**I received the first 6 chapters of Lore through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.**

According to Booktube, Lore is one of the most highly anticipated fantasy books of 2021. Curious, I requested Lore through NetGalley, not realizing I had only requested the first 6 chapters and not the entire book. However, these chapters captivated me. I didn’t like the beginning, as I have read so many books recently where the main character is in the fighting ring. However, once I read past that part, the complicated storyline sucked me in. Lore (from what I could tell in these first chapters), is a sensitive, kindhearted and loyal woman who does not want her friend Miles embroiled in her complicated life. I enjoyed the banter between Miles and Lore, and their easy relationship. Even though I caught only a glimpse of Castor, I was intrigued enough to be curious about how he is involved in Lore’s past.

Athena is well-developed, even in the few scenes in which she appeared. She is fierce, haughty, and comes with a “mortals-owe-me-everything” attitude. I liked her, Miles, and especially Lore and am excited to get my hands on the rest of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free copy!
This was the first piece of work I have read from Alexandra and I can say that I really liked what I read! Being Greek myself, I really appreciated the ancient Greek in there! The whole story (or rather the part of the story which I was given) reminded me of my first-second grade; studying mythology and learning about the Olympian gods, it really brought back very nice memories! Melora is really likeable as a character, very well built to be honest. Athena is, well, Athena. Exactly how we knew she would be haha. The idea of the Agon is really unique in my opinion (someone said it's an Olympian Hunger Games, which I totally agree with lol) I liked the story that much that I went ahead and bought the full book (now published) which I will read as soon as possible. Overall, a really promising start; looking ahead to reading the full story!

In this book we followed Lore who is our main protagonist and she is the last of her family line. Set in New York City where anyone can become a Greek God. 7 days every 7 years the Agon begins which Zeus creates to punish the 9 Greek Gods who rebelled which is ( Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Dionyus, Poseidon) any of the nine families, which only five families left (which is not a spoiler) can killed a god and take that God power. The catch is they have to survive for 7 days and will become immortal throughout the 7 years until the next Agon begins. LORE wants nothing to do with the Agon and wants to avoid this with all cost until her childhood friend Castor(💕) who she believes was dead and a wounded Athena who is the original gods wants alliance with Lore. LORE who has no choice must bind her fate with Athena and survive the next 7 days.
Greek Mythology meets Hunger Games in this standalone. I enjoy this book and really love Lore but Castor is by far my favorite in this book. Love the action and friendship in this story. Overall, I felt the ending was rush and wish for more

I've been very excited for this book and was happy to be able to read a sample. I'm excited to read the rest!

It was a nice and smart read, but I think people who know nothing about greek mythology would be lost. Also it was action packed, which is good, but I wish the story stopped from time to time to explain what was going on. I also guessed all the plot twists, but that's okay. Overall a nice read!

A little confusing in the beginning but I quickly became entranced by Lore and her story. I would like to see some kind of background story on the Agon to better flesh out this competition.

After reading this preview, I was SO LUCKY to get the chance to read the ARC of this book! I don't think I could have lasted until January 5th!

Fabulous story of the Greek Gods!

Mythology meets the Hunger Games... The hunt of the gods for 7 days every 7 years is an interesting and sometimes gory tale.

This book kept me up late into the night reading.

The ages on it may be a little low for some kids, but all in all middle schoolers should enjoy this book.

Lots of blood and a bit of gore but nothing too over the top. Fits right in with most kids gaming lives.

Give it a go! I'm sure not only your child but you will enjoy it!

And Lore.... wow is she a wonderful character!

Hunger Games meets the purge in this exciting story of truth justice and lots of death. Lord must go back to the Avon even after the murder of her family. But when an person of her past returns she’ll do whatever it takes to survive. Even if it means facing the truth of her involvement with her family’s murder!

The sneak peak that I have read (15% of the book or about 70 pages) was wonderful. I loved the mythology background and the fight scenes and am looking forward to the rest of the book. I will post a full review on social media sites once I read the entire book but I have been talking about the book on Discord channels and Facebook.

Technically, Lore would be classified as Urban Fantasy, but the incredible history and world that it encompasses defies a simple lable. The book is set in modern day Manhattan, blending mythology and reality so seamlessly, it's hard to separate the place from the characters. New York City has its own heart and soul in this book, and it made me view the city in a whole new light. I confess I'm not well versed in Ancient Greek mythology, but it wasn't necessary for me to be wholly sucked into the story, breathless from the first page to the last. Alex Bracken has another hit on her hands with Lore.
4.25 stars

Lore opened by showing readers gory beginnings of a new Agon, a sanguinary war between gods and mortals which occurs every seven years.

Lore Perseous’s family was gruesomely murdered in a past Agon and she has been successful in avoiding the hunt for many years.

But this year, she enlists Castor, a childhood friend she had believed to be dead for many years, and Athena, one of the last original gods, to fight their mutual enemies.

This book was fantastic! It’s a super immersive read for fans of Greek mythology or The Hunger Games. But beware, if you cringe at the thought of reading gruesome details of life and death you might want to pass on this one.

This chapter sampler was a great read. I really enjoyed the storyline of what I have read so far. I love reading books bout Greek mythology so I can't wait to read the rest of the story.

This chapter sample was engaging and got me interested in the remainder of the story. I will be reading the remainder of this book in the near future!

While this was only a sampler and not a complete arc, I enjoyed what I did get to read. I was able to purchase the completed book and I am eager to continue with the story and follow the growth of the characters.

While it’s hard to review just a chapter sampler I will say the first few chapters of this do a good job of setting up the plot in a way that is both understandable but is well written. I will say I look forward to reading the rest of the book when it is released to fully appreciate the book.

This was a chapter sampler, not the full book.

I loved the first few chapters I need to read the full book. It felt like the hunger games but with greek mythology. Lots of plot points and secret histories were introduced I need to know more. I will be reading the full book soon.

I received a preview of this book from Netgalley. I liked the preview but neglected writing a review, and then I realized the book was out. I had some spare time this weekend, got a copy, and picked it back up.

I liked this one a lot. It's a YA urban fantasy that leans heavily into Greek mythology. Yeah, while that might not be the most unique premise ever, Bracken took it in a really interesting direction.

Essentially, every seven years, the nine of the Greek gods will turn mortal for seven days. If someone kills the god during that time period, they take over that god's spot the next time around. There were nine houses, but by the time we get to the story (now-ish), we're down to five, more or less. We're definitely leaning less. There's one member left of the House of Perseus, and she's not in the game anymore. As you've likely guessed, Lore, our protagonist from whom we get our title and our (gorgeous) cover, is that lone remaining member.

From there, you can make some assumptions about the rest of the story.

What I'll tell you is it's nowhere near as straightforward as the preview made me believe. In fact, the preview, the first six chapters, was relatively meh. That's not to say the book starts off weakly, by any means, but compared to the rest of the book, the twists and turns and reveals along the way, it's played pretty straight. In fact, the first major twist isn't for a few chapters.

This book has some big twists. It has some hard punches. There are scenes that I really didn't see coming, but I totally should have. Having also just read a YA book where the foreshadowing was done pretty poorly, this was a breath of fresh air in that regard. Lore, our protagonist, is definitely our most developed character. After that, the host of side characters in her group are pretty well done. The antagonists throughout the story are all pretty cartoonish, but honestly, it's not hard to see with the power the antagonists have.

There's an expected dose of girl-against-the-world in here, but if you pick up a YA urban fantasy book with some dystopian themes with a woman protagonist, that's pretty much a staple-of-the-genre trope (and a good one, might I add!). It's done well, in my opinion. On that note, a few other fairly standard YA tropes go pretty unquestioned here. That's not a bad thing, in and of itself, and I can definitely state that there's no love triangle to contend with.

Oh, and Miles and Van? Such great side characters. I really enjoyed the scenes where they were most themselves.

All in all, this is a pretty solid page-turner of a YA urban fantasy book. As I said before, there are some dystopian themes, even though the broader society isn't a dystopia. It's a little cookie-cutter in some places, but I think it was a good balance that brings some familiarity. Honestly, if you're into YA and Greek mythology, you'll most likely enjoy this one.

I also want to note this is probably on the upper end of the YA age range due to some fairly dark topics (murder, sexual abuse, overall violence). The author makes a note of it on her website based on her previous works lacking that darkness, based on what she's said, as I haven't read them.

Thank you so much for the chapter sampler. Ever since I heard about this book I have been intrigued. A sampler isn't enough! Lol I will be purchasing this book soon. Greek mythology meets hunger games. Thank you again for the sampler.

Interesting premise. Likable/hated characters. Cool plot. I would recommend this story to others. Some spots I found that didn't hold my attention, but overall, I still liked it.