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A review by cathreiding
Storm of Olympus by Claire M. Andrews
4.0
Loved this conclusion to the Daughter of Sparta trilogy and the way Andrews twisted the concept of the Hesperides and the way the Titans and Gods became immortal to connect with other mythologies. If you're looking for authentic Greek re-telling of stories you might have learned in a Greek classics course... no. You won't find that here, or in her previous books, but I think it's so much more interesting to read new interpretations of myths and Andrews way of writing is so vivid, her characters so real that it's an immersive experience to read this series. I also appreciate that the pace of this book is quick, with lots of action, but it's not rushed.
However, I will say that Hermes and Daphne's flirty vibes never felt natural to me. I wasn't ever convinced about the love triangle between Apollo, Daphne and Hermes and it just doesn't make sense or add much more than a jealous Apollo to the plot. Also, when we learn the reason Apollo is still bound, and then somehow twenty pages later or so Daphne remarks that he's fully unbound, it might've been nice to have some dialogue in there to see Apollo fully accept that he loves and trusts Daphne. Maybe Hermes could have encouraged him to accept it and we could have seen both Apollo and Hermes realize that Daphne only ever loved Apollo and was never going to truly be more than superficially interested in Hermes.
I appreciated Hera's moment of remorse with her comment about the goddess of marriage being unable to inspire love, but her death was satisfactory. Daphne's focus on the laurel tree at the end, a harkening to the original myth where she is turned into one to escape Apollo's advances opened up the possibility of re-creating that ending with her giving herself up, but Andrews way of rebirthing the laurel did create more of a fairytale ending and it felt right for Aphrodite, Athena and Artemis to leave the pantheon. The whole arc does, for the most part, fit the original myth. Apollo wanted Daphne from the start, Daphne didn't want Apollo and fought her own emotions, then accepted them, and rejected and accepted a few times before, finally, they both allowed themselves to feel love for each other and that's part of what allowed Olympus to survive. The main difference is Daphne survives and is more than a pawn of the gods and her parents. I also think Daphne is a good example, through her powers being unleashed by feeling her emotions, for people today. It's okay to feel everything from pain to anger to joy and everything in between, but we need to control our emotions and not let them control us. In general, I think my favorite aspect about these books are that they give women more power in their own myths and legends and for that I'll be re-reading this series at least once a year.
However, I will say that Hermes and Daphne's flirty vibes never felt natural to me. I wasn't ever convinced about the love triangle between Apollo, Daphne and Hermes and it just doesn't make sense or add much more than a jealous Apollo to the plot. Also, when we learn the reason Apollo is still bound, and then somehow twenty pages later or so Daphne remarks that he's fully unbound, it might've been nice to have some dialogue in there to see Apollo fully accept that he loves and trusts Daphne. Maybe Hermes could have encouraged him to accept it and we could have seen both Apollo and Hermes realize that Daphne only ever loved Apollo and was never going to truly be more than superficially interested in Hermes.
I appreciated Hera's moment of remorse with her comment about the goddess of marriage being unable to inspire love, but her death was satisfactory. Daphne's focus on the laurel tree at the end, a harkening to the original myth where she is turned into one to escape Apollo's advances opened up the possibility of re-creating that ending with her giving herself up, but Andrews way of rebirthing the laurel did create more of a fairytale ending and it felt right for Aphrodite, Athena and Artemis to leave the pantheon. The whole arc does, for the most part, fit the original myth. Apollo wanted Daphne from the start, Daphne didn't want Apollo and fought her own emotions, then accepted them, and rejected and accepted a few times before, finally, they both allowed themselves to feel love for each other and that's part of what allowed Olympus to survive. The main difference is Daphne survives and is more than a pawn of the gods and her parents. I also think Daphne is a good example, through her powers being unleashed by feeling her emotions, for people today. It's okay to feel everything from pain to anger to joy and everything in between, but we need to control our emotions and not let them control us. In general, I think my favorite aspect about these books are that they give women more power in their own myths and legends and for that I'll be re-reading this series at least once a year.