Book Review: Lore

Author: Alexandra Bracken

From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Darkest Minds comes a sweepingly ambitious, high-octane tale of power, destiny, love and redemption.

Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.

Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family’s sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt’s promises of eternal glory. For years she’s pushed away any thought of revenge against the man–now a god–responsible for their deaths.

Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.

The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore’s decision to bind her fate to Athena’s and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost–and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees. 

Lore is an interesting mix of Greek mythology and the modern world. Melora (Lore) Perseous is the last of the Ancient Greek legendary Perseus line. Every seven years Zeus tasks the descendants of nine legends to participate in the Agon where all nine Greek Gods walk the Earth as mortals. If any of the hunters can kill a God, they are able to become immortal and take their divine power. While Lore has been trying to hide from her fate, she is forced to participate when an injured Athena turns up. Not only does this set off Lore on her goal to avenge her family after their murder, but to take down the God that seems to be aligning other houses together.

The story begins right in the middle of some action and the first hundred or so pages seem like a whirlwind of information. As there is a lot given to the reader at once, it is difficult to grasp right away. There is a little romance in this story that is built up throughout, but it stays in the background. The romance was still sweet, though, and I enjoyed how it developed. The pacing of the story is fast as it seemed there was one action event after another. It as nice to keep me on the edge of my seat as a reader, but I would have preferred some calmer moments throughout so I could take a breath and process everything.

Lore’s story is told through present events and through flashbacks. I do wish there was more exploration of her past plus the bloodlines in general. There is a lot given to the reader through the writing, but it feels that it never goes very far in depth. I do love Lore’s character, even if she does not make the best decisions at times. Along Lore’s journey she has two friends along, Miles, her best friend, and Castor, her love interest. Each character in the story was interesting and I wanted to learn more about them. Overall, this was a great concept, but there were moments that I wish this was a duology so more time could have been spent giving depth to events and characters. A lot was packed into this story and the writing was interesting, so I cannot wait to read another Bracken novel.