Review--Lore by Alexandra Bracken

 

From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Darkest Minds comes a sweepingly ambitious, high-octane tale of power, destiny, love and redemption.

Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.
Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family's sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt's promises of eternal glory. For years she's pushed away any thought of revenge against the man--now a god--responsible for their deaths.

Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.

The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore's decision to bind her fate to Athena's and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost--and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.

 

I've been meaning to read Lore by Alexandra Bracken pretty much since I got it in a Fairy Loot box in 2021! So better late than never I guess! Being a fan of Greek mythology I was excited to see what this one would be about. Granted, I did think it would be more of a "Medusa" book based on the US cover, but that's not what I got. Instead, I read about an intriguing battle between the gods and goddesses taking place on Earth in modern day.

Lore has been "out" of the gods' game for years. Ever since she lost her parents to the battles that take place she wanted no part of it and kept herself hidden from the gods for years. Several years ago, when her family was still alive, she was training to take part in it, but when she came home one day to find her family murdered, she decided she was done with it all.

Flash forward to modern day and Lore has recently lost her mentor and pseudo guardian. She's trying to get by in life by participating in underground fights to make a decent chunk of change. But when she sees an old friend as her next competitor, Lore is shaken as she thought Castor had died. He's come to her because he needs her help concerning the gods' game.

The choice to play or not is taken from her when Athena shows up at her doorstep injured and needing help. Teaming up with old friends and ones thought lost, Lore is ready to search for Athena's missing shield that will be a game changer in this war, but trouble lies all around them.

This was an interesting book. I admit, it wasn't smart to start such an epic story around the holidays where my reading time was sucked up with family time. So the extra reading time has kind of muddled with my memory recall since it took me way longer to read this than I anticipated. Perhaps that's why I might have felt lost at times or when I was reading with massive distractions all around me.

I'll admit that I thought the Medusa myth might come into play a little more than it did. Really there's only mentioning of Medusa since she is on the aforementioned shield. I guess in part, that was why I was a little disappointed with the story. Lore was not a relation to Medusa at all. 

There was a great deal of character development and building though. I really enjoyed getting to know this cast of characters. The ties to Greek mythology were fun too, if a little confusing at times since some of the OG gods and goddesses were already dead. Apparently when a god or goddess is killed in this war, their powers transfer to the one who kills them. So anyone can become a god if they can kill one. It was a little hard to comprehend over the course of the holiday and sparse reading. I think I would've done better had I not read this during a busy time.

There was a bit of romance between Lore and Castor that was sweet. I love the friends to lovers trope just as much as the enemies to lovers one! Especially if there's been time and distance within the friendship and the romance stirs up during a reunion (not the school type!). It was very sweet and satisfying.

Overall, I did enjoy the storyline and characters of Lore, but yeah, reading during a busy and time consuming time of year was not the wisest decision I ever made! Lol. But it was still an enjoyable read and one I highly recommend if you're looking for a book with Greek mythology essence in a more modern take.

 

Overall Rating 3/5 stars