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A review by sofiasshelves
Game of Strength and Storm by Rachel Menard
4.0
i was provided an arc of this book via netgalley in exchange for a honest review. thank you to the publisher, the author and netgalley. all thoughts are my own.
the short version of my review could simply be "this was so fun, i had the time of my life reading this book"
in this story, we follow both genevieve and castor as they enter an annual lottery in which people can request something from the empresses - for a price. castor wants to inherit rather than her twin brother and is angry at being passed over for being born a woman. genevieve wants her father out of prision, and to have their name restored after he was accused of murder.
the book is a reimagining of the 12 labors of hercules/heracles, and it was such a great adaptation. i wanted to mention that first of all because the way the author adapted the greek mythology in this was so fun. it felt done in a way that someone who wasn't interested in mythology could still enjoy this, and obviously to anyone who likes mythology it's so fun to see both the references and how the labors were reworked to fit in the new world created.
the world was also very fun - i loved the magic systems and how balanced everything felt. the pace was also very fast paced and i couldn't stop turning the pages which also great if you are someone who enjoys fast paced books like me.
as far as characters go, i also wanted to mention how great castor is as a character. i haven't felt so much for a character i also disliked in... well, maybe ever. the way the author managed to make me feel bad for her despite every rational thought i had was nothing short of great. my thoughts are my complicated than that but i don't want to get into spoilers and also i do want to see how things progress in the next book, but at least in this one, castor was fascinating. gen was also a great character. she might be a bit more 'generic' in being the hero way, but she had some really great moments as well. and last but not least, pollux was a very nice surprise as a character. i also really loved how things changed depending on the perspective that things were being seen.
i think the one reason why i'm rating this four star rather than five is that it does rely a bit on the miscommunication trope for a particular part of the plot to happen and i'm not fond of that trope, personal preference there. that and the romance felt very very fast, while i didn't mind much because of how sweet it was and i was won over, it did bother me a bit at the end when i realized how little time had passed.
overall i just loved how things were adapted personally. i was also left with questions and curious at the end which i count as a good thing - if i finish a book and want more, want to know what happened next, that's a great thing. overall? just a really fun read.
the short version of my review could simply be "this was so fun, i had the time of my life reading this book"
in this story, we follow both genevieve and castor as they enter an annual lottery in which people can request something from the empresses - for a price. castor wants to inherit rather than her twin brother and is angry at being passed over for being born a woman. genevieve wants her father out of prision, and to have their name restored after he was accused of murder.
the book is a reimagining of the 12 labors of hercules/heracles, and it was such a great adaptation. i wanted to mention that first of all because the way the author adapted the greek mythology in this was so fun. it felt done in a way that someone who wasn't interested in mythology could still enjoy this, and obviously to anyone who likes mythology it's so fun to see both the references and how the labors were reworked to fit in the new world created.
the world was also very fun - i loved the magic systems and how balanced everything felt. the pace was also very fast paced and i couldn't stop turning the pages which also great if you are someone who enjoys fast paced books like me.
as far as characters go, i also wanted to mention how great castor is as a character. i haven't felt so much for a character i also disliked in... well, maybe ever. the way the author managed to make me feel bad for her despite every rational thought i had was nothing short of great. my thoughts are my complicated than that but i don't want to get into spoilers and also i do want to see how things progress in the next book, but at least in this one, castor was fascinating. gen was also a great character. she might be a bit more 'generic' in being the hero way, but she had some really great moments as well. and last but not least, pollux was a very nice surprise as a character. i also really loved how things changed depending on the perspective that things were being seen.
i think the one reason why i'm rating this four star rather than five is that it does rely a bit on the miscommunication trope for a particular part of the plot to happen and i'm not fond of that trope, personal preference there. that and the romance felt very very fast, while i didn't mind much because of how sweet it was and i was won over, it did bother me a bit at the end when i realized how little time had passed.
overall i just loved how things were adapted personally. i was also left with questions and curious at the end which i count as a good thing - if i finish a book and want more, want to know what happened next, that's a great thing. overall? just a really fun read.