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mehsi's review against another edition
4.0
Since I loved the Grimmtastic Girls I thought I would try out this series as well. Since it is kind of the same but now with Greek Goddesses and Gods. :)
And yes, this was indeed pretty much Grimmtastic Girls. Only now instead of Fairy tales we have: Greek Gods/Goddesses, lessons that fit with mythology, set on Mount Olympus, Boarding School and some other similarities.
Note: I don't mind this at all, I like it, though it felt a bit weird. I kept expecting one of the girls from Grimmtastic to pop up, since it all felt so similar. :)
Athena was a wonderful girl, smart, sweet, nice and more! I loved her inventions (olives, shampoo stuff and more!) and I loved how hard she tried to fit in. Because until just a bit ago she thought she was just mostly human and she lived on Earth instead of on the mountain of Gods/Goddesses. She really had a hard time, mostly because she only just got her powers, and while everyone else has gotten education on basic stuff, she got dropped in school without any warnings or any help.
Oh, and did I mention I love how she never forgot her best friend from Earth? I was kind of worried their relationship would strand. After all, Athena is now a Goddess and living in a place very very high up. A place that no one mortal can go to. Luckily I didn't need to worry. The ending was truly wonderful.
I can't wait to read more of Athena, though I also want to know more about her friends and all the other Gods/Goddesses/etc. and see how they are living there and how they got to be Gods/Goddesses/etc..
I also loved the whole mythology part. A lot of things had me laughing and a lot of things had me happy. I love mythology, so I loved seeing things like Medusa and her powers to turn stuff into stone, or see the whole battle of Troy, or see Odysseus and his journey.
I didn't really like Zeus. I don't like how he is portrayed here. I expected him to be a tough, great guy with a knack for zapping people. But it turns out he is totally mellow and quite annoying. He embarrasses his daughter almost daily and while she doesn't really mind it that much, I minded it a lot. He also had quite a few weird expectations of Athena. Like her learning all 2000+ rules in one day, or her just doing perfect in everything while she has no clue what to do at times.
But all in all I am going to read the series further. Because these are just perfect as a fun snack. And also I love boarding school like books, and this one is perfect!
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
And yes, this was indeed pretty much Grimmtastic Girls. Only now instead of Fairy tales we have: Greek Gods/Goddesses, lessons that fit with mythology, set on Mount Olympus, Boarding School and some other similarities.
Note: I don't mind this at all, I like it, though it felt a bit weird. I kept expecting one of the girls from Grimmtastic to pop up, since it all felt so similar. :)
Athena was a wonderful girl, smart, sweet, nice and more! I loved her inventions (olives, shampoo stuff and more!) and I loved how hard she tried to fit in. Because until just a bit ago she thought she was just mostly human and she lived on Earth instead of on the mountain of Gods/Goddesses. She really had a hard time, mostly because she only just got her powers, and while everyone else has gotten education on basic stuff, she got dropped in school without any warnings or any help.
Oh, and did I mention I love how she never forgot her best friend from Earth? I was kind of worried their relationship would strand. After all, Athena is now a Goddess and living in a place very very high up. A place that no one mortal can go to. Luckily I didn't need to worry. The ending was truly wonderful.
I can't wait to read more of Athena, though I also want to know more about her friends and all the other Gods/Goddesses/etc. and see how they are living there and how they got to be Gods/Goddesses/etc..
I also loved the whole mythology part. A lot of things had me laughing and a lot of things had me happy. I love mythology, so I loved seeing things like Medusa and her powers to turn stuff into stone, or see the whole battle of Troy, or see Odysseus and his journey.
I didn't really like Zeus. I don't like how he is portrayed here. I expected him to be a tough, great guy with a knack for zapping people. But it turns out he is totally mellow and quite annoying. He embarrasses his daughter almost daily and while she doesn't really mind it that much, I minded it a lot. He also had quite a few weird expectations of Athena. Like her learning all 2000+ rules in one day, or her just doing perfect in everything while she has no clue what to do at times.
But all in all I am going to read the series further. Because these are just perfect as a fun snack. And also I love boarding school like books, and this one is perfect!
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
brendalovesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This was really cute, and something I think my younger self would have really loved. Even as an adult, I enjoyed it.
jbkep's review against another edition
2.0
Despite a few funny moments (cheese styx comes to mind), I wasn't much a fan of this. I can enjoy kids books but this one... I don't know, maybe it's one of those that you'd have to like from childhood.
zabcia's review against another edition
4.0
80%
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would; it was a lot more mature and civilized than I expected it to be. I felt like a lot of the reactions characters had to their situations and to one another seemed pretty realistic, whereas a lot of books for this age range and in this genre would tend to lean towards badly forced false drama.
I loved the concept of gods playing a board game and affecting real people on Earth; very "devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes" of them.
Also, the double-take love triangle meme on page 60; I see you, and I respect you.
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would; it was a lot more mature and civilized than I expected it to be. I felt like a lot of the reactions characters had to their situations and to one another seemed pretty realistic, whereas a lot of books for this age range and in this genre would tend to lean towards badly forced false drama.
I loved the concept of gods playing a board game and affecting real people on Earth; very "devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes" of them.
Also, the double-take love triangle meme on page 60; I see you, and I respect you.
bookishrealm's review against another edition
4.0
This is such a great start to a series that I would recommend for younger kids who are interested in reading Percy Jackson, but may not be ready for such advanced text. Each book of the series focuses on one specific goddess and this is about Athena.
Athena the Brain opens with Athena learning that her father is Zeus and that he wants her to attend Mount Olympus Academy. The plot itself revolves around Athena meeting the other goddess characters including Aphrodite, Artemis, Persephone, and Pandora. Medusa plays the role of the mean girl. And while it seems to have no purpose, readers find out the origin of her feelings towards the end of the book. Athena also interacts with some of the gods that are in training like Poseidon. Because of the target audience, I found this book to be fast paced and fun. It's not 100 percent accurate in terms of the myths, but this series was created to generate some interest around Greek mythology for younger readers. The complexity would not be appropriate in this series. It does; however, have some emphasis on great themes like friendship. There are also some fun and interesting scenes like how they have a class project where they control Greek heroes attempting to keep them alive. Overall, this is a great chapter books series that I've seen a lot of children at the library really enjoy. If you know of a child that wants to read Percy, but may be a little too young I would recommend giving this one a try.
Athena the Brain opens with Athena learning that her father is Zeus and that he wants her to attend Mount Olympus Academy. The plot itself revolves around Athena meeting the other goddess characters including Aphrodite, Artemis, Persephone, and Pandora. Medusa plays the role of the mean girl. And while it seems to have no purpose, readers find out the origin of her feelings towards the end of the book. Athena also interacts with some of the gods that are in training like Poseidon. Because of the target audience, I found this book to be fast paced and fun. It's not 100 percent accurate in terms of the myths, but this series was created to generate some interest around Greek mythology for younger readers. The complexity would not be appropriate in this series. It does; however, have some emphasis on great themes like friendship. There are also some fun and interesting scenes like how they have a class project where they control Greek heroes attempting to keep them alive. Overall, this is a great chapter books series that I've seen a lot of children at the library really enjoy. If you know of a child that wants to read Percy, but may be a little too young I would recommend giving this one a try.
bookishrealm's review against another edition
3.0
I've read some of the original series and they were so I'm not surprised that I've found the graphic novel adaptation to just be okay as well. Unfortunately, this didn't work out super well for me and aspects of it were confusing and not plotted in a proper manner. I thought Athena wanted to enter the inventors competition, appeared to set up for the competition, only for readers to find out that she never truly entered. I think I understood the intention of that, but it didn't translate well into graphic novel format. Also, I'm confused on how Poseidon was a child at this school, but Zeus was the principle. That didn't makes sense considering the two are brothers. The artwork was okay and it was interesting getting to see all of the Greek gods and goddesses. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series, but I understand why people find them so enjoyable.
fernthepanda's review against another edition
3.0
Though some of the figures in this book seem actually pretty close to their "historical" counterparts, others are pretty far off. Still, though this is an amusing read. Mythological inaccuracies aside, this was a good kid's book. Cheesy? Yes, but it was to be expected.
sebbyroth's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0