The gods love to toy with us mere mortals. And every hundred years, we let them…
I have never been favored by the gods. Far from it, thanks to Zeus.
Living as a cursed office clerk for the Order of Thieves, I just keep my head down and hope the capricious beings who rule from Olympus won’t notice me. Not an easy feat, given San Francisco is Zeus’ patron city, but I make do. I survive. Until the night I tangle with a different god.
The worst god. Hades.
For the first time ever, the ruthless, mercurial King of the Underworld has entered the Crucible—the deadly contest the gods hold to determine a new ruler to sit on the throne of Olympus. But instead of fighting their own battles, the gods name mortals to compete in their stead.
So why in the Underworld did Hades choose me—a sarcastic nobody with a curse on her shoulders—as his champion? And why does my heart trip every time he says I’m his?
I don’t know if I’m a pawn, bait, or something else entirely to this dangerously tempting god. How can I, when he has more secrets than stars in the sky?
Because Hades is playing by his own rules…and Death will win at any cost.
I finally picked up Abigail Owen's The Games Gods Play, ready for a fresh new take on the Hades/Persephone myth and that is exactly what I got! Owen takes a new twist on Greek mythology with this one and with its modern-day setting and deadly game challenge, this is a read that is sure to keep you entertained among its massive page size!
Lyra was cursed the day she was born by Zeus to be unlovable, for she dared to be born in his temple. Which, from what we know of the gods in all the myths, this tracks! So Lyra's parents gave her over to the Order of Thieves to live and that's where she was raised.
Then she has a chance encounter with Hades, the god of the underworld and perhaps the least liked god of all and ends up wrapped in his clutches to play a role in the Crucible. This is a set of twelve challenges that are played in order to determine to who will be the next King of the Gods. Hades has never participated before but is making an exception this year. Each of the gods chooses a mortal who will represent them and do the actual games and challenges. Should they win, their patron god is the next ruler and they will be granted a boon, among other glories.
Lyra is more determined to just survive the challenges and even tries to help her fellow competitors along the way, hoping that they might return the favor somewhere down the line. What you might expect to happen, happens. There are challengers who want nothing to do with Lyra's help, there are those who indifferent, and then of course, there's the one who believes her and will work alongside her.
The challenges are ruthless and dangerous and it's a shock that any human is meant to survive them. I mean when you think about it, it is silly. The gods have to choose the best human they can find to be their "rep" but they are still only human. Yes, the humans are gifted the occasional advantage and there are betrayals and cheats and secrets galore. With 500+ pages, a lot has to happen!
And then of course, we get to the heated chemistry brewing between Lyra and Hades. But of course, the big question is: where is Persephone, Hades' wife? We do get an explanation of where she is eventually, but even I was having my doubts about the whole story. Mainly because, I know this is a series, so my mind was already developing the craziest theories possible! Only time will tell if any of those crazy theories come to fruition though!
I will admit that this one was a bit of a beast to get through. It's over 500 pages, but luckily, the pacing was pretty fast and some of the chapters were pretty short, so that made for easier reading at times. With twelve challenges set before the champions, that too would take time to get through. Some were done with detail and others were not as detailed, but not super short either. I felt like the balance was right when it came to those. Then when there was the moments between challenges, those were relatively balanced as well.
The ending was pretty shocking though! I guess I hadn't developed too many theories towards that regard because I was taken aback by most of it! It was a stunning ending for sure and the cliffhanger was also pretty unexpected. The actual cliffhanger, not that there was a cliffhanger! Lol. Luckily, I am diving into the next book asap!
The Games Gods Play was an edgy and action packed take on the Greek pantheon! I enjoyed the characters and the pacing was spot on! This is definitely a series to sink your teeth into!
Overall Rating 4/5 stars
