The Games Gods Play
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Synopsis
THE GODS LOVE TO PLAY WITH US MERE MORTALS. AND EVERY HUNDRED YEARS, WE LET THEM …
I have never been favored by the gods. Far from it, thanks to Zeus.
Living as a cursed office clerk for the Order of Thieves, I just keep my head down and hope the capricious beings who rule from Olympus won’t notice me. Not an easy feat, given San Francisco is Zeus’ patron city, but I make do. I survive. Until the night I tangle with a different god.
The worst god. Hades.
For the first time ever, the ruthless, mercurial King of the Underworld has entered the Crucible—the deadly contest the gods hold to determine a new ruler to sit on the throne of Olympus. But instead of fighting their own battles, the gods name mortals to compete in their stead.
So why in the Underworld did Hades choose me—a sarcastic nobody with a curse on her shoulders—as his champion? And why does my heart trip every time he says I’m his?
I don’t know if I’m a pawn, bait, or something else entirely to this dangerously tempting god. How can I, when he has more secrets than stars in the sky?
Because Hades is playing by his own rules … and Death will win at any cost.
Synopsis source: StoryGraph
Review
Genre(s): YA Fantasy, Romance, Mythology
HB&W Rating: 4 stars, 2 flames (see ratings here)
View on StoryGraph | Goodreads
Buy on Barnes & Noble, Amazon
This book is everything I’ve come to expect from an Abigail Owen YA Romantasy. She never disappoints. Great world building, great characters, banter, magic, and then throw Greek Mythology into the mix.
Lyra is a strong FMC with strong moral fiber. Her curse is an interesting concept but I felt it could have been explored and used more as a device. Still, it shaped her character and beliefs and those things influenced her actions and made her even more admirable as a result.
Hades is the epitome of the misunderstood villain. I don’t know that he stands out from other dark romance MMCs but I loved him regardless. Right away it’s obvious that he’s less villain as he’s made out to be in all the myths and legends and more reluctant hero.
The supporting characters were great too, especially Cerberus, he was my favorite side character.
The games devised by the author were creative and fit within the framework of our understanding of the Greek gods. This is a hybrid type of world building, where the world is much like we know it but with the added layer of gods walking among us. As a result, there wasn’t the same amount of world-building necessary as if starting from scratch, but between the games and Olympus and the Underworld scenes, I thought the world-building was great.
There is a lot of romantic tension and we do get an on-page spicy scene but it’s not explicit, so I’d feel comfortable letting a teen read it.
This one sat on my shelf waiting patiently for me and I don’t know why I waited so long but I’m excited for the next book, now that it’s here. 🙂
Until next time,
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