Review: Envy's Curse

Envy's Curse Envy's Curse by A.R. Von
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Medusa suffered an unjust blow. Greek mythology is something that always intrigued me as a child. It is because the gods and goddesses are so capricious. They are so different than the God of Christians. The Greek deities are so powerful yet so flawed. It is an object lesson for how power corrupts and also how hubris can lead to deadly consequences. What is also interesting is it shows how the monsters and villains also have their side of the story. In Envy's Curse, author A.R. Von pulls a Gregory Maguire with Medusa.

Full disclosure, I am a bit more favourable to this book because I am partial to like any Greek mythology based stories, especially with Poseidon in it. In addition, I always liked Medusa because I thought she was unfairly turned and I love snakes. The Medusa in this story is before she is turned into a bitter killer gaze beast. Medusa is a shy virgin crushing on Poseidon. Unfortunate for her, another goddess is a crazy stalker for Poseidon and takes exception to Medusa and Poseidon's love.

The concept of this story is intriguing. The character interpretation of an existing well known pantheon is plausible. I never did like Athena. The character interaction and inner dialogue needs a little more work. Perhaps it is written purposely for Poseidon and Medusa to speak in extremes and behave is a sort of young-adult emotion driven manners. This behavior dragged the story pace down and wore on me after several chapters. I could have done without Medusa explain how horrid her sisters were to her because it ended up doing little for the story. There are small things here and there which bothered me a bit, like how shocked Poseidon was about the betrayals of friendships. Some of these details might have been meant for more character development or world building. Personally, I felt those could have been edited out for a tighter read.

Overall, this story contains all the elements of a Greek Tragedy with the exception of a terrible ending. Fortunately, this ends in a happily ever after with hints about Poseidon's godhead. With the mention of a Kraken, it captures my interest again at the end and I want to know more. Stories with Kraken will inevitably pull me in. Recommended for fantasy readers who enjoy Greek mythology reinterpreted.

* Review copy provided via Reading Alley in exchange for an honest review.

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