2.5 stars.
Lore is a descendant of the house of Perseus, living her days in NYC making extra money in an underground boxing ring and occasionally hanging out with her friend Miles. As a member of the house of Perseus, she can participate in the Agon, the hunt every 7 years where members of houses like hers can hunt down the Greek Gods--or those who have hunted them before and taken their powers--to gain immortality for themselves, not that she wants to. Unfortunately for her, Lore is forcibly drawn into the Agon by the arrival of someone she's thought was dead and the goddess Athena, the latter of whom shows up near-death on her doorstep. Thus, Lore's Agon trials begin whether she wants it to or not.
The world-building is interesting, and probably the standout part. The prologue does the typical dumping-the-reader-into-a-situation-that-they-don't-understand-but-name-drops-a-lot-of-things-and-builds-intrigue thing, but the rest of the chapters are a bit better with the information they dole out.
The plot moves quickly, which is good. It starts off with the prologue and the few chapters after that were a bit iffy for me, but once the Athena shows up it starts to gets better.
The writing style is fine. There's a few funny lines and a few awkward lines, but for the most part it's pretty average. It works.
Lore, unfortunately, did not connect with me. She seems like every "cool" heroine we've seen in YA for the last decade--troubled past, has a revenge motive, self-driven, and physically strong. She also wants to take down the patriarchal ideals of the other houses, which is admirable but not enough to save her. Her friend Miles is much more likable, and Athena is at least interesting by virtue of being, well, Athena. I can understand why Lore is the PoV protagonist, and I feel like many readers will be focused on the plot and not mind Lore, but I wish she had more personality to her.
In short, I'm sure a lot of people will like this, but I at least have to have some connection to the main character or a really, really good plot to keep me going, and this sampler failed on the first front. This wasn't unpleasant to read but I started to not want to go back to it. I will probably not read the full book when it comes out.

I really liked this preview, looking forward to reading the rest of the book some day!
I might also check out the authors other books because I really liked the writing style.

Author #Alexandra Bracken has a hit. The novel #Lore which is yet to be published and this was a sample was great. If I receive a Arc the review will go on my blog #Maddie_approves_book_reviews on Instagram.
Thank you,
#Netgalley, #Alexandra Bracken and # Disney Worldwide

This chapter sampler started strong and I can't wait to see where it goes! This is going to be another fantastic one from Alexandra Bracken!

This was an interesting sample. The beginning was very confusing. The main character was very intense but I don't really connect with her. I am interested in the rest.

[review of the sampler provided by netgalley]
I must admit I was first attracted by the cover which is splendid. Also, being a fan of Greek mythology, it called me to read it.
I know it's only the sampler, but I am so excited because this starts off so well. It has everything I need from a beginning therefore I'm intrigued and I need more. I can tell from this 6 chapters that the story is going to be very entertaining, fun and action packed. Lore appears to be a type of characters that I appreciate, and the others we got to meet intrigued me enough.
How I am supposed to wait until January to get to the bottom of that story !!

Interesting to say the least; the way that this sample gives you something, but also takes away that something from you is truly intriguing. I love the way the story is written and the set-up is truly enthralling.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this sampler.

Well, to say I’m intrigued would be an understatement.
You can tell by the first 60 pages that it’s going to be an entertaining story. I’m not going to lie, there is a lot of infos dumping but it didn’t slow me down or make me lose interest : not at all, I need more! (Honestly, I might have been confused because I’m not an expert in Mythology even though I find it fascinating).
Lore is already one of those characters I love: she’s down to earth, has a dark past, cares about others and she can fight! Even the side characters - Miles, Castor, etc - caught my interest.
I must admit Lore didn’t really take the time to consider the pact she was going to make but it didn’t bother me that much.
I loved the dark atmosphere, the urban setting and the writing style really pleased me.
In short, this beginning is promising and I’ll definitely pick this book up to find out what happens next (and because it’s gorgeous).

I'm so intrigued so far with this sampler. Bracken drew me in again with her writing yet again. Lore's story is interesting and I want to read more.

I received a sample of Bracken's much anticipated Lore! The pacing is fast and in the first few pages I am already rooting for Lore and her quest. Bracken's prose and plots are always a refreshing read. Thus far I am thrilled to be transported to the rainy Manhattan and the stories of Old/New gods. It is an exciting read and the suspense/pacing is dynamic.
I'll definitely be reading this book and recommend it to booklovers of greek/modern fantasy and plot twisty with solid writing worlds.

The prologue really threw me off right from the beginning. I didn't know what was happening until the last moment. However, I really enjoyed Lore's character. The underground fight ring scene was great and really set up the tension and her motives! I'm not sure if I'm super hyped for this book yet, but i AM looking forward to reading more!

A fabulous snippet to what appears to be an exciting new series from Alexandra Bracken. Cannot wait to read the full book!

A great sampler! I love Greek methology but this made me want to dive straight into Lore properly! I absolutely can't wait for this book to be released and im on my way to preorder it now!

The few chapters I did get to read were intriguing and gave us some insight into our characters which was nice. Im throughly looking forward to reading more.

I really enjoyed this sample of Lore! I'm a big fan of Greek Mythology and I love the idea of throwing the gods into mortal shells for a week. Lore, herself, is an interesting heroine I don't love her yet but she's tough and no-nonsense at also is part of an underground fighting ring (how cool is that?). I love Miles the human who has no idea what's going on and is thrown into everything is usually my favorite. I also love the little glimpse we got at his disastrous dating life. I'm very interested to see what happens next!

These first few chapters were so intriguing. Already you can tell how unique the world and characters are. I can’t wait to read the rest.

This was a great sampler and now I’m even more excited to read the full story! Thank you for the opportunity.

As a big fan of Alexandra Bracken’s Passengers series and a VERY big fan of Bracken’s The Darkest Minds series, I’ve been highly anticipating her future releases- and this one hasn’t let me down yet.

I won’t give a full review as this is only a sampler but from what I read, Lore is just as fantastical as Bracken’s other series. From the prologue and six chapters, the characters were great and I was enjoying the world thus far. I can’t wait to read more.

Fans that grew up with Percy Jackson need to jump on this book! It's grittier and much more grown up, and the descriptions of Percy Jackson meets The Hunger Games is fair. Those my age may understand the reference my brain keeps making... "There can be only one!!!" (Highlander). There are other scenes that will invoke various pop culture references too (Fight Club anyone?) I was so swept up that I've already requested to review the whole book (and been accepted!!!! Yayayayay!)

Thank you to Disney Hyperion for making this preview available

I really enjoyed this excerpt, and found it very intriguing. The story begins with action right from the start, and more details are revealed as the story goes on. I'm glad the author avoided info-dumping, because there was a lot of information that was revealed, but it happened slowly over the course of the excerpt so that it wasn't overwhelming or too much to take in at once.

Lore's character is awesome, and I liked her right away. Her tough exterior covers up a much more complex character, and her love for NYC is evident, which I appreciated as a native New Yorker. The author definitely has a great grasp on the pulse of New York City itself. The Agon is such a unique and incredibly interesting aspect of the story, and I loved how the history and alliances come into play.

The excerpt was just long enough to grab my attention, but not long enough to satisfy my curiosity. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of this story, because I've got to find out what happens next!

I want this book. I need this book. Greek mythology and gods who are killing each other to become new gods? Yes, please! I am getting slight American Gods-Vibes from this one and I loved that book. This is slightly different, though, but nontheless I am not happy with those six chapters I was getting in the sample. I need moreeee!
Cas is an absolutely awesome character, I can't wait to figure out what he's really after. Lore is... Well, for a female character, she is alright. I am not too fond of main characters, so that's got nothing to do with the book, but more with me. I am a villain person.
But seriously... I can't wait for January. I can't wait to read this book!

I received an ARC by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Even though this review is utter nonsense.