I'd give the book 3.5 stars, overall.

Let's start with the cover, because I would be lying if I said it wasn't a major factor in looking for further information. It's gorgeous. The blurb reels you right in. I'm a big fan of (Greek) mythology, so this is right up my alley.

The book is told from the POV of Hope Diaz, who finds herself in a tournament with 29 other teenagers, to become Olympus' next hero.

The plot is awesome and there's really never a dull moment, though I feel like it could've flowed a little better. A huge part of the story is the old heroes training the contenders, which I really loved. They were nice, helpful and supportive, which I thought was a cool element.

Hope is a really nice and actually good person, who just wants to help others, which was refreshing. Sometimes she had a little bit of a 'holier-than-you' attitude, but it still worked out okay.

There are some flaws as well. The 'instalove' between Hope and Kieron, for example. Their connection is evident, but it all happened so fast. They barely know each other for 3 weeks and have had maybe 5 substantial conversations, and suddenly they are so in love with each other. It just happened very fast.

Also, some of the characterization felt off. The other contestants were often very one-dimensional and there was a lot of girls hating on girls. I understand that they are opponents, yet the focus on it was too much for me.

The ending is very abrupt, but it does make you want to read the sequel immediately. I'll be looking forward, because the plot does have a lot of potential.

TLDR: There are some flaws and growing pains, but if you enjoy Greek Mythology and a book with a nice plot and quite fast pacing, this is for you.

Olympian Challenger was such a refreshing Greek Mythology Book! It really had an interesting spin on the Gods and for once included lesser Gods rather than only the Olympians! Seriously obsessed with Keiron btw!
The story begins when every 17 year old in New York receives a letter telling them ‘they’re cordially invited to...’
Only descendants of the Greek Gods could read the rest of the letter and our MC, Hope Diaz, just happens to be able to read it(;
Hope is completely confused by this letter, as any sane person would be when threatened through a mysterious letter that only she can read, and doesn’t know whether she’s going crazy (totally possible) or if something else is happening.
At this point she finds herself jumping into a river to save a boy who seemingly is trying to commit suicide and BOOM she’s in Olympus.
The rest I want to keep under wraps to avoid spoilers! I will say though that this was a seriously fun read, I literally could not put it down
This seems like it’s going to be a series, so I can’t wait for book two!

I love mythology and it has been a very long time since I have enjoyed a good mythology fantasy book.

I love this cover because I have always loved fashion (pretty dresses are my weakness). The mystical cover with the moon, mist and peculiar lightning was a great visual choice. That along with the intrigue of the title was enough to get me to request the ARC. When I saw that this was a mythology based fantasy book I was more than happy to read it as quickly as I could. It took me about a week to read the first chapter because I kept on getting distracted, but once I sat down and actually read the book, it went by really fast. I went into the typical book trance and enjoying every moment I could spend in Arditi’s world. Each character has some quirky and endearing trait. This created a great depth that made the characters realistic and relatable.

The gods were similar to how I imagine them. They have a snobbish sense of power when in the presence of mere mortals. I know a fair amount of Greek mythology and it was fun and interesting to see Arditi’s portrayal of Olympus and all its inhabitants.

The smallest issue I had was that Hope was a little bit too angsty teenager for me. I have read A LOT of young adult fiction and thus I can say that the teenagers don’t actually tend to be as full of angst and hurt as Hope. Of course, this shows how Hope has a layer to her that is not often seen. She has a side to her character that is normally seen as a negative trait, yet Hope somehow makes it work.

The Olympus that Astrid Arditi has created for us is a rich and enticing world. It is not the utopia it seems to be. Arditi gives the Olympian world that bad taste of over-opulence and beauty that is hiding the ugly underneath. It looks like the flower but is actually the serpent under it. (A little bit of Shakespeare paraphrasing for all those Shakespearean lovers out there).

This book will be great for people who love mythology and adventure. It might not appeal to all audiences but in general I recommend it if these types of genres interest you.

Ok, I chose this book cause I love Greek Mythology so any book that has that will get a second look from me. I was happy I gave this book a read. Let me get you straight on this. This book is a young adult (I mean young, almost pre-teen in my opinion) book. Not that I am complaining one bit about it. The story line was very interesting and the characters were very well developed. The characters were easily either liked or disliked quite quickly and that kept the story moving along. The casting of how the Gods & Goddesses were left me a little sour in the mouth but that is to be expected. Hades was cast as a bit more "evil" then I feel that he actually is in most of the legends. My main issue is that for most of the heroes in the story you had to go outside the book to find their back stories. I felt that the story would have been better if you knew the legends about the heroes that are listed in the book. Why they behave and act the way they do.

The main character, Hope, is very well developed and you quickly like her and cheer & cry along with her as she unwillingly competes in the challenge with her rivals. You feel the deep love she has for her mother and for me the ending was quite a shock. The decision she made, in my opinion, will either break her or make her stronger down the line.

I can not wait for the next two books to come out to see where this story line and plot go. If nothing else to read more about the budding romance between Hope & her shadow god. Even if you are an adult and want a nice easy read that will keep you engaged then you will like this book.

Olympian Challenger follows the journey of Hope Diaz. She receives a mysterious invitation which brings her to Mount Olympos, against her own will. When there, she's made to be one of the competitor's to become the next hero or heroine to complete a quest for the Gods. But that is not an easy task, quite the opposite. Will she succeed or is she doomed to oblivion?

What made me want to request and read this book, was the mythology. And obviously that this book has a lot. But it was so cruel and not anything like I expected it to be. Possibly I hoped it to be like Percy Jackson books a little too much. Olympian Challenger was just too full of death, angst and everything negative that it wasn't a book for me. I really enjoyed the start of this book but as the quests started, I started to lose my interest.

As for the characters, I didn't connect with anyone and the only one I liked was Gabriel. Hope didn't seem to be able to make up her mind with anything. At one minute she was hating it all and wanting to go home but in the next she was all in.
Gabriel on the other hand was the one who brought diversity to this book and also grew up as the story went on. He came in as a whimpy kid and grew to be a man.

The romance in this book was not really a romance. Or it was but I didn't feel even a little bit of it being true. You know when the romance is good when you start rooting for the couple to be happy and have them butterflies in your stomach, this was nothing like that. It didn't develop at all, it just seemed like it was forced to happen. Well, you could see that happening from the start but I just hope it would have been real. I guess I could compare it to brother-sister relationship more than an actual romance. There just wasn't any chemistry between the characters at all!
But the LGBT romance was there! Oh how I hope they will have a happy ending. I'd love to hear more about that couple than the actual mc and her 'romance'.

All in all Olympian Challenger was a nice book to read but it would have been even better without all the death and stuff. If I'll ever read the next book in this series, I hope the romance would actually feel like a romance and there's a lot less people dying almost for nothing.

Olympian Challenger by Astrid Arditi is a more grown-up version of Percy Jackson, bringing the Gods into the present.
After receiving a mysterious invitation, Hope Diaz finds herself on Mount Olympus competing to become the God's new hero and get the wish promised to the winner.
Hope's goodness shines through the darkest moments. (Hades is involved, so there's going to be some darkness.) You can't help but like her. Hope struggles to stay true to herself and not get caught up in the game. She bonds with Amy and Gabriel. Their interactions were both endearing and hilarious. Amy and Hope are so different, but they help balance each other. Gabriel's temperament is closer to Hopes, but he has issues of his own. My favorite conversations involved Hope and Kieron, the dark mysterious God she's drawn to. There was an instant attraction, but their relationship evolved with the story instead of jumping straight to being in "love." The relationships are all well written.
The author's description of Mount Olympus was amazing. There was just the right amount of detail that makes you feel like you've gone to Olympus and drank ambrosia with the Gods. Olympian Challenger was so sweet and action packed I can't wait to read the next book!

I love Greek mythology so, naturally, I had to read this. The synopsis was intriguing and it sounded pretty magical.
It's basically a unique take on a classic myth, a retelling with nuances of The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson woven into it. But it may as well have been an awfully written fanfiction.

I loved the plot and the premise. I thought it was strong and the pacing of the story was like breathing; natural and easy-going. The challenges Hope faced were interesting and entertaining. But the writing was hard to digest. It failed to live up to my expectations - dramatic moments fell flat because there was just no intense hype. Many felt anti-climatic and I almost lost interest because everything seemed easy for Hope, despite the many challenges. And then the characters - Kieron felt underdeveloped - okay, I liked him at first, but then he became so different to how he initially was that I was put off - and I couldn't connect to Hope as they were both quite immature. The insta-love was juvenile and it didn't keep me interested very long.
But overall, the plot was amazing. I loved the idea of it, the concept of /the/ Olympian challenger. I thought that was pretty cool. The writing just fell short and flat and I didn't want to read on.

This book is a fresh take on greek mythology. The plot revolves around a competition in which several demigods participated and who so ever completes all the tasks will be the olympian winner. I found this book to be an okay read. I received an ARC of this book for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I finished this book a while ago and I honestly didn’t know if I enjoyed it or not. Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of great elements about this book that I enjoyed but I felt as though there was so much more potential there that could have been unlocked.
I am a sucked for Mythology so reading the blurb about this book was enough for me to jump up and down and request it; after all Greek gods are everything! After reading this book though I felt there could have been more unlocked with the gods and provide a little more back story to set them up.
Hope spends her time looking after her sick mother who is slowly slipping away with dementia, so when the opportunity to win a wish comes along, why wouldn’t you take it? Hope gets transported to Mount Olympus to compete in a tournament where she meets the Greek Gods and their offspring.

Though the story was captivating I found that the only character I related to was Keirnan who was one of the competitors and the son of Hades. But who wouldn’t fall for a bad boy? They are squishy cinnamon rolls after all.
I decided to settle on 3.5 stars for this book as I want to see where the adventure continues and see how this creative world can expand.

I am not a fan of mythology but this book may have just changed that. The main character Hope, who this book is centered on finds herself in Mt Olympus after trying to save a "drowning" boy. The only way to leave is to compete against other boys and girls who had also found themselves there in order to become a hero or heroine.

The winner of the challenge gets to win a wish from the gods who all make an appearance in this book. From Zeus, Hades, Aphrodite to Ares. What follows is a deadly competition where challengers are cut after every challenge.

Some things that I liked about this book.
1. The cover. This is one of the prettiest covers I've seen this year.
2. The pacing. I wouldn't describe it as fast paced but maybe the right pace? There was no lull in the middle or anywhere for that matter like in most books.
3. I liked Hope although she was such a goody-goody. Surely there is no one this nice.
4. The mythology

I removed one star because honestly that was the worst ending I have ever read. I can't wait for the next book, I want to find out more about Kieron. Please, please no random facts about him in book two.

(I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.)



I feel like the odd one out in these reviews. I liked the book, but I did not go crazy for it. It was a light and easy read. It seemed to be a less-comedic take on the Percy Jackson series. I found the main character a bit annoying. I also found the love story really lacking. It was good for an easy and quick read, but it did not really stand out as a great new YA book. However, if you like Greek mythology it might be a fun read (especially if you like Percy Jackson or the Hunger Games).

Olympian Challenger by Astrid Arditi is an adventure filled novel featuring a well-paced and spirited story littered with Greek Mythology, forbidden romance and high stakes action.

Seventeen year old Hope Diaz is a model student and carer to her ailing mother whose dementia is growing worse with every passing day. All Hope wants is to do the best for her mother, and then she receives a baffling invite to participate in a mysterious competition. After an act of bravery sees her taken to Mount Olympus where Hope meets the Greek gods in the flesh, she finds herself participating in a tournament where contenders must complete a number of quests in order to be crowned the winner and be rewarded their hearts wish. Knowing it must be too good to be true, Hope desperately searches for a way back home, determined to find a way out of Mount Olympus. Instead she finds herself drawn to a fascinating shadow god who wants to convince her to stay. Winning the competition may be what Hope needs to save her mother, but with every challenge becoming more and more treacherous, the contenders aren’t guaranteed to make it out alive. Deciding what she’ll fight for is only the beginning as Hope begins to discover the tournament has a darker purpose than the participants were led to believe….

Olympian Challenger was a really impressive novel and I have to say I enjoyed it very, very much. As a fan of Greek mythology, I really appreciated what Astrid Arditi has done with this novel. Not only does she give the Greek gods we’re all familiar with—Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Ares, Athena etc---a modern twist, but she also explores some histories of the lessor known deities and the heroes that litter ancient Greek literature. It was refreshing to read about something I hadn’t heard a million times before, while also enjoying the tales I was familiar with and comfortable reading about.

Main character Hope was a real joy to follow. She was honorable and courageous and kind-hearted. Here was a girl taken from her life and facing tremendous challenges but each one she faced with poise and grace, loyalty and humility. Hope was quick to help people and not someone to put herself above others; I liked that. She was self-sacrificing and kind, while also being quick thinking and intelligent.

Olympian Challenger is a very emotionally packed and eventful novel. I liked many of the characters Hope met including Amy and Gabriel who became true friends to her and of course Kieron who is her love interest and a soulful god who made Hope weak at the knees. Kieron was certainly swoon worthy and I think he and Hope had a great chemistry—I’ll definitely be vying for their romance. I also liked the demi-god trainers who teach the contenders during the story—they were very unique and personable.

Ending well and definitely leaving me raring for more, Olympian Challenger had all the elements of a great book and I can’t wait until Astrid Arditi releases the next instalment in the series as I’m keen to read what happens to Hope next.

I have to be honest. I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. The story had some real potential but the MC just killed it for me. She's constantly whining stuck in her own lil pity party for one. Needless to say, I couldn't get in to the story because of her.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC.

I was drawn in by the cover. The book was good, but not great.

I felt the book was lacking in character development. I didn't feel drawn to any other characters and the MC was a little to whiny for my liking. I don't mind romance in my YA books, but this one felt a little flat. I really liked the competition and trials, but I feel the authors writing didn't convey the intensity of the situation. I probably will read the other book in the series to see what happens.

As a fan of Greek mythology, who also just took and aced a college course in mythology, I could not wait to read Olympian Challenger! There is something so enthralling about the Greek (and Roman) gods and goddesses. Everything about mythology is so incredibly fascinating to me. After reading the synopsis for this book, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy.

While I did manage to finish this book quickly, there were parts that I just found to be so-so. The human characters were written to be very unique and individual. While the author did a great job on that aspect, I felt that the characters could have used a little more background story. There was not enough depth. Quite a few of the challengers fell through the cracks for me and I do not even remember them or who they were sponsored by. Hope, the main character, did have a good amount of background. The one thing that I did not like most about her is how gushy she got so quickly over the thought of romance. Too often main characters turn into babbling idiots over a boy. Also, to key back in to the lack of depth... there was also a lack of emotion. I did not find myself caring for the characters. When a majority of them did not pass the trail, I did not care. It was very "whatever" for me.

My favorite parts, hands down, were the trials. I thought that the author did an amazing job with the trails and how the contenders were to complete them. Some of them felt a little rushed, but for the most part I was very interested. The pace of the book was really good as well. There were no overly slow parts that you felt that you had to slog through.

All in all, I did enjoy Olympian Challenger and would like to read the next book.

When I first started this book, I wasn't sure I was going to make it past the first five chapters. The author seemed to have a love affair with adjectives and adverbs, and honestly, it was annoying.

Another thing she did was try to put in every cliche she possibly could from the Beginner's Handbook for New Writers: Plucky heroine befriends hard-hearted loner. Girl/boy fall in love, angering boy's powerful father. Heroine must win to save the world. That kind of thing.

Finally, though, we made it to the meat of the book. I wouldn't consider it steak, more like a decent hamburger, but it satisfied the teen hiding inside me. Sometimes, you just want a book that's fairly light and predictable with very little strife going on.

Don't get me wrong-I liked the book. For one thing, the heroine didn't do anything so stupid I wanted to jump in and slap her. She was pretty rational throughout. She also thought things through without leaping before looking. Even when she and Love Interest had a spat, she realized she was being unfair to him. I like that. Too many times I read a book where the main character does one stupid thing after another, and doesn't take anyone else's feelings into consideration. This alone made the book worth reading.

Actual rating, 3.5/5 stars. Thank you NetGallery for providing a copy. 

I was first attracted to this book by the beautiful cover. After reading the blurb, I was still intrigued, so I decided to give it a go. 

Hope Diaz, the main character is incredibly well written. She is believable, has a morale compass and is not the perfect heroine, but has her flaws. She finds herself transported to Mt Olympus, where she really doesn't want to be. While she does spend a portion of the book complaining and wanting to get home, she makes the most of the opportunity she has been given, all the while still trying to escape. 

I enjoyed the book, and it kept me engaged as the story progressed. The pacing is good and their is enough detail in every situation to gain a clear understanding of what is happening. 

A lot of the characters felt very one-dimensional. They all seemed to have one character trait, and that was it. There were glimmers of other personalities, but they were rarely touched on. As their were 23 other challengers, plus all the gods, I lost track of characters at times. 

Hope falls in love with the young, attractive god Keiron. I found this relationship a little forced. Keiron initally came across as rude and impatient, with no interest in Hope. Unfortunately, when he started falling for her, it was very forced and did not seem to make sense.

I always love reading Greek Mythology stories, so of course I jumped on the chance on reading Olympian Challenger. Olympian Challenger is a bit like reading any Greek Mythology like Percy Jackson/Hercules, but the plot of the stories are not the same. I enjoyed reading how Hope and her new found friends embark on challenges hoping to win. Through their ups and down, Gabrielle, Amy and Hope became inseparable. I love their friendship and how lifted each other up and how much they believed in each other. Most of all I enjoyed the little bits of forbidden romance that Author Astrid Arditi gave us of Hope and Kieron, but it wasn’t enough. I hope to read more about Hope an Kieron’s growing romance in book 2. This story had lots of action/adventures that kept me reading. I would love to read book 2, can’t wait.

I have always loved Greek mythology and the last saga I read before starting this book was also about this, so I was pretty obsessed with the subject before starting and had really high expectations about it.
In brief this book seems totally recommendable to me and it fulfilled my expectations, I can’t give it 5 stars because I felt the whole book that I was reading a story instead of really feeling part of it. But I have faith in the following books, I look forward to them (2019 u.u)
The book itself was easy to read and I only had a couple of problems to understand some parts until the context guided me (this may have been because I am not a native English speaker). In fact more than once I got confused if they were talking about Hope the protagonist or about having hope. (Dishonor to my cow for this XD)
The central theme behind the story, the competition, was very entertaining and included enough mythology as a bonus. As for the characters, some just were lovely like Gabriel and Amy. Hope is also an interesting character but it is soooo good that it gets stressful sometimes XD. Most of the characters are introduced drop by drop, which makes you begin to really like them when the story is well advanced. Especially with Kieron, I love his character but I feel I knew him very little and I wish I had seen a little more of his personality change cause it was too drastic for me. Anyway, I’m not too worried about this ‘cause it’s only the first book in the series and we will have time to get to know everyone better and get deeper into the world that Astrid presents to us. Regarding the gods ... I love them because they are excessively imperfect. The heroes are much better though, especially Bellerophon (whose name is not so difficult but for some reason I am unable to say aloud XD), but I deeply desire the power of Aphrodite...
Now I need a second to express ... probably Heath is the character that I’ve hated the most in centuries! When I started reading, I was sure that he would be part of the typical love triangle and that we would understand why he does everything and blablabla. BUT NOOOOOO, he’s just a damn bastard, if you read this, feel free to hate him from the beginning, do not bother thinking about it XD. Actually I swear I hated him more every chapter and that just reading his name makes me angry, I just Hope (see what I did here? xD) that I’m not offending an important character for Astrid, if so I’m reaaaaally sorry but I still hate him :)
I just need to add that I really got kind of obsessed while I read the book and ended in every Astrid group in facebook, don't even know how that happened. And that I'm IN LOVE with the cover. I strongly recommend to give this book a try.

I picked up this book because of my love for Greek mythology. It starts in New York with a normal girl. But something unexpected happens when Hope receives an invitation...and is transported to Mount Olympus. I enjoyed the quests and trials. The premises of the story is good, yet it didn't live up to my expectations. The characters lacked depth, and the romance had no chemistry. Though I liked the book enough to finish it, I won't read the rest of the series.