Lore by Alexandra Bracken

TW: violence, blood, death, child death, sexual assault, ped*philia, medical content

Lore was hoping to get away from her life and all that it entails. But, when someone from her past shows up, she’s sucked right back into the craziness of her life and background. She does not want to participate in the Argon, the seven-day competition where the gods come down and become mortal, but she has no choice when Athena shows up bloody on her doorstep. So, she has no choice but to pick up right where she left off and participate in the Argon. And all she can do is pray she doesn't die. And maybe, just maybe, she can find revenge.

I have heard mixed reviews of this book, but I was excited because I love Greek mythology. But, I was not super enthralled by the novel. It was average. Not good, not bad- just okay. Everything just felt lackluster. I wanted just a little bit more out of the story and I didn’t get that.

I found the characters utterly boring. I didn’t care if they lived or died, if they got hurt or if they lost people. I was more interested in the lore (no pun intended) than the lives of the characters. And there were a ton of reveals from all of the characters and I could not care less when those plot twists happened. The only character I liked was a gay side character, which makes a lot of sense. I would say the characters are the least favorite part of this story.

Although it was full of info dumps, I actually liked the world. I liked knowing about the history of this world and why this fantasy world functions as it does. I did not mind the infodumping because it made the story more interesting.

This was a low three stars. If you are obsessed with Greek mythology, maybe pick it up. But it was too long and dragged too much. But it was not the worst thing I had read, and it was entertaining enough.