The Agon is a punishment that occurs on a seven-year cycle. This is when nine Greek gods are forced to return to earth as mortals and be hunted. If they are killed, the person will take the divine power and the immortality that comes with it. Lore decided not to participate in the ritual because her family had been brutally murdered by another bloodline. As the next cycle begins, though, Caster (a childhood friend) and Athena (one of the last original gods) both ask Lore for help. Will Lore take the chance to leave the Agon for good? What costs will Lore need to pay to reenter the contest?

Lore is a stand-alone fantasy novel that is full of action and backstabbing. Readers who are not familiar with the Greek gods can still enjoy this story because Bracken gives all the basic information needed to enjoy the storyline. Events transpire primarily across New York City and those who have visited or watched movies about NYC will recognize many locations. It is nice to read a good fantasy that isn’t part of a series. I recommend Lore to all fans of Riordan and Hamilton.

From the few chapters that I got to read. It was absolutely incredible! The storyline was real gripped your attention right away! The characters seemed detailed and well thought out! I can’t wait to read more of this book when it comes out!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a expert in exchange for an honest review.
Oh. My. Gosh. I can't wait until I can get a full copy of this book because this was AMAZING. Even in these first few chapters, this book drew you in, and I am so ready to read the rest! I am obsessed with this book! The author did a great job with the setting and characters for this book! However, I do hope that they go more in-depth with the main character, Lore's backstory later on in the book because I have a couple of questions about that, but otherwise, the author has done a stunning job with this book, or at least what I was able to read in the sample. I recommend this book to people who love twisted Greek mythology!

This was a chapter sampler when I requested I thought it was the actual book I don’t like reading chapter samples because I’d rather wait for the book

Whoo, I can't wait til this comes out in January! The sample contained the first 6 chapters and I'm hooked - it seems like the type of book that will fill the Percy Jackson hole in my heart. I got serious Hunger Games vibes too. Highly recommend that you add it to your TBR list!

Hell.. This would be already a 5 stars from me just from the chapter sample alone. It has already drawn me in; the story is promising and I already loved the characters. Lore and Caster!! I can feel it, I can feel something brewing between them and I want it! From their first meet-up, I was already hyperventilating, what more on their upcoming scenes. Also, I loved that the background histories of the families and the Agon were presented well, I was able to understand everything quickly and got absorbed into it. I want more, January please come quick.

So glad I got to have a preview of this book. It just makes me realize how badly I'll need it come January. It pulled me in immediately and was like a instantaneous fire. LOVED IT.

5/5 stars

Lore starts off strong, with a compelling concept and writing that supports it well. I love mythological elements of all sorts, and that's definitely something present in Lore. It's been compared to Percy Jackson, and I can see the similarities there, but the approach taken is different. In Lore, gods and mortals are at odds over power, and there's conflict being set up there. The prologue does a good job of laying this scene, a world where gods are punished and hunters vye for their power. The characters introduced have a place in this world whether they want it or not, and the journey that they are being put on feels like it could be impressive.

Because this review is for a sampler, I can't say whether or not I recommend the book as a whole, but I can say that I look forward to being able to read this in full and I will certainly be keeping it in mind for when I give recommendations.

Lore looks amazing! I feel like my high school students, especially the fans of mythology and Percy Jackson, will have an instant attraction to this book. I only read a small sample of the title, but from what I read I know that I will be preordering this for my library.

Pros: Would be easy to promote to students through read-a-likes, book talks, and that amazing cover!

Cons: The beginning was somewhat hard to follow. I felt like I was dropped into the middle of the story. That being said, even though I was confused, the beginning stole my interest.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this stunning book!

I read a chapter preview of Lore by Alexandra Bracken via NetGallery, a story about a young woman brought back into a world full of Greek myth that she tried to leave, caught in an alliance with the Goddess Athena. The first few chapters of this sampler were wonderful, introducing Lore and the urban fantastical world in a fast-paced fashion that had me hooked. This take on Greek mythos combined with Bracken's own take on new gods in a modern setting captured my love for similar modern takes on mythology while creating something completely new. The character I am particularly interested in following is Athena, her cold personality and how she will develop. I am curious to see if the rest of the book will continue the same standard and keep me addicted. I have high hopes for Alexandra Bracken's new book and can't wait for January 5th to roll around.

This chapter sample has me excited for this book and I can't wait to read the full book.I absolutely love Greek mythology so when I heard about this book I knew I would enjoy it.

This chapter sample made me so excited for this book, and I cannot wait to read the full thing in January! Greek mythology is one of my favorite subjects, and when I found out that this book was happening, I was beyond excited, especially since Alex Bracken is one of my favorite authors. I thought the writing was wonderful and the sample definitely built suspense and left me hanging on the edge of my seat to find out what happens next. Will definitely be pre-ordering this one!

I was only able to access a sampler, so I can't give feedback on the novel as a whole, but honestly ... 5/5 for that cover alone?

From what I WAS able to read, LORE promises an exciting new entry from Alexandra Bracken, with everything I've come to expect from her novels. It's incredibly well-written, combining familiar classical elements with an adrenaline-rushing storyline involving mortal gods, vengeance, and shifty alliances. From this little taster, I'll certainly keep an eye out once LORE hits the shelves in January!

As a whole, I liked the sample that I read. I definitely think the book has promise. I'm curious to see where all of this is going. I don't want to post a review on Goodreads since I only read a single chapter. I can say that I liked the world that was being built and am curious to see where all of this is going.

I am extremely excited about this book. I love a good story about Greek mythology. I started this book and was immediately hooked. Even though it was only a sample of the book, I could not put it down! I'm already invested in the characters and cannot wait for the release!

4 stars

This review is for the chapter sampler, not the full text.

I am so glad that I received the arc for the full text after the chapter sampler as I would be really frustrated right now if I did not have the option to keep reading!

Lore is a young woman with a majestic secret that connects her to a whole separate and fascinating world in which myth and reality merge. In the first six chapters- what’s included in the sampler - there’s a bit of action, a dash of world building, and some intriguing character development. I can’t wait to finish and review the rest of the novel!

I was given a free sample of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Overall it was a good book. Strong leading female character. Quirky side kick. A goddess with no manners whatsoever. And a mystery behind the killing of the protagonist family.

I lover the cover the most. Though it was misleading - will not elaborate on this as it will contain spoilers for those who still want to read it.

The story is unique and definitely worth the time. I personally have not read any of the author's other pieces but after this, I will definitely give them a try

This cover is gorgeous, and the story is just as amazing! This reminds me of Percy Jackson and Half-Blood by JLA! I highly recommend this read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this stunning book!

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Lore in exchange for an honest review.

Something about Lore feels distinctly different than Alex Bracken's other books. I'm not sure if it's just because Lore's what I'd consider a middle-fantasy (neither high nor low, I'm sure there's an actual term for it but I don't know it), but the narration is a lot more dense and actual plot based than character based. I'm not saying its not super character driven because it definitely is, but unlike Bracken's other work this one doesn't rely on anywhere near as many character bonding scenes so if that was your jam with her other work, just keep that in mind.

Lore is kind of Percy Jackson meets Hunger Games. Yes, I know mythology fans get mad we compare everything to Percy Jackson, but this is definitely a Greek mythos story in the style of Percy Jackson. Not everything is 100% accurate so if you're a Greek mythos purist (I'm not), beware. Basically, every 7 years the power/soul of the gods enter mortal bodies for 7 days during which hunters try to kill them to claim that power for themselves. Lore left the hunting life after her family was killed, but after stumbling upon a dying god, she and her best friend Miles get pulled back into it in an attempt to save the world.

This took me a while to get into but once I did, I really enjoyed this! Lore is very casually feminist with both its mortals and gods and so many of the individual lines were swoon-worthy. My main issue is that we're in Lore's head the whole time, but instead of simply accepting that the narrative tries to flesh out characters beyond her. Lore literally tells you "yup, this here is her found family now" but since we're in her head the whole time a lot of the characters are left really flat. In my opinion Miles is the worst case of this simply because of how much Bracken started out making it seem like he was going to be a huge part of the plot only to have him kind of just be there in the background. We even get a scene early on of Lore just casually overhearing Miles bond with another character and I figured that'd become a more regular occurrence but his role is pretty much reduced to nothing. There are a few other characters on Lore's team who were given a similar treatment but I feel like confirming any more of her allies might be going into spoiler territory so I'll just leave you at that.

I was only able to get an excerpt for this book but what I have read definitely has me intrigued. I've always bee fascinated by Greek mythology and if this interests you too you should definitely give this book a read. The premise is also very unique and I will definitely pick up the full book for more.