Juniper Grove

Hope has spent her entire life running, frequently moving to stay alive. Hope and her mother are being hunted by Skia (shadow monsters), various demigods, and even Apollo himself. When her mother is murdered, Hope is left to fend for herself, and she hides away in a small town while her aunt tries to find out who is responsible.

Athan is tall, handsome, and has his eyes on Hope. She is mysterious and refuses to let anyone get close, especially him. As Athan falls for Hope, he realizes that there is something special about her, and he will do whatever it takes to protect her.

I enjoyed this story, especially later on, but there were a few parts that disconnected me from the story. In those parts, I felt like there were inconsistencies in the story. In the prologue, it is clearly stated that Athan knew about Hope's situation as he was there when her mother was killed. He knows who is responsible and is given the task of finding Hope and even waits around for her to show up. Here's a quote from the book:

A dark-haired woman flung open the door and ran toward the building, nearly colliding with him.

"Best be careful," he warned, and pulled her to a stop.

Giving Athan the benefit of doubt, even if he didn't realize that the woman was Hope, she is clearly close to the woman who was just killed. He even saw what she looked like, yet later in the story when he meets Hope he has no idea who she is. It was just a little hard to believe that he was given the important task of finding the Sphinx's daughter and when he sees a woman who was there that day, he doesn't make the connection.

Also, as I began reading, I got the impression that even though people learn about mythology in school that demigods and other creatures did their best to remain hidden. It's just a feeling that the beginning of the book has, but halfway through the story it shifted. Everyone knows about demigods, characters comment about having friends that were demigods, students are even being killed by Skia at school in front of crowds. The feeling now is that it is widely accepted to be a mythological creature, but yet everyone has a fear of being killed. If the fear was that great, wouldn't more demigods go to the temples for safety rather than live normal lives in the public eye? It just confused me and kept me from totally investing myself in the story.

I did enjoy seeing how the relationship between Hope and Athan developed. It will be interesting to see where their relationship goes, provided that they are given the chance to find out themselves, and to see what the future holds for Hope. If you like mythology, check out Curse of the Sphinx.