Review of LORE by Alexandra Bracken
“Sometimes the braver thing is to accept help when you’ve been made to believe you shouldn’t need it.”
My brain had to work too hard to sit back and enjoy LORE
I was very excited to read Lore and started the book with a positive attitude. However, I am somewhat disappointed with this book. The pace was too slow for me and the story was too complicated. On the other hand, I really liked the characters (especially Athena) and the tension was palpable in some scenes. I also loved the – unexpected – plot twists.
Synopsis
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.
Review
This limited edition is really beautiful! I received the gold version of the book Lore, but there is also a silver version! The fanart on the endpapers is also very beautiful.
I found Lore a very difficult book to read. I did not immediately understand the explanation of the Agon, which meant that I was not immediately involved in the story. I also constantly forgot who was which god. I got confused by the different names and sometimes thought that one person was actually another, which often confused me.
On the other hand, I really like the idea of the book and find it interesting. Gods who become mortal every 7 years and have to fight each other. I also found the idea of the houses very interesting, but here too, I was constantly confused. Remembering all those houses often became too much. My brain had to work too hard during the first half of the book to process the information dump, so I could not enjoy the story. The execution could have been better.
I would also have liked the pace to be faster. I felt that after a few chapters I had already read many pages and nothing had happened yet.
You could see the love affairs coming from miles away, but I didn’t mind at all. I found that the characters who end up together fit together perfectly and I was just cheering for them! What I would have liked to have seen were the thoughts of the other characters. Lore is only in the
My favourite character was without a doubt Athena. What a woman! I always loved it when she spoke.
There were some exciting scenes in Lore and some of the plot twists I did not expect at all.
Would I recommend it?
If you are a fan of slower books, then yes. Otherwise, I think you will put this book away and not pick it up again so quickly.
Details
Trigger warnings
Death, death of a loved one, violence, blood
Representation
Gay side characters (mlm)
Genre
Urban fantasy (young/new adult)
Pages
551
Publication date
January 5th 2021
Publisher
Disney-Hyperion
About the author
Alexandra Bracken was born in Phoenix, Arizona. The daughter of a Star Wars collector, she grew up going to an endless string of Star Wars conventions and toy fairs, which helped spark her imagination and a deep love of reading. After graduating high school, she attended The College of William & Mary in Virginia, where she double majored in English and History. She sold her first book, Brightly Woven, as a senior in college, and later moved to New York City to work in children’s book publishing, first as an editorial assistant, then in marketing. After six years, she took the plunge and decided to write full time. She now lives in Arizona with her tiny pup, Tennyson, in a house that’s constantly overflowing with books.
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