DNF @33% I think this is a case of “right book, wrong reader”. I’m having trouble connecting with the characters and the flow is a little too choppy for my taste. I know this is going to be a big hit with many readers, and I cannot wait to see it find its way into the right people’s hands.

This modern reimagining of characters from Greek mythology brought to my awareness many entitles I didn't know anything about: Keres, Erotes, Oneiroi, and more. Even though I'm generally not a big fan of YA, I really enjoyed this story, especially the conflicts between the three sisters.

SOOOOO GOOD. I HAVE ACTUAL BRAINROT i can't even lie! the plot twist was a bit predictable, but i loved the vibe so much! the idea of threads is soooo well developed here :) i love that it's structured like a true fantasy thriller. and ioedei my beloveds <3

Threads That Bind is a fantasy noir about Io Ora, a descendant of the Greek Fates, who works as a private investigator with her ability to see and cut the threads that connect people to the things they love. When Io is hired to investigate a strange series of murders — all done by women whose life threads had been severed — she must work through dark secrets and shadows from the past to solve them, all while grappling with her growing feelings for Edei Rhuna, her mission partner and soulmate, bound together by a rare fate-thread.

I’d seen this book a few times within my radar as an upcoming release to watch out for, so when I came across it once again on NetGalley, I was compelled to request it. The premise was interesting and fantasy-mystery is one of my favorite genres, so I went in with a curiosity and a small hope that I would enjoy this book.

When I finished, I was left with this feeling that getting to read this book quite poetically felt like fate. It’s very rare for me to find a book with a premise that sounds like something I might like, only for it to become even more than what I expected, and for that, I gave it 5 stars. This book was a reading experience that felt so personally catered to me, yet universal in the themes it tries to convey. It has narrative voice that hooked me in completely and had me reading nonstop, paired with lovable characters in an intricately woven plot. It has a lot of tropes I adore—soulmates, complicated family dynamics, and a protagonist that struggles with truth and the past, to name a few—that were presented in a way that made it impossible for me not to enjoy.

The writing was one of the elements that captivated me from early in the book; its prose is reflective without disrupting the atmosphere, and the transitions between the realities of the story and the immersion into Io’s mind were seamless. I’ve previously had difficulty reading books with a character who dwells frequently on “before” because some of their thoughts are repetitive; this was never the case with Io. The execution of each truth revealed to the reader was paced excellently, and each time it brought so many unforgettable quotes that feel like the words came from my own heart.

The plot was refreshing, and while I don’t often binge my reads, it was near impossible to put this book down. What I loved most was that the mystery, the romance, and the family dynamics are all intertwined. It made the story feel more like one whole narrative, and not just some angsty mystery solving with a side romance. In fact, a lot of major breakthroughs the pair of sleuths have is a direct result of their interactions with each other, or with the people they care about. It really ties in the motifs of love this book has.

The cast of characters is a remarkable bunch. I went in without any particular expectations for them, but I enjoyed the diversity in the book very much. It doesn’t actually end with the multitude of cultures mentioned throughout the book, aside from Greek — I was also very delightfully surprised to find out that nearly every character is queer. The abundance of identities was exciting to see, especially in characters that are constantly important in the story instead of sidelined.

As for protagonists, I think Io Ora may be one of my favorites. Her fears and her principles and the way they both stick with her were very relatable, and I loved her growth throughout the story. The inner conflict we see in her introspection and how it ties in with the themes of love and fear and choice felt real and has impacted me in a way that I have not stopped thinking about it, and it’ll probably stick with me for a long time. Her dynamic with Edei was the perfect balance between lighthearted banter and honest vulnerability, as was her relationships with her sisters, with her colleagues, and with her friends. As someone whose favorite part of any story are the characters, the cast of Threads That Bind have definitely won my heart.

Needless to say, this book has quickly become one of my new favorites of the year, and maybe even of all time. I’d love to go more in-depth with what exactly makes this so brilliant, but I really think it’s best to know as little as possible, and frankly, I’d spend hours and hours going on. Let me be the first to claim that I have a rare fate-thread with this book. There’s everything I enjoy in a book: it has all the staples of the noir mystery genre twisted to live in a unique fantasy world, with characters and relationships that will be difficult to forget; it’s such a real depiction of the complications of love, and of love’s relationship to choice. And I encourage any fantasy or mystery lovers who come across this to take this as a sign and pick this book up. Call it fate, or call it choice, but Threads That Bind truly has the potential to be the next book you love.

3.5 Stars (rounded up) ⭐️

Threads That Bind is a hybrid mystery, fantasy, and Greek mythology all wrapped up into one.

Io Ora, is a Moira-born. Being Moira born is one of the sisters. Each sister has a special ability regarding a persons threads, their connections in life. Io specifically is a thread cutter. She can sever those threads including their life. She is also s private investigator and her new case involves women that only has one thread that acts a whip killing men. They shouldnt even exist.

We follow Io as she gets wrapped in this mystery and a gang warlord/queen. I enjoyed the magic in this story and how different threads interacted and what would happen if one was severed. However at times this would get weighed down by the crime procedural part of it and I would find it to be slow.

The romance is just a subplot of this book but for me I'm not sure it really fit. I didn't find it to be needed in this first book, I just didn't really buy into it.

Although this book didn't work that well for me. This was an entertaining debut novel and I will be keeping my eye out for more books by this author, I really think this book will find its audience and many will enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group young readers for this advance reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I will be posting my review to major retail sites on or near publication date.

Io Ora is a cutter, a descendant of the Fates, with the ability to cut threads of connection to their love and life. The youngest of three sisters, Io spends her days working as a private investigator, using her ability to trace these threads within her home of Alante to uncover their deepest secrets. When her ability leads her to a job for the mob queen of the Silts, Io becomes wound into an investigation so personal and impossible, she’s not sure where to turn. This thrilling, page turning novel uncovers the relationships of family and how far those relationships can be tested.

When I say I devoured this book, I’m not even lying. I read Threads That Bind in a single day, in one sitting, desperate to know what would happen next. The interpersonal relationships are beautifully written, the book was well paced and the ups and downs, twists and turns kept me engaged and on my last breath. Hatzopoulou knocked this one out of the park.

The book is a mix of modern mythology and fated love. While I love modern mythos, I find fated love can be hit or miss. This one was the only element of the novel that fell a little short for me. The idea was there, I just wasn’t sold on the chemistry of the characters and the overall story of their fated romance. I could have done without that storyline.

This is a cannot miss novel that I cannot wait to share.

The best way I can describe this book: this is a wonderful YA mythology based story featuring a murder mystery adventure, a fated love story, and a strong sisterly dynamic - what more is there to love?
This book left me on the edge of my seat.

I had issues with the pacing of the story, but after consulting other early reviews, this seems like a ‘me thing’, so likely not a big deal for other readers, but worth mentioning nonetheless. However, I did find that the story really picked up the pacing around the 60% mark.

Fans of Percy Jackson (or quite frankly most of the books in the Riordanverse) would really enjoy this Greek myth retelling.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.

Io is a cutter, one of three moira born sisters with the power of The Fates. Her sister Thais has the power of Clotho, she can spin threads and create feelings of love and trust where none existed before, her sister Ava has the power of Lachesis, to stretch and shorten threads to change how one feels about something they're threaded to, and Io herself has the power of Atropos, to cut the threads that bind us to the things we love and to life itself. When women with severed life threads start popping up all over the city and taking lives in the name of retribution, Io is brought in to solve the case, and forced to partner with the one man she can barely breathe around, the one who's incomprehensibly tied to her by a thread of fate. As she tracks these murderers, who seem to be victims themselves, she finds that everyone has secrets, especially the people we love.

I loved this. Kika gave us Greek and Egyptian mythology; amazing queer and cultural rep; fated mates; a compelling protagonist; and a tense magical magical sisterhood that I couldn’t help but get invested in. This was like Percy Jackson meets Lore meets House of Hollow. And the cliffhanger?! This is me begging for book 2 even though this one isn’t even out yet 😭

A Greek mythology book by an actual Greek author is where it's at!! This book was perfection through and through. The characters came to life in every aspect. The world building was equally as exquisite and brought the story to life. I truly was in awe of how breathtakingly beautiful this book was especially as a debut. I will be auto buying this author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! I loved that it was a mythology inspired fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian mash-up that had a focus on Greek mythology, but did delve into some other mythologies which I loved. It was very interesting to show the parallels between deities of different cultures in a fantasy world. The world building was great, unlike many fantasy books (even some I love) the world actually made a lot of sense and was easy to grasp, without a massive learning curve that usually occurs in fantasy. And the author managed to integrate the information seamlessly as I didn't notice frequent info-dumping either.

I enjoyed Io as a narrator as it was very interesting exploring the world and characters from her pov (a character she is similar to is Vanja from Little Thieves, so if you liked that you'll probably like this). I also really loved her powers, they were really cool and definitely more unique compared to a lot of other YA fantasy MCs, it was interesting to delve into the Fates, because they are an integral part of many Greek myths that often get pushed to the side in other retellings etc. Edei was great too, I really loved him. And despite me being wary of the soulmate trope (because so often it is done poorly), this was actually well done as we got relationship development that didn't feel forced because they're 'soul mates'. The other characters were really cool, I especially liked Io's relationship with her sisters and Rosa.
I think my favourite parts though were the world building and plot. The plot was really intriguing and I loved all the twists (although I didn't see them coming, though I know there is foreshadowing that I'll pick up on on a reread).

The worst part about this book is that its the first book, which means I'll have to wait to see what happens next. I can see this becoming one of my favourite series honestly, I'm obsessed.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

A mesmerizing new fantasy about the threads of fate that bind us all. Combining mythology with a dystopian future, this author imagines a dark world where, in the worst neighborhoods, gangs help people survive.

Io, Ava and Thais are moira-born, meaning they can see the threads of fate that bind humans to each other and the things they love. Thais, the oldest, could weave new threads, while Ava, the middle, could intensify or weaken the feeling, and Io, the youngest, was the most dangerous: she could cut the threads.

After Thais took off, Ava joined a gang as a singer and Io began running a detective agency, investigating cheating spouses and children with a love of gambling. But when someone begins creating wraiths who began haunting the city, Io finds herself in the middle of it. She gets paired with the person her threads have declared her fated soulmate, Edei, but he already has a girlfriend. She has to navigate her longing for him while keeping those she loves safe from a sinister plot that has layers upon layers. No sooner is someone declared a suspect, then they become a victim. The mystery captivates as Io gets closer and closer to finding the person(s) behind it all.

Edei is perfection as a noble gangster. No sooner does he get paired with Io than he gets shot protecting her. He immediately trusts her and prioritizes her, giving some great romantic tension. Edei and Io delight in telling each other corny jokes, providing moments of lightness to counteract the dark scenes.

A great start to a fantasy series! The ending is satisfying, but definitely left room for another book. I cannot wait!

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP penguin Young Readers Group for the opportunity to read rage and review this arc which is available May 30,2023.

Holy mother of Pearl but this book was a wild ride! Greek mythology, The Fates as 3 sisters, furies, monsters, wraiths and a murder mystery plot. There is also a romance sub plot. It has EVERYTHING you could want in a ya fantasy book. I was hooked from the first few sentences and devoured this book. I highly highly recommend it. It is worth every penny and I will be buying it for myself when it comes out.

One to weave, one to draw, and one to cut.

Io is a cutter, a moira-born along with her two sisters, who channels the power of the Fates. In the two years since her oldest sister left, she has made a living as a private investigator. When the Stilts is terrorized by a series of murders, Io is hired by the mob queen of the Stilts and forces her to face what she's been avoiding: the other end of her fate-thread.

This book combines murder investigations with gods and mythology, and I was absolutely here for it. Now I can't actually say much more, especially since half the fun is in putting the pieces of the puzzle together, but I will say that by the end, I needed the next book in my hands-ASAP.

Okay, before I get into my praise for this, I want to list the negatives. Firstly, the mystery aspect wasn't as strong as it could be. I knew way too much of what was coming before I ever should have (but I still didn't know everything, so that's a plus). Another thing is that there are a lot of instances of information being repeated. As the reader, this quickly became annoying. Lastly, the characters are a little hit and miss in how well developed they seem. Most of them are well crafted and believable, but a few fell flat for me. I just couldn't connect with them. They weren't just the minor characters, either. Io's sisters, for instance, just didn't work for me.

Now, you'd think that would mean I didn't enjoy the book, wouldn't you? On the contrary, I really did enjoy it. The romance felt genuine (and was adorable); Io's and Edie's story arc is painful in its awkwardness, which is a huge part of its charm for me, as it makes it more believable. The story overall was interesting - including the mystery, and the world is well developed and hard to resist. Fiction based on Greek mythology often is for me, especially when it's about the Fates.

On top of all of that, the author also includes trans and non-binary characters, as well as having other queer relationships, and it felt completely natural to the story and the world. The world is written in such a way as to mirror many current social issues, such as racism and classism, and does so in a way that feels genuine and believable. My rating is 4 out of 5, rounded up from 3.75, and I definitely plan to continue reading the series.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for an interesting story, who doesn't mind cliffhangers (things are still very much up in the air at the end of this book).

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and Penguin Young Readers Group for the early copy. This has been my honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5 ✨

Thank you! @penguinteen @kikahatzopoulou
For my Netgalley EARC

I will start off by saying the Cliffhanger of an ending was amazing and genius!

I absolutely love Los character development throughout the whole book! It begins off with Lo being hired by the mob queen to solve a set of very interesting murders with women being created into justice thirsty killers. They kill with their life thread which Lo believes should be virtually impossible!

We also find out she herself is a cutter and can cut threads. She can also see threads on every single person. Including the FATE thread between her and of the mob queens second in command! We learn a lot about these fated lovers through out the whole book 😉

I wont give to much away! Trying to solve these murders it unlocks many memories of her past which helps her through out her whole journey!


I really enjoyed learning about all the gods and what they have created. It was such an easy fast paced read. Amazing world building as well!

In stores on May 30th!

5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy, magic, mythology, threads of fate, mystery

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 4/30 and will be posted to my review blog on 5/10 and to Instagram on 5/13.

I really liked the magic in this book. The premise is that some people are descended from gods, but only the gods who come in sibling sets. There are a bunch of different city-states in the book, each with their own culture, but the one Io lives in is a Greek-esque city-state called Alante. For Alantians, their "other-born" pairs are things like the Fates, the Muses, descendants of Hypnos, and the Phobos-Deimos twin pair, etc. We do get to see some people who are from outside the city and thus are descended from a different set of gods, but for the most part the focus is Greek. I liked the way each person in a sibling set had a power associated with one of the gods, and that each of the different god powers worked in different ways.

I also liked the worldbuilding in the book. It's a dystopian fantasy, so the world we're exposed to is post-collapse, and it's implied that the world was similar to (if not the same as) our own. Then the collapse happened in a mix of environmental and magical events that resulted in the world we see in the book. I liked the bits of history that are brought into the book, like the Iceberg Wars, and the little things that make the world seem more real, like the roof bridges and flood screens for storefronts.

Io is the moirae-born who can cut people's threads of fate, but she tends to use her ability to see the Quilt (i.e., the threads connecting everyone) to be a PI. She's a little rough around the edges, but it's clear she does care about people, and over the course of the book her drive to fight for the people no one else will becomes stronger. At the same time, she's pretty wary of opening up to other people as a result of her eldest sister, Thais', treatment of her when they were younger, before Thais walked out on Io and their other sister, Ava. Part of Io's arc over the course of the book is reconciling everything that happened with Thais and growing into someone who's at least a bit more open to others.

It was surprisingly easy to like Edei. Based on the synopsis and the very first scene we see him in, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about him, but he's actually a pretty good guy. Edei is someone who is easy to get along with and who has a relatively gentle demeanor about him. Despite the fact that he's the second of the Fortuna gang, the gang that runs the Silts, he's not that rough around the edges, probably the result of the fact that he had a very different upbringing.

I liked the side characters in the story and enjoyed how they opened up different sides of the characters. For all her wariness of opening up to other people, Io actually makes friends pretty easily, and it was nice to see her joking around with Nico and Chimdi from the Fortuna gang just as easily as she joked around with Ava and Rosa, her best friend. I hope we get to see more of Rosa, Nico, and Chimdi in the next book, and am curious to see where things go with Ava. Bianca Rossi, the Mob Queen, is definitely someone to be reckoned with and I had a hard time getting a feel for her. There were times when I liked her and times when I didn't, so I'm looking forward to getting a better of understanding of her in the sequel.

I did guess what the motive was pretty much from the get-go, but it was definitely a weird kind of predictability because even though I knew the why, I couldn't settle on the who, lol. There were actually a number of pretty viable suspects presented throughout the book, which I think helped obfuscate things in a way that still kept the story going without requiring weird twists. One thing I will say is that Io jumps to conclusions way too much for someone who's a professional private detective. Her second suspect was really the only one with any solid evidence pointing toward them, but Io treated all three as equally viable, which I thought was a mistake. The mystery is solved by the end of the book and it worked in a way that I didn't see coming, which I loved!

I love how this book mixes fantasy, dystopian, and noir, and am dying to see what happens next as Io follows up on the loose threads (haha) from the end of this book.

I have been excited to read this book since day one.

It's by a Greek author, about Greek mythology and as a Greek reader it became quickly my most anticipated read of the year and it didn't disappoint!

It was rich in folklore and Greek mythology and the magic system was so well developed that I wanted to be a part of it.

Brutality was an aspect in the book that I had predicted, given that this is a murder mystery and because of the way Hatzopoulou writes, I experienced it with the characters and cringed away from the book because of the written horror.

I loved the characters and how fleshed out they all were. My favorite is obviously Io with Rosa being a close second.

The writing was also so captivating and beautiful, I found myself highlighting a good amount of paragraphs and Io's emotions moved me immensely.

I wonder if one of my life threads starts with me and ends with this book.

I can't wait for the continuation because that ending was catastrophic for my nerves, I need it now!

I loved this book so so much! The mix between greek mythology, romance, and a murder mystery was all so exciting. I love Kika’s writing so much and this book was so fast-paced and intriguing that I couldn’t stop reading! Would definitely pick up a physical copy when it comes out.

In a new age of civilization, there are other-born who possess powers descended by the gods. Our main character, Io Ora, is a Moira-born, meaning she can severe strings of connection. Io uses her abilities as a private investigator in the city of Alante. When women are suddenly being abducted and killed by cutting their life-thread, Io teams up with Edei, the right hand to Alante’s mob queen and Io’s fate-threaded soul mate, to find the killer.
“Threads that bind” by Kika Hatzopoulou is like if Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson met the song Invisible String by Taylor Swift. The concept of this story and of this universe is so unique to such an extent that I personally would have preferred more time world building at the beginning of the story. I would also say romance is a subplot but it doesn’t distract from the main storyline or take away from the strong characters. The writing is beautifully done and the characters are diverse and loveable with all their passion and drive for justice.

Unfortunately this is a huge no for me. I feel like I could have liked this a lot better, say, 10 years ago, when I would read just about anything for the sake of being entertained rather than enjoying good literature.

The concept behind Threads That Bind is there and it's interesting—the execution is not. It's sloppy, lazy... it leaves A LOT to be desired. I know I'm being brutal, but there was truly nothing compelling about this book. From main characters that lack depth and side characters that come and go who knows where, to relationships built out of nothing; from a "big bad villain" reveal that's not even shocking in the slightest because they were vile from the very beginning, to a lot of info-dumping happening very inorganically... I can't honestly think of a single thing I'd save from this book, except maybe the writing, which was probably the only somewhat-pleasant part about it.

Though I've definitely read worse, I was hoping for a lot better from this.

Thank you to Razorbill and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.