Review
Retellings to do with Greek Mythology are my jam. I will always read them and drool over them and love them. I can’t get enough, and so when I saw the words Daughter of Sparta I knew I had to have it. I honestly hadn’t heard anything about it before I read it. In fact, it didn’t seem that anyone was really talking about it. But I knew I was going to give it a try. I had no expectations going into this book, and I will say I was blown away by this book. I didn’t think I would be, but I was.
Daphne was a great character in this book, and I loved her strength and perseverance, but also how she knew when to ask for help. This also holds one of my favorite tropes in fiction: enemies to lovers. Although it was more like enemies to lovers to enemies. I felt that Daphne was well developed and made you want her to succeed. I loved her attitude and how she approached problems.
Apollo was also a great character. Mind you, there are some similarities with the actual god we know from mythology, so be aware that it isn’t going to be all that similar. But I liked him as a character as well. I did find him annoying in an endearing type of way.
Their banter was top notch as well; very enjoyable. Their relationship as it develops from not liking each other, to friends to romance and then to something else was a great plot point. We get to see Daphne being strong and in charge.
We run across several prominent figures in mythology in this book as well – and I love how it’s done. A highly creative take on Daphne and Apollo that we know from myth.
This book sucks you in and doesn’t let you go — I could not put it down for anything. I loved the writing and the pace and the plot. All of it worked well together for me, and I greedily devoured each page and hoped for more. It’s easy to get invested in this plot, as it is very much a take on the tasks that many heroes go through in Greek myth, except this time we get to see a woman do it instead. I love that about this book.
This was a solid YA fantasy/mythology book. I think those that enjoy Greek myth/retellings of any sort will like this one.
I am ridiculously excited for the next book in this series because I cannot wait to see what happens to Daphne and Apollo…