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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Fear is a foreign land I shall never visit and a language that will never cross my tongue.”
The idea of this book is fantastic. Hunger games meets Greek mythology.
“I was born knowing how to do three things - how to breathe, how to dream, and how to love you.”
Pros:
- the mc didn’t piss me off, didn’t make any outwardly dumb decisions or keep things to herself
- the plot twists were great, it made sense and wasn’t just thrown in there for the hell of it
- loved the personality of Athena and her character journey
- the lgbt+ representation, it was just there and was never spoken about directly
- feminism and climate change managed it’s way in there too
Cons:
- I like my men morally grey and as lovely as Castor was, he was too nice and a bit annoying not letting Lore do what she needed to do
- couldn’t keep up with all the Ancient Greek mythology stories(?). Sometimes it felt like an information dump
- if you are not familiar with the Greek gods/goddesses you might want to brush up on the main ones before reading
- ending was not what I wanted at all
- could’ve been a fantastic duology!
- not much closure
“Fear is a foreign land I shall never visit and a language that will never cross my tongue.”
The idea of this book is fantastic. Hunger games meets Greek mythology.
“I was born knowing how to do three things - how to breathe, how to dream, and how to love you.”
Pros:
- the mc didn’t piss me off, didn’t make any outwardly dumb decisions or keep things to herself
- the plot twists were great, it made sense and wasn’t just thrown in there for the hell of it
- loved the personality of Athena and her character journey
- the lgbt+ representation, it was just there and was never spoken about directly
- feminism and climate change managed it’s way in there too
Cons:
- I like my men morally grey and as lovely as Castor was, he was too nice and a bit annoying not letting Lore do what she needed to do
- couldn’t keep up with all the Ancient Greek mythology stories(?). Sometimes it felt like an information dump
- if you are not familiar with the Greek gods/goddesses you might want to brush up on the main ones before reading
- ending was not what I wanted at all
- could’ve been a fantastic duology!
- not much closure
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Lately I am just having a long string of finding books with fantastic starts and great middles, but that quickly go downhill towards the end. Sadly, this is one of those stories.
To start with; can we stop with unnecessary sexism in stories?
It would make sense if the story was set in old times or if it was a selected few who believe women inferior. But no, this is a modern day setting with bloodlines that extend to dozens of families (and people who marry into these families). So apparently dozens of modern day people still believe in ridiculous ideas like men have a natural upper hand on women? And on top of that, in this very story there are two original Gods still going. Athena and Artemis. That's right, the female Gods are still fighting in this story where women are seen as less than.
There's also one part of the story where the evil-old-enough-to-be-Lore's-father villain wants ten-year-old-Lore as his childbirde. It's gross, it's weird, it doesn't fit in the modern day setting and it doesn't even go anywhere! Both this trope and the unnecessary sexism have explanations behind them but let's be clear, they're very weak explanation because they don't even go anywhere. It's just thrown in because heaven forbid we have a female main character who doesn't have to prove her worth because she was born with a vagina. You could easily cut both these tropes out and the entire story would continue without pause.
Last moan involves the ending so I'll put under the spoiler tag for anyone who wants to experience it themselves.
Right near the end it is reveal that Athena is the one who brutally murdered Lore's family, including her toddler and infant sisters. This comes out of nowhere, with no build up or foreshadowing or anything that would actually make it a good twist.
And maybe this is more a pet peeve, but even if it had been hinted at, I still would have hated it. The author did a pretty nice job of sticking to original Greek Stories and keeping the Gods in character to how they have been described throughout the years. Now, by all means, someone correct me if they know a story I don't but I've never heard any tale where Athena slowly tortured a baby.
On top of it being a genuinely gross choice, it also doesn't even work with the rest of the story. She tortured Lore's family but chose not to torture Lore because she wanted the Shield? So why torture Lore's family in the first place? For her location? Well why not just wait for her to return (like she ended up doing!) when the family obviously doesn't know? Why torture a baby?! Even if she wanted to torture one of the kids for the parents, why torture them both?! And then brag about it like some horror movie villain?
And after all that, she isn't the bad guy in the end? I mean, she tecnically is but Lore seems to forgive her and it even feels like the story is trying to suggest we're actually meant to feel sorry for her during her final moments. Like she's been struggling for daddies praise, for her lost pride, and we should feel sad that she's been put through so much? She tortured a baby!!!
When her end finally comes, it doesn't feel like a great sacrifice. It doesn't feel deserved. It doesn't really feel anything except uncomfortable and extremely disappointing.
On other thing. And again, this could be another nit pick but it bothered me. Throughout the story, Artemis is shown to be losing her mind and the excuse given is that she has lost one half of her soul (Apollo). But then the end of the book reveals Apollo willingly sacrificed himself for Castor and ascended... That just feels so unsatisfying because all I can think is, is Apollo affected by Artemis' death? Is he going crazy now? I mean, Artemis murdered a bunch of kids but if that's why she doesn't get a happy ending then why the hell does Athena who also butchered children? Was this meant to be a happy ending for them?!
This isn't necessarily a bad story. Lore's a good character (except for forced "I'm a monster" moments which come and go whenever convenient but doesn't really play a consistent role in the story) and the side characters are all good, interesting and unique in their own ways. I actually liked what it was doing with Athena and Artemis at the beginning (it was just the end that was a let down). The romance was meh. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either and that in and of itself is a pretty good achievement and the writing and plot is still very well done for the most part.
Unfortunately the whole book is still let down massively by the unnecessary tropes and cliches that don't even go anywhere in the story. They're just sort of thrown in for the sake of it or as if to pad the pages out. That, and the fact that I just wanted so much more from this story means I can't give it more than a 2 and a half star.
To start with; can we stop with unnecessary sexism in stories?
It would make sense if the story was set in old times or if it was a selected few who believe women inferior. But no, this is a modern day setting with bloodlines that extend to dozens of families (and people who marry into these families). So apparently dozens of modern day people still believe in ridiculous ideas like men have a natural upper hand on women? And on top of that, in this very story there are two original Gods still going. Athena and Artemis. That's right, the female Gods are still fighting in this story where women are seen as less than.
There's also one part of the story where the evil-old-enough-to-be-Lore's-father villain wants ten-year-old-Lore as his childbirde. It's gross, it's weird, it doesn't fit in the modern day setting and it doesn't even go anywhere! Both this trope and the unnecessary sexism have explanations behind them but let's be clear, they're very weak explanation because they don't even go anywhere. It's just thrown in because heaven forbid we have a female main character who doesn't have to prove her worth because she was born with a vagina. You could easily cut both these tropes out and the entire story would continue without pause.
Last moan involves the ending so I'll put under the spoiler tag for anyone who wants to experience it themselves.
And maybe this is more a pet peeve, but even if it had been hinted at, I still would have hated it. The author did a pretty nice job of sticking to original Greek Stories and keeping the Gods in character to how they have been described throughout the years. Now, by all means, someone correct me if they know a story I don't but I've never heard any tale where Athena slowly tortured a baby.
On top of it being a genuinely gross choice, it also doesn't even work with the rest of the story. She tortured Lore's family but chose not to torture Lore because she wanted the Shield? So why torture Lore's family in the first place? For her location? Well why not just wait for her to return (like she ended up doing!) when the family obviously doesn't know? Why torture a baby?! Even if she wanted to torture one of the kids for the parents, why torture them both?! And then brag about it like some horror movie villain?
And after all that, she isn't the bad guy in the end? I mean, she tecnically is but Lore seems to forgive her and it even feels like the story is trying to suggest we're actually meant to feel sorry for her during her final moments. Like she's been struggling for daddies praise, for her lost pride, and we should feel sad that she's been put through so much? She tortured a baby!!!
When her end finally comes, it doesn't feel like a great sacrifice. It doesn't feel deserved. It doesn't really feel anything except uncomfortable and extremely disappointing.
On other thing. And again, this could be another nit pick but it bothered me. Throughout the story, Artemis is shown to be losing her mind and the excuse given is that she has lost one half of her soul (Apollo). But then the end of the book reveals Apollo willingly sacrificed himself for Castor and ascended... That just feels so unsatisfying because all I can think is, is Apollo affected by Artemis' death? Is he going crazy now? I mean, Artemis murdered a bunch of kids but if that's why she doesn't get a happy ending then why the hell does Athena who also butchered children? Was this meant to be a happy ending for them?!
This isn't necessarily a bad story. Lore's a good character (except for forced "I'm a monster" moments which come and go whenever convenient but doesn't really play a consistent role in the story) and the side characters are all good, interesting and unique in their own ways. I actually liked what it was doing with Athena and Artemis at the beginning (it was just the end that was a let down). The romance was meh. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either and that in and of itself is a pretty good achievement and the writing and plot is still very well done for the most part.
Unfortunately the whole book is still let down massively by the unnecessary tropes and cliches that don't even go anywhere in the story. They're just sort of thrown in for the sake of it or as if to pad the pages out. That, and the fact that I just wanted so much more from this story means I can't give it more than a 2 and a half star.
adventurous
tense
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:
Complicated
When I first began reading this book, I felt as if I was left out of a joke or a story everyone else knew. However, as I got further and further into it I wanted more than just a sample- I wanted to read the whole book and figure out what happened to her family and if she gets revenge. One of the things that drew me in was the greek mythology, so I imagine this will attract many more readers.
exited for the release- will read depending on the cost!
exited for the release- will read depending on the cost!
Bracken's character development surprised me from the start. The plot twists kept me guessing, and the last 40% of the book kept me entertained and unable to put the book down. With mythology as inspiration, this book brings a new twist to the old gods. Anyone that enjoys a good story will enjoy this book. Already recommending.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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
The premise/underlying idea is amazing but the book does not really live up to the huge potential. There are a number of plot contrivances, many characters are brutally killed only a few pages after being introduced to the story and I had a hard time developing any form of emotional connection to the heroes.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes