Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Mini reviews: Greek Myth

I used to do mini reviews when I read so many books in the same genre that it occurred to me that it'll just be a lot easier to lumped them together and review them all at once.

But first of all  let me just say that I love Greek myths and I've always jumped at the chance of reading a book that have an element of Greek myth/folklore in them. I guess Percy Jackson just make the whole Greek thing cool again, yeah? But since I'm not a teen anymore, I tend to be a wee bit particular on my reads.


Sweet Venom (Medusa Girls #1)
by Tera Lynn Childs
ebook
352 pages
Published September 6th 2011
by HarperCollins
Summary from Goodreads:
Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it's also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful Gorgon maligned in myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.
Thoughts:
It could have been a great read what with Medusa heir, kick-ass chicks and triplets galore but it's just feel so-so to me. The multiple POV made my head spin and I'm not too inclined to read a teenage girl swooning on and on about the cute guy who happens to be his brother's new best friend. Gretchen does most of the kick-ass thing, Grace is sweet but boring and Greer is a self-absorbed witch. So one third of them are pretty cool and the rest..well you get the idea.



Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test #2)
by Aimee Carter
ebook
304 pages
Published March 27th 2012
by HarlequinTeen
ARC from Netgalley
Summary from Goodreads:

Kate Winters has won immortality.

But if she wants a life in the Underworld with Henry, she’ll have to fight for it.

Becoming immortal wasn’t supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she’s as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he’s becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate’s coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.

Henry’s first wife, Persephone.

Thoughts:
The first book is enjoyable enough that I picked this up just to find out what will happen next now Kate has become a goddess. But apparently marriage could change people and glorious Kate who once appeared so strong and determined to overcome all odds is reduced to a whiny wife. I really wanted to like this but the story is very slow moving at times and I just lost interest after a while. Things got interesting towards the end but since I'm very partial to slow moving plotlines, this just seem so-so to me.


Destined
by Jessie Harrell 
ebook
Published November 17th 2011 
by Mae Day Publishing
Summary from Goodreads:

When Psyche receives a prophecy gone horribly wrong, she learns that even the most beautiful girl in Greece can have a hideous future. Her fate? Fall in love with the one creature even the gods fear.

As she feels herself slipping closer into the arms of the prophecy, Psyche must choose between the terrifyingly tender touch she feels almost powerless to resist and the one constant she's come to expect out of life: you cannot escape what is destined.

Thoughts:
Yay for stand alones but goodness me. I really don't know what to say other than this is just not for me. I really wanted to like it but I don't really care for the characters and I feel so weird reading medieval Greek characters talking in such modern slang. It just felt all wrong for me.


I am left wondering is there any great Greek myth/retelling out there? If anyone have any suggestion on a great Greek myth/fantasy YA read, I'm all ears!

6 comments:

  1. Oh is Goddess Interrupted that bad? I was thinking of picking it up just to see what happens next. The first book was just ok with me and I had hoped the second would be better...

    Hm I think Half-Blood by Jennifer Armentrout had something to do with gods and goddesses, but I'm not sure which mythology it's based on. I did enjoy reading it compared to The Goddess Test.

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    1. Oooh I know so many people still love this series but I just lost interest.

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  2. Thank you for your honesty. There are too many great books around. You have saved me time & money.

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  3. I just read Sweet Venom and had the same thoughts. And I wasn't in love with Destined either. I did like Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, if you haven't read that one. :)

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion Sara. I'll be checking out Starcrossed.

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  4. Go the covers leave much to be desired, but seeing your opinion I will think many times before me with any of them.

    Thanks and have a good day

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