Name: The Games Gods Play
Rating: 3.84375 (16 reviews)

Abigail Owen

The Games Gods Play

THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “This story is my latest obsession.” —USA Today bestselling author, Devney Perry The gods love to play with us mere mortals. And every hundred years, we let them... I have never been favored by the gods. Far from it, thanks to Zeus. Living as a cursed office clerk for the Order of Thieves, I just keep my head down and hope the capricious beings who rule from Olympus won't notice me. Not an easy feat, given San Francisco is Zeus' patron city, but I make do. I survive. Until the night I tangle with a different god. The worst god. Hades. For the first time ever, the ruthless, mercurial King of the Underworld has entered the Crucible—the deadly contest the gods hold to determine a new ruler to sit on the throne of Olympus. But instead of fighting their own battles, the gods name mortals to compete in their stead. So why in the Underworld did Hades choose me—a sarcastic nobody with a curse on her shoulders—as his champion? And why does my heart trip every time he says I’m his? I don’t know if I’m a pawn, bait, or something else entirely to this dangerously tempting god. How can I, when he has more secrets than stars in the sky? Because Hades is playing by his own rules...and Death will win at any cost.

Melissa Mueller

3.5 stars: I really enjoyed the premise and the world building. I can see where the series can go and I’m looking forward to reading the rest. However, I didn’t like the relationship between Hades and Lyra. It just didn’t feel real. I didn’t feel any chemistry or care about it developing beyond a champion/patron friendship. I would have liked more with Boone and Lyra, I felt more emotion there and the rollercoaster with the events between them. 

I’m sorry but this has got to be one of the worst books I’ve read in a while. I don’t know how many times I rolled my eyes while reading this dumpster fire. The only reason I’m giving this one star and not .5 is because of my love for Greek mythology which wasn’t even all that greatly depicted. The author continuously referred to Hades as the God of DEATH… He’s God of the DEAD not death. As far as the mythology goes it all seemed very basic to me. Hades character wasn’t doing it for me either… jeans with a button down shirt and suspenders? Yeah no thanks. And Lyra… I could not stand her! Probably the worst FMC I’ve ever read. Her relationship with Hades was boring and predictable. Also, Hades had this possessiveness with her in the beginning and then nothing else flourished after that, which there were plenty of opportunities to add that in later in the book but it just wasn’t really brought up again? The labors were meh. I think the only one that actually somewhat hooked me was Artemis’, when Lyra is running to Hades that was great but it wasn’t as impactful for me because the development of the characters just wasn’t enough for that moment. 

Overall this was poorly written, there were many things that made it ridiculous and immature. I wanted to DNF it within the first few chapters but I sucked it up just to see how it would end which was predictable and not at all surprising. I was just glad to be done with it. 

Roxanne Ramirez

I’m sorry but this has got to be one of the worst books I’ve read in a while. I don’t know how many times I rolled my eyes while reading this dumpster fire. The only reason I’m giving this one star and not .5 is because of my love for Greek mythology which wasn’t even all that greatly depicted. The author continuously referred to Hades as the God of DEATH… He’s God of the DEAD not death. As far as the mythology goes it all seemed very basic to me. Hades character wasn’t doing it for me either… jeans with a button down shirt and suspenders? Yeah no thanks. And Lyra… I could not stand her! Probably the worst FMC I’ve ever read. Her relationship with Hades was boring and predictable. Also, Hades had this possessiveness with her in the beginning and then nothing else flourished after that, which there were plenty of opportunities to add that in later in the book but it just wasn’t really brought up again? The labors were meh. I think the only one that actually somewhat hooked me was Artemis’, when Lyra is running to Hades that was great but it wasn’t as impactful for me because the development of the characters just wasn’t enough for that moment. 

Overall this was poorly written, there were many things that made it ridiculous and immature. I wanted to DNF it within the first few chapters but I sucked it up just to see how it would end which was predictable and not at all surprising. I was just glad to be done with it. 

Such a unique premise. It was a funny read with lots of action and tension. Really looking forward to the second because that ending was craaaaazy 

Monserrat Navarro 

As a lover of Greek mythology I loved this story. Hunger Games meets Greek mythology where instead of games it’s labors. I didn’t see the ending coming and look forward to reading the next book in the series 

The Games Gods Play

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