Lore: from the Number One bestselling YA fantasy author

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They sat in silence for several minutes after Lore had finished giving Miles a ruthlessly pared-down explanation of the Agon, the nine gods it had been created to punish—including the one whose wound she had seared shut in their living room—and the nine bloodlines descended from ancient heroes chosen to hunt them. Stay with me.” Lore let out a choked cry, sobbing for breath and relief at the crush of it all. Don’t leave me…

I have read a lot of books in my years. The majority of them being YA. A great many of those books have been formulaic and full of tropes. It has gotten to the point that I can almost always figure out all the plot twists and reveals long before it comes. But, let me tell you, I had no idea what came next in this book. Every time I thought I knew where it was all going, something else came up that turned everything on its head. Castor ! Adding him to my fictional boyfriends list! Cas is super cute nd I love him. He has a lot of problems and watching him solve them was super. Having acquired Apollo's power, he is not condescending! He is mature nd not power-hungry like the majority of the characters! I also had a problem with the characters. As I generally had no problem per se with either of them, I simply could care less about them because they felt (to me) a little bit flat. It was nothing there to get me emotionally invested in them. Which, I think, it's sad.

Did we miss something on diversity?

Also, where was the Medusa part in this book? When did that come into play in this novel? That's a genuine question. I'm not being sarcastic. I DNFed this shit so I probably shouldn't ask that, but I got more than halfway, and I heard not a whisper of Medusa anything??? Who, if anyone, do you consider a role model? What character strengths are evident in the story, and why are they important? Monsters lived in the shadows. To hunt them, you couldn’t be afraid to follow. And the only way to destroy them was to have the sharper teeth and the darker heart.” Exposition: The execution of this book could have been better. The world was rich and complex, that's for sure, but it needed more exposition. The information came in clumps here and there, making it feel like you were continually behind on everything. I felt like I had to catch up all the time or that I was missing something. It was a bit frustrating. I had no idea about the greek world before I read this book. So it came as a huge surprise and I enjoyed it<3 The legends were twisted and super fun!

But as the book progressed, things started to drag. I realized around 60% that I was just forcing myself to finish, I've come to the conclusion that this book has more gore than actual action, because while we're told that Lore spent years training for the Agon, and as a result, is very strong and good in battle, we don't really see much of that. There's a lot of build-up to the action scenes but there usually isn't a lot of action. Recommended for anyone looking for a super fast paced book that kinda reminds you of the Hunger games! I admit that the beginning is confusing. I had trouble differentiating all the families and understanding how exactly the Agon works (who can take the power of the god, who is hunting which god, etc.), but I pushed through it and it became clearer in the fourth chapter. The list of all the families and their important members helped, but it really was a struggle to get invested in the story at first. You definitely need to take some notes if you want to have a clear picture. TW// violence, gore, puking, sexual assault, attempted rape, misogyny, ableism, failing cancer treatment, murder (including murders of innocent people and children)I have to admit: The premise is hopeful: Banished nine Greek gods who are vulnerable enough to be drifted from their powers at each seven year for seven days long fighting against descendants of Greek heroes who are adamant to take their lives!