I love the world of Percy Jackson, but this is no Percy Jackson, so I found I really had to fight to get through large parts of it.

Great book, I enjoyed it, good storyline and interesting characters. I would love to read more books by this author. I would highly recommend this book.

Librarian: There's a lot of urban fantasy on the market. A lot. And most of it follows the same basic patterns. This one does, and doesn't. It has some of the basic elements, (hero who believes himself to be evil, vaguely sinister "good" organization), but in more ways it doesn't fit the stereotypes. in my opinion that makes it just novel enough to warrant a spot on library shelves. I also think that there are plenty of readers who will enjoy this one (and its sequel, expect my review tonight) if only they learn about it.
I particularly feel like this series will appeal to 20 somethings who grew up on Percy Jackson and want something slightly more, shall we say, grown up.

Reader:
Percy Jackson meets the Winchesters.
Honestly that's the best way to describe this book. It's a weird descriptor, but it fits. Derek and Liam honestly feel like Dean and Sam, if Dean and Sam lived in a world where the Greek Gods had declared themselves the rulers of California, that is. Just trust me on this one. If you're a fan of Supernatural, you'll probably be a fan of these books too.

I received a copy of this book in exchange of a honest review.

I loved the world building and the fact that finally someone used greek mythology for a book other than YA fantasy. Really the world building was my favorite thing. It interesting, exciting and pretty damn unique if sou ask me,
Still I had a harder time getting into the story, for one because the formatting of the book as a bit to crowded for my taste. Then tehre is the fact that reading form the male POV is not my favorite thing and I needed to getr used to it in the beginnig.

The plot is pretty intriguing and engaging, detailed and vivid. I enjoyed itquite a bit but for some reason the my initial struggle affected my whole reading experince.

I haven’t read anything by this author before, so I’m new to her writing. First off, let me say that she is an excellent writer. I found most of the characters fun and interesting, and the plot was unique and full of action. California ruled by Greek gods? Yes, please! I do admit to some confusion at the beginning of the book because there were all kinds of different types of gods/elements/scions/etc., but once I got used to all the information or at least knew enough to ignore the ones I didn’t really need to know, I settled in and enjoyed the book. And the second half of the book just flew by because I was enjoying myself so much, and there was a lot of action to keep me engaged. The thing that sold the book for me was that I want to read the next one to see what’s going to happen next. If you like Greek mythology, you will love this book. If you don’t, I think you will still like it. Give it a try! Highly recommend! I was provided a complimentary copy of the e-book which I reviewed voluntarily.

I wanted to like this story a lot more than I did. What's worse is that it has so many things that were pretty awesome, but they still just weren't enough. I loved the idea of the Gods coming back after so long a sleep and how they have descendents who are stronger and possess magic. The gods we meet are pretty cool with believably great personalities. Even Ares with his violent ways and torturous methods. Despite all the fighting and the action, somehow I still managed to be bored. And I think it's because there was just so much fighting. Which would probably have been okay, but each time was practically the same and seemed to last forever.

Derek was the greatest disappointment. Considering his age and responsibilities, I was floored when he was constantly acting like a teenager. Admittedly that was usually when he was around a girl he liked. Not sure that makes it any better though. What was the biggest let down however, was that for some reason everybody fears him and just the sound of his name makes people afraid, yet he was always getting his ass kicked in every fight he ended up in. And it wasn't until he used his inner berserker that he would come out on top.

Liam is Derek's younger brother. For the most part I liked Liam because he added some laughs that I desperately needed. But just like his brother, he acts way below his age too often.

Tasked by Ares to go after rogue heirs of the other gods and capture/stop them, the brothers instead end up questioning all they've been told. Now they have to decide who to believe, whose side they want to be on, and how much they are willing to risk. They'll have to deal with more traitors, creatures only ever thought were stories, and unbreakable bonds to the Gods.

Things got more interesting towards the end when more Gods appear but the truth becomes even harder to find. We learn why Derek is able to get away with more than others would (which was definitely cool but also very predictable), and he also gets a pretty awesome new weapon.

I really did like the whole backstory here, but I just don't know how much I'd want to read the next book. The characters just weren't mature enough for their ages and all the fighting did get tedious.

I enjoyed this book, it felt like an adult version of Percy Jackson with some notable exceptions. An adult quest for the lost weapons of the Olympian gods. Can Derek and Liam overcome the obstacles and Visions that have been put in their path? Adult Fans of Rick Riordan will most likely enjoy this book.

Storm of the Gods is the first in a series featuring two brothers who happen to be descendants of Ares living in a re imagined California where the Greeks gods and goddesses now rule. The brothers are ordered (and manipulated) by Ares to take out a gang of rogues loyal to Athena, a goddess who has disappeared and her fellow gods and goddesses are a bit upset with. Little do they know that get tangled in these rogues will lead them down a path to save the world from the seemingly impending escape of the Titans. Interesting world building themed around the gods and goddesses and the infamous stories from mythology. Would have been interesting to hear more about what is going on in the rest of the world considering the way California turned out. You expect epic battle scenes with descendants of Ares, but I just felt they were a bit drawn out in comparison to the non battle scenes, which felt a bit rushed and could have used a bit more attention and development. This made the pace of the book really choppy. I didn't really feel like there was much in the way of character development with the leading male, Derek. He had a rough childhood, is a descendant of Ares, willing to do anything to protect his brother, and has a bit of an anger control issue. Not much else is learned about him. Overall, interesting take on a Greek mythology based California, but could have used better character development and better balance.

Urban fantasy has been one of my favorite genre's to read this year. This was interesting enough to have me hoping book 2 will hook me on a new series.

A story of Gods, mortals and monsters! It took me a while to get into the story with all the different characters and magic however once I had gotten used to the writing style I quickly became a fan. The Areios brothers - Derek and Liam - I found to be a refreshing duo with an unbreakable bond. Derek and Liam were sent out on a task by their God Ares to areest and question rouge scions who soon become their allies in an even greater mission to save not only humanity but the Gods themselves. The author leaves you with a lot of questions unanswered at the end which has left me in need of the second instalment. I eagerly await to read the next!

In this fantasy novel the Greek gods re-emerged from their sleep thirty years ago and took over the state of California. The area has been divided into fourteen parts, each ruled by a different god. Our two young male leads, brothers, have lived their entire lives under the rule of the gods, specifically as scions of Ares the Olympian god of war. Derek and Liam have inherited magical powers from their Ares lineage so are employed as Warriors for him. Derek has the magical element of fire and a berserker rage which often takes over his physical abilities to make him more powerful when he is in battle. In this first book in the series Ares commands Derek to find magical items that will give the god who holds them a huge power advantage. In order to force Derek to do this Ares blackmails him with threats of what awful things will happen to Liam if Derek isn't successful.


The premise sounded good but the execution fell short for me. To be considered such a powerful scion as to have people blanching at the mention of his name, Derek didn't live up to his reputation. If he's such a tough dude, why does it take him pages and pages and pages to get the better of anybody or anything he fights? Did you get that? Pages and pages and pages. His element is fire and yet when he uses it in a fight the opponent gets a long time to fight before the fire is effective. Every time Derek was in a skirmish I ended up just wanting it to be over......finally over. Also Derek's thoughts are filled from first page to last with worry about his brother. Gosh, that got to be super distracting after a while and actually made me resent Liam's very existence.

Not a success with me. The only new element I saw was having California ruled by Olympic gods but that wasn't used enough to make it matter very much. What about the remainder of the United States? I will not be continuing on with this series.


Thank you to NetGalley and Amy Braun for a digital galley of this novel.

I cannot get into this book at all. I am currently 75% of the way through the book and I don't have the motivation to finish it.

The premise of the book sounded great but the main characters are just not clicking with me. Derek annoys me and Liam seems like he was added as an afterthought; he could be a better character if he had more personality.

I am going to try to finish the book because I hate leaving books unfinished and hopefully the last few chapters will get better.

I received a free copy of Storm of the Gods an Arieos Brother Novel by A.R. Braun in exchange for an honest review. The Greek gods have come back, and it’s not a good thing; the gods treat humans as disposable toys. This story is told from the viewpoint of Derek Arios. Derek is an employ and a descendant of Ares, god of war. Derek has spent his entire traumatic life protecting his younger brother Liam, and Ares has no compunction about using Liam against Derek. When Derek learns of a conspiracy against the gods, his loyalty initially leads him in working to foil the conspiracy. However, once the investigation advances, Derek’s loyalties are swayed from his patron/ancestor; he defies Ares and joins the conspiracy. However, Derek’s loyalty to his brother is implacable; Liam is a weakness that can be used to bring Derek to heel.

I liked this book and would be interested in reading the future books in the series. The only drawback is that Liam is spoiled and incredibly whiney/blamey whenever Derek does whatever necessary to save their lives instead of just letting the “bad” guys kill them all. Liam never fails to be unappreciative of all Derek does for him.

#StormOfTheGods #NetGalley

This is a fast paced book. The Olympian Gods have returned and taken over California, but they want more & are trying to retrieve objects of power. Derek and Liam, two of Ares scions get caught up in the battle. It does get confusing with each god having their own different scions & abilities but toward the end it doesn't matter so much. #StormOfTheGods #NetGalley