Member Reviews

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this opportunity.

This book had a terrific idea. I love mythology and I liked the concept of this novel. Ryan is a botanist who has the ability to create flowers that purify the air, in a world where air is not clean and masks are worn to protect one’s self. Ryan goes on a journey and discovers her true self along the way.

I like the idea of this book, but was unfortunately not blow away by the execution. Some of the details did not make sense to me, such as how one would have great signal on an isolated island?

I appreciated the concept of this novel and thank you again to NetGalley for the opportunity.

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This was an enjoyable reimagination of Greek mythology. Ryan is a botanist who can grow a certain plant that helps clean the air and make the world continue to be habitable. Along with her co-worker and friend, Greta, and her cat, Lester, Ryan lives a quiet life attempting to grow these plants and to help them spread the knowledge of these as possible. Until one day, she receives correspondence from an island off of Greece noting that they can grow this plant too and want to compare their research. After careful thought, Ryan agrees to go to the island. Upon her arrival, she is shocked to find out that in reality they reached out to her because they believe she's a Descendant of Artemis just as they are all Descendants of the other Greek gods. Ryan eventually agrees to stay on the island for two weeks to try to coax her powers out and help them with their fight against Gaea. Ryan does realize she is a Descendant of Gaea but I feel like this left off on a cliffhanger and that there should be more to this story. I also felt that parts of this were very dense and hard to get past but overall the idea was very interesting.

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This is a modern take on Greek good mythology. The heroine is a botanist and quirky. A book that is different and fun to read. Has a lot of moving parts but was enjoyable.

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This book tried to collect all the tropes and almost succeeded, which, unfortunately made it a very messy book. The MC was, obviously your typical...well, MS, as in a Mary Sue. Other characters were also very cliched and unimpressive. I don't think I will be reading a continuation of this series, if there's any.

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Metra Farrari has given us a new twist on the human heirs to Greek gods. Her heroine, Ryan Bell, is a quirky, sardonic millenial living her best single girl life. The only thing that makes her unusual is that her green thumb is a little above and beyond the houseplant growing skills the rest of us have developed in recent days. Her skills may be the answers to mankind's ills and have drawn the attention of a squad of ancient Greeks. This was definitely a fun read and a new take on mythology come to Earth.

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A modern take on the members of the Greek Gods decedents. This book is well written, the plot has a nice flow. The heroine is Ryan, a botanist! This will encourage young ladies that they can go into STEM fields. I’m delighted to say that the school library will be purchasing this book for our students. I’m also happy that we will be adding to our Greek section!!

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Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

Cute, quick read. I enjoyed the mythology, and most of the banter. A little romance, a little action. Overall an interesting read, and I would be willing to read more!

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This book had a lovely premise and the cover is so pretty, but I am extremely disappointed after reading it.

As a scientist, I am able to look past minor scientific inaccuracies for science-fiction, but there is a HUGE issue at the very beginning of the book that really hindered the reading experience. Carbon dioxide is obviously a greenhouse gas and it doesn't take a significant scientific background to realize this, so the idea of CO2-scrubbing plants is actually pretty good. However, humans also exhale CO2 in the process of BREATHING, so wearing masks to filter out CO2 from the air we breathe is completely idiotic. I shared this part with colleagues and I can tell you that 8/8 scientists are INSULTED by this very idea.

Even if we ignore that specific scientific inaccuracy, I really didn't like the story or the characters either. I am usually compelled to enjoy a female scientist for the main character in any book, but Ryan is difficult for me to get behind. Maybe if there were more details about her background to make her more likeable, but I found her boring and I thought the decisions she made weren't thought through very well. And the mysterious island setting felt silly and uncomfortable. This book seems to have a lot of potential, but that's it.

I really hate to give an ARC such a terrible review, but in respect of honesty, this book is bad and I do not recommend it.

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There wasn’t anything wrong with this book really, it just wasn’t for me. I think it was really original, and I do appreciate that. The concept was interesting but I didn’t find the characters particularly compelling or really care about what happened to them. I do think that there’s an audience for this, especially people who like mythology and contemporary fiction.

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Perfect blend of academic curiosity, scientific challenge, and Greek mythology. I enjoyed this read a lot and hope to pick it up again soon!

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This book is unfortunately a 2 out of 5 stars from me. I truly thought the concept of the book sounded intriguing and like it would be able to be a book I could immerse myself in. However the main character, Ryan, is written in a way that seems like the author WANTS her to be relatable but instead she comes off indecisive and a bit boring. In some areas of the book the side characters are better written than the MC. It is also a very slowly paced novel imo. You can get to about half way through the book without anything truly happening in relation to the overall plot. This book was given the high standard of being recommend as greek mythology mixed with gilmore girls. I do not think this book fulfils this.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an early copy of "All The Blues Come Through"!

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All The Blues Come Through is a story about a botanist named Ryan Bell who finds out she is the heir of the Greek god Artemis. This kind of leans in the middle-grade/YA area because the dialogue is about that level. I had a hard time believing the main character was 28 since she spoke but perhaps she was just quirky. The story itself is pretty good, the settings interesting, and the characters were ok. Great cover.

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I enjoyed this book, especially the inspirations from greek mythology. The characters are all likable and have a good sense of humor, making this a nice light read from that perspective. However, the pacing and structure of the story was a little off for me. Some parts felt much longer while others went too fast, and there was a lack of even pacing to make it a balanced experience.

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Actual Rating = 2.5

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel has a really fun premise, a botanist battling climate crises tied in to classical mythology, but, unfortunately, the writing just felt a bit amateurish to me. Also, the MC, Ryan, felt quirky to the point of being entirely unbelievable as a real person.

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Fun idea for a book. I enjoyed the plot and most of the characters. It was pretty silly at points, not always in a good way. There also points in the book where it feels the author has written it in to be a fun bit in a subsequent movie or tv show (for example, when Ryan is showing some of the when some “modern” dances. It’s trying to be fun and cute, but is just a bit dumb.) There were several times when the word choice doesn’t fit the rest of the writing.. Some of the dialogue feels unrealistic, especially the times Ryan is telling people about her life. It doesn’t come across the way someone naturally speaks, but more like someone reading an overly written dramatic script. Even considering those negatives, I am interested enough to check out the next book in the series. Even though I don’t care a ton about Ryan (I started off liking her a lot, but less so as time went on- and the romance with Kosta just feels forced), I’m curious about what Gaea said to her towards the end.
Also, I’ve gotta say the book cover and title really don’t fit the feel of the book. From the cover, you’d expect a serious literary fiction, which this book very much is not.
Thank you to NetGalley and Wise Ink Creative Publishing for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

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This book really wasn’t my cup of tea. I loved the cover art which is why I gave it a chance but I didn’t find myself in love with the story. It has a lot of potential and I can see others loving it but overall the writing was meh, the characters were okay, and I really had to force myself to finish the book.

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trigger warning
<spoiler> trauma, grief, mention of child neglect </spoiler>

Botanist Ryan Bell is contacted to visit a tiny Greek island nobody ever heard of for the name of science, and the possibility of saving mankind - you see, she was able to grow flowers that transmute as much CO² as a whole forest, but nobody else can replicate her results.
She goes. For science, of course.

On this island, she is told she is a descendant of demigods, and thus the Greek gods themselves. Those are shut away, and all demigods have to assemble and join their special powers, not for science, but to save mankind.

My problem was with who she supposedly is descended from, because it simply doesn't fit. Yeah, the whole plot centers around that point, but sorry. The explanation that <spoiler> Artemis had sex with Orion and birthed a child she had to get away to save her image is wrong on so many levels. </spoiler>

And then there were Ryan's powers. We had a few hilarious tries to get out what she can do, with the islanders increasingly gretting grumpier and grumpier, and as soon as she manifests her powers, there is no limit to what she can do. It's like she became a Mary Sue.
I understand that there is a way from first manifestation of powers to finding out all what you can do, and that with training, you can do more and more. That makes sense, even if we're talking magic. But Ryan did neither have time nor training, and what she could do didn't fit together thematically.

All in all, 2,5 points rounded up to three because GR and Netgalley don't have half stars.
It was fine. I won't read more from this series or anything else from this author, unless some time has passed and I get glowing recommendations.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

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As a huge Percy Jackson fan, I will always pick up a book with Greek mythology as a central plot point. This one seemed exciting, a world plunging further into chaos due to climate change and a brilliant botanist uniquely capable of cultivating a plant that can trap carbon. It was a fabulous concept but the writing fell a little flat. The dialogue was really challenging for me and the writing was a little choppy and inconsistent. It just didn’t flow well when reading. I found myself wanting more action and yes, while most of the story at the beginning and middle was build up, it seemed very slow and dragged on. There were many moments that were confusing and contradicted prior plot points. Even the whole reveal of her demigod status was written in a way that didn’t come off as realistic. Ryan, the MC, is played up to be a brilliant scientist and then spends pages being all mooney eyed at Kosta and it seemed like the insta-romance really detracted from her character and it just felt a little off. Greta was a way better written character. I completely understand the goal of making this a light and fun read but this book could have really used a lot more depth and would have really benefited from it. Deeper characters and scenes would have helped build the setting and reader connection better. For a book with such high stakes, destructive climate change, it seemed to be very downplayed and the narrative at times didn’t fit the intensity this could have used. I will still read the sequel to see what happens and I hope the author can flesh out the characters more in the next book and improve the dialogue and it will likely be a really good book.

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All The Blues Come Through by Metra Farrari was decent, but the prose was a bit on and off. The writing style made it hard for me to follow.

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If you are looking for the next Percy Jackson series, I don't think that this is it. This book lacks Riordan's amazing dialogue and constant supply of danger. BUT, if you are looking for a new series about demigods, then this book might just fit the bill. Ryan is a great awkward, smart, didn't know she was a demigod character who provides the appropriate responses when she learns about her identity. The rest of the demigod crew and Ryan's mortal friends provide good banter, just not Riordan level banter.

The author did follow Riordan's approach of finishing up a small arc with the story, while leaving larger questions to be explored in future books. I am intrigued to see where Ryan's adventures take her, and I would read a sequel.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

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