I don't do book reviews anymore, but if I did, this would be a title I'd be shouting from the rooftops. It's a standalone (THANK GOODNESS) with an angry heroine, tons of action, death, intrigue, and oh, Greek gods are real. This is the next step for teens who have read Percy Jackson and/or want something a bit darker. 5/5, I will definitely recommend this to all my teens as the release date approaches.

There is so much to unpack about this one. I want to start by saying that this isn't a genre that I would normally read or enjoy. Alexandra Bracken did an excellent job of bringing Greek Mythology to modern day. It had some awesome action and a beautiful love story. I think this book is going to be flying off the shelves and I can only hope that someone picks this up for a movie.

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Coming from someone who loves Greek mythology and a modern fantasy take on things... I struggled with this. The writing style and the characters drove me to keep reading. But the constant violence and killing is what kept me from whole heartedly diving in. I think this is more of a personal preference than anything. Lore and Castor were my favorite parts! Lore's drive to both keep her sanity and sense of self, but defend Castor and save him drew me to her. Castor had a sad past, but a new chance at life. The two were kept together through many different twists and turns.

The story had many great twists and turns in the plot, but I found myself detached from what was happening. Perhaps it was the many characters who interacted with the gods and hunters or I was just trying not to be traumatized by the death and violence. Not sure. I DO know that many of my library patrons will see the Greek mythology and the concept and fall for it. I would definitely say that it's for someone who likes more of the dark and desolate idea of a killing spree every 7 years. I found myself missing the true gods, but like I said, personal preference.

Someone who enjoys heavy fantasy with a splash of an urban location and friends trying to stop the end of the world as we know it, will definitely enjoy this book.

Our world, our time-- Lore is an urban fantasy that focuses on the seven days of a hunt when Greek heroes' bloodlines kill the Olympian gods who are mortal for one week every 7 years in the hopes of gaining the god's power and immortality (the period is known as Agon). A new tale springing forth from Greek mythology as an urban fantasy full of gods, adventure, and gruesome battles fought with knives and swords.
I had to keep turning the pages to discover what would become of Lore. Deception and false allegiance kept the twists spiraling. This will be a favorite stand-alone in my YA lit collection.

Lore's feeling reminds me of the action and world building in the Divergent series (with, in my opinion, better storytelling. In a clever twist, we're dropped into a world where new gods battle old gods, in a never ending cycle of new powers and myths taking over the old. There is action, some romance, and again, really great world building.

~~ I received an ARC copy of Lore in exchange for an honest review ~~

After having read some of Alexandra Bracken's prior work I was definitely curious to see the direction in which Lore would go. The concept I think was fresh although reviving ancient (literally) history and the characters were dynamic and complex. The plot line was interesting and the story flowed well.

Review posted on Goodreads (October 18, 2020)
Review linked.

5/5 stars!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for sending me an E-ARC for an honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this book. I have been a fan of Alexandra Bracken's books for years, and this book is easily my favorite book of hers that she has ever written. This book had everything I needed in a book: a great romance, Greek Mythology told in a new and interesting way, a strong female lead character, and an epic plot that made me not able to put this book down. This book is easily one of my favorite books that I have read in 2020 and I can't wait for you all to be able to read it in January of 2021.

Overall, I really recommend this book to everyone! It was such a fun read!

Thanks for reading!
Caden

Greek Mythology? Bad-ass female goddesses? Hardcore warriors? Face paced action with some twisty plot points? Alexandra Bracken's newest book delivers all of those things and more.
As the story opens, we find Lore (Melora) living in NYC and kicking ass in underground fight club style rings. It is there that she is approached by familiar, but long-ago seen members of the 'hidden in plain sight' greek gods/warriors. They bring her a warning for the upcoming annual battle between the various gods and the warriors who seek to kill them and assume all power. After the murder of her family, Lore has long sought to fade into a life of normalcy and to stay as far under the radar of these various godly families that continuously clash (always with bloody outcomes). She quickly turns the messengers away and disregards their warning. However, when a goddess seeks her out for help and with a deal she can't refuse, Lore is thrown back into the cut-throat (literally) world she sought so hard to leave behind.
Giving you some Percy Jackson vibes? It definitely will; however, where Percy would be suitable for tween and up, this violence clocks in with more appropriately with a teen and older audience. Regardless, it's a great 'un-put-down-able' ride that you will hope lasts for days.

I think teens are going to love it. There is a lot of action, the characters are relatable and the story is pretty well laid out.

#Lore
#MustReadYA
Lore is one of those books that will be worth the wait! I am not a fan of mythology, but Lore grabs your attention all the way until the end. Thank you to Disney-Hyperion for the E-arc copy of this novel. I found myself pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this novel and will be recommending to our young adult readers.

This book exceeded all of my expectations! I heard Bracken describe it as akin to Percy Jackson, and she was correct. The mythology between the two link them. But she has created her own masterpiece of Greek myth. Lore is a gripping story with a strong heroine, which is what we all want to read! I am absolutely obsessed and I cannot wait for my physical copy to come in in January!! 🧿

I'll tell you what, Alexandra Bracken never ceases to amaze me with how well she writes. I may not always entire love the story, but writing wraps me up and has me feeling things throughout the entire span of the novel.

This one in particular was not exactly what I had expected....and that's to say that I guess I didn't even entirely know what to expect other than this was going to be pretty heavy on the Greek mythology. While I'm no expert by any means, I have always had an interest and appreciation for it and I am an AVID reader of Lore Olympus on Webtoon (sorry Castor, I have an unapologetic hate for Apollo from that, lol). So, that being said, even though I personally didn't remember what every god and goddess stood for, or what great deeds each hero had accomplished, I really enjoyed doing my own research as each character arrived on the page. Even if I wouldn't have, there is enough information and context clues that that wouldn't have really been necessary, anyway. I'm just a true librarian to my core and always need to know more, more, more.


The biggest part of this story that I didn't expect was just how fucking VIOLENT it was going to be. Now, I've talked about this a lot with my blogmate, Chelsea, and both of us has said that ever since we've had kids, we can't read the same thing as we used to. This, I think????, was a prime example of this. Since it's in the summary, I'm not spoiling anything by saying her family dies a brutal death. Now, this may sound bad but if It had just been her mom and dad, I think I could have been okay....but no. It was also her two LITTLE SISTERS. Not going to get into it because it makes me sick to my stomach even thinking about but I will just say that the sheer violence that continually crops up in this book is hard to read.

Bracken does not shy away from details and I could vividly picture each death, each cut, each blow. It just got to be a lot for me and that really took a little bit away from the story for me (honestly though I should have known better and prepared, Ancient Greek was savage and we all know it).

Other than that though the only thing that tripped me up was the fact that in my head this wasn't a standalone so I wasn't picturing everything wrapping up so neatly at the end, lol. Also my bad.

ANYWAY, let's get on to the good stuff. The characters. It shouldn't surprise you when I say she wrote an excellent leading lady (Lore), a best friend I wish I had (Miles), and ~the~ love interest (Castor). Also many other great supporting characters, AND villains (hooooo let me tell you that betrayal fucking STUNGGGG), but the mains are my favorite of course. I do wish we could have gotten a little more of Lore and Castor...I don't know...happy interacting in the present??? but I lived. Still many heart-pounding, butterfly inducing moments.

The story, as I said, wraps up neatly by the end and while I at first was like waittttt, this was too easy??? I've been thinking about it more and I'm like nooo, girl. Lore has seen SO MUCH death. She needed an ending like that. I also liked the ongoing mention of the Fates and the talk and dwelling on what people are fated to become and how fate can't be changed and how Lore at the end finally thinks to herself "There was nothing fated. Lore had not been chosen for this; she had chosen to come here herself. Every step she'd made, every mistake, had led her here." I just think that was such a HUGE moment for her to realize that her life DIDN'T have to be ruled by these crazy ass gods/goddesses or the Agon. She made her own decisions and could be the person that she chose to be. Ahhh gives me shivers just thinking about it.

So, overall. I did really enjoy this but sadly my tender heart can't take the violence anymore and I had to take a star off. Totally a personal preference (but it does also make me wonder if this is really being marketing for YA lolll).


Huge thanks to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for allowing me to read an eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest feedback.♥

𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

I absolutely loved this. If you enjoy Greek mythology, complex heroine, and a generous serving of adventure and bloodshed, then READ THIS BOOK.

The thing that brings this whole book together is Lore's character. Alexandra Bracken does such an amazing job developing this character, weaving her thoughts into the narrative without manipulating you into feeling a certain way, keeping the narrative wide yet keeping it focused around Lore. Throughout this book I have developed admiration for both this author and this character.
I loved the relationships — Castor, Miles and Van are amazing supporting characters, just as a special note, the relationship between Lore and Castor is everything.

Truly, I could gush for days, but I’m going to cut myself off here and just ask you to please, pick up a copy of this amazing book.

I loved the premise from the moment I read the blurb. I knew that I must read this book. Based on Greek mythology, the premise is that every seven years, the gods come down to earth and are mortal for seven days. During that time they can be killed and whoever kills them, gains their powers. There were places where it was action packed and others, where it was kinda slow, but informative through the backstory. It does leave some questions unanswered, possibly paving the way for a sequel, but I don’t think there are any plans announced. I would like to thank Alexandra Bracken and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a fun series and full of so much heart, action, and adventure. It was cool take on Greek Mythology and the gods. I loved Lore and her determination. She was an awesome character to read about and her friends and adventure they go on was fun to read and I was constantly on the edge of my seat.

This book was incredible. It was fast paced, but not at the expense of character development or background. The characters (even the protagonist) were likeable. I think it may even be a stand alone- which I didn’t realize still even existed in YA fantasy. If it isn’t, though, I’ll be sure to read the companion novel ASAP!
Lore (Melora) is the last of her bloodline- one of several houses with ties to Ancient Greek heroes. Nearly 1,500 years ago, Zeus punished most of the Olympians by cursing them to become mortal for 7 days every 7 years. Each bloodline of ‘hunters’ tries to kill those gods, with the warrior who strikes the killing blow receiving the power of the god/goddess he killed.
I was worried that, given the setting in New York and the concept that Greek gods were still around, it would be reminiscent of Percy Jackson. In no way was that true, though.
While the violence will keep this off of my teacher read aloud list, I will definitely be purchasing this for my classroom and will recommend it readily.

This is a great novel! I don’t know much about Greek mythology so it took a little while to get into it but once you learn the characters, you will totally be absorbed in! What would our modern world be like if the Greek Gods came to life every 7 years for 7 days?? Highly recommend!

I read the sample of Lore months ago and was on the fence about how Bracken could go. However, this book went above and beyond my expectations as a teacher and enthusiast of Greek mythology.

The plot is woven perfectly within the past and present perspectives while giving nothing away to the reader. I could barely put the book down without feeling the urge to ignore all friends and continue reading until the very end.

This is the first time in a long time that I wasn't left mildly disappointed or wishing something was different by the end of the book. With Lore, there is nothing to change. All that's left is complete satisfaction by the last chapter.

Lore likes to fight after girls death . I liked the characters, descriptions and dialogue. I liked the world building.

Only the most skilled fantasy readers will sink their teeth into this one and that's not me. Of all the YA, epic fantasies make my head dizzy with the number of characters, their alliances and loyalties, and what their motivations are. And this one had exactly all of those things and left me more confused than immersed in mythology because I was quite excited for something in this vein.

Instead the contemporary city setting with all of the ancient mythology mixed over generations in which it's kill-or-be-killed with a love interest who needs to have it explained to him did not give me the patience for the intense world-building. I think it is a combination of the thick writing (over 400 pages) to make my way through and my confusion from the start even with character maps.

Maybe a few warm up books to set the scene first, then pack the punch with Lore's story? So it's an "okay" book FOR ME, not a general overall rating of "okay" for every reader.