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amandasbookreview 's review for:
Argo
by Mark Knowles
Thank you, NetGalley, Mark Knowles, and Aria and Aries Books for the opportunity to read this book! It releases on November 11th, 2021.
Argo by Mark Knowles had so much potential. While Jason and the Argonauts isn’t my favorite myth, a retelling could have really been exciting. In fact, the first chapter really caught my attention. Aeson is the King of Iolcus and his wife is getting ready to deliver a child. But they are attacked by his half-brother, Pelias. Aeson’s wife sends the boy away to save him. Twenty years later, the boy named Jason is all grown up and he comes to Iolcus to compete in the games, he discovers his real identity. Pelias tells him that if he can bring back the Golden Fleece, he can retake his throne. So a ship called the Argo is built and Jason and his crew go on a quest to find the fleece. Well, that was the first 10% of the book.
As I said, the potential is there. But it, unfortunately, went downhill from there. The book ends pretty much in the middle of a scene and it isn’t even close to the end of the myth. This book is 528 pages. So that means roughly 400 pages contain just filler. This book needs to be cleaned up. There is SO much unnecessary information. Yes, we know they are on a ship. We don’t need the repetitive descriptions of the oars or what food they ate. I’m not against details that help the story but unnecessary details just slow down the pace. But there is no characterization! With all the details, one would think the characters would be well-developed, nope.
But that’s not all. The dialogue is so stilted. The language is also so unrealistic. I am sorry, but when a character says, “I dunno,” in a Greek myth…it really takes the reader out of the story. Not to mention Jason talks with too many pauses. For example, “Then…this is all just…a lie.” He talks like that ALL the time. It is beyond frustrating. And don’t get me started on the female descriptions: “Shorter than most. Generous hips flaring from a slim waist. A flash of creamy thigh-not too skinny-beneath the slit of her skirts.” Just no.
I don’t say these things to rip apart this book. I am disappointed but if there are some edits, it really has potential. I rate it 2 out of 5 stars.
Argo by Mark Knowles had so much potential. While Jason and the Argonauts isn’t my favorite myth, a retelling could have really been exciting. In fact, the first chapter really caught my attention. Aeson is the King of Iolcus and his wife is getting ready to deliver a child. But they are attacked by his half-brother, Pelias. Aeson’s wife sends the boy away to save him. Twenty years later, the boy named Jason is all grown up and he comes to Iolcus to compete in the games, he discovers his real identity. Pelias tells him that if he can bring back the Golden Fleece, he can retake his throne. So a ship called the Argo is built and Jason and his crew go on a quest to find the fleece. Well, that was the first 10% of the book.
As I said, the potential is there. But it, unfortunately, went downhill from there. The book ends pretty much in the middle of a scene and it isn’t even close to the end of the myth. This book is 528 pages. So that means roughly 400 pages contain just filler. This book needs to be cleaned up. There is SO much unnecessary information. Yes, we know they are on a ship. We don’t need the repetitive descriptions of the oars or what food they ate. I’m not against details that help the story but unnecessary details just slow down the pace. But there is no characterization! With all the details, one would think the characters would be well-developed, nope.
But that’s not all. The dialogue is so stilted. The language is also so unrealistic. I am sorry, but when a character says, “I dunno,” in a Greek myth…it really takes the reader out of the story. Not to mention Jason talks with too many pauses. For example, “Then…this is all just…a lie.” He talks like that ALL the time. It is beyond frustrating. And don’t get me started on the female descriptions: “Shorter than most. Generous hips flaring from a slim waist. A flash of creamy thigh-not too skinny-beneath the slit of her skirts.” Just no.
I don’t say these things to rip apart this book. I am disappointed but if there are some edits, it really has potential. I rate it 2 out of 5 stars.