I enjoyed read this book, it has an interesting background, it has some sparky dialogue, some great action and there are some beautiful descriptions.
I read this for free, entirely unsolicited, from Kindle Unlimited. It’s not a bad read. I don’t regret the time I spent with this story. However it didn’t quite hit the spot with me.
I think the problem I have with this story is that I feel that it could do with being around 25% longer. Sometimes it feels like the story is rushed past some parts, or details are skimmed over. I would like to have a clearer set up about the deities and the way they interact. Of course, anyone who is writing using the Olympic deities is going to be compared to Rick Riordan and he is a tough act to follow. April Canavan doesn’t have the same take as the Percy Jackson series, which is kind of refreshing, but I personally would have liked to know more. Perhaps it will grow in the next books of the series.
As an entirely personal preference, I would like more distance between Gods and non-Gods, to have more of an air of glory about them. It doesn’t mean that this book isn’t worth reading, just that it didn’t push all my buttons. Here is a (non-spoiler) example:
“The only one of the gods of the wind who didn’t live with her was sitting there, eating a banana and reading a newspaper.
“‘Boreas,’ she greeted with a smile. ‘What are you doing here so early?’ Normally he didn’t show up until after everyone had eaten breakfast and calmed down a little.”
It also ended on something of a cliff hanger. Hopefully this will be resolved in the next books. It isn’t my favourite end to a book, though.
I’ve said the negatives about this, but there is a lot of good in this story. I think it’s going in interesting directions and I will almost certainly read the next in the series.
