‘You could only convince yourself something was prey until it turned around and showed you its teeth.’ If I had to pick one sentence to sum up ‘Lore’ it would be: ‘Greek mythology meets The Hunger Games in modern day New York City.’ And if that statement, and my rating, doesn’t make it clear enough then yes I absolutely recommend checking this book out for yourself. From the very first page of this book the action starts and from there it doesn’t really ever let up. Perhaps that’s not surprising, given the situation that the characters are in, but it certainly made this one incredibly hard book to put down. The momentum of the plot never really slows and there are some pretty shocking twists thrown into the mix on several occasions too, one of which I definitely did not see coming. Brutal is too meek a word for some of the events within these pages; it was bloodthirsty, dark and went some very chilling places. The violence level was high although again I guess that’s kind of to be expected, given the premise of this one. Greek Mythology does contain some pretty grim events, after all. Character wise I have to say that I ended up finding Lore to be a fascinating individual with her heart wrenching background, thirst for revenge and desire to find her own path. It was interesting to see the world of the Agon through her eyes; to have someone at the centre, questioning certain beliefs and fighting contrasting desires throughout. Castor was another wonderful individual to learn about and had plenty of struggles in his own life. And those surrounding them were all quite varied and complex individuals too. The new Gods were intriguing, with Wrath making a downright deplorable villain in anyone’s eyes, surely? As for the Ancients that were involved, I felt that they were just incredibly well crafted although I will admit that I need to brush up on my Greek Mythology still. Woven throughout were a few scenes from Lore’s past and I can safely say that I absolutely adored these moments. The way that they unravelled key revelations was wonderful and they also gave me a bit more insight into what Lore had been like prior to the previous Agon. It also added some additional foundation to her relationship with Castor. Honestly I only have two issues with this book and both of these were minor enough, in contrast to my abundantly high enjoyment level, to make it impossible to deduct stars over. Basically one conversation early on in the book made me a bit sceptical and also I’d have preferred to have received a little more insight into the Hermes situation. On the matter of the original Gods I would also have loved to have seen more of some of them but, as this is primarily Lore’s story, I’m not sure how they would have been slotted in. A spin off of sorts showing events from past Agons would definitely be much appreciated by this reader though; surely I’m not alone in desiring this? So yes I absolutely recommend checking this book out for yourself and I can’t wait to finally check out more of Alexandra Bracken’s books too.

I never usually leave reviews on books, but this book was absolutely amazing. It had me gripped with every page and left me blown away by the end of it. I do hope the author brings out more books involving this world as the ending was perfect!

'Lore' by Alexandra Bracken is an extremely creative born of the classic Greek pantheon of gods. Beginning with a theme of civil war which in traditional text included all but Hestia trying to challenge Zeus, Bracken's story is a little more centralized and results in much harsher punishments by the god king. The main character, Melora or 'Lore,' is the last surviving member of her House.. the House of Perseus. The Persedes as they're known.. are one of 9 descended Houses of legendary heroes.. who after the uprising of the gods and goddesses, are essentially tasked with their punishments. What is their punishment? The Agon. A hunt, basically.. that occurs every seven years.. when the 9 rebellious gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals while the legendary Houses try to run them into the ground, kill them, and take their power. As it turns out, whomever kills the previous god.. becomes the new one. At least, for another seven years until the next Agon when they have to join the hunt as prey. I genuinely love mythology and I'm always eager to get my hands on new stories that are inspired or developed from the fascinating ancient stories, but 'Lore' is just exceptional. The origin of events is certainly rooted in a believable premise that sounds as if it could have come from the same beliefs, but the modern twist is smoothly merged with the classic theme. The dynamics, both between the old gods and new, gods in general and those heroic descendents, and all of the above and any humans they come across are each distinctive and well-suited to what one would expect. In fact, while most of the new gods are egotistical.. it feels almost performative, like a youth who knows they were raised in wealth.. rather than someone working for it and overcompensating for that fact. The old gods are just casually arrogant and it's clear they simply don't think or understand beyond their experience. Actually, I love Athena.. she's hilarious and in that unintentional, dry wit sort of way. Also, I enjoyed that Bracken gave the old gods a very formal speech pattern and a disassociated perspective of the world and those around them. Castor is another favorite, though the characters in general all have depth to them, individuality, and distinctively clear 'voices' making the read as comfortable as any every day conversation. The dialogue is fantastic and that's the thing I find is weakest in most works from literature to tv to film. I'm predicting already that 'Lore' is going to be in my top reads list of 2021.. but we'll see what the year has to offer. It's a definite page turner, whereas there's either some kind of tense fight or unveiled drama going on at most times. I love it so much, I have three copies coming.. and I highly recommend this title for anyone with a love of mythology and modern urban fantasy. (I received this title as an ARC, but loved it so much I purchased 3 copies. All opinions are mine and freely given.)

"Sometimes the braver thing is to accept help when you've been mane to believe you shouldn't need it" Synopsis: Long ago, nine Greek gods rebelled against Zeus. As punishment, Zeus created the Agon, a competition in which, every seven years, those gods who rebelled against him were stripped of their immortality and forced to fight the Hunters, humans descendant of the old bloodlines who are eager to kill them to seize their divine power. Lore, the last descendant of the Perseides after the murder of her family, is drawn to the competition by an injured Athena, who offers her an alliance against their mutual enemy and a way to end the Agon forever. I don't usually read urban fantasy but this book got my attention from the beginning, after all I studied old Greek for two years. But I was also afraid that the author had somehow romanticized the myths as, let's not forget, Greek mythology is full of rapes and violence against women. To my surprise, she didn't. In fact the book has many strong feminist themes. The plot is fast and well constructed and honestly, I couldn't stop reading. For some people it may seem a little confusing at the beginning but I loved that there isn't infodump and you make sense of the world as you keep reading. Lore is a strong character but you can tell she is hurt by the guilt of what happened to her family and she is constantly in conflict within herself: she wants to be free of the Agon but at the same time, she longs for revenge. The rest of the cast: Athena, Castor, Van and Miles were also great and I loved their dynamics and friendship. Finally, the romance is the cutest friends to lovers I have ever read. Overall I enjoyed this book and I think it was a solid standalone. Highly recommended but please be aware of the trigger warnings: blood depiction, murder and torture, sexual assault and threat of rape.

Honestly, when I first picked up this book, all I could think of was “great another fictional take on Greek mythology” so I wasn’t expecting much to happen, however, Bracken proved me wrong. There was a point to the story from page 1, and normally you don’t quite know what is happening or the purpose until you’re a good three chapters into a book, but Bracken has you grabbed from chapter 1. It’s an amazing fresh new take on the worlds most known and popular gods, and Bracken humanises their myths and legends in a way that could have them butting heads with Rick Riordan’s beloved Percy Jackson series. Lore is the strong female character, and young woman every little girl dreams of becoming (although hopefully not within the same circumstances). Don’t get me started on character development, although subtle it is there. From chapter 1 Lore and her gang have got you on the edge of your seat, gripping the book for dear life because your heart just cannot stop jumping from cliffhangers, suspense and amazing description and dialogues, pulling the reader into a fictional modern world of Greek Gods and Heroes. It is a book that every teenager, young adult and adult should read - real characters with real problems and no “pink glasses”, they all are diamonds in the rough. Highly recommended for fans of Riordan and P C Cast, or anyone who needs a bit of Greek gods and heroes back in their life.