Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs
(Medusa Girls, #1)
Genre: YA paranormal
Format: ebook
Read: 11/17/2012
In Six Words: Interesting premise, we want more answers.
Links
Tera Lynn Childs — Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
Amazon — Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle
Add it to Goodreads
Book Order
1. Sweet Venom
2. Sweet Shadows
3. Sweet Legacy
Why We Started Reading This Series
Uhh… It was a free download on Kindle a while back and we both picked it up (09/25/12). When the Great Reading Slump of ’12 sucked Amanda in and spit her out, she let me pick a book for us to read. I chose this one. *flings arms out dramatically* Ta-da! I’ll be honest, it was the cover, guys. The cover caught my eye because it wasn’t the “girl in a dress” cover that is so predominant on YA novels nowadays.
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.
-from Goodreads
Our Thoughts on book 1
Amanda: So, I was very proud of myself for guessing that there were three girls in this story. That is, until I went back and read the synopsis and realized it mentioned was IN the synopsis that there were three girls. I guess that’s what I get for reading the synopsis after I read the book.
Kelly: Oh, Amanda! You just gave me a case of the giggles! Yes, the triplets were definitely in the synopsis. I find that I am VERY interested in the various boys who have suddenly popped into the girls’ lives, though. There must be a connection between them and the weird things that are happening. There must be!
Amanda: I blame EVERYTHING on cold meds. They are such a convenient excuse. I was interested in the boys as well, except I kind of wanted MOAR information about them. And I found Grace’s brother, Thane, more interesting than Milo, Grace’s crush. Was that just me?
Kelly: It wasn’t just you. I keep thinking that Thane will somehow be VERY involved in the upcoming events. Is he a guardian of sorts for Grace? The legends say that only three girls in every generation will be Huntresses but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t more siblings/cousins/etc around, right?
Amanda: Thane was confusing, I think, because he was so quiet. And Gretchen had Nick (who kinda cracked me up with his persistence). So, that would align with the guardian part, BUT what about Greer? She was kind of…odd, since she doesn’t really have anyone. And she resists the whole thing more than Grace does.
Kelly: Yes, Greer throws a wrench into my “the boys are guardians” theory. Dang her! I don’t know. I keep looking at it like Nick pops into Gretchen’s life (I agree with you, btw, about his awesome persistence) and Milo is suddenly there making eyes at Grace and… it just feels very coincidental, you know. Are they guardians? Spies for the Gods? I don’t know. I DON’T KNOW! And it’s killing me.
Amanda: I was not satisfied with the amount of information in this book. I felt like what we did learn was pretty easy to figure out on our own (hence my ability to guess what was happening with the three girls without having read the synopsis) and the rest was… TEASING us. It kept me from enjoying the book as much as I could have…but at the same time, I enjoyed it enough to want to know MORE.
Kelly: YES! This! I want to know more! Part of me feels like we were really left hanging with the way this book ended. There’s so much setup for the next book that I’m DYING HERE! I guess it’s a good thing book 2 is already out, right? If I wanted to, I could go pick it up RIGHT NOW and see if we get more answers!
Amanda: So, what’s your final rating on this? It’s probably more of a 6 or 7 for me (I honestly can’t decide right now). I mean, I liked it and I want to know more, but it’s not high up on my MUST GET RIGHT NOW list.
Kelly: Overall, I liked the storytelling. I really enjoyed this take on the Medusas and how screwy everything is BUT… I’m trying to reconcile what we were told in the beginning of the book against some of the things we learned later on and I’m left feeling unsatisfied. A few more answers would have upped this to a solid 7 for me. Right now, I’m going back and forth between 6 and 7 like you.
Amanda: Yeah. I think the beginning of the book held a lot of promise, and I liked the alternating POV between Gretchen and Grace. Once things picked up and Greer was added into the mix, it didn’t quite live up to its promise.
Kelly: We’ll have to see what book 2 brings to the table, I guess.
Other Reviews
All Things Urban Fantasy
Supernatural Shark Snark
Amy @ bookgoonie December 12, 2012 at 6:21 am
Wish it would have been more of a winner. I find that mythology based books either give me too much detail and start to sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher OR they don’t build the world up enough leaving my head titled hoping the pieces OR give a damn to come.
Amanda @ On a Book Bender December 12, 2012 at 10:21 am
This book wasn’t ever terrible–it just wasn’t something that made me say, “Wow!” I’ve read worse. I’ve read better.
Smash Attack December 15, 2012 at 4:01 pm
I’m so with you on the mythology based books! A lot of YA books just don’t hit the mark even though I want to read them all because I love mythology!
Mary @ BookSwarm December 12, 2012 at 6:43 am
I agree about the need for more answers. I enjoyed this one but not enough to purchase number two. If I remember, it’ll be a library read. Liked the Medusa aspect, though, and the idea of triplets. Not enough triplets out there.
Amanda @ On a Book Bender December 12, 2012 at 10:27 am
Yup. The second one is not a real big priority for me. (Maybe once I run out of other books to read? Ha.)
Felicia S. (@thegeekyblogger) December 12, 2012 at 6:53 am
Oh I would need answers. I would demand answers! I am crazy like that and would think the book would answer me :) Probably not but I would try!
Amanda @ On a Book Bender December 12, 2012 at 10:33 am
I’m a total information whore, so…yes. I get that. ;)
Kristilyn (Reading in Winter) December 12, 2012 at 7:53 am
I got this one for free from Amazon … still not sure if I want to read it. I’m not sure how I feel about stories where a) it’s too easy to figure things out on my own, and b) there are questions left unanswered in the end. For me, I like a book that can stand on its own, with NEW questions in the other books in the series.
Amanda @ On a Book Bender December 12, 2012 at 10:36 am
Agreed. I don’t like cliffhangers and I don’t like being left unsatisfied at the end of the book.
Sarah (saz101) December 12, 2012 at 7:02 pm
“Amanda: So, I was very proud of myself for guessing that there were three girls in this story. That is, until I went back and read the synopsis and realized it mentioned was IN the synopsis that there were three girls. I guess that’s what I get for reading the synopsis after I read the book.” Bahahaha! I’m still very proud of you… I… uh. Have been seeing this around for months and never knew what it was about until RIGHT NOW :D
Uh… and I’m now creeped out by the possibility of some girl ending up with her brother, Than O__o
Uh… this sounds interesting. I’m intrigued, but I’ve had enough of unstatisfied at end of book now, given I just finished Opal. Wait for next book? Maybe? Also, I don’t want to pay $8 for the Australian edition Kindle book :P
Amanda @ On a Book Bender December 12, 2012 at 7:47 pm
*scrunchy frowny face* I thought I was so smart. Guess not.
Also, boo. This Kindle book is free right now for the US.
Sarah (saz101) December 12, 2012 at 7:49 pm
No, I was being serious. It’s totally the kind of thing I would do WITHOUT cold meds :S
Amanda @ On a Book Bender December 12, 2012 at 7:52 pm
Oh, we’re getting into all my cold meds reads! Yay. Those will be fun reviews. o.O
(To be honest, I have a tendency not to read synopses, especially when I have people pick the book for me, as Kelly did in this case. I find it’s a great way not to keep expectations to a minimum. And that’s not a cold meds thing.)
Sarah (saz101) December 12, 2012 at 7:53 pm
It’s funny… I’ll read a press release if a book comes with one, but I tend not to read synopses for books I’m about to read, either XD
I’m so jealous of your free Kindle books :(
Amanda @ On a Book Bender December 12, 2012 at 7:56 pm
I usually only read synopses if I have a question about something in the middle of the book or while I’m writing my review. I think maybe because I remember books based on their cover and what people have thought about it. Like, “Oh, I remember that book. A lot of bloggers liked it.” And then I’ll pick it up to read without knowing what the book is about.
Jenny December 13, 2012 at 9:04 am
I’m thinking Thane definitely has something going on, and I’m even more convinced of it after reading book 2 despite the fact that he’s not present for very much of the story. I thought this was a cute, fun read, though I agree with you that we didn’t get a whole lot of information about what was going on. I felt similarly with book 2, so I have high hopes we’ll get details in book 3:)
Amanda @ On a Book Bender December 13, 2012 at 11:36 am
Book 2 is that way, too? Sad. I wish there was more. Thanks for your insight, Supernatural
SharkSnark. ;)Jenny December 13, 2012 at 11:55 am
Hahahaha I didn’t even notice you had my review listed as Supernatural Shark. WIN! I got a book in the mail the other day and it said “Supernatural SNARL” on the label. That might be the best version of my blog name yet.
And yes, book 2 is a bit lacking in information as well. Granted you do get a little more on the girls and Nick in particular, but it very much had a middle book feel to it.
Amanda @ On a Book Bender December 13, 2012 at 12:10 pm
I have to admit that that was all Kelly’s doing. (But I fully supported it.)
Supernatural Snarl. I LOVE IT.
Oh. I loved Nick. He might make the second book worth my while.
Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal December 14, 2012 at 12:43 pm
I also dramatically threw my arms out in the “why we read this” explanation. Ta-da! I was on FIRE that day!
Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal December 14, 2012 at 12:42 pm
Bwahahahaha! Supernatural Snarl? Brilliant! “She snarls with the strength of 20 men! Her abilities are beyond compare! She is Jenny! The Supernatural Snarl!”
Mandi Kaye December 13, 2012 at 8:06 pm
I think this is one of my very favorite of your joint reviews. I’m not sure if I will ever actually read this book… but I kind of want to right now.
Amanda @ On a Book Bender December 13, 2012 at 8:35 pm
It’s the cold meds effect, isn’t it? It makes everything seem awesomer (yes, it’s a word) than it probably really is.
Alexa December 27, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Lol I picked this up as well when it was free but I haven’t found the time to read it yet because it just isn’t that high up on my list. The story does seem interesting since I like tales with a little mythology lore to them. HOwever, it sounds like the story didn’t give you enough and left a lot for the second book. YA books sadly always seem to do this and that is why all YA series have to be 4ish books long!
I guess the characters sound good enough though for me to give this a chance since I’m a very character driven reader.
Thanks for the great review ladies.
Amanda @ On a Book Bender December 27, 2012 at 8:57 pm
The series syndrome. Yes. This book has it.