Hunt of the Gods — a review

Hunt of the Gods
Amy Braun
(Areios Brothers #2)
Publication date: June 4th 2019
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Rating:  5 stars

Two months have passed since Derek Areios—war-scion and heir of Ares—and the band of rogue scions he’s aligned with recovered both the Thunderbolt of Zeus and the Heart of the Devourer and returned them to the Gods. During the battle, Derek discovered he could control not only the element of fire, as all war-scions can, but also the dark element “aether,” making him the only scion alive to wield two types of elemental magic.

Commanded by Zeus to retrieve the Trinity Weapons and the Shards of Cronus, Derek and the rogue scions are thwarted in their goal by a gang of water-scions with a grudge against one of the rogues—Thea, heir of Poseidon. Both groups travel to an uninhabited island to recover one of the Shards––the Eye that belonged to Cronus, King of the Titans. But what they encounter will lead them down a path of brutal betrayals, hard truths, painful memories, and desperate actions.

With angry and impatient gods breathing down his neck, a curse that allows Ares to control him, a prophecy he’s desperate to avoid, a magic spear corrupting his thoughts, and two forms of elemental magic, Derek has a lot of baggage—and a lot of power. Will the price of using that power to satisfy the Gods be too much for him to pay?

Mythological monsters, explosive magic, and devastating truths take center stage in the second novel of the action-packed AREIOS BROTHERS series from Amy Braun.

REVIEW

Hunt of the Gods  by Amy Braun is the UF series I didn’t know I wanted.  I tend to shy away from the ones that feature gods and pantheons because it seems most authors struggle with portraying them in a way that is true to their old forms while modernizing the story.  Braun has no such issues.

Derek is my favorite type of hero–the totured soul.  While the reader is given insight into what Derek will become via prophecy, the route he takes seems to be up in the air. He repeatedly does all the wrong things for all the right reasons, which makes it so much easier to see him becoming the weapon of destruction the prophecy foretells.  However, while the first book in this series gives you a feel for the characters, Hunt gives a much greater look.  And the prophecy that the heirs have been shown starts to appear skewed.

The action in this book is pretty intense.  It’s fast-paced and engrossing and I was compelled to keep reading to the end.  Of course, it ended as I thought it would (with a cliffhanger), but the questions that remain aren’t the obvious ones.  The final battle scene actually makes you start to wonder about everybody’s role in the prophecy, not just the obvious one of Derek.  And the epilogue is absolutely heart-breaking, because the poor man fights his nature as the heir to Ares so much to be the person he wants to be…and it seems like he is fighting a losing battle.

On the side characters, I’m ecstatic to see not one, but TWO female characters who aren’t suffering from pride or the ‘too stupid to live’ gene.  Both Thea and Selena are strong in their own rights.  They both add something amazing to the story, and the romance is definitely a side tangent that fuels the main story, but isn’t their main purpose.  The ladies are NOT arm candy in this book.  The side relationship between the other 2 guys is also something I was a little surprised to see…but then I remembered that these aspects of strong females and sexual freedom are actually pretty in-character for the Greek pantheon.  The pantheon is littered with goddesses who are no pushover and history has shown the society to be openly accepting of homosexuality.

Braun also captures the horror of having a 13-year-old boy be unstoppable.  Because the actions of the gods are seriously on par with a tantruming 13-year-old.  They’re thousands of years old, but still have a hissy fit when somebody takes away their toy (Ares) or throw a tantrum because somebody told them no (Apollo).  And of course, their little club will close ranks against the humans, regardless of the truth.

I am seriously looking forward to the next book in the series.  There’s a lot of uncertainty at the end of Hunt, both personal and in regards to the prophecy.  I’m curious to know what Athena’s end-game is, if Persephone is really as benevolent as she’s playing, and what the hell Hades’ reaction is going to be.  All is not lost, though, because you get some answers in the book, too (like why Derek is a dead ringer for Ares).  So click below and grab your copy of this second book in an amazing new series.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

 

Author Bio:

Amy is a Canadian urban fantasy and horror author. Her work revolves around monsters, magic, mythology, and mayhem. She started writing in her early teens, and never stopped. She loves building unique worlds filled with fun characters and intense action.

When she isn’t writing, she’s reading, watching movies, taking photos, gaming, struggling with chocoholism and ice cream addiction, and diving headfirst into danger in Dungeons & Dragons campaigns.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

 

GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway