Love that is was a cross between modern and ancient Greece. I liked the reality TV aspect of it because let's be honest it's still all the craze. I'm really liking this whole Gods (or other Greek Mythology) as celebrities. I like that mix of mythology but here's a modern take other than including current technology. It's still a slightly depressing story, but the story IS depressing even without a retelling. Either way it was a really good read.

A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The cover of Lifestyles of Gods & Monsters and the title are the first things that caught my attention. They intrigued me and made me want to know what the book was all about! I wanted to know why the statue of the girl is holding a cellphone. It gave me major Lore Olympus (a modernized Greek gods webtoon) vibes.

When diving in, my interest was definitely piqued in the first chapter. I had questions, I wanted to know how the plot would develop, and I found that the world was really interesting and unique.

Once I finished the book, the closest comparison I could come up with was...

Read the rest of my review here: https://flaviathebibliophile.com/lifestyles-of-gods-monsters-arc-review/

This was Greek mythology meets trashy reality TV with an angsty dash of feeling helpless in the roles we are told we must play in life. And after months of not being able to read I needed this read. A quick read a decadent fun read. I am thoroughly pleased.

Okay, my first negative comment on Goodreads. So I'll start with the good stuffs.

The concept is very interesting: greek mythology in a modern era with Reality Show and social media ? Amazing idea. The execution isn't so good but the bases are really here.
Asterion and Ariadne's relationship is adorable. I believed and was invested in it.
The cover is great.
Theseus isn't bad?
I read it in 24h. Very fast one.

Now, let's go with the bad.

SO MUCH SEXISM!! LIKE! I was surprised to learn that it was written in 2019!! The "not like the other girl" trope is already fucking bad, but this has been the WORST i've seen in a very long time. The author reminds us that Ariadne doesn't like make up or tv or anything every 5 lines. WE GET IT. And that is so fucking annoying.
The slut shaming... for real, it felt like it was some masculinists thoughts on Twitter. These poor Sisters have no others role than being stupids sluts. How, as a woman, can you write it? Like, Hypolita describes them as trashy sisters and clearly insulting, and Ariadne is just like "oh, she tried to go for Theseus" and not being offended by how she treated her sisters. And Ariadne constantly trashes her sisters.
And by the way, you don't do Hypolita the Amazon like that girl. Have some respect.
THE INSTA LOVE!! how horrendous. Like, badly badly done. I was not invested into Theseus and Ariadne, because it felt so rushed for no fucking reason. It doesn't need to be slow burn to be good, really, but girl.. have so common sense. First 20 pages and I was rolling my eyes off.
The worst is, I think the author wants it to be feminist or believe it is? LOL.
The supposed revelations made me laugh. We had guessed that page 20. And Ariadne should have if she wasn't an idiot. (Or written that way. I love Ariadne in the mythology). And how it is brought by the character containing the evidences ? Lol.
The ending is rushed. Like seriously. Everything (the fight, escape and all) in 30 pages.... we know what happens, it's a mythology retelling but still!! And the last 3 pages are ridiculous.
I'm sure the author loves mythology. But it didn't feel like it at all. I couldn't feel any of her love and affection for the olders texts containing the multiple legends. I usually do in myths retellings.
The style is poor. She just tells what happens without paying attention. (Or if she did, it wasn't enough). It is KINF OF A PROBLEM in a mythology retelling!! And again, that's not because it is happening in a 'modern-era' that the text has to be so poor.

So yeah, I've never read Ariadne by Jennifer Saint, but I already know it's way better than this. It looks like a bad fanfiction from 2014 wattpad that wasn't edited. I've read mythologies fanfics that were so much more fantastic. And these last years, greek mythology has been in a lot of great books (especially feminists).

My comment makes me look like way more pissed that I am lol, cuz I will just forget about this book very quickly as it is completely anecdotical. The only thing I am really mad at is the amount of sexism it contains.

DNF @ 45%

This book was so. Good!

My full review will be up at curlybookowl.Wordpress.com on or after September 29. Please visit me there for a full break down!

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Thank you so much to FSG & Macmillan Publishing for sending me an ARC of this book to review. I am forever grateful.

This book was clever and imaginative. The plot is like if the Kardashians hosted The Hunger Games in the year 2020. The stakes are high. The world is watching. The is zero privacy. And it's all being broadcast on TV and across the internet.

For such a fun quick read it still has a lot of heart. Highly recommend.

The Minotaur myth as a modern day reality competition show: excellent concept, so-so execution. It’s definitely a quick, entertaining read, but it loses a lot of points for 1) the tired “not like other girls” trope that we all should be better about in 2019 and for 2) abuse that could have been examined with more care instead of with Ariadne’s rushed realizations.

Well! Here’s another mashup for you: Hunger Games meets The Kardashians. The classic tale of Ariadne, Theseus, and the Minotaur collides with the reality TV craze of today.

This is a Young Adult novel and I read it with the intention of hopefully adding it my lineup to read to my fourth graders as an introduction to Greek Mythology (spoiler: there’s too much of the “adult” part in it for me to feel like I can do that with this age group, so it’s not making the read aloud list).

A lot of the other reviews I’ve read on this seems to not take into account that this IS a YA genre book. This type of genre is geared toward a different audience, and although the reviews were justified in their critique from an adult reader perspective, they failed to read it through the lens of what YA readers like and are interested in. In that scope, Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters is perfect for high school readers and does an excellent job of not only introducing Mythology stories, but putting a spin on in it to make it relevant to teens today.

I especially loved how this novel posed questions teens today can thoughtfully consider because it’s what they are grappling with at this point in their lives. When forced, do you choose love or family? Should you have to? Is there really such things as fate and destiny or are they a construct meant to keep you from thinking to make your own decisions? Is fame and social media status what it’s really cracked up to be or is it a prison of your own making?

Personally, I gave this one 4/5 starts on Goodreads, because I’m trying to base it off what genre it’s meant for. If it hadn’t been classified as YA, I probably would have gone with just 3/5 due to my personal opinion on character depth and what felt like a plot rush in the beginning that didn’t need to be there.