Book Review: "Lore Olympus, Volume Two" by Rachel Smythe

The gods and goddesses are at it again!

I honestly may be allergic to mythology thanks to some high school trauma, but for some reason, reading Rachel Smythe’s terrific graphic novels based on her webtoon series feels perfectly good! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the first volume, but within the first few pages I was captivated by the amazing illustrations and all of the drama!

In Volume One, Hades and Persephone meet at a party. She’s new in town, he’s the god of the underworld, yet there is an immediate and intense connection between them. Persephone can’t get Hades out of her mind, even though she knows her mother and many others would disapprove. And Hades may be a little obsessed as well, to the chagrin of Hera, Minthe (his personal assistant/sometime girlfriend), and others in the underworld.

Can two wholly different gods and goddesses from two different worlds ever have a happy ending? Can they weather the manipulation of so many, not to mention the age difference (she’s 19, he’s 2000 and something)?

These graphic novels are funny, sexy, emotionally complex, dramatic, and even a little profane from time to time. I’m loving this series and can’t wait to see what happens next!

Book Review: "Olympus, Texas" by Stacey Swann

In Olympus, Texas, the problems for a dysfunctional Texas family seem to multiply when one member returns home.

It’s been two years since March Briscoe has seen his family, as he left after his affair with his brother’s wife was discovered. His mother June is less than pleased to see him—she’s always found March hard to love. And as a woman whose husband has had multiple affairs through the years, she’s tired of standing by her man.

March’s arrival stirs up old wounds with his brother, Hap, and Hap’s wife, Vera, who is perhaps even more dissatisfied with her marriage since her affair. At the same time, March and Hap’s twin half-siblings, Artie and Arlo, face their own challenges, when Artie’s desire for a life of her own is tested by Arlo’s neediness.

In the span of a week, someone has been killed, relationships are in tatters, multiple punches have been thrown, and the Briscoes face scrutiny from all over the town of Olympus. Can they change the course of events around them? Can they change themselves? Do they want to?

This is a dark, brooding, dramatic book and I was completely hooked from start to finish. I love books about family dysfunction, and this family was seriously screwed up!! But for the most part, the characters were sympathetic, and I needed to know how Stacey Swann would resolve everything.

The description of the book talks about how elements of classic mythology are woven into the plot. I don’t know much about mythology so that passed me by, but it didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the story. So glad I finally read this!!

Book Review: "Lore Olympus" by Rachel Smythe

Who knew the lives of gods were so dramatic? Lore Olympus gives you all the scoop!

So many of my Bookstagram friends seem to enjoy books with mythological themes. And when they ask, “What's your favorite mythological figure,” I usually answer with, “Mythology isn’t my jam,” due to some unfortunate scarring in high school. (Surprise quiz after returning from a sick day=being labeled "brain dead" by your English teacher. Even with a doctor's note.) But if mythology was more like this amazing graphic novel? I’d be all over it and then some!

So, in Rachel Smythe's retelling, Persephone is new in Olympus after finally being able to escape her overprotective mother, Demeter. One night, Persephone and her roommate Artemis go to a party, where she meets Hades. The two feel an instant connection to one another, which sets off a cavalcade of jealousy, revenge, and repercussions among the gods.

This is tremendously creative, beautifully drawn, and it’s not your everyday graphic novel. There’s adult language, some things which could be triggers (e.g., rape, drugs), and drama galore, and I couldn’t get enough. The only thing that would have made this better for me was if I knew mythology so I understood the issues the gods had with, and their relationships to, one another. (I often joke that if I ever was a contestant on Jeopardy, mythology would be all of the clues!

I’ll be anxiously waiting for Volume 2 in July 2022!

Book Review: "The Maidens" by Alex Michaelides

In The Maidens, Alex Michaelides' upcoming follow-up to his hit thriller, The Silent Patient, when a friend of her niece is murdered, a troubled therapist tries to get to the bottom of what happened.

Mariana is a group therapist who hasn’t quite been able to move past the death of her husband more than a year ago. When she learns her niece’s friend is found murdered at Cambridge University, she goes to help her, returning to the place where she once was a student and met her husband.

Her niece, Zoe, is convinced that the charismatic professor Edward Fosca, who teaches Greek tragedy, is responsible for her friend’s murder. He has a group of female student acolytes who call themselves The Maidens, inspired by Greek legend, and seems to have them in his thrall.

The more Mariana learns about Fosca the more she becomes sure of his guilt. But everyone else seems to think she’s losing her bearings—is that the case? Is her obsession with Fosca blinding her to the truth? Could this single-mindedness be putting herself in danger?

Given the success of The Silent Patient (which I loved), there has been a lot of hype surrounding The Maidens. I’ve definitely seen some mixed things so I went in with relatively low expectations.

So...I felt like this book should’ve been called The Red Herrings. I felt like there were so many plot points and characters that were introduced and nothing ever came of them. I wasn’t surprised by the way things were tied up as I had my suspicions from the start.

The thing I didn’t quite get, however, is why Mariana was so obsessed with Fosca. Was there something I missed? Was this focus distracting her from her own grief or was it triggered by something from her past?

Celadon Books sent me a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

The Maidens publishes 6/15.

Book Review: "The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2)" by Rick Riordan

"Humans don't exist on the same level as the immortals. They can't even be hurt by our weapons. But you, Percy—you are part god, part human. You live in both worlds. You can be harmed by both, and you can affect both. That's what makes heroes so special. You carry the hopes of humanity into the realm of the eternal."

I mentioned last month that I had started participating in a buddy read of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series with some Bookstagram friends. We're reading one a month, and since I had never picked these up when they were initially released, this has been a fun discovery for me. (Here's my review of Book 1, The Lightning Thief.)

In Book 2, Percy has nearly made it through his entire seventh-grade year without getting expelled. But when a game of dodgeball in gym class turns dangerous, because instead of fending off the school bully and his minions he has to fend off some giant cannibals, everything starts to go awry. And before he knows it, he and his friend Annabeth, along with a new friend, Tyson (who has some special skills of his own), are headed back to Camp Half-Blood, because all of the demigods are in danger since someone has weakened the borders which protect the camp.

In order to save the camp, Percy and his friends have to travel to the Sea of Monsters, but that will be tough, since no one wants he and Annabeth to be heroes once again. But when they realize a close friend is in danger as well, they decide to go anyway. Once again, they'll face dangers they're not expecting, not to mention threats closer to home.

I enjoyed The Lightning Thief but found it at times to be a little too much tell and not enough show, as various characters described things to Percy and, as often happens in superhero movies, the evil characters have to dramatically explain their nefarious plans.

However, in The Sea of Monsters everything really hit its stride. I found Percy to be much more well-developed and all of the other characters were more complex—even the ones you're supposed to hate weren't as annoying! I particularly loved Grover and Tyson, a new character in this book.

I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I could totally see why kids and adults alike enjoy it!

Book Review: "Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Book 1: The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

Yeah, I’m about 15 years late to the party on this one!

I don’t know why I never read these books before. I was a huge fan of Harry Potter and other books like it, and I really liked the mystery series Rick Riordan wrote before he reinvented himself, but for some reason these never made it on to my radar. So when a friend suggested a buddy read of the series, I jumped at the chance.

I’m not going to do my usual plot summary because I’d imagine most of you know what these books are about, either because you’ve read these books or your children have. But suffice it to say that Percy Jackson is a kid who can never seem to stay out of trouble, because it always seems to find him. When he gets kicked out of yet another boarding school, his mother takes him to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods. The next thing he knows, he's on a quest to the underworld to try and get back Zeus' master lightning bolt, which has been stolen.

I thought this was a fun way to bring mythology to life (seeing as it has always intimidated me). I really enjoyed the characters, particularly Percy and Grover. While I felt the book took a long time to get to the real exciting stuff, I liked the journey that Percy and his friends had to take.

Since this was the first book in the series, there was a lot of explanation about things, a lot more telling rather than showing, but I’d imagine that will change as the series progresses.

Does this feel a little like a Harry Potter imitation? Maybe, but it's not too distracting.

I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series next month!

Book Review: "Ordinary Beast: Poems" by Nicole Sealey

Though we're not so self-
important as to think everything

has led to this, everything has led to this.
There's a name for the animal

love makes of us—named, I think,
like rain, for the sound it makes.

Continuing my foray into contemporary poetry, I recently picked up Ordinary Beast, a new collection of poems by Nicole Sealey. The book was named one of NPR's most anticipated poetry books of 2017, and reading Sealey's work, you certainly can understand why.

This is a fascinating collection, at times dazzling, at times perplexing, but continuously powerful and emotional. Sealey writes with a burning passion about love, sex, race, history, and legacy, using words that immediately conjure vivid images. Interestingly enough, while some poems appear and read more like "traditional" poems, some appear and read more like prose, but they're no less effective.

I love you, I say, desperate
to admit that
the flesh extends its vanity
to an unknown land
where all the wild swarm.
This is not death. It is something safer,
almost made of air—
I think they call it god.

The collection contains 26 poems, many of which are quite short, some of which use an experimental style of layout, which made it difficult to gauge the poem's full meaning. Since I'm close to being a poetry neophyte, I tended to enjoy those poems which were a little more traditional, the ones whose meaning seemed more evident. But even in those poems which didn't quite work for me, Sealey's talent was immensely evident, line after powerful line.

We fit somewhere between god
and mineral, angel and animal,

believing a thing as sacred as the sun rises
and falls like an ordinary beast.

I've really been enjoying this exploration of contemporary poetry. I'm learning that, just like the world of fiction, the depth of talent out there today is immense, and I'm also beginning to understand the type of works which appeal to me. Nicole Sealey is clearly an artist in this genre, and I'd encourage those of you who enjoy a mix of styles in your poetry to pick up this collection.

Book Review: "Wildalone" by Krassi Zourkova

Thea Slavin is a piano prodigy raised in Bulgaria. The piano has dominated her life, taking precedence over almost everything, including her social life. Pursuing a musical career is certainly a foregone conclusion. But when she discovers a secret about her family that has been kept hidden from her, she does the only thing she can think of—she applies to college at Princeton University, and quickly moves to America.

Life for a freshman at an Ivy League university is difficult for anyone, but for Thea, getting acclimated to the American way of living, familiarizing herself with the customs and behaviors of her American peers, and managing her advisers' expectations of how her musical career will progress all prove to be challenging. But nothing prepares her for the interests of the handsome, mysterious, wealthy Rhys, and his equally handsome and mysterious younger brother Jake. She finds herself simultaneously drawn to and afraid of their mercurial ways, their unexplained arrivals and departures, but she also cannot control her heart.

As her relationship with Rhys unfolds, she learns more of the truth about her family, a truth that touches on mythology and the Bulgarian legend of the samodivi, or wildalones, forest witches who beguile and entrap men, and ultimately lead to their death. And as the facts are uncovered, she uncovers connections she could never have imagined, connections which could threaten both her happiness and her future. What path will she follow? What sacrifices will she have to make?

I found Krassi Zourkova's Wildalone a really fascinating read, and it's unlike many books I've ever read. It combines mythology and intrigue with some Twilight-y angst, although perhaps not as melodramatic. (I don't know about anyone else, but for some reason I kept picturing Robert Pattison's face every time Rhys appeared in the book, and it's not like I'm a huge Twilight fan or anything.)

Although the story definitely requires you to fully embrace the fantastic, Zourkova knows how to weave a tremendously compelling narrative, and I really liked the choices she made, because this story could have devolved into a totally overdone mess. The characters are a bit too brooding at times (although they do have a lot to deal with), but I found them utterly fascinating, and I hope this was the start of a series, because I really want to know more about what happens to them.

I enjoyed this far more than I expected to, and I'm really glad about that. If this type of book intrigues you, and you don't have a problem suspending your disbelief, definitely give Wildalone a try. It's a very intriguing mash-up of genres that worked for me.