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A review by rosienreads
Lore by Alexandra Bracken
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Every seven years, the gods become mortal for seven days as a punishment from Zeus in what is known as the agon. During that time, any mortal who kills them will gain their power and ascend to god-hood. Only a number of families, descendants of heroes, participate. Lore is the last of her line, descendant of Perseus, and has escaped from that life for years. That is, until an injured Athena shows up on her doorstep asking for help.
The author, Alexandra Bracken, has Greek heritage and this really comes through in her depiction of the families and Greek mythology. From the legends to the families to the themes explored, it is believable and well thought through. Even though it was hard to keep track of the various families, their society felt real and I found myself intrigued by the rules they lived by and how they survived over the years. I also enjoyed how feminism was explored, particularly in relation to the old myths and legends where it was the men who became heroes and favoured of the gods not women, something which fed through into the families in this book even in modern day.
I really enjoyed Lore as the book’s protagonist, particularly her desire to escape the agon at war with her desire for revenge and love of the fight. She is perfectly balanced by the group of friends that join the fight both to survive, but also to defeat the new Ares and bring an end to the agon. Miles is really the heart of the book and his loyalty and determination to help Lore despite being new to her world was just a delight to read. I do wish we got to see more of Iro, but all the other characters, even those absent ones came across strongly. Athena was my favourite though – I loved how other-worldly she felt, and how her morality, stories and goals were handled.
In terms of structure, the pacing was pretty consistent throughout, and I really enjoyed the twists we got as loyalties were tested and reveals happened. I did find it took a while to get used to the world in question, but the flashbacks helped add a lot of needed context while also fleshing out the other characters. There were some incredibly dark themes – the use of the Brazen Bull on two children (not shown in any detail) was particularly disturbing, but these were broken up by some well-placed light-hearted moments or a touch of humour.
I do love Greek mythology and so I was incredibly excited to pick this up. It lived up to expectations and I know I would love to see more of this world, or at least the characters and gods, even if this was only a standalone. Writing this review now, I am tempted it again, but I think I’ll hold off on that a bit longer.
The author, Alexandra Bracken, has Greek heritage and this really comes through in her depiction of the families and Greek mythology. From the legends to the families to the themes explored, it is believable and well thought through. Even though it was hard to keep track of the various families, their society felt real and I found myself intrigued by the rules they lived by and how they survived over the years. I also enjoyed how feminism was explored, particularly in relation to the old myths and legends where it was the men who became heroes and favoured of the gods not women, something which fed through into the families in this book even in modern day.
I really enjoyed Lore as the book’s protagonist, particularly her desire to escape the agon at war with her desire for revenge and love of the fight. She is perfectly balanced by the group of friends that join the fight both to survive, but also to defeat the new Ares and bring an end to the agon. Miles is really the heart of the book and his loyalty and determination to help Lore despite being new to her world was just a delight to read. I do wish we got to see more of Iro, but all the other characters, even those absent ones came across strongly. Athena was my favourite though – I loved how other-worldly she felt, and how her morality, stories and goals were handled.
In terms of structure, the pacing was pretty consistent throughout, and I really enjoyed the twists we got as loyalties were tested and reveals happened. I did find it took a while to get used to the world in question, but the flashbacks helped add a lot of needed context while also fleshing out the other characters. There were some incredibly dark themes – the use of the Brazen Bull on two children (not shown in any detail) was particularly disturbing, but these were broken up by some well-placed light-hearted moments or a touch of humour.
I do love Greek mythology and so I was incredibly excited to pick this up. It lived up to expectations and I know I would love to see more of this world, or at least the characters and gods, even if this was only a standalone. Writing this review now, I am tempted it again, but I think I’ll hold off on that a bit longer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Torture, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Pedophilia