Wanderlust Wednesday Review: The Eternal City by Paula Morris

 

Check out my previous Wanderlust Wednesday posts.

The Eternal City by Paula Morris
Series: Standalone
Published: May 26th, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic
304 pages (eARC)
Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy/Mythology
Acquired this book: Via Edelweiss in exchange for honest consideration
Warning: May contain spoilers
{GoodReads || Buy this book: Amazon || Chapters/Indigo}

Laura Martin is visiting Rome on a class trip, and she's entranced by the majestic Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon. . . . Everything in this city seems magical.

That is, until the magic seems to turn very dark.

Suddenly, statues of Cupid and ancient works of art come to life before her eyes. Earthquakes rumble and a cloud of ash forms in the sky. A dark-eyed boy with wings on his heels appears and gives her a message. Laura soon realizes she is at the center of a brewing battle -- a battle between the gods and goddesses, one that will shake modern-day Rome to its core.

Only she and her group of friends can truly unravel the mystery behind what is happening. As tensions mount and secret identities are revealed, Laura must rely on her own inner strength to face up to what may be a fight for her life.

The synopsis for The Eternal City immediately piqued my interest, mostly because when I first heard about it I was just months away from my first visit to Rome, plus I love books with foreign settings. While the synopsis sounds exciting and different, and I liked the premise of the book, the execution was lacking. The story felt like a series of random events and strange things happening to the main character, Laura, but the characters were completely flat and the attempt at romance seemed like an after thought.

Laura is on a school trip to Rome, the Eternal City, a beautiful city rich in history. The vivid descriptions of Rome are pretty much the only reason I gave this book 3 stars instead of 2. It was easy to picture the places Laura visited, and I really liked that. So Laura's trip is moving along nicely until Laura is almost mugged at the Trevi Fountain, and then odd things begin happening, all of which seem to be centred around her for some reason. We come to find out that she’s in possession of the Eyes of Minerva, and ancient gods are battling to retrieve them. As I said, the premise was good, but there were a lot of things that didn’t quite make sense. It didn’t help that the characters were completely one-dimensional, so there was nothing to connect to. I usually prefer character-driven books, or if the books have a lot of action and fantasy elements, I want to at least get a sense of who the characters are, what drives them, what they’re like outside the events that are happening, and I never got that from The Eternal City. The action scenes were good, but they weren’t enough to carry the story on their own. The romance was just sort of thrown in and wasn’t believable. They had no chemistry and didn’t get to know each other at all - they were just thrown together by circumstances. 

Overall, The Eternal City wasn’t what I was hoping for. It had a beautiful setting, but the characters and story itself were lacking and fell flat. Despite not really enjoying this one, I bought Morris’s Ruined awhile ago and I’m still eager to read it.

There were quite a few scenes in The Eternal City with seagulls and crows (as part of the fantasy/mythology aspect of the story), so when I saw this seagull at the top of Palatine Hill in Rome and he kept creeping closer and closer, all I could think of was their role in The Eternal City!

  

Have you read The Eternal City? What did you think? If you haven't read it, do you plan to? Have you read any of Paula Morris's other books? Do you have any favourite books that deal with Roman mythology? Let's talk here or on Twitter! 

   
{Facebook || Twitter || GoodReads || Instagram || Pinterest || Author blog}

Book Review: Wake by Amanda Hocking

Wake by Amanda Hocking

Series: Watersong Book #1

Published: August 7th, 2012

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

309 pages (hardcover)

Genre: Young adult paranormal/urban fantasy/mythology

Acquired this book: From the library

Warning: May contain spoilers

{GoodReads || Purchase this book: Book Depository || Chapters || Amazon}

Gorgeous. Fearless. Dangerous. They're the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone's attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs.  She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.

Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door.  He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back.  Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever.  She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove.  They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price.  And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

I’ll be honest - the beautiful cover of Wake is what initially drew me to the book. I didn’t know much about the book before I read it, but I’d seen dozens of other bloggers talking about it, so I was curious.

Unfortunately - and I really do hate to say this - the cover was one of the only things I liked about Wake.

I didn’t really like Gemma or Harper, nor was I able to connect with them. I didn’t feel like there was much depth to them, and neither of them really developed as characters. Gemma’s love of the water was pretty much the only thing that defined her, and Harper’s domineering personality was a bit much to take at times. At one point Gemma called her sister ‘a bossy, know-it-all control freak’ and that pretty much sums it up.

Daniel was pretty much the only character I liked, and that was really only because he had more personality than any of the others. Alex was okay, but I got tired of hearing about how he’d gone from a geek to a total hottie practically overnight without anyone noticing, as if he wasn’t worth noticing until he became hot.

The pacing of the book was really slow, and I thought Hocking probably could have written one really good book instead of breaking this into a trilogy. Not much happened in Wake - in fact, it felt like the book was mostly made up of dialogue, and I found myself skimming a lot. What little there was about siren mythology was interesting, but I wish it had been expanded upon.

Overall, Wake just didn’t do it for me. I wasn’t able to connect with the characters or the story, and I felt like I waited most of the book for something - anything - to happen. If you enjoy stories about mermaids/sirens or mythology, this book might be for you. 

2.5 stars

Have you read Wake? What did you think? Do you enjoy books that weave in elements of mythology?

{Facebook || Twitter || GoodReads || Pinterest || YouTube || Author blog || Personal/photography blog} 

Book Review: Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

Series: Medusa Girls #1
Published: September 6, 2011

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins Imprint)

345 pages (hardcover)

Genre: Young adult urban fantasy

Acquired this book: From the library

Warning: may include spoilers
Rating: 5 stars

{GoodReads || Amazon}

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster. 

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sweet Venom was so good! I’d heard a lot about it, and I’m so glad my library got it fairly soon after its release. This book had a bit of everything – action, humour, suspense, and a little bit of romance…or more accurately, potential for romance.

The story is told alternately between Gretchen, Grace, and Greer. They are all very likable, well-developed characters who are completely unique, but whose personalities compliment each other.

Grace was my favorite character. She was sweet, a little on the nerdy side, a bit unsure of herself, and she just wanted to fit in. She came from a great family – adoptive parents and an adopted brother – but was the most excited when she discovered she was a triplet and was part of a biological family. There was something so innocent about her, even when she started seeing monsters and discovered her heritage.

Gretchen is this tough, kick-ass, independent girl whose life is all about being a huntress. She doesn’t allow herself to have friends or a boyfriend because they don’t really mix with her lifestyle of monster fighting.

Greer is a snobby, self-important, shallow girl who goes to a great school, is popular, has a hot boyfriend, and a seemingly perfect life. Except that her parents (who never bothered to tell her she was adopted) are almost completely absent from her life, and when it comes right down to it, despite being popular she doesn’t really have any friends. When Gretchen and Grace find her and tell her they’re her sisters and the three of them are descendants of Medusa, she thinks they’re crazy and she doesn’t want anything to do with them.

It was interesting watching all three girls grow throughout the story, both separately and together.

I love how the story wound elements of Greek mythology into the modern-day world. I’ve always been interested in mythology, but haven’t read any fiction where it was part of the storyline, and I think Childs did a fantastic job. She took a great, unique concept and executed it with style.

The cliffhanger ending had me itching me for the next book in the series. There are so many unanswered questions, which means such great potential for the sequel. I’m curious to find out what happens to the girls, how the romances will evolve, what role Grace’s adopted brother plays, and so many other things.

~Marie