Author: Francesca Lia Block
Source: From the Publisher
Series: Standalone
Rating: 2.5/5
Goodreads Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Penelope (Pen) has lost everything—her home, her parents, and her ten-year-old brother. Like a female Odysseus in search of home, she navigates a dark world full of strange creatures, gathers companions and loses them, finds love and loses it, and faces her mortal enemy.
In her signature style, Francesca Lia Block has created a world that is beautiful in its destruction and as frightening as it is lovely. At the helm is Pen, a strong heroine who holds hope and love in her hands and refuses to be defeated.
My rating for this cover is a 5/5. It is so gorgeous and I love all the details that are in cooperated with it. The art inside the book is also spectacular. However I felt the content was lacking. I may have liked this book better if I had read the Odyssey but going into it without reading the Odyssey I felt confused and the story did not keep my attention.
It has been fifty-three days since the earth shaker and Pen has not left her house. She wants to find her family but she is too scared to leave until she is forced out. Pen soon finds other people who have survived and band together with them to find her family.
Pen acted tough but her inability to protect herself came apparent quickly. When she meets Hex she loses two weeks of trying to find her family. I did not like her as a character at all. I understood she was scared and alone but she forces everyone to move at her pace and puts her companions into danger which they do willingly to keep her happy. Hex was a more likable character, he had a dark past and he was trying his best to better himself. Ez and Ash were my favorite characters. I loved how they found each other during the most terrible of times.
The story was a confusing, It felt jumpy and unfinished. This is likely partially to blame due to the fact that I have not read the Odyssey but I also felt like I should be able to read this novel without having to rely on the book it is based on to understand the story. The idea was an interesting one and the title caught my attention but the story itself was jumbled. The story fell flat for me unfortunately.
I think it's unfair of authors to expect that readers have read a certain story prior to reading their book. it's to bad that this one was confusing for you and I think it's unfortunate that you felt like you needed to have read The Odyssey first. I probably won't read this one (I don't like being confused with in the books I read. Maybe next time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review,
~Sara @ Just Another Story