Lore

I went into Lore thinking Greek Mythology meets The Hunger Games and left in a schooling of historical stories. I give this book 4/5 stars simply due to the lack of romance, a personal favourite of mines, and for having to stop reading to jump to the ‘house’ descriptions at the start of the book to keep myself on track of who was who. I do however blame that entirely on my own memory. I love how each character grew from nothing and they become more human and relatable as the book progresses. The bad character not being 100% bad also adds depth to the unexpected plot twists. And the breakdown into ‘part one, part two etc’ allowed me to stop and process what I had previously read. The glorious artwork was also a bonus! I loved this book overall, and look forward to future novels by Alexandra Bracken. This altogether took me four days to read and arrived in perfect condition on time.

I.... can't believe the things that happened in this book. I really, truly, cannot believe them. Partly because of the sheer confusion I felt throughout the entire book, but also partly because Alexandra Bracken decided - at the last possible second - to rescind on everything she'd spend 500 pages building up and make her characters do a complete 180. I just... don't have anything positive to say about this book and that genuinely pains me as it had so much potential. I'm a huge fan of both Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Hunger Games, so seeing Lore marketed as the dark, gritty, urban fantasy love child of the two, I started getting excited. I was instantly let down, as I could not for the life of me understand what was going on or wrap my head around the plot. Nothing was explained well enough for me to fully follow, and the way information was revealed drove me up the wall. Things would constantly be teased as being important and integral to the story, but then would be brushed aside for numerous chapters, only for there to be an info dump that was both too late and too intense to be of any use to you. It's as if there was a hint of world-building and this epic game of life and death, but the execution fell too short for it to have any real impact on the reader. Add to that the fact that a lot - and I mean a lot - of the 'major' plot points were just... forgotten about until the final twenty or so pages. I mean, what?! Not only have I just spent 500 pages confused, I now only get a rushed answer?! Sloppy. And unsatisfying. There were far too many loose ends and half-baked concepts for me to feel any real sense of closure or understanding, and I genuinely could not tell you what the plot of this book is. There were far too many things crammed into one book, so nothing quite got the page time it needed. Castor's storyline, for one, got an extremely rushed ending that fell short of the big build up throughout the rest of the book, and began to introduce a new explanation for things literally in the final five pages. What?! The characters, too, left a lot to be desired for me. Most notably, Castor just felt very flat to me and I didn't buy his relationship with Lore at all. The combination of them being apart for seven years, and then not actually having that much time together on page, meant the chemistry was lacking and I just... didn't believe or care about them together. A lot of the female characters also felt as if they'd been slighted to me, and I have particularly strong feelings regarding Athena. For a book that tries to send out a feminist message and respect women and advocate for their rights, there was far too much focus on women being the villain for me. It completely went against the message and rendered all the heart-warming little monologues about men being the real monsters redundant. And do not get me ...

I was not sure what to expect going into this- I had read reviews with high praise and some that DNF'D it. Melora "Lore" is a fictional character living in modern day NYC. I was pleasantly surprised by the way the author was able to weave Greek mythology into the story- partly as history, partly present day. The Agon is a week long event that happens every 7 years where certain Greek Gods, being punished by Zeus, come to Earth without their powers as a mortal and, should anyone (persons from descendant's bloodlines known as hunters) kill a God, that person takes their powers and essentially becomes that God; but, the catch is seven years later they take that God's position being hunted as a mortal in the Agon. Melora's family was killed when she was young and, although she wants revenge against those responsible, she does not want to become a God. She spent years in hiding making a new life for herself because as one of the last descendants of her bloodline, one of the most feared new Gods wants her for a powerful weapon only she can wield. She and some of her friends want to end the Agon so that she, and many others, can be safe. There was a lot of action, betrayal, honor and sacrifice- a good versus evil tale. I loved the ending- there was no rushing it or dragging it out. The pacing was consistent and I felt everything was explained well. This was a creative and satisfying tale.

I could not put this book down. Really refreshing take on mythology. Depicts the gods very authentically to their ancient counterlarts while still ensuring they've grown with the times. So many great twists and turns that in retrospect you should have seen coming, but didn't. That's the mark of a great writer in my mind. Normally I like the morally grey, but Castor is such a genuinely good person that it was refreshing. Has one of THE BEST declarations of love ever I won't spoil it but I had legitimate chills when I read that line. I own this book in digital, audio and hardback, plus I've bought it for several others as a gift. Seriously, all around, the best book I've read all year.