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betwixt_the_pages's review against another edition
4.0
Centuries have passed since the Fey conquered Earth, forcing mankind and gods alike to flee to the sky city Olympus. Forgotten gods walk amongst man, lost and powerless. Little do they suspect a second Fey war looms, and an unlikely duo will set in motion the gears of fate.
Zak Walker is a fringe rat living in the slums who would do anything to protect his sister, Alice. His neglectful father threatens to consign him to a life away from home on an airship, but he yearns for his life to mean something more than drudgery.
Princess Seneca Rose is the last surviving member of the Seelie royals. They tried to establish peace with mankind, but fell to the forces of Queen Mob and the Unseelie Court. Fleeing for her life, Seneca arrives on Olympus in hopes of uniting the forgotten gods against the oncoming Fey.
Zak couldn’t care less about the fate of Olympus, until faeries kidnap Alice. He doesn’t believe Seneca’s stories of faeries or gods, but soon has no choice but to accept their lives are intertwined. All his life, he’s dreamed of something more. If he cannot face the dangers that await down on Earth, the gods, mankind, and his sister Alice are all doomed.
Rating: 4/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: super intriguing twists to mythologies; steampunk for the win!; awesome, entertaining voice to the POV; vibrant, lovable characters; there were some awkward writing moments; this was sort of like a divine intervention of creativity
Huge thanks to Wilbert Stanton, Curiosity Quills Press, and Xpresso Book Tours for sending me a free egalley of this title in exchange for an honest review! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.
"Did you really wear that outside?"
"What?" Abby moaned.
"That ensemble." She pointed an accusing finger at Abby's clothes.
"Well, what?" Abby asked. "It's raining, it's not like I wear this every day."
"I should hope not." The girl said.
This put a whole new twist on mythologies, Penguins! I was super intrigued from the start--I've not come across another book that pits the Fey world against the Gods, and this book spun the web so efficiently! From the get-go, I was enthralled; I couldn't wait to see where the adventure led me next, and spent the entire read on the edge of my seat waiting for the ball to drop around every turn!
There were some awkward writing moments throughout this read. Some of the dialogue felt a bit forced or unnatural to me--oftentimes the characters were OVERLY dramatic, almost hinging on the hysterical, for no apparent reason. While I understand that this was meant to create or cause more drama/tension, I felt the way that Wilbert Stanton went about achieving that fell a bit flat. For me personally, those moments just didn't work well...but the book was quick to make up for it with the plot and creative ideas, so I don't judge this book too harshly.
"You see, you can believe in justice all you want." She looked away and took a moment before she continued. "You can have a heart made of all the bits that make someone good. But when it comes to war, those things don't matter."
These characters were vibrantly painted and brilliantly handled. I really enjoyed the fresh, unique places that Wilbert Stanton took me as a reader--the journey was exciting and illuminating! The addition of steampunk to this world also really helped to set this book apart from others, and Wilbert Stanton did a wonderful job crafting the world around me so fully, I felt as if I'd stepped into the pages themselves. It's obvious that a TON of tender care went into the finer, more intricate details of this read, and I appreciated each of them fully.
I'd definitely recommend this book to lovers of steampunk, mythologies, and the Fae folk. This was a lofty, at times hair-raising read, and I'm so glad to have been granted access between the pages! The characters are beautifully rendered, the world-building is exquisitely handled, and every page screamed with the unique voice of the POV character. It is obvious that Wilbert Stanton loves this world--and he has made me love it just as much. Put your goggles on, Penguins; you never know what's lurking in plain sight!
urlphantomhive's review
3.0
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
My previous experience with Wilbert Stanton's work, The Artful, was not a good match, but how could I resist a book that mixes steampunk, Greek gods and Fey.
What I liked was that it tried to deliver something different, mixing a lot of things together and trying to be fresh in a genre where that is not easy. However, while some concepts where nicely worked out, the different Pantheons for example, the pacing felt off. There is a rather slow start with a lot of explaining and then, at the end, a lot happens in the final few chapters.
A nice concept, but the execution could have been better.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
My previous experience with Wilbert Stanton's work, The Artful, was not a good match, but how could I resist a book that mixes steampunk, Greek gods and Fey.
What I liked was that it tried to deliver something different, mixing a lot of things together and trying to be fresh in a genre where that is not easy. However, while some concepts where nicely worked out, the different Pantheons for example, the pacing felt off. There is a rather slow start with a lot of explaining and then, at the end, a lot happens in the final few chapters.
A nice concept, but the execution could have been better.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
dani_reviews's review against another edition
I feel really bad about DNFing this book. It seemed so right for me, with its combination of fae and ancient gods. But alas, I found my attention slowly pulled more and more to other books; it just could not maintain a hold on me.
This is not a case of me saying "this book sucks, don't read it". No, this is more "it's not you, it's me". I think that the right people will find the cast of characters amusing and the notion of various pantheons existing alongside the two fae courts rather cool. I did at first.
Maybe one day I'll try this again. We'll see.
This is not a case of me saying "this book sucks, don't read it". No, this is more "it's not you, it's me". I think that the right people will find the cast of characters amusing and the notion of various pantheons existing alongside the two fae courts rather cool. I did at first.
Maybe one day I'll try this again. We'll see.
ania_star's review against another edition
4.0
Received from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for honest review.
So... when I started reading it, I almost gave up after first chapter. Mixing mythologies is something I really don't like and usually recipe for disaster. However... in this book, it strangely work. It ended up to be really good book.
So Norse and Greek Gods use to work together, and by work I mean argue. :) Because they were to busy with themselves, Fey were able to concur Earth. People, were exiled to the floating island of Olympus, made by Hephaestus.
Now, Zak Walker, a fringe rat from the Island and Seneca Rose, Seelie Princess, last of her bloodline, will work together to restore old Gods and win against Unseelie Court, that has taken over everything.
Zak lives with his younger sister Alice, that is a bit special. She sees thing no other can and stopped talking because of it. Father is a drunk and mother left them when Zak was 10. He lives on outskirts and works odd jobs. He is really interesting character, with street smart, bravery and endless love for his sister. So, when Alice gets kidnapped, he will do whatever it take to get her back. Seneca is really fun and brave in her own way. I really liked their friendship and funny banter.
Only thing I don't like... Abby. I just don't like that romance.
Really fun and action packed book.
So... when I started reading it, I almost gave up after first chapter. Mixing mythologies is something I really don't like and usually recipe for disaster. However... in this book, it strangely work. It ended up to be really good book.
So Norse and Greek Gods use to work together, and by work I mean argue. :) Because they were to busy with themselves, Fey were able to concur Earth. People, were exiled to the floating island of Olympus, made by Hephaestus.
Now, Zak Walker, a fringe rat from the Island and Seneca Rose, Seelie Princess, last of her bloodline, will work together to restore old Gods and win against Unseelie Court, that has taken over everything.
Zak lives with his younger sister Alice, that is a bit special. She sees thing no other can and stopped talking because of it. Father is a drunk and mother left them when Zak was 10. He lives on outskirts and works odd jobs. He is really interesting character, with street smart, bravery and endless love for his sister. So, when Alice gets kidnapped, he will do whatever it take to get her back. Seneca is really fun and brave in her own way. I really liked their friendship and funny banter.
Only thing I don't like... Abby. I just don't like that romance.
Really fun and action packed book.
bewarethebookwyrm's review against another edition
4.0
Imagine starting a book thinking it’s young adult fantasy. Then you realize realize it has Greek gods in it. Then there are Norse gods. Then you notice it’s steampunk. There are fey. There are all sorts of mythical creatures. This should cause major confusion. Does it?
Plot (4 Stars): I have read books that combined too many genres together and it was this crazy conglomerate of confusion. This book was not like that. It was great. There was so much about it that I really liked. I mean, Norse gods fighting along side Greek gods. It totally makes sense. I mean, it doesn’t, but it does in this book. We follow Zak, a teen who is growing into a man in a family without a parent there to raise him. His father is a drunk and his mom disappeared. He’s basically a “street urchin”, but this book uses made up words in the culture which is totally fun. He lives on Olympus in the clouds above earth. What happens on earth is a mystery to him, but he’s curious.
When his sister is kidnapped a creature everyone thought his sister just imagined, Zak’s life changes completely as a whole new world opens up. A world of dryads, trolls, and dragons. It’s an exciting ride!
Characters (4 stars): The characters are written very well. They’re fun. They have great personalities and the author stays true to them the whole time.
Writing (3 stars): The writing itself is very well done. The author is talented. However, there were a lot of mistakes and typos that sometimes pulled my attention from the story. There are more toward the end of the book than at the beginning.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and give it four stars.
Plot (4 Stars): I have read books that combined too many genres together and it was this crazy conglomerate of confusion. This book was not like that. It was great. There was so much about it that I really liked. I mean, Norse gods fighting along side Greek gods. It totally makes sense. I mean, it doesn’t, but it does in this book. We follow Zak, a teen who is growing into a man in a family without a parent there to raise him. His father is a drunk and his mom disappeared. He’s basically a “street urchin”, but this book uses made up words in the culture which is totally fun. He lives on Olympus in the clouds above earth. What happens on earth is a mystery to him, but he’s curious.
When his sister is kidnapped a creature everyone thought his sister just imagined, Zak’s life changes completely as a whole new world opens up. A world of dryads, trolls, and dragons. It’s an exciting ride!
Characters (4 stars): The characters are written very well. They’re fun. They have great personalities and the author stays true to them the whole time.
Writing (3 stars): The writing itself is very well done. The author is talented. However, there were a lot of mistakes and typos that sometimes pulled my attention from the story. There are more toward the end of the book than at the beginning.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and give it four stars.
drakonreads's review
4.0
4.25 stars.
I can't explain how excited I was for this. I just love mythology (especially Greek mythology) and to combine it with steampunk= epic. The romance wasn't the main focus which is good because this is not a romance book. The plot was interesting. The twist was unexpected. The characters were good (Seneca grew on me). Overall, a good book with all of my favourite things.
I can't wait to see more of the rest of the world that the books are set in. Other steampunk fans will definitely love this.
After the half-way point, I just kept thinking about how it would look if it was adapted as a movie. It reminded me of Disney's Treasure Planet with the sort of aesthetics. It also reminded me of [b:The Inventor's Secret|10123237|The Inventor's Secret (The Inventor's Secret #1)|Andrea Cremer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390809832l/10123237._SY75_.jpg|15020994] with the Greek gods but Gears of Fate has the gods be more present.
It reminded me a little the riordanverse ('PJU' or 'Camp Half-Blood Chronicles' just doesn't seem to fit the universe as well, at this point, there are more than just the Greeks in [a:Rick Riordan|15872|Rick Riordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1383677264p2/15872.jpg]'s Percy Jackson Universe). It's if PJO had a crossover with [b:Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard|34220579|Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1-3)|Rick Riordan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1502145390l/34220579._SX50_.jpg|55272248] series where they were never tried to be kept separate. GoF, though, didn't really go as much into the myths and did reinterpret somethings (like Hermes calling Zeus 'Grandfather') and also mentioning a cathedral, but given that the book combines the Greek and Norse mythos, at this point, Zeus doesn't need any more kids so a little liberty with the source material is understandable.
I rarely read books about faeries, the most I've read on them is probably from [a:Cassandra Clare|150038|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1270502031p2/150038.jpg]'s the Mortal Instruments. So this was cool to see since it combined it with Greek mythology which is more my thing.
Also, I wrote in the beginning that I rated it 4.25 stars because even though I enjoyed the book I kind of wanted more world-building (I'm used to reading series) but since it would have resulted in info-dumping, it's fine but this is definitely a world I want to read more on.
There were a few formatting errors (like the two 'chapter 15's that title two different chapters) in the kindle version but I'm sure those will be fixed soon.
******I've received a review copy from the author through Voracious Readers ******
I can't explain how excited I was for this. I just love mythology (especially Greek mythology) and to combine it with steampunk= epic. The romance wasn't the main focus which is good because this is not a romance book. The plot was interesting. The twist was unexpected. The characters were good (Seneca grew on me). Overall, a good book with all of my favourite things.
I can't wait to see more of the rest of the world that the books are set in. Other steampunk fans will definitely love this.
After the half-way point, I just kept thinking about how it would look if it was adapted as a movie. It reminded me of Disney's Treasure Planet with the sort of aesthetics. It also reminded me of [b:The Inventor's Secret|10123237|The Inventor's Secret (The Inventor's Secret #1)|Andrea Cremer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390809832l/10123237._SY75_.jpg|15020994] with the Greek gods but Gears of Fate has the gods be more present.
It reminded me a little the riordanverse ('PJU' or 'Camp Half-Blood Chronicles' just doesn't seem to fit the universe as well, at this point, there are more than just the Greeks in [a:Rick Riordan|15872|Rick Riordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1383677264p2/15872.jpg]'s Percy Jackson Universe). It's if PJO had a crossover with [b:Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard|34220579|Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1-3)|Rick Riordan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1502145390l/34220579._SX50_.jpg|55272248] series where they were never tried to be kept separate. GoF, though, didn't really go as much into the myths and did reinterpret somethings (like Hermes calling Zeus 'Grandfather') and also mentioning a cathedral, but given that the book combines the Greek and Norse mythos, at this point, Zeus doesn't need any more kids so a little liberty with the source material is understandable.
I rarely read books about faeries, the most I've read on them is probably from [a:Cassandra Clare|150038|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1270502031p2/150038.jpg]'s the Mortal Instruments. So this was cool to see since it combined it with Greek mythology which is more my thing.
Also, I wrote in the beginning that I rated it 4.25 stars because even though I enjoyed the book I kind of wanted more world-building (I'm used to reading series) but since it would have resulted in info-dumping, it's fine but this is definitely a world I want to read more on.
There were a few formatting errors (like the two 'chapter 15's that title two different chapters) in the kindle version but I'm sure those will be fixed soon.
******I've received a review copy from the author through Voracious Readers ******
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