Stacey Swan’s debut novel is as big as the state she sets it in. It showcases a big messy extended family with big personalities and a big plot swing tragedy that propels these characters through the second half of the book.
If schadenfreude is defined as enjoyment at the troubles of others, the Briscoe Family should have their portrait placed next to the word in the dictionary. The Titans of the small fictional town of Olympus, located somewhere near Houston, are led by Peter Briscoe, the philandering patriarch whose offspring converge with the return of the prodigal son, March, who had left two years previous after an affair with his brother Hap’s wife, Vera. (With me)?
Swann rolls out a rollicking page turning yarn, that as previously mentioned takes a shocking turn that without spoilers, almost felt like whiplash, but quickly recalibrated, and found it’s self assured footing.
Truly the less you know, the better so avoid thorough reviews of this one!
I loved all these messy, larger than life characters but felt a special affinity for the females of the group. The long suffering June who has spent years watching her husband step out on her, the twin Artie who has lived her life undergirding her self involved musician brother, but mostly Hap’s wife Vera. Smart, sultry, sexy and fearless she tears up every scene she’s in leaving smoke trails on the page. This is the most fun you can have while witnessing other people’s mistakes.
A fun, noteworthy debut. Recommended.

This book felt tailor-made for my reading taste. It’s a family story with an interesting structure, an evocative setting, and nuanced characters. Add to that some epic drama and clever mythological references, and you have a book that I truly cannot resist. Olympus, Texas starts out slower than the back cover description might lead you to believe. There’s a lot of groundwork to lay to ensure we understand the intricate relationships between Swann’s ensemble cast before things get moving. But after about the first third, things pick up and the story gets intense. What I love is that Swann is able to build in a dramatic plot while exploring themes of loyalty and legacy, and whether anyone has free will or is merely destined to repeat the mistakes of our families. At times some of the characters fell flat, but given that they’re based on mythological archetypes (and it’s such a large cast), that actually made sense for the story and I was impressed with the level of complexity Swann was able to include. If you love mythological retellings, family sagas, or books with a strong sense of place, Olympus, Texas is worthy checking out!

I have always enjoyed mythology. As I've grown older, I like to see it written into books with a different twist. Olympus, Texas was such a clever reimagining and I enjoyed every bit of it. If you are like me, a huge mythology fan, you'll easily see the similarities with the storyline. If not, the storyline about an extremely dysfunctional family in Texas will draw many readers in. It's like watching a train wreck....you know you should look away, but you just can't.

This book was well-written with some really exceptional character development. You may not like the characters. They are all flawed humans muddling through their past mistakes. It shows how the way parents respond to events in their own lives can impact their children and their relationships in the future. Basically, at least one person in this family keeps messing up and taking all the rest of the family members along for the brutal ride. Mistakes are made by all of them at some point. Some you can come back from. Others are splitting this family apart. I was there for all of it.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

QUICK TAKE: hot damn, did I love this book. a sprawling family drama set in a small Texas town, the book follows the Briscoe family and the fallout when son March returns home after being banished 2 years earlier for sleeping with his brother's wife. I'm a bit biased as I love messy family stories, but what really elevated this one for me was the writing. it's funny and heartfelt and whip-smart...I am telling you, hold onto your seat when the daughter-in-law enters the story, because she is a thunderbolt of a character. I will say, I had a little trouble with how the other inciting incident in the book is written (I was super confused to the point that I actually had to read the chapter a couple times to understand what happened). that being said, it's a small quibble in what will surely be one of my favorite books of 2021.

I absolutely adored Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann and cannot wait for everyone to read it! Set in the fictional town of Olympus, this debut is an unputdownable dysfunctional family drama. The Briscoes are a complicated family, with half siblings and affairs galore, and these muddled relationships create tension and drama.

At the beginning of the novel, one of the Briscoe boys, March, has just returned to Olympus after running away from town after a steamy affair with his brother’s wife, two years before. While some of his family members are glad March is back, his mother June is not one of them. Soon after March returns, everything starts to crumble. Relationships fall apart, people get hurt, and the police become involved.

I adored this book for some many reasons -- it is well written and fun to read, but it is also based on Greek mythology with a Texas setting! I have never been a huge mythology buff, but I know enough to make pairing up the characters with their counterparts extremely fun. Peter and June are Zeus and Hera/Juno, and their three children are Thea (Athena), a lawyer; Hap (Hephaestus), owner of an auto repair shop; and March (Ares/Mars), an angry military veteran. You can absolutely read this novel without knowing a lick of Greek mythology, but if you’re somewhat familiar with it, this story will just sing.

And the Texas setting is just so fun! Olympus is set on the banks of the Brazos River, which is just an hour away from Houston; though the town is fictional, I can picture the characters fishing on the banks of the river or cutting through the back fields.

A family that is used to being the top dogs in a small Texas town from its farmhouse on the hill has to come to terms with the consequences of their patriarch’s lust and their matriarch’s rage in this homage to classical mythology. Olympus, Texas manages to reach into the heart of myth and legend and pull out the humanity with rich and complex character development and a long fuse of a plot that explodes with a sudden and catastrophic trajectory. No character is without their flaws; all are sympathetic if some more so than others. It is rare that a book with this much internal focus manages to be this compelling and readable, yet still feel like something rare and precious.

This novel of family strife and troubled dynamics in a small Texas town is very readable. Each of the characters come to life in their own troubled and distressed way. The novel starts when March, the black sheep of the family, returns to Olympus after a two year absence. He left town in a flurry after being caught having an affair with his brother's wife. His mother June can barely look at him and when March's brother Hap sees him at the family ranch, he beats March to a pulp. March is said to have Intermittent Explosive Disorder, a diagnosis which entails getting very angry and acting much too violent for the situation at hand. Additionally, March Blacks out and doesn't remember the damage he's done. The novel goes back in time and provides the history and backdrop of the characters. I liked the character and action driven aspects of this novel. I appreciated the author's presentation of the human condition - frail and tempted and definitely not black and white.

Olympus, Texas is home to the gods in this reimagining of mythology as a family drama. Peter and June (aka Zeus and Hera) have a long but complicated marriage. Their kids take after their parents as they love and hate each other. March (Ares/Mars) has slept with his brother Hap (Hephaestus/Vulcan)'s wife Vera (Aphrodite), the whole family is in turmoil. Add in children from Peter's mistress (twins Artemis and Apollo) and Hades and Orion and this family saga is high drama. There is a big surprise plot point that sent me back to google and completely changed some of the characters dynamics.

I LOVED how this story played out. I really liked the framework of the gods and their relationships and problems. I liked how the author wove in what the gods are known for (ironwork, beauty, hunting, etc). I was intrigued by the smart little touches like naming Hera (less well known as Juno) being named June and making the character Artemis a hunting guide. The names and occupations added to the links of the gods to characters and was a really smart and memorable choice.

This story is interesting and well written. I haven't studied mythology in a long time, so I had to do some googling of gods and even sketched out a family tree to help me navigate this book and I think that actually really added to my enjoyment of it. If you have a passing interest in mythology, this would be a fun way to dip your toes into it. I will definitely remember more of the gods because of how vivid these updated characters are. This also reminded me some of The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney with it's family dynamics and A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (a Shakespeare update). If you like books like these, then this one is for you!

Thank you to Netgalley for the copy for review and helping me find this great book.

This is a story about family, about making mistakes and facing their fallout.

I really enjoyed the family dynamic of this story. I feel like it was original and very niche, which is needed in this day and age.

If you like stories that focus on relationships, this is for you.

Wow I read this is one sitting, moving from outside in the yard on my picnic blanket to curled up in bed in the dark. Such a compelling story and totally unexpected turn to the plot. I will be recommending this to my friends who are fan of literary fiction.

A clever family saga drawing from the flawed characters and familial chaos of Greek mythology and reimagined in small town Texas. Swann's characters are familiar to readers who have explored Greek mythology and entertaining for those who have not. Swann executes this intriguing plot well.

As the cover shows, this book is about a family with tangled connections to each other. You will want to have access to information about Greek and Roman mythology to get clues about the nature of various characters. The hunter Artie is Artemis the hunter, March is Mars, even the dogs' names are rooted in mythology - Romulus and Remus. The fact that the characters have flaws is part of what makes them interesting, though frustrating when they make poor choices that will affect their family and community. This book is for readers who enjoy small town, family drama with a large cast of characters.

The Briscoe family is a hot mess. From Texas myself, I was ready for a read about a carousing, small-town group of colorful characters coming to grips with their life and I got it. The depth of character development is astounding. Stacey Swann is a superb writer and my eyes opened wide several times as I re-read passages, absorbing and marveling at not just her use of language, but the depth of thought and feelings.

Every character in the book is damaged, and everyone is pointing fingers at themselves and others and none of them, not even the men, shy away from having those long looks inward. In one sense it’s a heavy read, in another, just too captivating to put down. It’s about forgiveness and change. The family is (from the book) “…… caught in one long skid, spinning out on tires with no traction.”

The description of the book and its’ “clever wink toward classical mythology” was lost on me, but then I didn’t study Ovid. It may have been deep and real if you had, or if you wanted to really analyze the character’s dilemmas against mythology, but I was just there for the story. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a well-written read, with a deep, page-turning drama.

Secrets and scandals, both past and present, explode in the small town of Olympus, when prodigal son March Briscoe returns two years after his flight from town and family. His discovered affair with his brother's wife, tore the family apart andd his return threatens to do the same again. His strained relationship with his mother, June, is somewhat manipulated by his father, Peter - while his half- siblings are happy of his return, in their own way. Then, when a strange accident brings new scandal and grief to the family, all their ties are further tested. With links to the stories and personalities of Roman mythology, (March=Mars; June=Juno, Jupiter=Peter), this relationship fiction draws the reader into the family and their dynamics with deft writing and an intriguing plot. A worthwhile read.