Reviews by Tag: mythology

Teen Review
Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

Spin the Dawn

By Elizabeth Lim
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Lisa J.
Jul 30, 2021

It’s a shame Maia wasn’t born as a boy. She has the makings of one of the best tailors in all of A’landi — she spins silk into the finest thread, weaves gossamer cloth that almost floats in its delicacy, and embroiders scenes that seem to dance with life — but as a girl, she is destined not for greatness as a tailor, but for marriage. However, when her elderly father is summoned to the palace to compete against eleven other tailors for the position of imperial tailor, Maia assumes the identity of her brother Keton and travels to the palace in her father’s stead.

Teen Review
Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules by Tony Cliff

Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules

By Cliff, Tony

Rated by
Tyler T. from BV YA Lit Council
Oct 10, 2019

Delilah Dirk is about this adventurer who has to find clues to uncover a hidden city. She goes with her assistant, Selim, and a writer of the "Weekly Observer", who is up to something more mischievous. On the way she encounters many problems- for example she has to fight a ruler of a city to get a clue! The most compelling part of the book is when we (the reader) find out Van Hassel's real plan with the city. The sudden twist made the book very hard to put down.

Teen Review

Bull

By David Elliot

Rated by
Olivia from Leawood Pioneer Library YAAC
May 25, 2018

This book updates the ancient story of Theseus and the Minotaur for a new generation. This retelling of Greek mythology is hilariously told in verse. It is rough, rowdy, and tells a different story than the one you are used to hearing. It explores new ideas on what actually happened in many different perspectives, from the god Poseidon to the Minotaur himself. This book will have you reevaluate this infamous monster, maybe he is not as horrifying as you think.

I loved that each of the heroes has a unique voice and form of verse. Fun and quick read.

Teen Review

Riders

By Veronica Rossi

Rated by
Olivia from Leawood Pioneer Library YAAC
Mar 19, 2018

After recovering from an accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself  with strange new powers and a strange cuff he can’t take off. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse. Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen are brought together by an annoyingly secretive girl. Their goal: to help save humanity from an ancient evil that has just awoken.

Teen Review

Vessel

By Sarah Beth Durst

Rated by
Olivia from Leawood Pioneer Library YAAC
Feb 11, 2016

Liyana has trained her entire life to be the vessel of the goddess of her village. She must dance to summon the deity who will then inhabit her body and use magic to bring water to the desert. But at the end of the dance, she is still there. She is blamed by her tribe and abandoned in the desert. She thinks all is lost until she meets, Korbyn, a god inside his vessel. He tells her that the other tribal gods are missing and they set off across the desert in search of the other vessels. The desert tribes cannot survive without their gods’ magic.

Staff Review

There Will Be Lies

By Nick Lake
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Chris K.
Dec 11, 2015

There will be two lies, [the coyote] says. Then there will be the truth. And that will be the hardest of all.

And what lies they are. Even more so, as the coyote promises, the lies exposed by the truth. Nothing will be the same.

Not ever.

And that's not even to mention the small surprises and little white lies along the way.

Staff Review

A Thousand Nights

By E. K. Johnston

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Nov 30, 2015

Johnston weaves a beautiful tale of sisterhood and love, while re-creating the story A Thousand and One Nights. Similar to the original story, this is a desert setting and the king has taken 300 wives, one from each village, before coming to the village of our unnamed heroine. She asks her sister’s mother to help ready her for the king. She wants to take the focus off of her sister and offer herself to the king instead, in order to save her sister. She is swept away with the king, as he has chosen her, and taken to his palace.

Staff Review

The Strange Maid

By Tessa Gratton
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Jennifer R.
May 1, 2015

Signy Valborn  was only seven when she climbed the New World Tree and Odin declared she would be one of his Valkyrie. Since then, the Child Valkyrie has grown to be a disappointment. She has failed to solve the riddle given to her by Odin, and thus has been isolated from the other Valkyrie for three years now. Then, Signy meets the mysterious and somewhat alluring Ned Unferth, a troll hunter who claims he has the answer to her riddle. Signy then embarks on a journey to seek out her destiny, even if it's not the one she anticipated.

 

Staff Review

Cruel Beauty

By Rosamund Hodge
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Jennifer R.
Apr 29, 2015

Before she was even born, Nyx was sold by her brutish father to the demon Gentle Lord that rules over Arcadia. He made a bet with the Gentle Lord, and lost, like many other foolish people in Arcadia. It has suffered for almost 1000 years under the Gentle Lord's rule and the demons that escape his castle from time to time. When a person lays eyes on a demon they either die or go insane. So things don't look too good for Nyx. She arrives at his castle, ready to kill him, as she has been trained, but things of course don't go according to plan.

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