"Dark of the Moon" by Tracy Barrett + GIVEAWAY

From Goodreads: "Ariadne is destined to become a goddess of the moon. She leads a lonely life, filled with hours of rigorous training by stern priestesses. Her former friends no longer dare to look at her, much less speak to her. All that she has left are her mother and her beloved, misshapen brother Asterion, who must be held captive below the palace for his own safety. 

So when a ship arrives one spring day, bearing a tribute of slaves from Athens, Ariadne sneaks out to meet it. These newcomers don’t know the ways of Krete; perhaps they won’t be afraid of a girl who will someday be a powerful goddess. And indeed she meets Theseus, the son of the king of Athens. Ariadne finds herself drawn to the newcomer, and soon they form a friendship—one that could perhaps become something more. 

Yet Theseus is doomed to die as an offering to the Minotaur, that monster beneath the palace—unless he can kill the beast first. And that "monster" is Ariadne’s brother . . ."  

In all honesty I had never heard of the Greek myth of Theseus, Ariadne, the Minotaur and the labyrinth prior to reading this book (What can I say? I was more of an artsy kid than a history buff in high school). Therefore when I read this book and saw how everything was played out, I was quite disappointed by it (I was under the impression, from reading the synopsis, that this book was a sort of epic romance, that the main character, Ariadne, is torn between the boy that she loves and her brother and it was anything but). However, after reading the book and doing a bit of research into the myth I must say that I like the book a lot more than I originally had, in learning more about the myth I discovered a new-found appreciation and respect for the book. I believe it to be an interesting and different take on the well-known tale. 

Ariadne was a bit of a difficult character to connect to for the large majority of the novel- being uptight and high-strung- however it worked for the story as she had the special/ elevated ranking of 'She-Who-Will-Be-Goddess'. Though, she was extremely likeable and relateable when she was with her brother- reading about the relationship between her and her brother, the Minotaur, was truly heartwarming. Theseus, on the other hand, was an extremely likeable character the entire novel and, in all honesty, I much preferred to read the story from his POV (as the beginning of the book, told from his POV, was so entertaining and genuinely funny). 

Overall, I just found the book to be very heavy (ie. in the language, in the religious aspects, in the history, and whatnot)- which shocked me quite a bit as the book is labelled as "Juvenile Fiction". There were a number of times that I (someone who has been out of the 'juvenile' age category for quite some time) became confused as to what was happening in the book, therefore requiring me to reread parts of it. Furthermore, this book was quite gory , violent, and sexually oriented for juveniles in my opinion (a major component of this book was that She-Who-Is-Goddess has to sleep with a man every year and potentially become pregnant with his kid, she will then sacrifice said suitor in the hopes of appeasing the gods/ ensuring an abundant year of crops).

All in all, I do recommend that those unfamiliar with the tale do read this book as it is quite enlightening and educational (but perhaps older readers, because as mentioned, some themes in the book were quite mature) and I feel that those familiar with this tale will be extremely happy with this retelling!

Rating: 2/5

I received this book from the publisher to read and review. I was not compensated in any way for said review. 

And now onto the fun stuff! GIVEAWAY TIME!

There will be One (1) winner!

• The one (1) winner will receive a copy of the book.

Hows it work? 

• One only entry per person. 

• There will be ONE (1) winner. 

• Contest is CANADIAN ONLY!

• Giveaway ends Monday, October 17th, 2011 at 11:59 p.m.

• Winner will have 48 hours after notification to respond.

• Prize are being distributed by a third party (the publisher). I am not responsible if your prizes get eaten by the postal system/ whatnot.

• You do not have to be a follower of my blog to enter the giveaway BUT if you Tweet (or spread the word) about the giveaway you will receive an additional point in the draw (FYI: See that little "Tweet" button at the bottom of this post? Click on it and all of the information you should include in the Tweet is already in it!)

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who entered and thank you to Thomas Allen and Sons!