Lore by Alexandra Bracken

 

Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.

Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family's sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt's promises of eternal glory. For years she's pushed away any thought of revenge against the man--now a god--responsible for their deaths.

Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.

The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore's decision to bind her fate to Athena's and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost--and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.

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First off; this book is longer than you think it is. You need more time than you think you do to read it.

Secondly; I'm afraid I didn't like it that much.

I found it really hard to keep up with who everyone is and how they're connected. There's a dramatis personae at the back, but since it wasn't listed at the front, I didn't know it was there so I couldn't refer to it. Everyone is related in confusing ways, and it often took me a while to figure out who someone is.

Apart from that, I felt that the story wasn't that well explained. Is each family going after a particular god, or any god that crosses their path? If the point is for the families to kill the gods and obtain their powers, why does (spoiler) make such a big deal about not having all the powers of the god he killed? Why is the backstory so confused and what happened to the missing gods and families?

The writing isn't bad, though. Descriptions are very vivid, and there's some fantastic ideas in here. The cover is amazing, really eye catching. I just wish that it had been developed better overall.

Lore publishes on the 5th January, 2021 in the US, and on the 12th January, 2021 in the UK. Both versions appear to be using the same cover; I'm happy to be corrected if I've got that wrong.