Actual rating: 3.5 stars
I found this reading experience confusing. At first I was mildly intrigued but only mildly because of the Greek myth connection. For about a third of the book it was fine but then a character said she was 12 which took me right out of the book because it read like a young adult novel. Things started to make a little more sense but then the characters started to make decisions that did not really make sense. Ultimately I did not really enjoy the story and think that the book is mis-marketed when it comes to age group.

The Widely Unknown Myth of Apple and Dorothy tells the story of Apple and Dorothy, two young girls trying to find their way in their world. They are descendants of a multitude of Gods who once upon a time went to the Earth and got involved with the human population. Their moms are best friends so they find themselves spending alot of time together following all of societies traditions. This included the one day where they are allowed to have a look at the Olympus. All was well until....it was not...and the girls find themselves deciding if they want to forever live as a God on Olympus or a human on Earth.

Apple and Dorothy are completely different. Apple is a descendent of Hara which means her role in society has been made to be a truth teller and a destroyer of Evil. Meanwhile, Dorothy is a descendent of Pandora which means she is often seen as evil and the holder of disaster. In many ways, Apple begins to think that she must protect Dorothy so that she will never turn to the evil side. Honestly, she becomes very clingy which can be seen as annoying until you remember that she is just a young girl in her pre-teens.

Corey Ann Haydub does such a good job of creating a world which you really feel like you are in. As the reader I felt like I was right there with Apple and Dorothy when they were together. The years right before becoming a teenager can be so hard. Things are beginning to change and often times, pre-teens have not learned the proper way to deal with change. Struggling to fit in, growing friendships, and the hardship of grief are different themes that are explored through out this story. Like I said before, there were times when I felt like I was going through all of this with them.

The Widely Unknown Myth of Apple and Dorothy is a middle grade book filled with myth and humanity. Apple and Dorothy are such strong characters and the world in which they live is very well crafted. As an older reader, I did not feel like anything was being oversimplified for the audience. I think this book will be a good read for middle grade readers but, if you're an adult you might want to check it out too!

I love mythical retellings, but this one wasn't for me. I think people who really enjoyed series like Percy Jackson or even Narnia will like this, but I struggled with a lot of the language and parts of the plot. I don't think it was the author's fault necessarily, but more I had an idea of what I wanted and this wasn't it.

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC. I apologize that this wasn't really for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

In a small, special town, the descendants of the Greek gods and mythological figures get to live forever in exchange for a once-a-year visit to Olympus to visit and thank the gods. When Dorothy's mother refuses to go, she dies in an accident soon after. Dorothy and her best friend Apple now have a lot of questions about what it means to be part human, part god, and all grieving. Before the next visit to Olympus, the gods declare that everyone has to decide if they want to return to Olympus to live there or if they want to live human lives. Dorothy never felt like she fit in well as the decedent of Pandora, and without her mother, it's hard to make sense of anything. Her best friend Apple is the decedent of Zeus and Hera and is terrified that maybe Dorothy might make the wrong choice when the time comes.

A major theme of this book is grief. Most of the story involves Dorothy and Apple dealing with grief and change, but as a result, not a lot happens for most of the book. It felt like a strange contrast to the interesting premise about being descendants of gods and mythic heroes. For most of the book, there aren't real goals or actions. When they do happen, the book is almost over, so the action of the book takes place almost all in the last third of the book. I understand that things need to be set up, but it's an odd choice to spend so much time establishing character and grief without action in a middle grade book.

The book does spend a lot of time with character arcs, which are interesting and well developed. Unfortunately, one of the main characters is so much in grief that she doesn't have a lot of agency or spirit. That's understandable for a character who lost a parent, but it doesn't make for a very interesting read in this case. The end gives a nice message about what both girls and the reader are supposed to learn, and the message is very sweet, but it takes forever to get to that sweetness. It's hard to appreciate it with how slow and not very sweet the first half of the book is.

I think the premise of the book is fascinating, but the execution and focus on grief makes it a difficult book to recommend to most middle grade readers. It's not anything like Percy Jackson except for the similar Greek mythological figures, and its slow build with a lot of grief will be hard for a lot of kids to get into. The writing can be really beautiful, and the concepts are interesting.

Overall, I think this is a book that will speak to some people in a special way and for others will fall flat. For me, it fell somewhat flat.

I thought that this book was very atmospheric and for those who love the Percy Jackson series can adore this novel that has female lead characters. For me, it felt pretty hard to get through because it didn't feel like there was much happening at first. But overall, the writing and plot were good!

Very interesting read! The book pulled me in from the start and I wanted to see how it ended. Try it and see if this book is for you!

* received free ARC in exchange for an honest review *

Beautiful. Beautiful prose, beautiful development, beautiful characterization and world-building. In some ways this story is minimalistic, leaving flowery descriptions and concrete details in favor of poetically-written thought and dialogue.

This book felt like girlhood. This book so perfectly captures the pains and joys of preteen female friendship, while showing the reality of social class, societal expectations, and public ostracizing. The ending is satisfying, though bittersweet.

Middle-grade as it should be done.

Dorothy and Apple have always lived on their hill on Earth, descendants of Gods but not quite Gods themselves. Every year on the winter solstice, their town would climb the ladder up to Olympus and eat the apples of immortality. But history has a funny way of repeating itself, and Dorothy's mom -- descended from Pandora -- decides one day she wants to be human and pays the price, unleashing the wrath of the Gods and inflicting an impossible decision on her fellow half-Gods. Can Dorothy and her sort-of-friend Apple, perfect descendent of Zeus and Hera, fix what has been broken?

What tropes, vibes, and themes does this book include?
For tropes we have Black Sheep, You Can't Fight Fate, and Cool Kid and Loser Friendship. Vibes are very emotional, and it is technically a Greek Mythology retelling (of Pandora). Themes of grief/dealing with loss, death/mortality, what it means to be human, family, love, and friendship.

Who should read this, and what ages are appropriate?
Anyone interested in Greek mythology may be interested in reading this. It isn't exactly a direct retelling of any specific myth or tale, but it is clearly inspired by them. The age range for this book would technically be 11 or older, but due to the lack of action and more emotionally driven plot, I would suggest 13 and up; I just personally can't see anyone younger retaining interest.

Trigger Warnings: Thoughts/ideas of death and death of a parent.

Overall:★★★☆☆
Writing:★★★★☆
Plot:★★★☆☆
Characters:★★★★☆
World Building:★★★★☆

Review:
I have thoughts about this book. Not bad, not really good either. So let's just get into it.

The writing was fine for a middle grade novel, despite there being just an excessive use of "blank and blank and blank." I've seen this technique overdone with other authors, since it is often used for emphasis and creative "style," and have been guilty using often myself, but it just popped up every few sentences in this book and became a little tedious.

Where this book fell flat was with its plot. Normally, I would enjoy a book heavily character driven with little to no action., but I draw the line when it comes to middle grade. Of course, this isn't the case with all kids, but in this day-and-age most kids lack any real focus with the short-form media they are constantly consuming. If you want kids to remain interested in your story, it needs to be quicker paced and have far more action than this book provided. The main character lacked any kind of agency in the first half of the book and had no real goals, and then when she finally gained some agency after the midpoint, it was promptly snatched from her. The plot just felt like jelly, honestly.

The character arcs were beautifully done but really overshadowed everything else. Again, the MC needed far more agency. Even a depressed person should gain some agency at some point in a story, hence character growth. And as for the other MC, I just didn't like her. Their friendship dynamic felt extremely toxic and took too long for either of them to notice.

And, lastly, there is the world building. I will admit, a very unique setting was constructed here. A kind of half-world, if you will, with its own customs and fashions and culture. Well done on that aspect.

All together, it wasn't a bad read. I didn't love it, and it was nothing to write home about. Unless you're a Greek super-fan, I suggest skipping over this one.

4*

Although I've not read anything else by Haydu, I had high hopes for this title through feedback from friends and I wasn't disappointed.

I love a twist on a mythical retelling, and the way that Haydu shaped the characters and their influences was fun and wholesome, full of grief and love; a perfect introduction for middle grade readers.

If you're looking for something akin to Percy Jackson, this isn't the book for you, though it does feature a lot of the same, famous names.

When I spotted The Widely Unknown Myth of Apple and Dorothy on #NetGalley, I instantly requested it. I have been looking for books to 7th graders who have enjoyed the Percy Jackson series but who are also wanting to branch out a little. This middle grade novel sounded promising.

Set in the modern day, the story revolves around Earth-bound gods who are descendants of the Olympian gods. Once a year, they climb a ladder into the heavens to renew their immortality. However, one year Dorothy’s mom doesn’t climb. She chooses to stay behind and become a human. And then everything changes.

I thought the first two-thirds of this book were really slow. And while I loved the message about hope towards the end—so much so that I highlighted a number of passages in order to return to them later, I’m worried that some of my kids won’t make it all the way to that part because they don’t have the patience to slog through the slowness.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was published September 19. When I spotted The Widely Unknown Myth of Apple and Dorothy on #NetGalley, I instantly requested it. I have been looking for books to 7th graders who have enjoyed the Percy Jackson series but who are also wanting to branch out a little. This middle grade novel sounded promising.

Set in the modern day, the story revolves around Earth-bound gods who are descendants of the Olympian gods. Once a year, they climb a ladder into the heavens to renew their immortality. However, one year Dorothy’s mom doesn’t climb. She chooses to stay behind and become a human. And then everything changes.

I thought the first two-thirds of this book were really slow. And while I loved the message about hope towards the end—so much so that I highlighted a number of passages in order to return to them later, I’m worried that some of my kids won’t make it all the way to that part because they don’t have the patience to slog through the slowness.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was published September 19.

I LOVE this book. I know most kids who love the D'Aulaire books and have grown up a bit will love it, too. Especially if they are studying world lit with us. I'm adding it to our curriculum for next year.

I really loved this book! I would say it’s main themes are around grief (the death of a parent), what it means to be human, how to be a friend—letting people be their full selves, and history-how we remember it, the stories that are passed down in our cultures, etc. I liked the reframing of Pandora as being curious. I loved the feeling of hope that is woven throughout.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 3.5/5 stars.

Another delayed ARC read...but it wasn't bad. I don't think it was great. I enjoyed the concept of being near-gods and descendants of the Greek gods and goddesses, but so much of it fell flat. It did cover serious topics like grief and friendships/being in the shadows...but also it was...flat? I don't know if ti was the writing style or if it just wasn't developed another.

I love a story based in mythology and this was no exception. Different than I expected, this book tackles grief and friendship, while using mythology differently than I've read before.

Confronting what we would all do to keep the peace and keep a friend, this book gives us all a reason to care about ourselves a little more.

Dorothy and Apple are descendants of the gods. They get a choice to remain gods or become humans.

I liked the plot here but the writing really was not for me. It at times confused me as to what was going on. Especially the first chapter, it didn’t draw me in as I was trying to figure out what was going on.

You can almost always capture my attention with a middle grade greek myth retelling. Add on the fact that there are 2 girls who are navigating friendship, divinity, and dealing with grief, I'm pretty much all in. It's unique, which is great since there is almost a surplus in middle grade greek myth retellings - I would love to see more retellings from other cultures as well but this almost fresh perspective (At least to me) was lovely. The writing for the characters did feel a little off? I don't disagree with things said or mentioned, I just feel as if they were made to feel older than they actually are and I'm curious to see how children of the same age will be able to relate to them due to that.

Honestly, I just couldn't get into this book. The writing style was not my favorite, and I didn't end up liking the actual story as much as I thought I would, either.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Children's Books for the opportunity to read this Advanced Readers Copy!

I loved so many things about this book! First of all, the overall premise is great. Modern-day kids descended from the Greek gods and living extraordinary lives is nothing new, but this felt like a fresh take on an explored idea. Apple, Dorothy, and the rest of their community live on a hill with a silver ladder all the way up to Olympus. As near-Gods, they must make an annual climb to honor the Gods and ensure their immortality, but they live their lives on earth and learn about the human world without ever joining it themselves. Their lives seem peaceful and routine and altogether charming.

Everything changes when Penny (Dorothy’s mother) decides that she doesn’t want to make the annual pilgrimage to Olympus and instead wants to live her life as a human. Tragically, she loses her life a few months later after being struck by a speeding car. The rest of the book explores the grief of Dorothy as well as Apple and the changes that take place in their community as a result of this decision. Penny and Dorothy descend from Pandora, and much of their personalities and choices are viewed by the other near-Gods as less desirable and too curious because of their ancestor. The gods are unhappy with the way things have changed on Earth and give the near-Gods an ultimatum - join them on Olympus and live forever or stay on Earth and embrace immortality.

As Apple struggles to fulfill a promise to look after Dorothy, a true (although somewhat flawed) friendship begins to form between the two girls. These girls have very different ways of looking at the world, and Apple’s need for Dorothy to conform in her behavior and attitudes cause a lot of friction as well as some horrible choices that might strip each girl of the power to choose her own life.

The language in this book was absolutely beautiful, and I have so many highlights from my reading! I loved the story and actually related to both girls, even though they’re so different. At the crux of each character is a longing to be loved and seen for who they really are, and any reader, young or old, can connect with that. I love stories that emphasize friendship over romantic love, and the writing was absolutely delightful, even when covering difficult topics like grief and manipulation. Grades 4+