Review Detail

Dark of the Moon by Tracy Barrett was a book based off of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.  While I have always been intrigued with Greek Mythology, I have never really read much about it except for the little I learned in school.  So I really wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this book.

Adriane, or She-Who-Will-Be-Goddess, is a goddess in training that is destined to be a Goddess of the Moon.  She lives in Krete with her Mother, She-Who-Is-Goddess, and her brother, Asterion, whom many fear and call the Minotaur.  Her life becomes turned upside down as she begins her very structured and time-consuming training to be goddess.  Gone are the days of playing in the Minos quarters with all of the Minos children and the happier times of her youth.  Her childhood friends now fear her, her Mother keeps things from her and her brother has a child-like mind that constantly puts him in danger.  All she really wants is a normal life.  But she is destined to become the next Goddess of the Moon and her life will never be the same.

When she meets two Athenians sent to Krete, things start to look up.  Theseus, the son of Athens, arrives from Athens as a tribute to Krete.  His stories of heroism to the Athenians set him on his path to Krete with the job of slaying the awful Minotaur.  But once he meets the mighty Minotaur, things change.  He is intrigued by this beast with the child-like mind.  Not to mention his sister.  Revenge is what is on his mind and he starts planning how to take down the one who betrayed him and sent him off to die.

Prokris, a beautiful Athenian, was sent to Krete to become the next wife of the Minos.  On her first day there, her curiosity gets the best of her and she ends up in the Minotaur's chambers deep beneath the palace. When Adiadne hears this news, fear and panic grip her. If he kills the girl, surely the Kretians will find a way to finally destroy her brother.  

With no knowledge of how the spiritual realm in Crete works nor who Adriadne is, Adriadne finds two friendships she had been looking for.  And possibly more than friendship.  But is that what she really wants? What Adriadne does not know is that Theseus and Prokris have their own agenda that could put everything that she loves at risk.

At the Planting Festival, something unexpected happens leaving Adriadne questioning everything about her life and her choices.  Are the rumors true? Will she be able to keep her promise to her mother or will she follow her heart?   Will she follow the path of the Goddess or choose her own?  

Barrett did a good job of setting the scene for the storytelling of this book. While I was a little lost at times, I enjoyed the story and characters. I expected to find a more romantic twist on the story but soon found that really the book shows more of how religion and other cultures can be mis-interpreted and not understood by others.  The book flowed well and had a good ending.  I would definitely recommend the book, especially if you enjoy Greek Mythology.