Book Review: Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs

OH. MY. GODS. by Tera Lynn Childs
Series: Oh. My. Gods., #1
Publication Date: May 1st 2008 by Dutton Juvenile
Rating: |

Summary: A modern girl’s comedic odyssey in a school filled with the descendants of Greek gods. When Phoebe’s mom returns from Greece with a new husband and moves them to an island in the Aegean, Phoebe’s plans for her senior year and track season are ancient history. Now she must attend the uberexclusive academy, where admission depends on pedigree, namely, ancestry from Zeus, Hera, and other Greek gods. That’s right, they’re real, not myth, and their teen descendants are like the classical heroes: supersmart and superbeautiful with a few superpowers. And now they’re on her track team! Armed only with her Nikes and the will to win, Phoebe races to find her place among the gods.

Review Overview:

• Fun, light read – I read it in one sitting!
• Hot love interest; I didn’t want to like him, but I couldn’t resist
• Best mythology-based YA I’ve read so far

Though I’ve had my eye on this book for quite some time, I never set my expectations too high when I started to read this one. I found myself increasingly disappointed by the selection of mythology-based YA novels out on the market, so I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy OH. MY. GODS. I find myself always comparing mythology-based books to Percy Jackson. While it is a hard act to follow, I have hope that there will be a novel in the YA market that will match its brilliance. While OH. MY. GODS. did not surpass my love of Rick Riordan’s series, I ended up enjoying the book very much.

I read this book in one sitting. Childs just sucked me into Phoebe’s story. I found that the “one more chapter” rule to be ineffective. The overall plot seems pretty simple: Phoebe’s life is turned upside down when her mother marries a Greek guy she barely knows and is forced to move from California to Greece. All Phoebe wants to do is graduate as quickly as possible so she can go back to California and attend her dream college: USC. The only problem is: when she gets to Greece she finds out that the students and teachers – including her new stepdad – at her new high school are all descendants of Greek gods.

OH. MY. GODS. was a really fun light read. I had the impression that this book would be uproariously funny. It was amusing, but I never found myself actually laughing out loud. This isn’t a complaint at all, but I thought it should be noted. Furthermore, the big reveal in the end turned out to be something I saw coming but the whole novel was just so much fun, I couldn’t be bothered by getting annoyed at the fact that I guessed the ending. In fact, I was more than happy with how the book ended because I just know that the second book will be even more fun than the first!

There is a tad bit of romance in this book. There could easily have been a messy (groan) love triangle but Childs did not go in that direction! To be honest, I thought that the love interest was a big jerk and I hoped that Phoebe wouldn’t fall for him. However, exactly like the main character, he managed to chip away the ice around my heart. He’s pretty charming and his secret sealed the deal for me.

So far, this is the best mythology-based YA novel that I have read. I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on the sequel, as well as reading more books by Childs.

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