Review of Sample – 6 Chapters

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: N/A – so far
Heat/Steam: N/A – so far
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📒
World building: 🌎🌍🌏🌎🌍
Character development: 👤👤👤👤

The setting: New York City – Present time.

The Hero: Not sure yet. Probably Castor will be the Hero, he is an old friend to Lore (Malora – last mortal descendant of Perseus). Castor is also from one of the bloodlines, descendants of hero’s that are now hunting the Gods while they’re in mortal form. Though Castor trained as a healer not a hunter.

The heroine: Lore – Her family was murdered by Aristos Kadmou, who hunted and killed Ares during the last Agon (see quote below), taking his place and his immortality. Lore has put it all behind her and is no longer involved in the hunts. She now fights men and women in underground fight clubs for money and to keep her feelings of loss at bay. Though she knows if hunters find her she will be a target (not sure why).

Background:

At the start of the book I was pretty lost, but later things were explained. I don’t feel like this is giving away spoilers since the few reviews I have read so far of this sample seem to be saying the same thing about the storyline being to complicated and confusing especially since we are dropped in to Lore’s life without the background information and the forward as well as the first few chapters use terminology for events that are not explained fully till later. So I am just going to add a few quotes that help.

“They sat in silence for several minutes after Lore had finished giving Miles a ruthlessly pared-down explanation of the Agon, the nine gods it had been created to punish—including the one whose wound she had seared shut in their living room—and the nine bloodlines descended from ancient heroes chosen to hunt them.
She distilled over a thousand years of history into mere minutes, feeling more and more insane as his face remained carefully blank. It wasn’t like Lore could blame him; hearing herself say the words “For seven days, every seven years, the gods walk on earth as mortals. If you can kill one, you become a new god and take their power and immortality, but you’ll be hunted in the next Agon as well”

Like I said above, Lore is the last mortal descendent of Perseus but basically has opted out of the fight for various reasons. She doesn’t want power or immortality. Though she does want her family avenged. But the killer is a god and even though Gods are mortal for seven days, he has a powerful bloodline and they protect him as well as hunt the other Gods.

However, Castor came to warn her that she is being hunted by the new Ares. Also the God Athena comes to her after being wounded badly and wants her help. Athena gives Lore some information she wasn’t aware of.
“The Spartan . . . they called you,” Athena breathed. “Little Gorgon . . . I searched for you . . . chose you . . . knowing that skill . . . knowing that you are no longer one of the hunters. . . . But you have . . . never been weak . . . never powerless.”

I had been wondering where the Medusa hair on the cover came in, until I read that part about her being called “Little Gorgon”. Not that Lore actually has snakes in her hair (at least as far as the sample goes). Also it is said that the Perseides (Descendants of Perseus), were given the Aegis, the shield of Zeus which had belonged to Athena until Zeus created the Agon as punishment for the Gods. The shield was taken when Lore’s family was murdered. The shield has special powers and bore the head of Medusa on the front.

This sample was very good and really just whetted my appetite for the rest of the book. I can’t wait to find out where the story goes. I just love Greek Mythology, add to that a fierce heroine and I am super excited. I definitely will snap this one up the first chance I get and now I really want to dig into my copy of Circe that has been sitting idle on my TBR since I purchased it.

I voluntarily read & reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

A very intriguing start, but the beginning does seem a bit sudden and rushed. The setup is promising, with many things that will grow into more important plots later on.

I was already intrigued by Lore, but the chapter sampler has catapulted the book to the top of my anticipated 2021 releases! Even from such a small snippet, the world building is excellently explained and easy to navigate. I have a good sense of the background, the characters, and how things work in that world. I'm so impressed by the reimagining of the Greek mythology and the idea of a Agon! This book is definitely not for the faint at heart–it's violent and gory–but I am absolutely excited for this new book by Alexandra Bracken!

This book is right at the top of my highly anticipated reads! A new adult novel that hits the ground running, this is sure to drag me into yet another Greek-mythology obsessed period. Not for the easily disturbed, the plot centers around a murderous competition, and it doesn’t seem the Bracken has censored any violence out. Overall, I’m totally amped to read the full book in 2021!

I have some difficulty with Bracken's writing. It just reads hard and I never get a good grip on what the characters are doing or the geography of the scene. I did enjoy the story and the plot though. It's an interesting concept and I would love to read more of it. 

I think this book could have benefitted from a first-person POV, especially where the world-building is concerned. I mainly want to read more to find out what happened to Castor.  You can bet there's a really good romance that'll happen between Lore and Castor. Also, who doesn't love Greek Gods? Let's say I'm like 75% interested in reading further.

I’m so intrigued about this story already! I can’t wait to get my hands on this book and see where this story is going to go. It already has so much potential! Would recommend putting this one on your radar!

When I heard Alexandra Bracken's new book would have Greek mythology in an urban setting, I was sold. At the time I was approved I didn't know this was a chapter sampler (they've been corrected since) However the sampler sounds really promising and Lore is a force to reckon with, I already love her. I really can't wait to read more!

I never predict that anything I read is going to come out at 5 stars, but this just managed to slide itself onto my 2021 most anticipated list. In fact, I didn't read the whole sampler because I already know I'm going to love it and I want to savor it.

I already know and love Alexandra Bracken's writing style, so I'm not surprised that I enjoyed it. Lore is already such a strong character and I love her. I'm super intrigued by the world. I'm a big fan of Greek Mythology and I just know this is going to hit the spot for me. Is it January yet?!

I am so excited to read the entire book. I enjoyed this sampler and a glimpse into the world. It was well paced, well-written, and had excellent characters.

When I read the premise for Alexandra Bracken's upcoming release Lore, i knew it was going to be a winner in my book. After waiting and checking for updates for the release I was over the moon when Netgalley had a sampler of Lore.

Lore is another new take on Greek Mythology and it's Bracken's turn to interpret the gods & goddesses in her own way. From the sampler i can tell that this is going to be a potential five star read.

Do not doubt i will be preordering this book and highly recommending to all my friends who're fans of mythology and retakes on mythology. The sampler has just got me even more incredibly excited for this release. (I have my fingers crossed that i will be granted for a full ARC of this story as i don't know how i can be expected to wait until January for it's release!)

I WANT MORE!

I have been craving a greek mythology book recently and this totally fulfilled that craving, except for the fact that I cannot wait for the full book to be released!! Even after just a few chapters, I am completely drawn into this story. Not to mention, this urban fantasy is set in New York City, which I miss dearly since I decided not to head back to the city this semester for school Essentially, this book is the book of my dreams at the moment and I was incredibly sad to reach the last page of this chapter sampler!

I can tell there is going to be a crazy adventure ahead and hopefully some amazing romance!I've said it once and I'll say it again, I want more! I can't wait for the release!

Lore is one of my most anticipated books for next year, and I absolutely loved this sneak peek! It's definitely an interesting take on Greek mythology and in a few chapters, I was drawn into the story and managed to get a basic idea of the background and the magic system involved. This short excerpt was more than enough to get me hooked and I can hardly wait to read the entire book. It has been a few years since I've read a book by Alexandra Bracken and I'm really looking forward to it! Four months to go!

Every seven years, nine of the gods and goddesses of ancient Greek mythology are made mortal for a week to be hunted for their power. Whoever slays a god during the Agon inherits their power and immortality, and ancient bloodlines have long competed for the most power. After the deaths of her family, Lore walked away from the world of hunters and set out to live the rest of her life in hiding. But the Agon has come to New York City again, and the first night brings two grisly surprises. The first is a friend from her old life, Castor, who she believed long dead, and the second is the gravely wounded goddess Athena, who promises to avenge Lore’s family in exchange for her help. I received a free advance chapter sampler through NetGalley from the publishers at Disney-Hyperion. Trigger warnings: parent/family death, death, decapitation, severe injury, violence/fighting, blood.

There was some mix-up in labeling on NetGalley because I never would have requested a chapter sampler on purpose, having no personal use for them. If I want to read a book, I don’t need a sample chapter to persuade me, and I’m only going to be irritated at not having the rest of the book on hand, which is precisely what happened. I’m all or nothing like that. (Nothing against people who read and love them though–I’m happy they work for you!) There’s also no clear way to review this, since there’s no chance for anything to develop. All I have are first impressions, and first impressions aren’t always that charitable.

I didn’t love this. I hate the term info-dump because it’s often confused with exposition, which is a necessary part of novels, but that’s how I felt in these first few chapters: like information about the Agon, the hunter families, and Lore’s past was being dumped on us with no chance to acclimate or get to know the characters, and that the narrative was skating through present action in favor of more conversations about those things. There’s an abundance of blood and violence in these first chapters, so if that’s setting the tone for the rest of the book, I’d be wary going into it if you’re bothered by that sort of thing.

Everyone seems like a stock character at this point. Lore is physically strong but emotionally messy and seems to have trouble connecting with people, Castor is the mysterious and handsome love interest with history, and her best friend fulfills the LGBTQ+ and POC checkboxes without venturing much outside those lines. I’m hopeful that they’d all get more development in a full novel, but that’s the problem with only reading a sample. Plenty of books start with tropes, but in this case, there’s no way to say whether they progress beyond that. Based on a first glimpse, it seems like a fine book with an interesting take on Greek mythology, but I’m not in a rush to get to it.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

Loved this teaser and can't wait for the rest to be out!!! I'm not sure how I will be able to wain until January! I love this author and have read lots of her books.

It's been a while since the Young Adult genre got a fresh take on Greek mythology and boy oh boy, did Alexandra Bracken deliver.

This was only a chapter sampler, but readers are already given a great feel for the world and the magic system. Bracken does an excellent job weaving the starting scenes of the plot with explanations of the magic system. She doesn't fall into the trap of extended info-dumping and exposition that a lot of YA fantasy tends to. The rules that define the world are digestible while maintaining uniqueness.

Lore is a main character that readers want to know more about and root for. We meet her in underground fighting ring, where she pummels a jerk before the plot takes off at a run. I was immediately taken with the story, not only wanting to see the direction the plot was going, but also better understand the ~lore~ (pun full intended) behind the story.

The other characters readers are introduced to are vivid and interesting. Best friend and sidekick, Miles, is quickly likable and adorable. Castor, despite being only on about 5 pages, is, I imagine, going to be the love interest. Who isn't a sucker for a handsome, back-from-the-dead, childhood friend?

I think both young and adult readers will enjoy this book. It's set up to be a fast-paced ride that readers will not want to get off. I was a little shocked to read that this would be a standalone, but I'm excited to see what Bracken can do with that sort of constraint. I cannot wait to see where the story is taken, what with the high stakes oath Lore takes at the end of this sampler.

I will not be giving it a star rating on Goodreads until I've read the book in it's entirety (hint, hint to any Disney-Hyperion employee reading this blog post... I would love to be gifted an ARC of this in its entirety I pinky promise I would post a review promptly and tell all my friends and acquaintances to preorder).

Can't wait to read more of this story!
Alexandra Bracken is an amazing storyteller with an amazing world-building!

Unfortunately, I got lost almost immediately. I even went back and reread it the next night, and I'm still hopelessly lost. We get almost no information into what's going on or why, and the plot just starts flying. I was not a fan

This book had me hooked from the first few sentences. I love the concept of the Hunt, I love Lore, I love grumpy, bleeding Athena on Lore’s floor.

These few chapters gave me chills. I can already tell this is going to be one of my favorite books of 2021. I don’t even need to read the whole book to know that. Greek retellings hold a very special place in my heart and this is a take I’ve never seen and am already obsessed with. The childhood love/best friend back from the dead is one of my favorite tropes so I can’t wait to see more of Castor when I get my hands on the finished book.

I can’t wait for this book to come out so I can bask in all of its glory.

I really enjoyed reading this chapter sampler. The characters were interesting and fleshed out and I loved the modern setting. It creates this great contrast with what we know from the Ancient Greek gods. I'm definitely interested in reading this book when it comes out and it might have become my most anticipated release of 2021.

Every seven years, nine gods--both old and new--walk the Earth in mortal bodies for seven days as punishment for a failed rebellion against Zeus. If they are killed by a hunter, they forfeit their immortality. During the last Agon, Lore's entire family was brutally murdered by a rival family and since then, she has turned her back on the hunt. But now as the next hunt dawns on New York City, it seems that the hunt will find her as two participants seek her help--one, a childhood friend and the other a gravely wounded goddess.

I binge-read this chapter sampler from Disney-Hyperion and it was packed with such amazing writing and so much action! Plus, the mythology of it is so fun and so solid. We are eased into the world-building with classical language, which I felt was so appropriate, and I doubt that we have heard the last of it. I do also have to say--not that I mind, personally--that there is definitely a lot of blood and violence. Lore herself is a boxer, plus the injuries that Athena shows up with. And again, I'm sure this is just the beginning.

So if you are a mythology-lover, don't mind blood and gore, want something fast-paced, BIPOC-inclusive, and probably more, then put this one on your radar! I recommend it!