Rachel Menard

Victory is the only option. Once a year, the Olympian Empresses grant the wishes of ten people selected by a lottery--for a price. Seventeen-year-old Gen, a former circus performer, wants the freedom of her father, who was sentenced to life in prison for murders she knows he didn't commit. Castor plans to carry the island Arcadia into the future in place of her brother, Pollux, but only after the Empresses force a change in her island's archaic laws that requires a male heir. To get what they want, Gen and Castor must race to complete the better half of ten nearly impossible labors. They have to catch the fastest ship in the sea, slay the immortal Hydra, defeat a gangster called the Boar, and capture the flesh-eating Mares, among other deadly tasks. Gen has her magic, her ability to speak to animals, her inhuman strength--and the help of Pollux, who's been secretly pining for her for years. But Castor has her own gifts: the power of the storms, along with endless coin. Only one can win. The other walks away with nothing--if she walks away at all.

Game of Strength and Storm

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

emily

thank you netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review! 

first thing i was to start with is that i am SO happy this book is a part of a series!! it was such a strong opener and there was so much room for more and i’m glad there will be! 

game of strength and storm is a hercules retelling following gen, who’s father has been arrested for a murder she knows he didn’t commit, castor, who wants to rule over her island but can’t because there’s a law that it has to be passed to the male heir, and pollux, castor’s twin brother who’s in line to rule but he just wants to be with his music. gen and castor get sent on impossible tasks, and whoever completes more gets what they want. it had a slow beginning, but it picked up as soon as the girls got assigned the tasks and started completing them. 

every character was compelling, but my favorite had to be castor. i love morally grey women what can i say? she has so much room for development and i’m excited to see where she ends up! you can tell she cares about what she does, but she cares about power more and it was great to read. i really enjoyed her relationship with pollux as well. despite the fact that they’re twins, there is a rivalry there since castor wants what pollux has. despite that, though, they don’t want anything to happen to each other, and i really enjoyed reading that. 

as for gen, i really enjoyed her character. she’s a mindworker, so she can control animals. the attachment she grows to them was beautiful to watch and something i could relate to. while i didn’t enjoy the pick me attitude she had toward pollux at first, i enjoyed her character overall. her relationship with pollux was adorable and i can’t wait for more of them! i felt they were a bit forced, but there’s room for development in future books. i thought him already having feelings for her was so cute and i loved his internal dialogue where he freaked out whenever he was around her, if you like boy obsessed, you’d like him. (not gonna lie, i thought her and castor were going to get together at first, but it looks like castor does have a sapphic romance forming and i am SO excited for that) 

another thing i really enjoyed was the worldbuliding. worldbuliding in fantasy books can be tricky when you don’t explain it correctly, but i think menard did a wonderful job and i thought it was pretty easy to follow. i’m also fascinated by the way the stormmakers powers work. i thought the way castor has to use vials and pollux had to use his violin were super creative and it captivated me every time. i also enjoyed how gen would travel in a whale’s mouth. i can’t say i’ve seen that before. 

watching the trials was my favorite part. i couldn’t decide who i was rooting for! castor and gen both had their own strengths and weaknesses so it was very enjoyable watching them competing and seeing who completed what task and how. (i was on the edge of my seat about the hydra task. i was most looking forward to who would complete that and how) 

i can’t wait for the next installment of this book and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for any greek mythology retellings!

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and finished copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Game of Strength and Storm

Author: Rachel Menard

Book Series: The Labors of Gen Book 1

Rating: 4.5/5

Diversity: POC MC, Queer MC, Queer character

Recommended For...: young adult readers, LGBT, fantasy, retelling, Hercules, Greek Mythology

Publication Date: June 7, 2022

Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling

Age Relevance: 13+ (Gore, Violence, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Forced imprisonment, Alcohol consumption, Parental Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Death, Slavery, Romance)

Explanation of Above: There is some gore and violence in this book, including vomit and blood, and murder and death as well. There is animal death and some animal cruelty mentioned and shown in the book. Some emotional abuse is shown in the book and there is sexism as well. There are scenes of forced imprisonment, kidnapping, and slavery. There is some alcohol consumption. There is parental death mentioned. There is also some light romance.

Publisher: Flux Books

Pages: 394

Synopsis: Victory is the only option.

Once a year, the Olympian Empresses grant the wishes of ten people selected by a lottery—for a price. Seventeen-year-old Gen, a former circus performer, wants the freedom of her father, who was sentenced to life in prison for murders she knows he didn’t commit. Castor plans to carry the island Arcadia into the future in place of her brother, Pollux, but only after the Empresses force a change in her island’s archaic laws that requires a male heir.

To get what they want, Gen and Castor must race to complete the better half of ten nearly impossible labors. They have to catch the fastest ship in the sea, slay the immortal Hydra, defeat a gangster called the Boar, and capture the flesh-eating Mares, among other deadly tasks.

Gen has her magic, her ability to speak to animals, her inhuman strength—and the help of Pollux, who’s been secretly pining for her for years. But Castor has her own gifts: the power of the storms, along with endless coin. Only one can win. The other walks away with nothing—if she walks away at all.

Review: For the most part I liked the book. I thought it was an interesting gender-bent Hercules tale and I actually loved that the author went with the 12 Labors story cause that one is rarely told from what I see of Hercules retellings. The book had great pacing and the plot immediately grabs your attention when you start the book. I thought the book had great character development and the world building was great as well.

However, the book is multi-POV and I didn’t think that the book did good enough to distinguish their voices as I got a little confused here and there. I also thought that the romance could have been a little bit better, but that’s just a personal preference.

Verdict: I liked it!


Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
Game of Strength and Storm by Rachel Menard

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &Game of Strength and Storm by Rachel Menard

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
Game of Strength and Storm by Rachel Menard