calebaltair's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
thank you netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!
first thing i was to start with is that i am SO happy this book is a part of a series!! it was such a strong opener and there was so much room for more and i’m glad there will be!
game of strength and storm is a hercules retelling following gen, who’s father has been arrested for a murder she knows he didn’t commit, castor, who wants to rule over her island but can’t because there’s a law that it has to be passed to the male heir, and pollux, castor’s twin brother who’s in line to rule but he just wants to be with his music. gen and castor get sent on impossible tasks, and whoever completes more gets what they want. it had a slow beginning, but it picked up as soon as the girls got assigned the tasks and started completing them.
every character was compelling, but my favorite had to be castor. i love morally grey women what can i say? she has so much room for development and i’m excited to see where she ends up! you can tell she cares about what she does, but she cares about power more and it was great to read. i really enjoyed her relationship with pollux as well. despite the fact that they’re twins, there is a rivalry there since castor wants what pollux has. despite that, though, they don’t want anything to happen to each other, and i really enjoyed reading that.
as for gen, i really enjoyed her character. she’s a mindworker, so she can control animals. the attachment she grows to them was beautiful to watch and something i could relate to. while i didn’t enjoy the pick me attitude she had toward pollux at first, i enjoyed her character overall. her relationship with pollux was adorable and i can’t wait for more of them! i felt they were a bit forced, but there’s room for development in future books. i thought him already having feelings for her was so cute and i loved his internal dialogue where he freaked out whenever he was around her, if you like boy obsessed, you’d like him. (not gonna lie, i thought her and castor were going to get together at first, but it looks like castor does have a sapphic romance forming and i am SO excited for that)
another thing i really enjoyed was the worldbuliding. worldbuliding in fantasy books can be tricky when you don’t explain it correctly, but i think menard did a wonderful job and i thought it was pretty easy to follow. i’m also fascinated by the way the stormmakers powers work. i thought the way castor has to use vials and pollux had to use his violin were super creative and it captivated me every time. i also enjoyed how gen would travel in a whale’s mouth. i can’t say i’ve seen that before.
watching the trials was my favorite part. i couldn’t decide who i was rooting for! castor and gen both had their own strengths and weaknesses so it was very enjoyable watching them competing and seeing who completed what task and how. (i was on the edge of my seat about the hydra task. i was most looking forward to who would complete that and how)
i can’t wait for the next installment of this book and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for any greek mythology retellings!
first thing i was to start with is that i am SO happy this book is a part of a series!! it was such a strong opener and there was so much room for more and i’m glad there will be!
game of strength and storm is a hercules retelling following gen, who’s father has been arrested for a murder she knows he didn’t commit, castor, who wants to rule over her island but can’t because there’s a law that it has to be passed to the male heir, and pollux, castor’s twin brother who’s in line to rule but he just wants to be with his music. gen and castor get sent on impossible tasks, and whoever completes more gets what they want. it had a slow beginning, but it picked up as soon as the girls got assigned the tasks and started completing them.
every character was compelling, but my favorite had to be castor. i love morally grey women what can i say? she has so much room for development and i’m excited to see where she ends up! you can tell she cares about what she does, but she cares about power more and it was great to read. i really enjoyed her relationship with pollux as well. despite the fact that they’re twins, there is a rivalry there since castor wants what pollux has. despite that, though, they don’t want anything to happen to each other, and i really enjoyed reading that.
as for gen, i really enjoyed her character. she’s a mindworker, so she can control animals. the attachment she grows to them was beautiful to watch and something i could relate to. while i didn’t enjoy the pick me attitude she had toward pollux at first, i enjoyed her character overall. her relationship with pollux was adorable and i can’t wait for more of them! i felt they were a bit forced, but there’s room for development in future books. i thought him already having feelings for her was so cute and i loved his internal dialogue where he freaked out whenever he was around her, if you like boy obsessed, you’d like him. (not gonna lie, i thought her and castor were going to get together at first, but it looks like castor does have a sapphic romance forming and i am SO excited for that)
another thing i really enjoyed was the worldbuliding. worldbuliding in fantasy books can be tricky when you don’t explain it correctly, but i think menard did a wonderful job and i thought it was pretty easy to follow. i’m also fascinated by the way the stormmakers powers work. i thought the way castor has to use vials and pollux had to use his violin were super creative and it captivated me every time. i also enjoyed how gen would travel in a whale’s mouth. i can’t say i’ve seen that before.
watching the trials was my favorite part. i couldn’t decide who i was rooting for! castor and gen both had their own strengths and weaknesses so it was very enjoyable watching them competing and seeing who completed what task and how. (i was on the edge of my seat about the hydra task. i was most looking forward to who would complete that and how)
i can’t wait for the next installment of this book and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for any greek mythology retellings!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexism
More...