Lore reads likes a cross over story of the opening ceremony of the Olympics and a Mad Max film in how the brutality and beauty of traditions blend together into something that’s frightening and will test the bonds of loyalty. If you enjoyed reading the Hunger Games, but wished for more fantasy based elements as well as more cruelty, then this is the book for you. 

Even though I feel that I am fairly knowledgeable about Greek myths, I found it tricky to keep the families and bloodlines straight as the book launches into the history very quickly and doesn’t provide you a moment to try and catch up. The writing is really banking on you as the reader to be able to keep up with the quick pace, and the more you know about the classical myths, the more you’ll understand various side comments or quick descriptions of historic relics. The book jumps back and forth quickly through time and even though the chapter titles are helpful in helping you to navigate this, it’s still tricky trying to keep it straight- especially where you’re also trying to track historical events, dates of murders, and when the Agon occurs. 

By including the numerous stories about how the characters go through war games training at young ages the idea that they could step in and make an actual difference in the Agon felt more credible. This wasn’t a story where we’re supposed to just believe some teenagers/young adults unexpectedly land into leadership roles and seem to understand what it takes to lead an army of formally brainwashed (yes this is the right term because the Hunters are 1000% a cult) soldiers into battle. You’re also aware that Lore has an enormous amount of trauma, but it gets exhausting at points to just continuously be hit with it. Even though you know it’s relevant to the plot,  I didn’t feel like there was a great payoff for it at the conclusion. The amount of female rage and how that drives the characters did make me want to put the book down at times, scream at the top of my lungs In solidarity into the bleak void that is 2021 before I could pick the book back up again. There’s a few “girl boss” moments that I rolled my eyes at, and a few “strong lady survivor” moments that felt generic, but not really anything too awful.   I didn’t love any of the characters but the book didn’t make me feel like I was necessarily supposed to. 

Late in the book, a trauma Lore has been hinting at is revealed and what I felt this book did really well versus others was that it didn’t share outright what happened at the books beginning and keep banging you in the head with it. The trauma is rooted in sexual assault and the author chose not to graphically describe the attack which I appreciated. Unlike other popular works, this trauma felt rooted in the culture of the characters and was unsurprising that it happened; it didn’t occur simply because they needed something bad to happen to drive the main character. Additionally, she seems to have been able to work through it to get to a healthy place and I was grateful to see that kind of character growth

 

Overall, it’s a really intriguing book despite the bleak brutality, the occasional predictability, and never ending gore. It was hard to get through because of how it just hurts your heart sometimes, and I doubt I’ll re-read it, but I don’t regret the time I spent on this one.