Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips ★★☆☆☆
Being a Greek god is not all it once was. Yes, the twelve gods of Olympus are alive and well in the twenty-first century, but they are crammed together in a London townhouse--and none too happy about it. And they've had to get day jobs: Artemis as a dog-walker, Apollo as a TV psychic, Aphrodite as a phone sex operator, Dionysus as a DJ.
Even more disturbingly, their powers are waning, and even turning mortals into trees--a favorite pastime of Apollo's--is sapping their vital reserves of strength.
Soon, what begins as a minor squabble between Aphrodite and Apollo escalates into an epic battle of wills. Two perplexed humans, Alice and Neil, who are caught in the crossfire, must fear not only for their own lives, but for the survival of humankind. Nothing less than a true act of heroism is needed-but can these two decidedly ordinary people replicate the feats of the mythical heroes and save the world?
Even more disturbingly, their powers are waning, and even turning mortals into trees--a favorite pastime of Apollo's--is sapping their vital reserves of strength.
Soon, what begins as a minor squabble between Aphrodite and Apollo escalates into an epic battle of wills. Two perplexed humans, Alice and Neil, who are caught in the crossfire, must fear not only for their own lives, but for the survival of humankind. Nothing less than a true act of heroism is needed-but can these two decidedly ordinary people replicate the feats of the mythical heroes and save the world?
I don't know, this just kind of fell flat for me.
A neat concept weighted down by mediocre delivery and a kind of incohesive plot. Despite all the trickery, mischief and revenge going on I felt oddly detached from the whole thing. And what's worse is that I never really found myself enjoying the book.
At under 300 pages, by the time things really got rolling plot-wise I figured I might as well continue to plow through for lack of anything else to do. And truthfully, I made myself go back to it numerous times, reading it in fits and starts. Because I knew if I let it sit too long, I probably wouldn't go back at all.
Which, all in all, is a real shame. Because I adore mythology. And there were glimmers of really interesting story in here. The slow decay and boredom of the gods. The twisted familial relationships. The thoughtless need for revenge.
But it all just sort of stumbled on into mediocrity. Hence, the 2 star rating of "it was okay".
I wouldn't bother with this one. If you're looking for something along these lines with a hell of a lot more depth, I'd go for Neil Gaiman's American Gods. It's definitely going to make you put in a lot more effort than this breezy read... but it'll be worth it.
