Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Urban Fantasy / Mythology
Length: 480 pages
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: January 5th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads
BOOK SUMMARY:
From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Darkest Minds comes a sweepingly ambitious, high-octane tale of power, destiny, love and redemption.
Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.
Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family’s sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt’s promises of eternal glory. For years she’s pushed away any thought of revenge against the man–now a god–responsible for their deaths.
Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.
The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore’s decision to bind her fate to Athena’s and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost–and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.
WICKED.
WOW. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I had kept away because I honeslty wasn’t super interested until a trusted friend raved about it and thought I’d enjoy it. She was right!!
This was a twisted version of the Greek gods. It was full of violence (really, a lot of violence) and a never-ending struggle to become a new god. At first, the whole concept was confusing, but I felt by about 100 pages in, I grasped everything that was happening and why. I loved all of the gods and how vibrant every character was.
Lore did start to feel loooong towards the end. I remember having to push through the last 150 pages or so because everything just kept going. If it was a little shorter I think it would have packed a harder punch for me. I also mentally couldn’t get past the fact that the city of New York just let all of this happen every 7 years *shrug*. That’s my own issue with urban fantasies. I can’t get past the unrealistic aspects in a realistic world sometimes.
“Sometimes the braver thing is to accept help when you’ve been made to believe you shouldn’t need it.”
I really liked Lore as the main character. She was incredibly strong and indepdent. Yet (as above quote mentions) she found the ability to lean on others. Lore took nothing lying down and fought over the seven days to ensure her surival and those of her friends. The romance was perfectly accomplished too! It was sublte, on the side, and with the build-up of history made absolute sense. I was definitely shipping them and loved the nuances of their dynamic.
This was truly a great standalone fantasy. It gave a story that was action-packed and full of the strength of survival.
Overall audience notes:
- YA Urban Fantasy / Mythology
- Language: a little
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: very bloody/gory
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of family members (including parents and young siblings), murder of young children, sexual assault, proposition for marrying a child, mass murder, gun violence
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