Book Log: Oh. My. Gods.

[penmage]

Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs

Phoebe could not be less thrilled when her mom returns from a trip to Greece with a brand new fiancé, and announces that they’re moving to the tiny Greek island Serfopoula, just in time for Phoebe’s senior year. All Phoebe wanted to do was finish out high school with her two best friends and win a track scholarship. Now, she has to travel halfway around the world to attend a superexclusive academy where she doesn’t know anyone except for her bitchy stepsister—oh, and where all the students are descendants of the Greek gods and have godly powers.

Phoebe is determined to survive her senior year without getting zapped by her stepsister, keep up her average and win her track scholarship. But life is anything but simple on Serfopoula. From the killer academics to the cute guy she can’t seem to figure out, Phoebe is going to need to stay quick and alert if she wants to come out on top.

Oh. My. Gods. is a quick, breezy read, and before I say anything else I want to call it out for something that it does right—the internet. Lots of teen novels try to have its characters talk in IM or email, and it almost always comes off as kind of lame, and not quite right. In this book, Childs nails the IM culture—including one supremely awkward moment when Phoebe mixes up IM windows and sends the wrong message to the wrong person. Usually internet use in these books makes me grit my teeth—in this book it felt natural.

I wanted the book to explore the Greek gods side of things a little bit further—did we ever even find out who Nicole was descended from? I wanted to know more—does the god you’re descended from ALWAYS affect your personality? Are you necessarily doomed to be bitchy if you’re descended from Hera? And what about kids who are descended from two different gods? Do they get to choose which social circle to belong to? I felt like there was so many interesting places this book could have gone, and it fell short. Which is not exactly a fair critique, but there you go.

That said, taken as a breezy, entertaining teen read, it works wonderfully.

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I'm reading Dream Girl by Lauren Mechlin right now, and loving it. I'll keep you guys posted. I'm waffling about my next book. I was thinking of reading Once Upon A Time in the North by Philip Pullman, because it's so short, but then I was thinking maybe Damosel by Stephanie Spinner. But after hearing fellow Cybils panelist Laini Taylor rave about The Gypsy Crown, now I'm waffling in that direction.

Hmmmmm. So many books. Never enough time!

Comments

Speaking of books...

[akamarykate.livejournal.com]

I want to thank you for mentioning Impossible. I read it last week and really enjoyed it--it's a fairly straightforward take on the ballad, but very satisfying, and I *felt* the cold water and sea air in the climax scene.

Re: Speaking of books...

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Yes--that scene was where it all came together for me. I felt the urgency and the terror and the exhaustion--it impressed me a lot. I'm glad you liked it!