sweet the first half of the book is.
I think the premise of the book is fascinating, but the execution and focus on grief makes it a difficult book to recommend to most middle grade readers. It's not anything like Percy Jackson except for the similar Greek mythological figures, and its slow build with a lot of grief will be hard for a lot of kids to get into. The writing can be really beautiful, and the concepts are interesting.
Overall, I think this is a book that will speak to some people in a special way and for others will fall flat. For me, it fell somewhat flat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
megwilli's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
jennneely82's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"We are here to make things matter, whether as gods or as humans, whether for everyone or just for us." If given a choice, would you choose to be a human or a god? A big choice for two near-god teenage girls, Apple and Dorothy. As they struggle through their decision, we see growth in their choices, friendship, maturity, and life. As a fan of Greek mythology, I really enjoyed this new myth, and how no new myth comes without consequences.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
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