I loved almost everything about this book. It was such an easy read and the adventure was only a week long. The pace was to my utmost taste as well. Some holes were answered just as quick as I question if there will ever be an answer for them, while some were not i.e., I still am quite unsure why and how the Agon really started for it feels like the book greatly lacked an explanation for it—I wanted to know more, I wanted a more in-depth knowledge about the root cause of the Agon, as well as information about the gods and goddesses present in the story.

There were so much opportunities to create a deeper world on each characters—particularly Castor. I loved him ever since I first met his character, therefore, my expectations were high on the explanation of how he became a

god when he was once a sick boy who's on the verge of dying and then all things happened, he suddenly became the false Apollo

. I waited for a long time to know the explanation behind what really happened, yet I was only given a fraction of what I had expected.

Nevertheless, I loved how diverse the characters were, especially having an LGBTQIA+ couple. I also had few gasps as I read the plot twist and  honestly, nothing could have made me ready from it. 

Overall, it was good primarily because it's my cup of tea—gods and goddesses, female heroine, gays and all. I'm in for these tags haha.

This one was captivating enough to keep me reading until the end, but it definitely had its problems. I feel like it lacked more back story and explanation for the agon and the history of the gods and why the hunters were hunting them. I wanted more about hunters killing the gods and ascending with their power and more explanation about the bloodlines. There were several moments of confusion to be had during the story.

For the most part, I enjoyed the characters, but there were also a lot of moments of "ugh, really?" Lore seemed strong and capable through most of the story, but also had her fair share of unlikable attributes. And, there was just no chemistry between the "romantiship" (yes, I'm making it a word) characters. The feelings felt forced, like, "oh, this is a fantasy ya, we need a little romance."

I also wish there had been more to the plot and the hunt itself. This story could have been a duology so we could have gotten the back story we needed, along with the plot we were promised. Though, I enjoyed the gore and the shocking moments, I felt like there wasn't enough story flow, and there were too many predictable and eye rolling moments.

The ending was pretty lack luster as well. It felt like someone said, "oh no, if we don't wrap this up now, we'll need another book," and then decided to be done with it. We had almost 500 pages in this thing, and had like one chapter for "resolution" which left a few issues unresolved and unexplained. 

I just wanted, and expected, more. In the moment, Lore kept my interest, but now that I finished it, I feel disappointed. The excitement and hype while reading was fleeting and I'm left with missing what drew me in. 

Lore was not what I wanted it to be, but that’s not the book’s fault.

I love a mythology retelling or reimagining, and that’s what I thought Lore would be. Instead, it was a giant game of hide and seek with a couple of Greek gods and multiple McGuffins. This was more of a thriller through a filter of mythology instead of what I was hoping it would be.

I think that part of the problem was the pacing. I found the first ~60-70% to be kinda boring. Once we got to the climax it definitely became more interesting, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough time given to the resolution for that climax to feel impactful. Part of that is because this book takes place over seven days, and that’s not very long, but there’s a lot of exposition and expository monologues.

Another issue I had was with the romance subplot. I did not feel any chemistry between the two love interests until the very end of the book. The pining between  two secondary characters was more compelling for me. Honestly, Miles and Van are the two most interesting characters and we don’t spend nearly enough time getting to know them.

All in all, this book was fine. It did what it set out to do, I’m just not convinced that what it set out to do was particularly interesting. 3.5 stars.

Several years ago, I read The Darkest Minds, and if I’m being honest, I didn’t love it. The premise was great, and I recently flipped through the beginning of the first book, finding that, while it’s compelling, it ultimately falls short. The characters didn’t feel much like real people, and I couldn’t bring myself to care about them. Similarly, I felt the book would have been much more enjoyable to read had it been written in third person rather than first. 

Consequently, I was hesitant to buy Lore, knowing I wasn’t a huge fan of Alexandra Bracken’s writing. However, I found myself pleasantly surprised. Lore is everything The Darkest Minds wasn’t. It’s quick-paced, compelling, and well thought-out. The relationships between the characters are much more nuanced, and the characters have complex backgrounds that really play into the plot and their own character development. The third person perspective was a perfect fit for the narrative. 

I would recommend Lore, while I would not recommend The Darkest Minds. Regardless, it wasn’t a perfect book. Here are a few of my critiques: 

What I loved and would totally recommend about the book: 

Overall, this was a very fun read. It definitely seemed like it was trying a little too hard to be something it wasn’t, but I sped through it pretty quickly and I had a good time. It wasn’t perfect, but I wouldn’t not recommend it, you know? Percy Jackson and fantasy fans will enjoy. 

Completely different to what I expected. Greek myths and deities reimagined in our modern world. I liked the world that was created and the little hints and jokes to myths. At times I was confused and wondering whether I had missed some important information. You find out about the world and it's history and rules throughout the book so the first about 100 pages I had no idea what was going on and felt very confused. As a mystery it was good and you got to know bits and pieces of the backstory every now and again.
It was much more violent than I expected. There are a lot of graphic fight scenes and deaths.
The ending felt a bit rushed and abrupt. 

I will admit I had to pick this book up a couple of times to actually get started with it. Once you get to grips with the history of the characters and the world the characters are experiencing it is really thrilling. I was absolutely hooked. Would definitely recommend if you have the patience for a slow burner to start but when the action hits… it hits