The Penelopiad / Margaret Atwood / 198 pgs

I have to admit that I've only read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood before now. To remedy that, I read The Penelopiad which is the story of Odysseus and Penelope of Homeric myths, but from the point of view of Penelope. I enjoyed the insertion of the twelve maids that were hung by Odysseus when he returned from his Odyssey as a chorus, much like how most Greek epic poems included a chorus of maidens that told a bit of the story from a third person point of view. Overall, since I have always enjoyed books based on Greek myths, like Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, I really liked this book. At only 198 pages, it's not overly long at all. My only beef is that a portion of the book, towards the end, got a bit hyper-feminist for my taste, but this is Margaret Atwood we are talking about!

EverTrue / Brodi Ashton / 368 pages

This is the third and final novel of the Everneath trilogy.  Nikki has rescued Jack, and now she just wants to graduate high school, but soon finds her energy drained.  Cole had tricked her into feeding on him in the Everneath, so now she is in the process of becoming an everliving.  She and Jack decide to fight for her life with everything they have.  Unfortunately, if Nikki doesn't feed on Cole every night, she dies.  Many awkward situations arise.


Nikki wants to find a way to sever her connection to the Everneath, but she has attracted the attention of the Queen, and the Queen has a reputation for killing any rival for her throne.  Can she escape with her life once and for all?


More connections to Persephone and other underworld myths arise.  Much more action than the previous two novels.  Friendships are strained and enemies are trusted.  A fitting end to the series.

EverBound / Brodi Ashton / 384 pages

This is the second novel of the Everneath series.  Nikki Beckett escaped the tunnels, but only because her boyfriend, Jack, took her place.  Now she embarks on a journey to save Jack and find a way for them both to live out normal, human lives.  Unfortunately, she has to depend on Cole - the life-sucking everliving who took her to the Everneath - to help her save the love of her life.  Nikki continues to trust Cole even when she knows she shouldn't.  Will he be the friend she hopes for or betray her yet again?


The mythological elements are a little stronger than in the first novel, more mention of the Persephone myth, and readers might also recognize elements of Dante's Inferno. 

Everneath / Brodi Ashton / 400 pages

This is the first book of the Everneath trilogy.  16-year-old Nikki Beckett returns home after a 6-month absence.  Everyone assumes she was on drugs or in rehab, but the truth is much darker.  She had been fed on in the Everneath, and barely escaped.  Can she repair the relationships she left behind and forgive her own weakness that led to her disappearance?  Can she find a way to say goodbye again before the tunnels claim her in six months?


Readers of Twilight will appreciate this book, though there are no sparkling vampires.  This author would have been on Team Jacob.  There are elements of the supernatural and romance.  There are also ties to ancient mythologies.

Key of Light / Nora Roberts 352 p.

In this first in Robert's key trilogy, three women, Mallory Price, Dana Steele, and Zoe McCourt receive an interesting invitation for conversation and cocktails at Warrior's Peak.  They learn that they are the key and the lock awaits.  Three locks must be found and turned by mortals.  Three demi-goddess sisters souls are locked in a glass box.  Rowena and Pitte offer each $25,000 to just try.  And a god's ransom if they are successful; and, no one has been successful in a millennium or so.  Mallory, an artistic type, is the first to try.  She begins by bumping into Dana's half-brother newspaper reporter Flynn.  She's attracted to him, but she has other things on her mind...namely getting the key.  She only has a month to find the key.  Sexy guys are not going to get in her way.  (Ah, but he does get involved, this is a romance).