Lore by Alexandra Bracken
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have several knee-jerk reactions on reading this book and a single solid afterglow.

Meaning: I expected and got a rather middle-of-the-road YA supernatural (or in this case, Greek Mythological) hunger games vibe that repeats this senseless every-seven-years roll-my-eyes ultraviolence that changes immortals to mortals for a bit to allow for a little transfer of power. Yeah. Well. It made me ask quite a few questions like why have huge families at all to breed yourself into this danger in the first place, too, but then we wouldn't have this conflict or the accidental loss of life in big cities every seven years or so. *rolls eyes*

Okay, and this is a slow-to-burn get-to-the-point plot progression that should be quite familiar to other modern YA Female Fantasy Leads.

Getting beyond this, however, and getting to Castor (I like him) and Lore's relationship, was the book's saving grace. From there on, I had a pretty good time with the whole contest feel, revenge feel, and the reluctant-hero-finally-steps-up feel didn't feel too tired. The big surprises were fun rather than meh.

By the end, I was fairly well amused and not tired out -- even if the trope is rather tiring. I call this a qualified win.

View all my reviews