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Series: Medusa Girls, Book One
Publisher: Templar
Format: ARC
Published: 1st September 2012
Number of Pages: 368
Book: For Review*
Genre: Urban
Fantasy, Mythical, Paranormal, Romance, Magic, Mystery, Humour, Action-Adventure,
YA
Recommended
Age: 12+
Contains: Violence,
Swearing, Beasties' Deaths
No Alcohol, Drug References
Author's
Site: Tera Lynn Childs
Watch out, all you mythological beasties roaming the streets of San
Francisco. There’s a new kick-ass team
of demon-fighters in town…
Meet Grace, who just moved to San Francisco. It’s a tiny bit scary, starting over, but it
gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door.
And even more shocking when a girl who looks exactly like her turns up
to fight the monster. Then, there’s
Gretchen, who is fed up of monsters pulling her out into the small hours, especially
on a school night. Getting rid of a minotaur
is just another notch on Gretchen’s combat belt, but she never expected to run
into this girl who could be her double in the process. Finally, there’s Greer, whose life is pretty
sorted, thank you very much. But
everything tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her
doorstep and claim they’re all sisters.
Grace, Gretchen and Greer – three teenage
descendants of Medusa who must embrace their fates in a world where monsters lurk
in plain sight.
Review:
"You
belong to an elite lineage of guardians," she explained.
"Destined to hunt down the monsters that escape into our realm and
send them back into theirs..."
Everyone knows about Medusa, right?
The evil snake-haired woman who turned people to stone with a single
glance, one of the Gorgon sisters. We all know she was a monster, don't
we?
Well, think again. Medusa and her
sisters weren't monsters - they were protectors,
the only ones standing between the human world and the real monsters, the ones trapped in
a hell-like underworld.
But with Medusa dead, it's up to her
ancestors to protect humanity. Speaking of...
Grace Whitfield is just starting
at a new school in San Francisco and she’s doing ok-ish - there's even a cute guy in the picture - until a man with the
head of a bull walks in. Even more shocking is running into her
doppelgänger, who is battling monsters.
Gretchen Sharpe is focused - she's been
kicking beasties' butts for four years, since she ran away from home at the age
of twelve, and was taken in by Ursula, who taught her all about her
destiny. Her duty. What Ursula thoughtfully left out was that
her destiny is a shared one: shared by three
sisters…
Which brings us to Greer Morgenthal,
the high society girl, who is growing up with the picture-perfect life and is
most certainly not impressed
to find her so-called-long-lost-sisters knocking on her door and telling her
that monsters exist and that she exists
to find them.
Yes, Grace, Gretchen and Greer are Medusa's
descendants and they must protect humanity from the monsterpocalypse...
I love Tera's Fins series, so when I was offered the chance to review Sweet Venom, I pounced! I started
reading the moment it landed on
my doorstep, discarding my usual read-the-month-before-publication rule.
Considering this book had two of my favourite aspects -
demon-butt-kicking and Greek mythology - I had huge and excited expectations
going into it, and added to them was the fact I love Tera's other books: I never thought Sweet Venom could live unto my
giant-sized expectations. I was very, very wrong. Sweet Venom just rocked my world
and left me hungry for more, more, more!
I loved how Tera wrote all of her
characters. They were all so real and vivid. And there were just so many to love! Gretchen was so
kickbutt awesome - a total badass demon fighter! She was tough and snarky
and brave and awesome! Reasons to love Gretchen: she uses words like
"monsterpocalypse" and curses
like "what the Hades"
and "son of a centaur".
So yes, she definitely
must go into my Kickbutt Lead Girls Wall of Fame! Grace was shy and nerdy - I just loved all
her geekiness, snark and how she made me laugh! She was so chirpy and
rambly, so hyper and bubbly it was impossible not to love her. Plus, she totally killed me! Now
Greer we didn't meet ‘til the end. She was totally fierce and a bit
snobby and cynical - she was just very Gossip Girl. I didn't know her as
well as the other girls, so I can't wait to learn more about her. But the
whole sister bond was amazing and developed so brilliantly and believably.
I cannot wait to see
where they all go!
Oh, and there were also yummy guys. And
they were all so mysterious and secretive - I am desperate to know all
of their secrets! Anyway, Nick was cute and persistent and funny - but who is he? Thane was a great
brother - but what was his secret?
And Milo was adorable and hot - but does he have a secret like all the other hot guys in this
story? Either way, I love the budding romance between him and Grace!
The writing was just amazing. It's no secret that I love split POVs and Tera is
just one of the best and
most natural users of the
style I've come across. Each girl sounded so different and unique and I loved that it was between sisters rather than love interests.
And I loved the plot just as much: it was action packed, addictive,
fast paced and just so much fun!
Plus, I loved that even though there were cute guys to crush on, the
huge emphasis wasn't on romance, but instead on the sisterly bonds. And,
of course, the mythology - which I loved!
I've always loved Greek myths and absolutely adore the twist Tera put on the Medusa story. Even with
all the Greekish books I've read, I've never come across one with this twist,
or anything near it.
As I said earlier, I love Tera's Fins series to pieces, but man do I love the Medusa
Girls! It's funny, action packed, fast paced, utterly addictive and
just, quite frankly, kickbutt awesome.
And it's totally changed my view of Greek mythology - if my brother ever
calls me Medusa (again) I'm just
gonna smile and say "Thank you", 'cause in my head I'll be thinking
of this book!
So yeah, this book kicked butt. It's
safe to say I'm absolutely and totally desperate for the next in the series.
I'm gonna be first in line to get my greedy little hands on it! Oh,
why must everyone make me love a book so
much, and then make me wait for
I don't even know how long for a sequel?!!?
Star Rating:
4½ Out of 5
Read this
book if you liked:
Fins by Tera Lynn Childs
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Bind Ups by Various
Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan
Challenges
It's Taking Part In:
Happy Reading
Megan
* This
book was received from Templar in exchange for an honest review
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