Omni

I received a copy of this book from Booktrope Publishing via Netgalley in return for an honest review.

This book shouldn't work. That's the amazing thing about it, because it absolutely did.

Intrigued? let me elaborate!

Okay this is a retelling of Homer's famous work- Iliad.

However, this story specifically revolves around the retelling of Helen and Paris...in a dystopia world-setting! I know right? how odd!

But i swear it actually works really well, this author literally blew my mind by the way she manipulated the original story, added her dystopian theme and Government domineering ideals, whilst having things like the Spartans, the Trojan horse, heck, Sirens! and it was perfectly normal.

As in this is not a paranormal. I can't even explain it! As a story I like it, but the idea and the way the author manipulated all those little above mentioned tidbits impressed me so much that i knew i had to rate it high.

Mythology nuts will appreciate this. I certainly did!

Okay, so let's dive into the plot.

Pierce is an orphan and the Government has deemed him to be in the lowest class in the social hierarchy- the Drudge. He pines for his 18th birthday which will allow him to change factions. One day the government gives him a job as a kitchen boy at a gala event. Pierce never thought that life could change so much. The Artist, one of the highest factions, the rich and famous arrive bedecked in their jewels and silks.
Harmony is a rich Artist- and Entertainer and a conservative one at that, nothing like her wild twin sister. Harmony doesn't want Malice- a Spartan Artist's affections and by trying to move away from him, she is roughly grabbed by a man in a crowd. A handsome green eyed, brunette saves her and as she lands in his arms, she knows everything has changed. Pierce didn't think that saving Harmony would get him into this much trouble.
A daughter of prestige can never be with a son of the lowest class.
It is forbidden. Defy the government and they will take you out. This love story is doomed before it even began.

Yea, so did I mention how brilliantly Murray tackled this retelling? Oh i did? well, I'll just say it again, this lady did good!

Is it the most brilliant story in terms of the things that happened and so on? Well no. But it was a flipping great story in it's own right. I know I'm repeating myself a lot...but i can't get over how she put every little facet of the story we all know so well in a dystopia of all things!

Some of the characters were darn right frustrating and a bit too perfect sometimes, but its really easy to overlook that!

Seriously, this is a pretty decent size book and even though i have a tone of assignments due the following week, i still finished this in one day because i needed to know what was going on.

Well I won't say anymore, I will definitely read the second book!

Setting the story of Paris and Helen in a science fiction dystopian is not something I ever thought I was going to read, but I am really glad I did! For me, personally I needed a bit more world building. Since I already knew the story -- or at least the general outline -- I needed to know more about the world around Pierce and Harmony. There was minimal explanation for why the Omni government took over and how it actually ran things, except for saying that there was a test. Except even this test could be overlooked and people could just be placed in a certain caste.

I thought the characters were pretty fleshed out, but I would have liked more from them, especially Pierce. I felt like he was a little flat for me, but there is still another novel so that could easily be remedied. I think the relationship between Pierce and Harmony could have been explained a little bit more and I was also a little confused as to why the different castes weren't allowed to cohort amongst other castes.

I did really love it though because I took Classical Studies as my minor and really enjoyed the story as a retelling.

Overall: 3.5/5 stars. A good retelling but not the best I've read. Loved the mythology alluding though!

I loved this book. I really did, and it's probably not for the reason's you'd imagine. Omni is a retelling of the story of Paris and Helen out of Greek mythology. I'm not overly familiar with that tale so didn't realize it was a re-telling until after I'd finished the book, but I don't feel like that took away any of the delight I had while reading it.

Pierce lives in a world segregated into different stratums.There are the Geeks, the Artisits, the Healers, the Government itself, and the Drudges. Pierce is a drudge, one of the lowest members of society. Harmony is a member of the Artists, the stratum filled with the famous. The two are thrown together when Pierce rescues Harmony from the abusive clutches of a fellow artist. Pierce is then thrown into the world of fame and offered every opportunity he could have ever asked for. But, as he quickly finds out nothing in Omni comes without a price.

This book could have gone in so many different directions, it could have tackled issues such as the overbearing government, or focused on what it takes to be famous. But it didn't, the main focus of this book was Pierce and Harmony's relationship and their quest to simply be together. Now I'm not saying that Omni didn't touch on the other issues (and many more) what I'm saying is that it stayed small, which I loved. I really liked the fact that Andrea Murray chose to focus on the more narrowed vision of the two lovers relationship rather than try to tie in all sorts of other plot twists. Omni was just the first book in the duology, and I'm expecting a lot more heavy hitting plots in the sequel (based on some great reveals at the end of the book).

I loved the world that Omni paints, the different stratums so like our own areas of society really painted a picture of how power can go to your head. I loved the little details like the regulation clothing and the communicators. The world of Omni felt full and well designed and I couldn't get enough of it.

Pierce and Harmony made great lead characters and I love how Pierce's stunning good looks were what really played into his fame. The author didn't hesitate to use his looks to an advantage more than just making readers swoon. His hard head and tendency to rush headlong into situations both got him into and out of a lot of trouble. Harmony on the other hand was a delight, always there for her sister and the fans her needs too often got overlooked until Pierce showed up. From there her character blossomed and she really began to take more action for herself, learning that sometimes it's ok to stand up for yourself. The other characters were also very interesting. I loved seeing each of the different stratum's leaders and Hale was hands down one of my favorite characters. I only wish we'd gotten to see a little more of each of them.

Omni was a delightful Science fiction read that will interest readers with its detailed world and creative plot. I'd recommend it to anyone in need of a light Scifi read or anyone who enjoys re-tellings.

Interesting concept. I can't wait to read more.

Full review on Goodreads and my blog but definitely loved it and can't wait for book 2.
http://readjezireread.blogspot.com/2015/05/omni-by-andrea-murray-review.html https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1274105891?book_show_action=false