Skyler
McVoy is new to Ascension, and she is determined to start over and
forget her dark past. Soon enough, Skyler is friends with the beautiful
Meg, as well as popular Gabby. However, Skyler isn't okay with just
being friends with Gabby-Skyler wants to replace her as the queen bee,
and has the help of Meg. Emily Winters, Gabby's best friend, recognizes
the signs of the Furies around Skyler, and is determined to stop them
once and for all and reclaim all they took from her.
Like Fury,
this book was extremely dark, and also like Fury, was a blend of a teen
fantasy novel with a psychological thriller. While I normally don't read
those sorts of books, and prefer a little more light-heartedness in my
books, I couldn't put Envy down. I thought Fury was amazing, but Envy
only built on that. I ended up staying up way too late and almost having
nightmares, but it was totally worth it.
The ending was
absolutely crazy. It was shocking and I LOVED IT. It was the perfect way
to reveal crucial information and leave the most amazing cliff-hanger
that is leaving me panting for the third book to come out. There was
also a lot of death in this novel, and the reality of people dying
because of the Furies grounded the story in a way that most other
fantasy novels aren't.
5 stars.
Spring is coming, and the ice is slowly melting in Ascension... revealing the secrets buried beneath.
Emily
Winters knows the Furies have roots in Ascension, Maine—but she’s about
to discover that they’re deeper than she ever imagined. With the help
of her new friend Drea, she vows to dig them out. But it’s hard to focus
when she’s desperate to make up with JD, and to figure out why Crow, a
mysterious Ascension High dropout, seems to be shadowing her.
Meanwhile,
new girl Skylar McVoy is determined to leave her own dark past behind.
So she’s thrilled when popular Gabby takes her under her wing, and the
stunning and sophisticated Meg offers to give her a major makeover. But
everyone knows what happens to the vainest girl of all…
It’s tempting to be naughty. But beware: the Furies are always watching, and their power grows stronger by the day.
Alice
is in trouble. Her mother, a romance author crowned the Queen of
Romance, is in a psychiatric facility getting treatment for bipolar
disorder, and if she doesn't write another book in the next few weeks
then they are going to be utterly and completely broke. The only
solution Alice can think of is to write the book herself under her
mother's name-but what should she write about? Enter Eros, the crazy guy
who thinks he's Cupid. Eros keeps bothering Alice and begging her to
write his story, about his tragic love with Psyche. Alice has only a few
weeks to put together her novel while taking care of her mother and
trying not to alienate the cute guy who she's been crushing on for
months who she finally met. Can she do it?
This book is a lot
more serious than I expected, which is why I included more in my summary
than the publishers did in theirs. From the summary I expected a
happy-go-lucky love story about a girl biting off more than she can
chew, but instead this book was rife with sicknesses of the body and the
mind, serious financial problems, and personal blackmail. It was sort
of like taking a bite of what you think is cotton candy and getting a
bite of chicken instead. You still enjoy the chicken, but you're
confused as to what happened to the cotton candy. (I just realized how
stupid that sounds, but if you read the book you'd understand what I was
talking about.) This also prepared me for the cheesiness of the romance
because even though the book was a lot grittier than I thought it would
be, Alice and Tony's romance was just as bubbly and superficial as I
had predicted. However, this didn't annoy me nearly as much as it
usually would, just because I knew it would be like that.
I
thought it was really cool to read about bipolar disorder because I had
just learned about it in my abnormal psychology class before reading the
book. When Alice described her mother's symptoms and actions I was able
to reference my notes in my head and see how they matched up, which
they did perfectly.
The main reason why I would recommend this
book to anyone is because of how original it is. There are many takes on
the Cupid and Psyche romance, but this one was different than the
others because the main character was not Cupid or Psyche but someone
else totally.
4.7 stars
When you're the
daughter of the bestselling Queen of Romance, life should be pretty
good. But 16-year-old Alice Amorous has been living a lie ever since her
mother was secretly hospitalized for mental illness. After putting on a
brave front for months, time is running out. The next book is overdue,
and the Queen can't write it. Alice needs a story for her mother-and she
needs one fast.
That's when she meets Errol, a strange boy who
claims to be Cupid, who insists that Alice write about the greatest love
story in history: his tragic relationship with Psyche. As Alice begins
to hear Errol's voice in her head and see things she can't explain, she
must face the truth-that she's either inherited her mother's madness, or
Errol is for real.
Gretchen,
Grace, and Greer are finally united and determined to fight the
monsters heading their way while they attempt to face their destiny.
This requires finding out what their destiny is, as all they know is
that they are the Key Generation. The people who do know, Eurydale and
Sthenno, have been kidnapped and taken to either the Abyss or the
dungeons of Olympus, two equally dangerous places. The girls need to
rescue their mentors while dealing with their own increasingly messy
lives. Greer is trying to keep up with her rich, high-society peers and
plan some elaborate tea while keeping her monster-killing hobby a
secret. Grace is excited because her crush, Milo, likes her back, but
how can she start a relationship when she's got a secret life she's
keeping from her family? Grace is also getting increasingly worried
about her (adopted) brother Thane who ran away from home without
explanation. Meanwhile, Gretchen, the only sister who isn't leading a
double life, has her own troubles in the form of Nick, the cute guy who
called her in the last moments of Sweet Venom and saved the sisters'
life by warning them about the house blowing up. Gretchen knows Nick is
hiding something, but can she let her guard down a little and let him
in?
This was a fantastic sequel. I said in my review of Sweet Venom that it felt more like an prologue to a novel than an actual
novel, and Sweet Shadows was good enough that it made the first book
worth the time, if only to get to book 2. Again, I was not a fan of the
Greek stuff and I think the novel would have worked just fine without
being based on mythology, but it was so far off from the Greek mythology
usually incorporated into teen novels that it was easy to forget the
connection at times. The story moved pretty fast, which was good because
if it hadn't then I would have given up pretty fast. My patience was
worn through after completing Sweet Venom, and if Sweet Shadows had
continued at the same slow pace then that would have been it for me.
I
don't remember if I wrote this in Sweet Venom's review, but the
characters, especially the triplets, all seemed flat and one-sided. Each
of the girls had a stereotype, and each stuck to her stereotype
throughout. Although one could argue that Gretchen softened a bit, which
went against who she was supposed to be, I think the whole point of
having a character so tough and closed-off is to later open her up. She
let everyone in too quickly, much quicker than a real person with that
personality would, which made her seem even more one-sided in my
opinion. My favorite character was Greer, because she even when she does
feel gooey and emotional, she puts on a stoic face and says sarcastic
things. Greer is the most real, despite her cliche rich girl attitude.
I
remember having a conversation with some friends a few years ago about
seeing full faces of characters on the covers of books. Seeing their
faces had always helped my imagination along, but my friends claimed
that seeing the entire face ruined the possibilities of who the heroine
could be and what she could look like. I never really agreed with that
opinion until now. When I look at the cover, I know that the girl
represents either one or all of the girls, but since they all dress so
differently, it makes me wonder which sister it is, or whether she is
supposed to represent all of them. Any ideas?
Spoilers Ahead*******************************
My
favorite scene in the novel was the one in the Abyss where Gretchen
discovers that not only monsters live there, and that not all monsters
are evil. It was especially cool because it messed with Gretchen's head
and made her rethink everything she's done for the past four years. It
also complicated the girls' non-plan, because it made them realize that
there is no way to save the good guys without saving the bad guys, and
no way to kill the bad guys without killing the good guys.
Is it
just me, or was there something between Greer and Thane at the end? Not
quite love at first sight, but definitely something at first sight.
Which is really nauseating when you realize that Greer looks exactly
like Grace, who is Thane's little sister. Thane was definitely shocked
to see Greer because of her resemblance to Grace, but Greer definitely
has a bit of a crush on her sister's brother. The incestuousness here is
a tad uncomfortable, but since they technically aren't related, I guess
it's okay? I think the only element of this that makes it disturbing is
how Greer and Grace look alike, so if Greer and Thane were to get
together, he'd be dating a girl who is the spitting image of his sister.
Another reason for not wanting Thane and Greer to hook up is that as of
now, Greer is the only single sister. The point of a novel such as this
is that the author wants you to believe that this is happening in your
universe, or in an alternate one, but in no universe does every person
end up with a great boyfriend at the end. For Greer and Thane to end up
together, one of the other couples would have to break up/die, which
strangely doesn't bother me and I find myself inclined to wish Milo or
Nick dead. What's happening to me? Where's the sweet girl who wants
happy endings??????
4.1 stars.
Gretchen may have known
she was a descendant of Medusa long before her sisters--after all,
she's spent her life fighting the monsters that escape the abyss--but
that doesn't mean it will be easy to teach the other girls the ropes.
Can she rely on Grace and Greer, or even trust herself to keep them
safe?Greer has pressing social commitments on her plate and precious
little time to train in her newfound powers. But that wretched second
sight won't leave her alone, and her fabled heritage seems to be
creeping into her fashionable life.
Grace has worries closer to
home--like why her brother, Thane, has disappeared. He's hiding
something. Could it possibly be related to the secret heritage the
triplets share?
With the warring factions among the gods of
Olympus coming for them, the creatures of the abyss pushing into their
world, and the boys in their lives keeping secrets at every turn, the
three girls must figure out where their fate will take them and how to
embrace the shadows of their legacy.
On
a night out with her brother and his new (hot) friend, Grace starts
seeing monsters everywhere. Then a girl who looks just like her heaves
her over her shoulder and out of the club. Gretchen was shocked to find
someone else who could see the monsters, and even more shocked to find
her long lost sister. After joining forces, the two sisters find out
that they weren't twins-they were triplets. However, Greer loves her
life and has no interest in joining the monster-fighting gang with her
sisters. Monsters are starting to appear in multitudes in San Francisco
and the sisters need to do something about it-but will Greer step up?
My
summary is nothing like the publisher's. From their summary I expected
the triplets to find each other in the first 3 chapters and move on from
there, but it took half the book for Grace and Gretchen to meet and
Greer didn't make her entrance until almost 3/4 way through. Instead of
being about descendents of Medusa fighting monsters, this book was about
three sisters finding each other and living their normal lives. The
events in Sweet Venom could have happened in a third of the space and
words, but if I like the next book, then I'll acknowledge Sweet Venom as
a good introduction.
I'm a huge fan of the Percy Jackson books,
but I have one friend who refused to read them because she claimed that
they would totally contradict Greek mythology. I have to say, I totally
disagree with her about Rick Riordan's books because if anything, I
think they extend Greek mythology into our century. However, I think
what she said about those books can be perfectly applied here. Not only
was there a whole thing about Medusa being good and Athena being bad,
but they didn't even give the Medusa girls snake hair!! This story would
have been much better had there still been long lost triplets with
magical monster fighting powers, without any mention of Greek mythology.
What
annoyed me about the girls was how they each took their stereotypes to
the extreme. Grace was sweet and bubbly the entire time, Gretchen was
strong and hard with a little bit of softie for Grace, and Greer was the
snooty rich girl. They had nothing else to them and it got very
irritating.
3.6 stars. Maybe the sequel will redeem it?
Grace just moved to San
Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is
full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets
scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a
girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.
Gretchen
is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a
school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his
bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected
to run into this girl who could be her double, though.
Greer has
her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all
tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her
doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some
hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting
monsters.
These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the
once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their
fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain
sight.
Before
I begin I am going to advise all potential readers to read The Goddess
Test before The Goddess Legacy. I appreciated Legacy so much more
because I was able to connect the characters' actions and development to
who they are in the later books. The Goddess Legacy tells about the
lives of five of the gods and goddesses in The Goddess Test before Kate
Winters made her grand entrance.
The first story is Hera's, or
Calliope, as she is called in the other novels and later stories. Hera
takes us back to the time right after she and her siblings defeated
their father, Kronus. Headstrong and loyal, Hera is stuck in a marriage
to the unfaithful king of the gods, Zeus, who controls her life, while
she pines for someone else. Hera's story nearly left me crying. I was
reminded of the Keira Knightley movie "The Duchess" about the Duchess of
Devonshire. Both were married to men who treated them horribly, both
were forced to take in their husband's daughters, both were in love with
other men, both had tragic endings. It was also horrifying to read
about how power-hungry Zeus (Walter) was. At first I was shocked that he
was so bad, and even when I understood his character better (though
only from afar) I still couldn't connect the desperate man who will do
anything to stay in charge and get his way with the quiet and stately
Walter in the other books.
Instead of the five stories being
totally different entities, I was pleasantly surprised to find all five
flowing into each other. Although each story had genuine endings, it was
interesting to see what happened after the endings and how the events
at the end of each story effected all the characters. Ava/Aphrodite had
the next tale and hers was the one I was looking forward to the most. In
the other books then Ava, the goddess of love, dallied with several of
the gods but she also made it clear that she loved her own husband,
Hephaestus, the most. I loved reading about how their love played out
and it provided insight into what is probably the most open marriage
ever. It was also beautiful to read about Ava's love of love, which is
her greatest weakness.
Persephone got the third story, which told
us from her perspective about her time with Hades and her love for
Adonis. I didn't particularly love this story, and it was a little hard
to think of her as the same self-absorbed Persephone as in Goddess
Interrupted, but it was still good nonetheless. It also finally
explained why she and Ava were fighting over James when it was pretty
obvious that neither of them were currently in love with him. In Goddess
Interrupted I took Ava's side in the fight, but after reading about
Persephone and James, I saw that Ava was being her selfish old self and
that Persephone is actually in the right. I found it interesting that
neither Ava nor Persephone seemed selfish in their own stories, but that
both were totally egocentric in the other books, yet only Persephone
was extremely disliked and judged for it. And although I understand
why-she treated Hades horribly-she was still forced into marriage at 16
to a guy she didn't love.
The fourth story was about
James/Hermes. It was good but I didn't think it provided insight like
the other stories did. What James' story did provide was an explanation
for the name changes. There was also a goddess named Iris in his story
who I am extremely curious about. Where did she come from and is she in
the other books and I just don't remember? Or was she invented for only
this story? (I know she wasn't invented because she's part of Greek
mythology, I'm just wondering about her presence in this series.)
Henry's story finished up the bunch. His only told of the time leading
up to Kate's arrival and didn't tell a story as much as the others did.
Henry's tale was more of a tiny introduction to The Goddess Test.
I
highly recommend this book to anyone who read The Goddess Test and
Goddess Interrupted and enjoyed them. The stories in Legacy are
supplementary to the novels and can increase your appreciation for them
by showing you how each god and goddess developed into their unique and
seemingly random personas in The Goddess Test.
5 stars.
For millennia we've
caught only glimpses of the lives and loves of the gods and goddesses
on Olympus. Now Aimée Carter pulls back the curtain on how they became
the powerful, petty, loving and dangerous immortals that Kate Winters
knows.
Calliope/Hera represented constancy and yet had a husband who never matched her faithfulness….
Ava/Aphrodite was the goddess of love and yet commitment was a totally different deal….
Persephone was urged to marry one man, yet longed for another….
James/Hermes loved to make trouble for others;but never knew true loss before….
Henry/Hades's solitary existence had grown too wearisome to continue. But meeting Kate Winters gave him a new hope.
Sometimes sorry isn't enough....
It’s
winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything
looks pristine and peaceful. But not all is as it seems...
Between
cozy traditions and parties with her friends, Emily loves the holidays.
And this year’s even better--the guy she’s been into for months is
finally noticing her. But Em knows if she starts things with him,
there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend.
On
the other side of town, Chase is having problems of his own. The stress
of his home life is starting to take its toll, and his social life is
unraveling. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him.
Chase has done something cruel...something the perfect guy he pretends
to be would never do. And it’s only a matter of time before he’s
exposed.
In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. And three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—are here to choose who will pay.
Em and Chase have been chosen.
Three
beautiful girls have shown up in Ascension, and they plan on doling out
justice. Their chosen victims are Emily and Chase. Emily has had a
crush on her best friend's boyfriend, Zach, for years and finally he is
paying her the attention she longed for, conveniently, while his
girlfriend is out of town. Zach's best friend Chase, the other victim,
bullied a student to extremes and is blamed for her suicide. The Furies
are after them-stalking them, befriending them, and looking for their
weaknesses so they can ultimately destroy them.
When I finished
this book I looked up and realized that it was the most messed-up book
I'd ever enjoyed. I expected an ordinary young adult twisted fantasy
novel, not an emotional and psychological thriller. I think the book was
marketed wrong because if someone is looking for the fantasy and not
the emotional parts this book will be extremely disappointing. I tend to
not be so critical of books or like them despite the flaws I find, so I
didn't mind that Fury didn't deliver as fantasy. To be fair though, it
didn't promise anything more than what it was and was actually pretty
vague in the summaries so if you don't find what you expect the only one
to blame is your imagination.
Fury was amazing, but I was only
able to say that once I finished it. The author took her time getting to
the real action and when she did reach it it went really fast, so fast
that I thought there would have to be more to the book afterward. I was
also shocked at what happened to JD in the last few pages. He was my
favorite character from the beginning-the nerdy sweet guy stuck in the
friend zone-and the only reason why I'm going to bother to read the
sequel is because I need to know what happens to him.
To me,
Chase didn't belong in this book. Either he's a sociopath or the author
doesn't know how to write from his perspective. If he's supposed to be a
sociopath his actions make sense. If he's not supposed to be a
sociopath then the author accidentally made him one. The way he analyzed
friendships and his own life and kept it secret from everyone else-even
the way he fell for Ty-all seemed extreme and unreal for a normal
person.
4.8 stars
Spring is coming, and the ice is slowly melting in Ascension... revealing the secrets buried beneath.
