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Daphne has trained her entire life to become a warrior skilled and brave enough that she might be accepted by the unyielding people of ancient Sparta instead of constantly being viewed as an outsider. But an unexpected encounter with the goddess Artemis upends Daphne’s life entirely. Chased with the knowledge she’ll be considered a Spartan deserter, she sets off on what seems an impossible quest to save her brother’s fate and those of the gods.
With the help of Apollo, Artemis’s twin, Daphne journeys from the labyrinth of the Minotaur to the riddling Sphinx of Thebes. Nine items have been stolen from Mount Olympus, and if Daphne cannot find and return them in short order, the gods’ waning powers will fade away entirely, the mortal world will descend into chaos, and her brother’s life will be beyond saving.
I’ve always been fascinated by ancient myths, despite how truly strange they are. For this reason, Daughter of Sparta was one of my most anticipated releases of 2021. While the book certainly is true to the myths, depicting the fickle, cruel and debased nature of the gods, I was underwhelmed by it. I kept putting the book down and having a hard time picking it back up. It felt like everything and nothing happened, despite the plot being action-packed.
This could in part be due to the large amount of traveling the characters do. Countless names are also used for people, mythical gods and objects or weapons. I quickly became confused. After all, it’s all Greek to me! I realized this confusion was partly my own fault when I discovered (right after finishing the book) a glossary of terms in the back. There are definite cons to reading ebooks! This would have been a large help while reading and perhaps I would have felt more invested in the characters and the story if I’d actually been able to understand better.
Overall, I do think this new series of mythology books for young adults would be perfect for older fans of the Percy Jackson novels, or even just someone who goes into it a little more prepared or aware than I was.
Rated: Moderate. There is a lot of violence and blood, and sometimes the action felt gory for the sheer (and constant) amount of it. Some instances include magical torture, a man losing hand, a character falling into fire, stabbings, and mention of people who offered child sacrifices. Several sexual innuendos and references are found through the book, though with the story being based in ancient times around cultures that showed focus and appreciation of the human body, it’s to be expected to some extent. A fight between a god and a girl includes touches to her hip which make her uncomfortable. A character is helped to dreamless sleep by naiads who massage her body and remove her clothes. She wakes naked on a bedroll in front of a travel companion who gives her her dress back. Characters kiss a couple of times. There are around fifteen uses of mild language and two uses of moderate language.
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