Review Detail

Greek monsters and goddesses - I do love the genre. Mostly what I have come across has been of demigods or something related. So, the first thing that ensnared me about the book was that it was having this dystopian-paranormal feel but set in the present world. There is New Orleans - which I find so mysterious, sinister and magical - which after a set of hurricanes 13 years ago, has become a swamp-ridden city that the government washed it hands of. Now, bought by 9 families of the Novem, it's New 2 - a haven for the paranormal population of the world. Ari arrives in New Orleans after coming across information about her mother and being chased by a warrior who was bent upon killing her. But, then again, she is also a paranormal creature who is being sought after by the goddess Athena.

I admit, this book hardly made much sense in the start - things kept happening way too fast, there was that insta-love between Ari and Sebastian and between Ari and New 2. Seriously, one day in and she loves the swampy, dilapidated city so much? She even feels a loyalty to the family in the Garden District - why? I'll just not start with the Ari and Sebastian thing because that will just make me go into a rant. The things which redeemed the book were the mythology and world-builiding. I would love to see more history of the individual families or at least the three categories. And Ari's ancestry - wow, that was a shocker! Considering I have read so many Greek myths, I am ashamed it did not strike me earlier (like in the first chapter when they described her mother's hallucinations) so props to the book - the second half really picked up nicely and kept me hanging on each word. The ending was more or less ideal - and really sets the pace for the next book. I must add, making Athena the big bad - that's definitely new since everywhere else she is hailed as a goddess of strategy, wisdom and justice - how can someone so wise and just be malevolent, right?

So, overall, this book is a fresh take on Greek mythology and has a nice dystopian feel. I was actually trying to remind myself that on the other side of the Rim, the world was as normal as our present one.