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Trigger warnings: rape, sexual assault, torture, violence, child abuse, death of children, cancer treatments, death of family.
Queer rep: There's some m/m queer rep and the relationship is portrayed in a positive light.
Every few years the gods and goddesses from the Greek pantheon become mortal and are hunted by the descendants of legendary warriors. Should one of them be lucky enough to kill a god/goddess, they absorb their powers and become the god/goddess they killed. Lore grew up in one of the households that participates in this hunt and was raised to believe the killing of the gods/goddesses was a noble endeavor that brought households glory.
As the story starts, she has broken away from these traditions and now lives a low-key life in a profession I can't quite remember. I guess she boxes? I dunno. That's what she's doing at the start of the book. Either way, she's not involved in the hunt anymore, and I'm not sure if that's because she believes it's immoral or if it's because her entire family was slaughtered.
She's pulled back into that life when an old friend finds her and let's her know that Wrath (new Ares) is looking for her. Then, when she gets back home, there's an injured goddess (Athena) on her doorstep. She and the goddess enter into an agreement to kill New Ares, the god who supposedly killed Lore's family.
I had to take a break from reading due to some family health stuff. For that reason, I'm really struggling with how I want to rate this book. I keep thinking that I might have enjoyed it a lot more had I not been living with my parents to help them out after my mother's heart surgery. As it is, this book didn't help me escape from that, and I didn't find myself enjoying it much. Now I'm back home and trying to decide if my lack of enjoyment was due to the situation or the book itself.
I'm struggling to pin down exactly why I didn't enjoy it. It had all the ingredients of a story I normally love--grumpy big lugs, and high adventure with lots of violence, and a kick ass protagonist haunted by her past and torn in many directions. Though she tries, she can't quite give up the anger that simmers beneath the surface. Lore still wants to fight and a part of her journey is learning how to channel that in constructive ways. But, well, she suffers a lot of setbacks. >-<
For the most part, the characters are well done and interesting. I quite enjoyed the dynamic between Athena and Lore and was disappointed when that wasn't the central romance. >-< Lore didn't seem to have much chemistry with the guy she ended up with. I mean, I loved their characters individually, but I couldn’t cheer when they got together.
I'm going to give this another "meh" cat face.
