It started off slowly, and ended with so many questions.
At first, I almost stopped reading this because it simply didn't pick up. I wanted to like the character, but she was so...indecisive and I couldn't quite figure out where her storyline was going.

And then suddenly, she got it and everything moved along at almost an unbelievable pace.

BUT!

I'm intrigued. And will read the 2nd book!

A "normal girl saves the world" story.

Super talented botanist Ryan Bell ends up working to save the world from climate change.

I liked that it focused on the Greek goddess Artemis instead of one of the typical characters.

I didnt like the ending. The final battle was more monologue than actual battle. The kiss - after building for the whole book that was a letdown.

It was fun to read though and I would recommend

A quirky botanist helps demigods fight climate change.

Summary:
Ryan Bell is a passionate botanist with a habit for awkward dad jokes. She's managed to develop an entirely new kind of flower, the Weeping Diana, that purifies air better than a whole forest of trees. The only hiccup, no one else has been able to replicate her process. That is until she gets a curious letter from a group of Greek scientists. They claim to have grown the Weeping Diana's and invite her to come to their island lab to compare notes.
When Ryan gets to the island, their ruse doesn't even hold up a day. The island houses descendants of the ancient Greek gods. And they are convinced that Ryan is one of them, the long lost descendant of Artemis.

Characters: 2/5
Ryan Bell - Our protagonist and botanist extraordinaire. She adores her cat Lester (just like Farrari) and is a bumbling mess when talking to all the godly men she meets on the island. Her commentary was, at many points, a bit too cringy for me. I also couldn't feel her connection with Kosta or Cyrus the Creep. That may have been because of the dialogue or because I didn't find either man likeable.
My biggest beef with Ryan during this book is that she is constantly going back and forth. One moment she's trying hard to unlock her powers and the next moment she won't at all. In one conversation she'll go from wanting to free the Gods to saying the world is better off without them. It was very confusing as the reader to figure out what she wanted at any given point.
Greta - What is not to love about Greta! She's a wacky old lady with love to spare. Greta is the star of this novel, you cannot convince me otherwise.
Kosta - Off the top of my head, I can't even remember who he is a descendant of and I feel like that is an important detail that should have been made clear. He is very hot and cold with Ryan. He was so quick to snap at anything. And don't even get me started on the swimming scene.

There were plenty of other side characters like Elias, Melina, Nicholas, and Cyrus. The first three were overall pretty likable and decent characters. The latter was a creep and I don't know why Ryan put up with his constant (and OBVIOUS) asking about where the island was.

Plot: 3/5
Despite my overall dislike of the characters, I thought the general plot was clever. The way Farrari incorporated climate change and natural disasters with Greek mythology was very well done, in my opinion. There were several lulls with the numerous attempts at training to open up her magic. But the concept was a fresh take on modern Greek stories. Also, the message that humans have utterly trashed (and are currently trashing) the environment was very clear.

World: 3/5
This was set in a largely modern "world" but with the climate change disaster about 30-50 years advanced and of course Greek gods. It wasn't perfectly sound logical all the way through but it was alright.

Other: 2/5
- I am a big dialog fan and, to me, the conversation was stiff and repetitive.
- As I mentioned before, Ryans constant (and unpredictable) opinions drove me up the wall. It's one thing to learn something and change your mind but I swear, she just opposed whatever the person she was talking to wanted.

Overall rating: 2/5

I wish I liked this book more than I did. I really wanted too. I was sitting at three stars when I was ~75% done but that last bit was just not up to 3 stars. The final kiss, a whole books worth of building, was short, fleeting, and not memorable. The final battle was mostly a series of monologues between the two sides. There could have such amazing detail and imagery in the end but there wasn't. The whole book was drawn out slowly for the peak of the plot to happen way too fast.

Side note: "The woman who stood before her was anything but motherly. Her skin had an earthy brown tinge, making her look unwashed and rank." Does this line rub anyone else the wrong way?

Less Greek tragedy and more beach read, this book is light-hearted and fun in a way the other books in this emerging little sub-genre of “mythology retellings and tie-ins” generally are not.
I really enjoyed it; it’s a nice take on Normal-Girl-Saves-The-World and I like that it deviates from the “norm” and focuses on the lesser-acknowledged goddess Artemis. The main character is relatable (a young woman who works hard but has fun, silly moments), the world-building is complex enough to be fascinating but without the threat of overwhelming the reader, and trials she faces are intriguing enough to keep you on the edge of your seat.
This book is a quick read, but an enjoyable one. I’ll definitely be buying this book so I can reread it whenever I’m in the mood for a fun story that will captivate me for a few hours.

THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!

What a fun, very unexpected book. I have positive things to say and then some random observations and things that irked me. I'm not good at giving extensive good feedback. If I like something, all I can pretty much say is I like this, but here are a 1000 words of stuff I didn't like. That gives the impression the bad outweighs the good, but actually in this book the good was far superior and I want to get that out of the way. I laughed so much, and the short chapters helped making me flip the pages, or click the screen since i'm reading this on a computer obviously but yes well...

I have never read a book with so much genre bending. Is it a science fiction? Is it a YA fantasy romance? Is it a comedy action adventure? The book seems to juggle so many different genres in a way that makes it very entertaining to read. Refreshing stuff.

A very random ramble of things I remember irked me/confused me:
- at the end of chapter 2 or something, when Greta and Ryan discusses Cyrus, Greta says "Uff da!" Is she supposed to be Norwegian, because her name makes it that plausible (though its more Swedish than Norwegian) and when I read Uff da! which is a saying here (I'm Norwegian) that made me think she might me Norwegian. Problem: I don't know what the authors intent is here, but I fear they might have misunderstood what Uff da means? Used here it sounds like she's saying it in a conversation about how hot Cyrus is, but that makes no sense. Uff da! is a weird term, the closest translation I can make is "Bad, then!" but a more applicable translation would be "Oh no!" in response to harm. It is something a parent would say to their crying child showing them a paper-cut (Uff da, does it hurt), or upon hearing someone you distantly know got in a car accident over the phone (Uff da, is everyone okay?), not something you would say in response to seeing an attractive man? Maybe I'm completely misunderstanding the passage but if I understood the intent here the word is completely misplaced in the conversation their having.
- Ryan comes off as irredeemably American at times. It's fine when she mixes up a toga for a chiton. But I don't like that she seemingly mourns how humanity managed to mess up the planet so bad, and then cant imagine the islander never having tried a happy meal or gone to Target, both of which belong to the consumerist industry messing up this planet big time. Also, when she says she's french and Norwegian and definitely not exotic like mediterranean? I don't understand how an American considers southern European caucasians to be a lot more exotic that northern and middle European caucasian white? Would Spanish be exotic, then?
- Second point on America, I don't like that instance a few chapters in when we're at the island and the islanders talk about how greatly technologically advanced people seem across the sea. Do they mean America? Or just across the sea to Greece? Because the way they say it to Ryan makes it sound like they're talking about like "Wow, you American sound so advanced in your civilization across the sea, there's nothing like this here" wait but isn't all of Europe across the pond to you?
- Also how come all these people speak perfect English in Greece, yet have to mess up every time they mention a particular brand like Starbucks or a term like escalators? It's a gimmick that doesn't work that well when juxtaposed with how the otherwise perfect English of the islander's goes unexplained.

All of these points being said, I like this a great deal and wish you all the best with publication! I'll have my Goodreads review up by June 11th, I just need to sit on my thoughts some more before I write that out!

I thought this book was great. 4 stars because I personally didn’t like the narration that much but I pushed through and I was not disappointed. I love books about mythology, but this one is a new favorite. I loved the idea that she was able to help the planet become better. I would probably read this book again but I would definitely buy it for my shelves.