Review Detail

A sparkly new debut in the popular Greek mythology genre, sure to entice fans of Percy Jackson and magical school stories. There’s snarky chapter titles, over-exuberant roommates, ride-or-die besties, quirky muses, a frustratingly cryptic old guy giving out donuts, and countless signs that not everything is as it seems for Penelope’s first year at Anaximander’s. Penelope is prepared, put-together, definitely a little type A and eager to please, which makes things tricky for her when nothing goes according to plan. In addition to strange magical shenanigans (and some condescending bullies), Penelope has to learn to embrace her own story regardless of what other people say it should be.

While reading, the pace feels non-stop, with constant new surprises. However, when I stopped for a break, I noticed that I was halfway through the book and it had only just reached the end of Penelope’s first day at school. Other information/events also felt a bit unbalanced - the much anticipated muses have few appearances, and the “Hades boy” Penelope meets early on doesn’t reappear until page 340 (aka pretty near the end). The main purpose of Anaximander’s is also not really emphasized.

There seems to be a mismatch between the synopsis and book overall. I’ve seen this advertised as middle grade dark academia romantasy with an emphasis on storytelling. Middle grade? Yes. It’s academia, but not dark, and the ratio of schooling to shenanigans feels more in line with a summer camp vibe (aka Percy Jackson, or even Divergent - those Dauntless weren’t big on book learning). Seeds are planted for future romance, but it’s very light and secondary to everything else. The whole aspect of myths and legends, and how interpretations change or are manipulated over time, is very present as a theme, but it doesn’t translate to a lot of direct magic or school work (the students aren’t shown delving into research or taking courses on literary composition, for example).

Anyway, there’s lots of laughs and lots of fun. While I was expecting more to happen in this book, it had a lot of ground to cover just establishing the school, and I look forward to diving further into the power of myths and the gods in later books.