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A review by littlebird7608
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
4.0
The ancient Greek gods live in a dilapidated house in modern London and get up to their usual mischief, with apocalyptic consequences.
Greek mythology is one of my favourite things to read about, so when I saw the title for Marie Phillips’ book, I decided to read the first couple of pages. A book has never made me laugh so much and so quickly before, and after only three pages I decided to buy it. The dialogue and internal thoughts of all the characters are hilarious and true to the characters’ personalities. From Artemis’ discussion with a tree called Kate who works at Goldman Sachs in the first chapter to Aphrodite accusing her son Eros of betraying his family by becoming a Christian, the dialogue in this novel is the best that I have ever read.
Not only is it laugh-out-loud funny, but it reads like actual dialogue; many of the conversations sound like any conversation you might overhear in public and the natural delivery attests to Phillips’ skill as a writer. The novel is not merely a comedy though. Phillips uses the characters to address deeper issues such as consent, trauma, mental health and guilt as the gods learn to live is as humans.
'‘I’m the goddess of hunting and chastity,’ said Artemis.
Another silence. Then the tree said, ‘I’m Kate. I work in mergers and acquisitions for Goldman Sachs.’'
Nearly all of the characters are three-dimensional and believable, despite being outrageous exaggerations of themselves as portrayed in mythology. The goddess of chastity, Artemis, can’t stand to look at scantily clad women and blushes at the mere mention of sex. Unfortunately, she lives with Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual love, who is sleeping with almost every god in the house and works as a phone sex operator. Meanwhile Athena, goddess of knowledge and war, forces the others to listen to her lengthy presentations which none of them can understand because of the language she uses; Ares, god of war, need only be in the room with any two people for them to start fighting and insulting each other; and Apollo, god of music and prophecy, is a television psychic who’s arrogance surpasses all others.
The novel features an endless cast of memorable characters who are flawed and somehow relatable, despite being gods who have lived for thousands of years. However, I found myself disappointed with the characters of Persephone and Hades, who I felt were hurriedly included at the end of the novel and came across as flat. This may be an issue personal to me though, given that these are two of my favourite gods in mythology and I was so excited for them to be included.
'‘What are you up to?’ said Apollo. He didn’t really care. He just wanted Eros to tell him quickly and then ask him what he was up to, so that he could say ‘Nothing,’ in a mournful voice.'
The ending of the novel is the only thing that stops me from giving this book a full five stars. The ending that the author chose was only possible due to a massive plot hole that felt jarring when I reached the end, giving the impression that the ending was rushed. I couldn’t help but feel that Phillips wanted to write about gods getting up to trouble in modern London (and who can blame her?) but that she had not put much thought into how she might conclude the plot. Hence the implausible ending that left me feeling cheated.
Though this ending felt like a disappointment after the high quality of the rest of the novel, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone. Though the novel is hilarious, it also addresses deeper issues such as consent, trauma, grief, and guilt.
'She swept out of the room in a manner that was supposed to be imperious, but spoilt it somewhat by smacking Apollo’s lolling head into the doorframe.'
Would I read again? Definitely the first half of it.
Would I read more from this author? Yes.
Greek mythology is one of my favourite things to read about, so when I saw the title for Marie Phillips’ book, I decided to read the first couple of pages. A book has never made me laugh so much and so quickly before, and after only three pages I decided to buy it. The dialogue and internal thoughts of all the characters are hilarious and true to the characters’ personalities. From Artemis’ discussion with a tree called Kate who works at Goldman Sachs in the first chapter to Aphrodite accusing her son Eros of betraying his family by becoming a Christian, the dialogue in this novel is the best that I have ever read.
Not only is it laugh-out-loud funny, but it reads like actual dialogue; many of the conversations sound like any conversation you might overhear in public and the natural delivery attests to Phillips’ skill as a writer. The novel is not merely a comedy though. Phillips uses the characters to address deeper issues such as consent, trauma, mental health and guilt as the gods learn to live is as humans.
'‘I’m the goddess of hunting and chastity,’ said Artemis.
Another silence. Then the tree said, ‘I’m Kate. I work in mergers and acquisitions for Goldman Sachs.’'
Nearly all of the characters are three-dimensional and believable, despite being outrageous exaggerations of themselves as portrayed in mythology. The goddess of chastity, Artemis, can’t stand to look at scantily clad women and blushes at the mere mention of sex. Unfortunately, she lives with Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual love, who is sleeping with almost every god in the house and works as a phone sex operator. Meanwhile Athena, goddess of knowledge and war, forces the others to listen to her lengthy presentations which none of them can understand because of the language she uses; Ares, god of war, need only be in the room with any two people for them to start fighting and insulting each other; and Apollo, god of music and prophecy, is a television psychic who’s arrogance surpasses all others.
The novel features an endless cast of memorable characters who are flawed and somehow relatable, despite being gods who have lived for thousands of years. However, I found myself disappointed with the characters of Persephone and Hades, who I felt were hurriedly included at the end of the novel and came across as flat. This may be an issue personal to me though, given that these are two of my favourite gods in mythology and I was so excited for them to be included.
'‘What are you up to?’ said Apollo. He didn’t really care. He just wanted Eros to tell him quickly and then ask him what he was up to, so that he could say ‘Nothing,’ in a mournful voice.'
The ending of the novel is the only thing that stops me from giving this book a full five stars. The ending that the author chose was only possible due to a massive plot hole that felt jarring when I reached the end, giving the impression that the ending was rushed. I couldn’t help but feel that Phillips wanted to write about gods getting up to trouble in modern London (and who can blame her?) but that she had not put much thought into how she might conclude the plot. Hence the implausible ending that left me feeling cheated.
Though this ending felt like a disappointment after the high quality of the rest of the novel, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone. Though the novel is hilarious, it also addresses deeper issues such as consent, trauma, grief, and guilt.
'She swept out of the room in a manner that was supposed to be imperious, but spoilt it somewhat by smacking Apollo’s lolling head into the doorframe.'
Would I read again? Definitely the first half of it.
Would I read more from this author? Yes.