Sweet Shadows by Tera Lynn Childs

The Synopsis:
Gretchen may have known she was a descendant of Medusa long before her sisters--after all, she's spent her life fighting the monsters that escape the abyss--but that doesn't mean it will be easy to teach the other girls the ropes. Can she rely on Grace and Greer, or even trust herself to keep them safe? Greer has pressing social commitments on her plate and precious little time to train in her newfound powers. But that wretched second sight won't leave her alone, and her fabled heritage seems to be creeping into her fashionable life.
Grace has worries closer to home--like why her brother, Thane, has disappeared. He's hiding something. Could it possibly be related to the secret heritage the triplets share?
With the warring factions among the gods of Olympus coming for them, the creatures of the abyss pushing into their world, and the boys in their lives keeping secrets at every turn, the three girls must figure out where their fate will take them and how to embrace the shadows of their legacy.


My Thoughts:
I'm going to skip my who introduction to the review explaining how much I love Greek mythology because I feel like I've said that so many times already, and who wants to keep hearing me gush about it over and over and over again?  I would, but possibly not you.

Gretchen still is my favorite of the three sisters.  Her protectiveness of her sisters is admirable and also this growing affection for them is such a great thing to watch throughout the series.  She changes from a girl who knows nothing about love and knows everything about being alone to one that begins to understand the concept of how to love and be loved.  She isn't nearly as accepting of any monkey business as Grace is and the connection and banter between all three is such an amusing thing to watch.  And for me being a twin, I can connect with the sisterly bond the three of them create and relate with how sometimes the sacrifices of one's wishes is better for all.

And Greer, while you've changed and developed into more of dimensional character, I still don't like you.  Nothing personal.

And--my!  Nick!  Well, aren't you full of surprises?  I loved you and your persistence with Gretchen.  The relationship between the two of you was entertaining and I just wanted to ship you and Gretchen so hard!  While the relationship was mostly cold than hot, I saw something between the two of you and I want to see more!  Plus, you're still this mysterious something that I want to know more about.

There was more adventure in Sweet Shadows than the first book and that made me happy.  However, for a book about Greek mythology, there wasn't a lot of action.  Reflecting, I feel that the climax of the story was this little bump, not a peak.  The story is something that I did enjoy, but I felt that, given more, this book could have been spectacular.  The character development was great, but a little more something could have helped me enjoy it the story that much more.

I love how Childs brings out the monsters of myth in this series with her own personal spin on it all.  The characters are wonderful and I enjoy to watch them interact with one another--bickering or otherwise.  While I found the plot to be a little plain, I'm still very curious about the next book to see how things will end.  Fans of mythology, monsters, and kickass characters will enjoy this this series, if you haven't started it already.

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

The Synopsis:
Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.
Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.
Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.
These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.
My Thoughts:
Being that I have a deep love for all things free and cheap, I jumped on the opportunity to download Sweet Venom after seeing it proudly advertised on Pitch Dark as free a few weeks ago.  Never mind that I loathe reading anything on technological devices.  Ironic, since I run a blog here and read other peoples' reviews all the time.  Call me a hypocrite.

I had downloaded it onto my phone, and I just expected that I'd pick it up and read it whenever I got bored and didn't have my current read on me.  At first, that's just what I did.  I think that lasted for only a day or two before I had a hard time putting it down.  I didn't have high expectations for this book because I'd never read up on it or anything, so I was happily surprised to become wrapped up into the story.

I was so surprised that I didn't even know there was a third sister to the group.  I'd read nothing of the synopsis!  It's so unlike me!
After getting acquainted with all three sisters, I found that I mostly connected with Gretchen and Grace, Gretchen being my favorite.  Gretchen was all badass ninja-like as she takes down Greek monster after Greek monster.  This is a regular walk-in-the-park life for Gretchen.  She was also pessimistic and untrustworthy, which made me like her even more.  And she named her car.  So when two other sisters stumble into her now not so walk-in-the-park life, she was believable with her reactions.

Grace was cute.  She had that very girl-next-door vibe, but I found her to be naive at times and too trusting and optimistic.  Too much sunshine for me.  But that's what made her her, so I can't complain much about that.  I did, however, like how she tried her best to keep the trio together.  She was fiercely determined and stubborn and knowledgeable.

And then there was Greer.  I'm not going to say much other than I didn't like her.  We did not have that connecting moment, but that could also be due to how little 'screen time'--if you will--she got during the book.  And I was not convinced about her by the end of the book.

Since I love Greek mythology so much, I thought it was really interesting to read where Medusa happens to be the good guy.  It was a different and original take on my beloved Greek mythology and I did enjoy it to the point that I couldn't wait to get my hands on the second book (this time in HB form, thank you).  There was action and the budding romance between some of the characters was extremely adorable.  Unfortunately, there were times in the story where I'd get confused about who I was reading about.  Maybe it's because all of their names began with a 'G' or the writing style got a little too consistent between characters.  I'm not sure.

Sweet Venom was an original tale that tells the story of three sisters destined to kick Greek monster butt while being sassy and fierce as they do so.  I was happily wrapped up into the story and was gladly transported to the sunny streets of San Fransisco, California.  And although Childs transports readers into the dark alleyways of the city and introduces them to the not-so-attractive monsters, Sweet Venom was a short and entertaining read with dimensional characters and great imagery.  If you're into Greek mythology or if you even like some monster butt-kicking, Sweet Venom would be a great read  for you.