Review: The Odyssey: A Modern Retelling by Liv Albert

 

Title: The Odyssey: A Modern Reteling
Author: Liv Albert
Illustrator: Hazem Asif
Publication: June 23, 2026 by DK Children
Genre: Greek Mythology, Middle Grade
Find it on: Amazon | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Waterstones
Rating: 5/5★

Voyages across the sea, man-eating monsters, witches, gods, and goddesses: The Odyssey is the ultimate adventure story.

Take a journey across the sea and follow the heroic, catastrophic, and sometimes downright gruesome tales of the Greek king Odysseus in this modern retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey. A story of trickery, lies, and perseverance, watch as Odysseus is tested to the limits by the Cyclops; sirens; and lots of meddling, angry gods.

Written by self-proclaimed Greek myth nerd, and host of the Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! podcast, Liv Albert brings this ancient Greek Epic to life. Liv’s version of The Odyssey portrays Odysseus as he really was: a complex man who did many great things … and just as many bad. Littered with historical facts, maps, and family trees, Liv brings all of her knowledge and expertise to this future classic, making it the only version of The Odyssey you’ll ever want to read.

The Odyssey: A Modern Retelling by Liv Albert is now one of my favorite Odyssey adjacent books. It had it all: writing that was accessible to the reader, illustrations that were beyond stunning and since it's marketed toward younger readers (middle grade), slightly simplified but definitely not dumbed down. We stil got the author's trademark wit that we know and love her for. As the synopsis says, Liv's version does really portray Odysseus exactly as he is, the good and the bad.

If you listen to Liv's podcast "Let's Talk About Myths, Baby" (sing it in your head, if you know you know), you know that with this book you not only get The Odyssey retold by someone who knows the story well but also someone who's truly passionate about Greek mythology.

The book wasn't just a retelling of The Odyssey, it also had several maps, character guides and tidbits about life in ancient Greece which I truly loved. These facts were all really refreshing and fun to read about.

Now I obviously can't end this review without talkined about the illustrations. They're made by Hazem Asif and they are absolutely gorgeous. I think they're some of the most beautiful I've seen in a book about mythology. And they definitely fit all the characters and the story really well.

About the author:

Liv Albert is the host, creator, writer, editor, and producer of Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!, author of several books including the bestselling Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook, and founding member of Mnemosyne: The Memory Collective. Liv is a giant nerd for a great many things, though most notably, Greek & Roman mythology. Liv has a degree in English Literature & Classics (Classical Civilizations) from Concordia University in Montreal where she studied ancient Greece and Rome broadly. 

Liv began her career working for prestigious publishing houses and institutions, including Penguin Random House and Kobo. With a deep love of literature and appreciation for storytelling, the natural evolution of Liv’s educational and professional background (along with her undying love of ancient Greece) led to the creation of Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! along with several published works (and more on the way soon…). 

Originally from the west coast of BC, Liv currently resides in Toronto along with her two cats, Squid and Anchovy, who were each adopted from a place near and dear to Liv’s heart (Vancouver Island and Greece, respectively).

Website | Instagram | Facebook | Goodreads

 

 

Review: The Return by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: The Return
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Titan #1
Publication: February 16th 2015 by Spencer Hill Press
Genre: New Adult ~ Paranormal
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo
Rating: 5/5

 

The Fates are cackling their bony asses off…

It’s been a year since Seth made the deal with the gods that pledged his life to them. And so far, the jobs they’ve given him have been violent and bloody–which is kind of all right with him. But now Apollo has something else in mind for Seth. He’s got to play protector while keeping his hands and fingers off, and for someone who really has a problem with restraint, this new assignment might be the most challenging yet.

Josie has no idea what this crazy hot guy’s deal might be, but it’s a good bet that his arrival means the new life she started after leaving home is about to be thrown into an Olympian-sized blender turned up to puree. Either Josie is going insane or a nightmare straight out of ancient myth is gunning for her.

But it might be the unlikely attraction simmering between her and the golden-eyed, secret-keeping Seth that may prove to be the most dangerous thing of all.

Because history has once again been flipped to repeat.

Book 1 in the new adult paranormal TITAN series, spin-off to the best selling COVENANT series.

I've been a huge fan of Seth since the days of the Covenant series. So I'm sure that Seth having his own books is a pretty big deal for everyone who loves Seth. With that said, I can absolutely say that The Return was everything I expected and so much more. 

This book starts a year after the Covenant series ended where Seth pledged his life to the gods after all the shit that went down. He still feels terrible about everything that happened, especially where Alex was involved. I must admit that with the Covenant books that I haven't always liked Seth because of the things he did so it's really interesting to read about his own feelings about everything that happened. When Apollo assigns Seth to protect Josie, who turns out to be not just  a mere mortal, things start changing for Seth.

Which brings us to Josie. I wasn't too sure about her in the beginning but she totally grew on me. She goes through quite a lot in this book like finding out she's a demi-god, losing her grandparents in a pretty traumatic way, all the while getting all this information dumped on her about the world of gods and that she'll have to someday fight the titans. Yeah, I think she did pretty well not totally breaking and a huge part of that was Seth, in my opinion. 

You'd think with reading five Covenant books you'd might know a lot about this world, but there's so much more. I can't get enough of this world. And of course I loved Apollo being a pretty big part of this book. I adore apollo and I love his interactions with Seth. It's hilarious the way they dislike each other and Apollo being Josie's father, complicates quite a lot of things. Also a few other characters make an appearance like Alex's uncle and Deacon and Luke. I might've flipped out a little bit when I saw those last two coming in the book. I love them. They added a lot of hilarity and familiarity to the book.

So overall, The Return is one hell of a comeback for Seth. I barely stopped reading the book and I just loved Seth with Josie. I also have to say that I love that this book is new adult. I think that was a really smart decision of Jennifer L. Armentrout due to Seth being twenty-one and everything. And I happen to love her new adult books. Bring on the next one, please!

Quotes:

In the short period of time I'd been around him, I'd seen so many different sides of him. It was like the Faces of Seth. He could go from sullen and serious, to teasing and downright annoying, to mischievous and playful, to seductive and dangerlously deceptive in a matter of minutes. I'd ever known anyone in my life like him, and I doubted many people, mortal or not-so-mortal, could claim to know how his head worked.

A column of shimmery blue light pierced the cathedral ceiling, shooting down to the floor a few feet from the female Sentinel. As the light faded, a god was revealed.
The Sentinels hastily backed off. A few even dropped to their knees, unmindful of the mess on the floor. I, on the other hand, raised my right hand and scratched my brow with my middle finger.

The girl had... grit. Most mortals, after finding out they weren't exactly mortal, that spirits and Titans were after them, and that their father was a legendary god of dickdom, would've flipped their shit by this point.

About the Author:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

# 1 New York Times and International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA.
She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Jennifer would love to hear from you. If you have questions about any of her books, would like to set up an interview, book signing, etc, please use the email address below. Please check out each book/series individual page for more information about each title and the FAQ section.
For rights information on any of her titles, please contact Kevan Lyon from Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
If you are requesting an ARC please contact the publisher of that book.
To contact Jennifer directly, please email: jenniferlarmentrout@live.com

Review: Prisoner of Poseidon by Mary Bernsen

Title: Prisoner of Poseidon
Author: Mary Bernsen
Series: Villain's Love #2
Publication: February 9th 2015
Genre: Adult ~ Paranormal ~ Romance
Purchase: Amazon
Rating: 4/5

Ursula knew no other life than one as a slave. Could the gentle touch of a stranger be enough to convince her there is more?

Sold to Poseidon at the age of seventeen, Ursula spent the next four years serving as his submissive concubine. She loves him with a fierce loyalty, but she dared to defy her king for the first time by refusing to kill a spirited young girl when he ordered it. Now, she must find the escaped trespasser and return her to Atlantis or lose her own head.

In Greece she finds Hercules, the missing girl's former employer. He introduces Ursula to a world of new experiences and freedoms that she has never before known. Though thrilling and intoxicating, her new lifestyle could only be temporary. She must finish her quest and return to her master before she finds herself addicted to this new, softer love of a stranger.

Prisoner of Poseidon was a great book. I actually ended up liking it a little more than the previous one, Spawn of Medusa (even though that was also a very enjoyable read). So it's official, I'm a fan of this series and I hope another one will be released also.

The main reason for liking this book a tad more than the first book was basically the romance. I wasn't a fan of it in Spawn of Medusa but I loved the relationship between Ursula and Hercules. I was already a fan of Hercules back when I read the first book so I wasn't surprised that I ended up loving him even more. 

At first I wasn't so sure about Ursula because in the first book she acted pretty crazy because of her devotion to Poseidon (that rat bastard...) but I quickly came to like her once Poseidon let her go on her quest. She seems to get her spark as well as a spine back once she meets and gets to know Hercules. 

The thing that I like so much about these books is how the main characters (both in this book as well as the first one) are very flawed. They're not exactly nice people (though they're good deep inside) from the start. Ursula sets out hunt down and hurt Ambrosia because Poseidon tells her to but eventually she does the right thing. And of course I'm a huge fan of the Greek mythology.

So all in all, Prisoner of Poseidon was a book I thoroughly liked and actually finished in less than a day. I just wanted to know how it was going to end, I enjoyed it that much! 

About the Author:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Mary Bernsen is a southwest Florida native currently living in Punta Gorda with her two beautiful children and a third, much larger child whom she affectionately calls husband. She is the Amazon Best Selling Author of The Roman Mongrel, Healing The Bayou, and The Villain's Love Series. She spends her days creating characters on the good side of twenty-five because she is in serious denial about the fact that she is now on the bad side of it.

Review: Hero, Cursed by Diantha Jones

Title: Hero, Cursed
Author: Diantha Jones
Series: Mythos #2; Oracle of Delphi #3.5
Publication: August 17th 2014
Genre: Young Adult ~ Greek Mythology
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Cover Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating: 5/5

Before he knew the Oracle.
Before he knew the Quad.
Before the Great Unknown threatened his world.
He was a hero, cursed forever.

Shunned by a family that doesn't understand him, demigod Lenka Tahile aka "Swindle" is a complete loner and he likes it that way. Then he meets the hero, Ace Remedy, the brother of an infamous demigod Prince, and his life goes from bad to worse. Ace is loud, rude, and disruptive to his peaceful existence in every way. He's also hilarious and daring, and Swindle ends up finding a friend just when he thought he'd never have another.

But little does he know, becoming friends with Ace was all part of the Fates' plan. Now his past is slowly coming back to haunt him and there's nothing he can do to stop it. Nothing but try not to bring to light the lost love, the failed hopes, and the cursed existence that he would kill to keep in the dark.

I was not chosen. I was cursed.


Diantha Jones really surprised me with Hero, Cursed — This is Swindle like you've never seen him before. 

I can't express enough how much I love these Mythos books. It gives us insight into the characters and let's us get to know them better and understand where they're coming from. I think this is especially good with Swindle because he's one of my favorite characters and there has been so much mystery surrounding him.

I loved seeing Swindle's past and how his curse started. I couldn't have been more surprised by his involvement with Jason and the Argonauts. I think my exact reaction was: "Jason?! *jaw drops*" Yeah, that sounds about right. I must say that I really feel bad for everything Swindle went through, with the curse, losing his mother over and over again. And of course Apollo has to make everything so much harder for him. Poor Swindle!

There are some characters that we know from the Oracle of Delphi books making an appearance. Of course there's Ace — I always enjoy reading about him. I love his and Swindle's bromance. They're so much fun together. I was thrilled to see Strafford coming in too, sort of... It totally was a mind fuck. Thanks for that, Diantha. And Apollo, naturally, was being a pain in Swindle's ass. There were more familiar characters but I'll just let you discover it on your own. 

So overall, another fantastic book by Diantha Jones with awesome action, great writing and an ending that made me scream inside. Hero, Cursed was just as amazing as I was hoping it would be. Lenka "Swindle" Tahile is definitely one of the more intriguing characters in the Oracle of Delphi and Mythos books. I loved this story about him and as always I can't get enough of this world. More, please!

About the Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

Diantha Jones was born the day thousands of turkeys sacrificed their lives to fill millions of American bellies on November 22 which also happened to be Thanksgiving Day (Her mother says she owes her a turkey). She is a Journalism graduate who wants to be a career novelist (of books, not Facebook posts). When not writing or working, she is reading on her Nook, getting drunk on Red Bulls, being hypnotized by Netflix or on a mission to procure french fries.

The Oracle of Delphi fantasy series is her first series. She is also the author of Mythos: Stories from Olympus, a companion series, and there is another fantasy series in the works.

Bookish Survey: Greek Mythology Style - Part Two!

Created by Jasmine @ Flip That Page

Without further ado, here is part two of the survey! =D

Percy Jackson

a brave, spirited natural leader with a sarcastic sense of humor, and a will to save friends and enemies alike

Favorite protagonist: MacKayla Lane from the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning - The first one coming to mind is Mac. Why? She's a great leading character who came a long way from being the sparkly blonde to asskicking fae slayer!

Annabeth Chase

intellectual genius with a strong mind, brave heart, and a love for architecture

Series / book with the cleverest plot: Oracle of Delphi by Diantha Jones - Also the first one coming to mind because in each book there's this prophecy. I always try to find out what it means. I never do, though. But in the end it always makes sense. I just love it!

Jason Grace

 has a moderate sense of humor, but a strong sense of honor, justice and compassion, often described as perfect

Book with an epic finale: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer - The last Artemis Fowl book and yes it was pretty epic. I hated to see this series ending but it was a fantastic and unexpected ending!

Piper McLean

aggressive and persuasive but down to earth, caring and loving towards Jason, her friends and family

Book with a tempting synopsis (one you haven’t read!): Cleopatra's Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter - I love this author, I love books that have to do with ancient Egypt and the description sounds pretty intriguing. I'd love to read about Cleopatra and Mark Anthony's daughter!

Leo Valdez

good-natured and energetic, funny but intelligent, honest and witty, and is skilled with machines

Book that made you laugh: Anubis Speaks! by Vicky Alvear Shecter - Again a book by this author but it really made me laugh. It was written in a way that was very entertaining. Anubis is so funny!

Hazel Levesque

bright  and outgoing despite an unfortunate childhood, is mature for her age and has a love for horseback riding

Favorite character with a tragic past: Will Herondale from The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare - Could I have picked anyone else? No. Definitely not. Will is by far my favorite character with a tragic past. 

Frank Zhang

somewhat shy, cynical, and clumsy, though he possesses a strong sense of duty, loyalty, and love

Book you loved more than you thought you would: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - I thought this would be a book for me because I've never been really into this genre or topic but I ended up loving it, although it's really sad and now John Green is one of my favorite authors!

Nico di Angelo

grim, solitary, powerful and mysterious, highly unpredictable and selectively affectionate

Most mysterious character you’ve ever encountered: Jericho Barrons from the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning - Who else, right? We've had five books in this series and still Barrons is an enigma!

Grover Underwood

cheerful, upbeat and protective satyr who chews on furniture when he gets nervous

Book you won’t read due to warnings against them: I really don't know... but I do tend to stay away from books that have angels in them.

Clarisse La Rue

arrogant and hot-tempered, but brave, strong and protective of camp

Most annoying character: Adam from Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi - I'm saying Ignite Me because he was the most annoying in this book. What the hell was wrong with him. Seriously... It's like he turned into a psycho, which is saying a lot since I used to think Warner was the psycho.

The end! ^^

Bookish Survey: Greek Mythology Style - Part One!

Created by Jasmine @ Flip That Page 

This survey is in the style of Percy Jackson. I've only read the first book in that series but I loooooove Greek Mythology so even though this was done a while back I still wanted to do this survey. 

This is part one, I will post the second part next week because it's a loooong survey.

So here we go!

Zeus (Jupiter)

God of the Sky and Thunder / King of the Gods

Favorite book (choose your own category!): Airman by Eoin Colfer - Usually I'd say Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer is my favorite book, but I re-read Airman not so long ago and I must admit that I think this is Colfer's best work. I'd just forgotten how amazing and beautiful this story was.

Poseidon (Neptune)

God of the Seas and Earthquakes

Book that drowned you in feels: The Fault of Our Stars by John Green - This book was a very unexpected read for me. I hadn't planned on reading it because I didn't think it was my kind of book but then a friend of mine send it to me and I kind of had to. I loved it, I cried, I drowned in feels and now I'm planning to see the movie soon. 

Hades (Pluto)

God of the Underworld

Favorite book with a dark / ominous plot: Nevermore by Kelly Creagh - Not only is this one of my favorite books ever but it's also deliciously dark, especially the Edgar Allan Poe things that are involved.

Hera (Juno)

Goddess of Marriage and Family

Cutest fictional couple: Wanda and Ian from The Host by Stephenie Meyer - Gosh, this was a hard one. I know so many cute fictional couples but I decided to go with an old favorite of mine. Wanda and Ian, well, they were just so adorable together and Ian didn't even care that she's a Soul. Cheetos = true love! 

Athena(Minerva)

Goddess of Wisdom, Handicraft and Strategic Warfare

Series with the best world-building: Fever series by Karen Marie Moning - This series has by far the best world-building ever and with every book we find out more and more about this dark and complex world!

Aphrodite (Venus)

Goddess of Love and Beauty

Most beautiful cover on a 2014 release: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge - I read this book so long ago, it's hard to remember this is actually a 2014 release. The cover is amazing and so is the book. I loved the cover so much that even though I read it as an e-arc that I bought a physical copy.

Ares (Mars)

God of War and Bloodshed

Most violent book you’ve ever read: Quintessentially Q by Pepper Winters - This book is by far the most violent book I've ever read. I loved it, though!

Hephaestus (Vulcan)

God of Blacksmiths and Fire

Scorching hot swoon worthy character: Apollo from Lover, Divine by A. Star - Apollo in this book was definitely "scorching hot swoon worthy". I'm glad we got to see this side of him. 

Artemis (Diana)

Goddess of the Hunt and Virginity

Favorite Kick-Ass Heroine: Holly Short from Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer - Nobody kicks ass like Captain Holly Short. She's the first female captain of the LEP (Lower Elements Police) and that is all kinds of awesome! 

Phoebus Apollo (Apollo)

God of Light and Healing

Sequel book that redeemed its series: The One by Kiera Cass - This is a hard one but I decided to go with this book. I loved the first book (The Selection) by hated the second one (The Elite), which caused me to dislike everything in this series. But The One wasn't actually bad. I had expected the worst but I did like the ending so you can say it's redeemed the series.

Hermes (Mercury)

Messenger God of Thieves and Commerce

Book with the best message: The Wish List by Eoin Colfer - This is maybe a strange choice but this was another hard one for me to think about. I don't read a lot of books that have deep messages but I think The Wish List has a pretty good one: 'It's never too late for redemption and helping other people.'

Hestia (Vesta)

Goddess of the Hearth and Home

Book with the most relatable character: Katy from Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout - Okay, so I cheated with this question. It was supposed to be most relatable story but I couldn't quite find one so I changed it to character. Aside from her association with the aliens (because, no, I never met or lived next door to aliens... YET!) Katy is pretty alike to me I guess, with her being a blogger and how she fangirls over books. Wouldn't mind meeting Daemon, though...

Demeter (Ceres)

Goddess of Fertility and Agriculture

Favorite bookish setting: Haven City from Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer - I've always dreamed to go to Haven City. I guess you could compare it to any major city that we have in the world, only it's underground with fairies, elves, dwarves, goblins, pixies and so on... 

Dionysus (Bacchus)

God of Wine and Celebration

2014 / 2015 release you are most anticipating: Burned by Karen Marie Moning - There is no other book that I'm more excited about. It's been pushed back a lot, but hey, perfection takes time. I'm sure once it comes out (January 20th 2015) that we're all going to be amazed!

And that was part one, people.
Do you have a favorite question or answer? 

Let me know what you think!