Oppression

Goodreads Says: Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She's been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she's closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability. Or so she thinks. Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable–except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning–and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules.

I was really excited about reading this book because I really am a lover of Greek Mythology. It's a breath of fresh air anytime I get to read something that's not vampire/werewolf related. :-) So when this came up on my Goodreads feed for new books being released in February I rushed to buy it...well, that and the awesome .99 Kindle deal.

There were good things going on with this story but in the end, as a whole, it fell short for me.

What I liked:

You are immediately thrown into Elyse's world. Author didn't hold back in letting you know what the deal was. The characters were likable enough. Well, “the good guys”.
The back story on how the main characters are related to the Greek gods and how they correlate to their abilities. The X-Men feel of the school everyone attended to learn about their abilities, Greek Mythology and history.
Uncle Mac and the great ending. What I didn't like:Immediately I felt as though this should be an adult book because it read as if Elyse was an adult. That was...
Until she started sounding like a kid or even worse like an adult that sounds like a kid that should sound like an adult. The insta-love. Holy crapage! It hits you like BAM and never really gives you time to get used to it let alone recover from the initial blow.
There were parts that felt rushed, not cohesive and loaded with inconsistencies. One minute she meets William, runs away from William and next day he's sleeping on her couch a few hours later is sharing her bed. ??
One minute she knows she ages slowly, next minute she finds out she is a descendant of gods, next day she enrolls in a school and fits right in... no adjusting period she just does. Secrets are kept from Elyse that at the height of the story when she finds out who she really is should just be revealed to her because why the heck not?!

This story/plot has so much potential. There really are good ideas here. I just don't think they were executed in the best possible way. I think the fact that all these “teens” still act like teens but are nearly 90 years old is not believable. They might look 18 but they have lived enough years to have matured by now and they haven't. If the author still wants this book to remain a YA then I think she needs to explain why they are emotionally and mentally still immature although they have been alive for nearly 90 years. The alternative would be to make this an adult book and have adults who look like teens but are really adults. I'm sure this isn't possible but this is a dilemma for me.

Something else that has been nagging me is the villain in the book, Ryder. Ryder has this awful hate towards Elyse. He really really hates her and beats on her ugly for no reason. I understand that there has to be a villain but why he despises her so really falls short with me. If anybody wants to clarify this please do.

Back to the insta-love. The feelings Elyse has for William and vice versa, the way they are with one another, would be easier to accept had the author given the reader time to grow in love with them. I mean the book was over 300 pages. There was definitely time to have their love grow into something believable.

The ending was literally a few pages in length when we meet William's uncle and let me tell you he felt the most real to me.

All of the things that bugged me about the book could easily have been remedied and fleshed out I feel. All in all this book is receiving really great reviews so maybe its just not what I expected because I expected something different or too much? I don't know. What I do know is that the last few pages definitely made me want to read the next installment to find out what happens. I really hope it gets better because I am willing to give it a try.

Until then...On to the next.