Hey readers! Ethan here ghost-posting from my vacation with an awesome book tour for you guys! I have had this little beauty read for quite a while and have been itching to share my thoughts with you guys! A new anthology with 6 awesome Tales of Myth and Legend Retold! Here's my Blog Tour stop for Lore! Before we get to my review, here's a little about the anthology!
Lore: Tales of Myth and Legend Retold
Authors: Brinda Berry, Cate Dean, Jayne A. Knolls, Karen Y. Bynum, Laura Diamond, Theresa DaLayne
(Anthology)
Publication date: March 2014
Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal
SHIMMER: A heartbroken boy rescues a mermaid… but is it too late to save her?
BETWEEN is about a girl, a genie, and a ton of bad decisions.
SUNSET MOON: Eloise doesn’t believe in Native American magic–until the dreamcatcher spiders spin her down an unknown path.
THE MAKER: An incapacitated young man bent on revenge builds a creature to do it for him.
A BEAUTIFUL MOURNING: The story of a Maya goddess torn between duty and love, and the ultimate sacrifice she must make to achieve true happiness.
THE BARRICADES: When a human girl risks everything to save the life of an Eternal prince, will their feelings for each other change the world they know, or tear it apart?
Authors
Click each authors name to view their Goodreads profile! From there you can see their bios, twitter, and website links!
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My Thoughts:
It's always difficult for me to review an anthology. When you have such a host of authors who are all amazing in their own right, it's very hard to critique their work when you are only given a short story. This will probably be one of my shorter reviews but I would like to say a little about each of the stories and then end with my thoughts overall.
Shimmer- This one was the biggest toss up for me. It's a short story about mermaids. I don;t usually do the "mermaid thing", but Shimmer kind of took me by surprise. It also confused me the most. While the other 5 stories were clearly YA, this one really read more like an NA to me. There were many sexual undertones that I feel like could have been expanded upon in this short story and a few conflicts that I think would go over very well in a full novel. I have looked into other works by Brinda Berry and definitely think this one could be turned into a great novel. One I would check out. It was a great introduction to the mermaid side of the genre! There were a couple of eyeroll moments for me, but I think that was just my not being used to the mermaid thing! Oh and the ending... Definitely left me needing another few pages! Fingers crossed for more on this one!
Between- This is one of the stories I was a little more "meh" about. I love Jin/Genie elements, but this one really went down a different path. This story actually left me fairly uncomfortable as well. It deals with 2 young females who have just returned to school after spending the summer in a same-sex relationship at summer camp. The whole story really rubbed me the wrong way. I did not like the bullying aspect of the story and the whole plotline about becoming the "Queen" at her high school was really immature to me. It was like Mean-Girls meets Lesbians... I was confused. I was obviously not the target audience for this short story and really did not care much for it. It was very well written, but the storyline was not for me. Even the genie-element couldn't resurrect this story for me. Lucy was wrong and a horrible person. Why should she get the happy ending?
Sunset Moon- This was another of the reads that I found to be particularly fun. I just graduated college in May with my bachelors degree with a minor in Native American Studies. I really enjoy learning more about Native American culture and I believe that Laura Diamond did an amazing job weaving a short story based around just that. It was emotional and fitting for the situation. It was also very reflective of many Blackfeet mythology, I enjoyed that. This story read very much like a modern day adaptation of a Native American myth. Very enjoyable read! I would also like to see this expanded! I have yet to read a story quite like this. It was great!
The Maker- This is one of the stories that left me like "what....?" after I finished it. I was very confused. Not to say I didn't necessarily like it, I would have really just liked to have seen a little more. This story incorporated the Yiddish folklore of the Golem. I have read one other story about a Golem and very much enjoyed it. This story, however, just took a really unexpected turn for me. Like Shimmer, this is one story that very easily could make the transition to New Adult and probably fit in well. I totally understand why our main character feels the way he does, but all I could think was "wow, what a bitter, selfish, douche-canoe". He was a VERY self-centered ass hole who really needed to get over it, I just really hated to see this character start off bad and only get worse as the storyline progressed. Cassandra just came off to me as a partying brat, but again, maybe that was just in my interpretation. I would love to see something like this expanded into a larger work and also upgraded to NA level, because this story had some SERIOUS NA undertones. I'm not sure on some level I would even consider it NA appropriate. That's just my thoughts.
A Beautiful Mourning- Just like Sunset Moon, this was another one I was very excited to read. My degree is History, with heavy emphasis on Latin and South American Indigenous tribes. I have learned so much about the Mayan and their civilization that I didn't think this story would really be all that interesting, boy was I wrong. I loved this retelling of an important Mayan myth. DaLayne did an amazing job with adapting the narrative for the audience and clearly knows what she was talking about. It was a well written and emotional story that really was perfect for the short-story setting. I was thoroughly impressed by this one!
The Barricades- This actually may have been one of my favorite stories in this anthology and one that I would love to see expanded. This one takes the Irish myth of the Fae and twist and turns it into an action filled sci-fi that left me begging for more than that 25 pages I got. It was fast paced, emotional, and really refreshing. My only complain is that I really believe it was too short. I was a little confused at the narrative at a few points, but overall I really enjoyed the adaptation. I think taking the story and placing it on a new planet was great move. What better way to change an adaptation of a favorite paranormal genre than shipping it away from Earth? Very creative and a nice touch. I loved this one!
Overall I found this six-book collection to be well worth my time reading. I was introduced to some new authors and some new paranormal sub genres I otherwise would not have been interested in. My biggest complaint was the size of the stories. I am generally not a fan of the short story setup. I would much rather read a boxed set of 6 full stories than 6 short stories that really left me wanting more. Left me wanting more in the sense that I often didn't feel like the story was complete. Like I said in the beginning, I am glad to have read this anthology however, it was a new "mini-journey" for me. As a whole I am giving Lore a 4-Star review. I would like to see some elements and stories expanded a a few of them tweaked, just a bit, but otherwise it was great. Also, I really enjoy the cover they picked for this anthology! Perfect fit!
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Where can you get yours?
Click the buy links below the cover to pick up your copy for only $1.99!
GIVEAWAY!
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Alright readers! There you have it, my tour stop for Lore! I am so glad to have read this anthology and am looking forward to check out the works of a few of the other authors! Special thanks for the team at Xpresso Book Tours for allowing me to participate. You guys are always such a pleasure to work with! Go check out Lore for yourselves and enter the giveaway! Until next time, Happy Reading!
-Ethan
Hi Ethan! Thanks so much for hosting us and reviewing LORE! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat review, Ethan! Sounds like a great collection of stories and I often wish they were longer when I read an anthology like this but that's also a good sign :) The Barricades sounds really different and creative! I also like how it gives you a sneak peek of new authors and their writing style so you can seek their other books if you're a fan! :) Glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteThank your for hosting us today, Ethan! The Barricades will be expanded - I am shooting for a holiday release. Glad you enjoyed the anthology. :)
ReplyDelete~Cate
Thank you so much for the review!
ReplyDelete