Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Lore by Alexandra Bracken

97 reviews

rebeccamgwck's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense fast-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

3.5

A dark, grim re-imagining of Greek mythology which explored the brutal side of both the godly, immortal figures and the plain old humans with their burning ambition. The plot was intriguing; watching the characters unravel thread after thread and often ending up with more questions than answers. The full cast of characters were well-developed, though frustratingly bad decision makers (someone had to advance the plot, l suppose). The ending felt slightly rushed,
and a bit jarringly sunshine-and-rainbows compared to the previous fifty-odd chapters
.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sourebugs's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tawnypelts_gf's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rinniereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective 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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

turtleycool's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nicodaa's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

darquedreamer's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This one was captivating enough to keep me reading until the end, but it definitely had its problems. I feel like it lacked more back story and explanation for the agon and the history of the gods and why the hunters were hunting them. I wanted more about hunters killing the gods and ascending with their power and more explanation about the bloodlines. There were several moments of confusion to be had during the story.

For the most part, I enjoyed the characters, but there were also a lot of moments of "ugh, really?" Lore seemed strong and capable through most of the story, but also had her fair share of unlikable attributes. And, there was just no chemistry between the "romantiship" (yes, I'm making it a word) characters. The feelings felt forced, like, "oh, this is a fantasy ya, we need a little romance."

I also wish there had been more to the plot and the hunt itself. This story could have been a duology so we could have gotten the back story we needed, along with the plot we were promised. Though, I enjoyed the gore and the shocking moments, I felt like there wasn't enough story flow, and there were too many predictable and eye rolling moments.

The ending was pretty lack luster as well. It felt like someone said, "oh no, if we don't wrap this up now, we'll need another book," and then decided to be done with it. We had almost 500 pages in this thing, and had like one chapter for "resolution" which left a few issues unresolved and unexplained. 

I just wanted, and expected, more. In the moment, Lore kept my interest, but now that I finished it, I feel disappointed. The excitement and hype while reading was fleeting and I'm left with missing what drew me in. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ivegotyourpaperback's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

This was a fun ‘what if’-scenario of a book posing questions like:
  • what if Zeus was was once betrayed by the gods? (only some of them, not the whole pantheon)
  • What if in retaliation he made them mortal for a week every 7 years to be hunted?
  • What if the decedents of epic hero’s were the hunters?
  • What if he never got bored of seeing the gods being hunted and this went on for thousands(?) of years?
  • What if the Gods and Goddesses never thought to exterminate the hunters in the 7 years between each Agon when they have their power again?
  • What if it’s taken this long for a hunter to finally go “bugger this, I’m done. Peace out, bitches ✌️”?
  • What if the Agon is always held in a different city, but it’s not clear how said city is chosen?

There is quite a large cast of characters in the book and I was very grateful to the author for including both a guide of the different Hunter lines and a full character list.

I liked the discussion about Medusa, her transformation, and the way she’s viewed in history as either a monster or a victim. Most importantly I liked that Lore called Athena out on her BS re the role she played in that myth.

While the story was enjoyable enough there were a number of things that I felt weren’t explained/ didn’t make sense. I found it best set these aside and not think too much about them while reading.
At the end though, I was super bummed that Zeus never showed up, which seems out of character for the King of the Gods. The Gods are known for their interference in the lives of humans. It seems odd that he or the other gods from the pantheon (those who aren’t members of the Agon) wouldn’t treat this like their favourite sporting match and choose sides to root for (a La the Trojan War).

I don’t think the romance was necessary. It didn’t really add anything to the story. Castor and Lore could have just been best friends and the plot still would have worked.

As the story is set in New York City you’ll  probably get a lot more enjoyment out of it if you’re from NYC (or are familiar with the city). At times the story felt like part love letter to this iconic location.

This was a great example of a book with a fabulous premise, but just a ‘meh’ execution.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

grace_reads13's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark sad tense fast-paced

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings