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A review by melcanread
Haunted by Myth by Barbara Ann Wright
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
2.0
This book was one of those where the idea felt better than the execution in theory. An enemies-to-lovers, sapphic love story based on every mythology ever sounds right up my alley, especially when one of the women is Helen of Troy, but that, in itself, was the problem.
The story felt rushed, so the existing characters couldn't be fleshed out as I would have liked. Some of the mythological monsters felt like they were only added to up the word count rather than having an actual place in the story. I also wish the author had chosen just one mythology set instead of incorporating all of them. While modern paganism uses multiple pantheons, novels should stick with only one to avoid confusion or overcrowding. This novel felt very overcrowded with too many characters and too much lore squeezed into one book. Additionally, as a young adult novel, it used beginner terms, seemingly to avoid overwhelming the reader with history, mythology and knowledge. Also the romance felt forced.
The writing style wasn't to my liking either. While younger adult novels can be chatty, this was too casual and read more like a middle-grade book, which made me lose interest as it seemed to read like a middle grade book. I also felt a little misled by the publisher, as this was marketed as fantasy historical fiction, but it turned out to be fantasy contemporary.
I did appreciate how Helen's story was portrayed as the follies of humans rather than her actual history. However, the purist in me wished for a more faithful representation while still offering a survivor's story.
Somehow, this book was simultaneously too much and not enough, leaving me a little disappointed.
The story felt rushed, so the existing characters couldn't be fleshed out as I would have liked. Some of the mythological monsters felt like they were only added to up the word count rather than having an actual place in the story. I also wish the author had chosen just one mythology set instead of incorporating all of them. While modern paganism uses multiple pantheons, novels should stick with only one to avoid confusion or overcrowding. This novel felt very overcrowded with too many characters and too much lore squeezed into one book. Additionally, as a young adult novel, it used beginner terms, seemingly to avoid overwhelming the reader with history, mythology and knowledge. Also the romance felt forced.
The writing style wasn't to my liking either. While younger adult novels can be chatty, this was too casual and read more like a middle-grade book, which made me lose interest as it seemed to read like a middle grade book. I also felt a little misled by the publisher, as this was marketed as fantasy historical fiction, but it turned out to be fantasy contemporary.
I did appreciate how Helen's story was portrayed as the follies of humans rather than her actual history. However, the purist in me wished for a more faithful representation while still offering a survivor's story.
Somehow, this book was simultaneously too much and not enough, leaving me a little disappointed.