Stunning photo by @surireads
Hi Fairy Friends!
It’s the 5th and final day of our Lore Readlong! How have you all found it? I’ve loved reading through all your comments and posts! It’s been such a good book to chat about 🙂
Let’s jump on in to the last section, shall we?
Please be warned, the following will include spoilers for Lore by Alexandra Bracken! Read only if you’ve finished the book!
-!SPOILERS!-
We left yesterday’s section on quite the cliffhanger, but oh? What’s this?
It turns out everything was a ruse after all, including the bond between Lore and Athena. Lore has wounded herself for no good reason – though it’s still enough to infuriate Athena, who needs Lore alive to hand over the Aegis. Leaving her in the tunnels, Athena sets out to finalise the rest of her plan.
In swoops Castor, with the handy location device on Lore’s phone leading him directly to her. He scoops her up and restores her back to health, part of the healing process being the outpouring of Lore’s true story…
We learn that young Lore is the one to have stolen the Aegis, hiding it from the Kadmides and everyone else hunting for it in the place they wouldn’t think to look. by the time she had returned home, Athena had left her family in ruin, and her life was changed forever.
Castor’s story soon follows suit, and we discover that Apollo came to Castor as a child, wounded and merely watching Castor close by. The memories are returning…maybe soon we’ll know what really happened?
And then they kiss! The moment a lot of us have been waiting for, the childhood friends to lovers trope came into fruition at last.
Full of new revelations and renewed motivation, Lore sets out to retrieve the Aegis, hidden away in the Phoenician all along. And the inscription?
“So it shall be until that day, when one remains who is remade whole and summons me with smoke of altars to be built by conquest final and fearsome.”
Sounds ominous.
So now we have the crew back together – everyone survived the storm – and the Aegis to hand, a plan of acton is underway. In what can only be called the Grand Central Station Showdown, Lore overhears Athena and Ares’ plans to destroy the city with Zeus as witness. They attempt to coax Lore into handing over the shield to summon him, but Lore has come to understand Athena more than she thinks. It is revealed why Athena needs the shield – it’s a symbol of her father’s pride, something Athena has been missing for centuries.
Not falling for the whims of Gods, however, Lore is still not in luck, and finds herself wounded not only by knife, but with Hydra poison too. Lore being the last of her line, the Aegis would disappear with her death, an eventuality Athena can’t bear, and so in a plot twist that comes full circle, Athens sacrifices herself and hands the final blow to Lore.
Becoming immortal, Lore is healed – but also inherits an immense amount of power to control. This power takes out the threats in Grand Central Station, but is close to becoming too much.
And then Castor is here! Bringing Lore back to the present, he helps her restrain against the power and gain control, slowly ending the night’s events. It’s all over.
A small flash forward in time, we meet Castor and Lore again. Castor has come to realise Apollo let Castor kill him and ascended the way Athena did, granting him his power. With everything at an end, the two contemplate their life. What do they do with an immortal lifespan? What do they do with power they never asked for?
At a loss for ideas, Lore finds herself praying to the Gods. She never wanted to be part of this. She left this world for one of her own, before being brutally pulled back in. Can they not just leave it all behind?
The Gods were listening, and grant her this wish.
And so we have the end of the book! Quite the dramatic ending, don’t you think?
Did you enjoy the end? Did anything take you by surprise?
What was your favourite part of the whole book? I personally loved Miles, as well as Athena’s dastardly monologue – it was fun to read!
Thank you so much for joining me in this Readalong! It has been lovely chatting to you all and hearing your thoughts! Stay tuned for our next one for This Golden Flame!
Love,
Ashleigh
Wooow, what a ride!
I also forgot to mention that I loved the feminist perspective of the story, one can never have enough of girls fighting for what they believe in and want! ?
This book is a solid 4.5 stars and I’ll probably reread it in some time. Truth be told I don’t often reread books, but I’m going through a tough period and Lore helped me remember that I’m strong and I can withstand hardships ?
I really loved this book. Lots of twists and turns and had me hooked from the start!
I loved the ending although was not overly suprised by it.
My heart was in my mouth through the whole of this section…and I cried at the end! I love the way we got to see everyone examining their pasts, what made them and what motivates them, and what happens when it is all whittled away to reveal true desires. Lore and Castor really shine at the end (literally), but my heart went out to Van, who was always trying so hard to be helpful and in control, managing both old and new worlds and gods…but still needed Miles to bring him in to the reality of himself. I’m going straight back to the beginning for a re-read to see what looks different now we know who they all really are…and to see if I can be brave enough to stem the tears this time! Thank you so much for the read-along…anyone for Nektar?!
Possible unpopular opinion warning– I am probably going to 2 or 3-star this.
It started out so strong. I loved the pace, the intrigue and I was so excited to see where our characters would end up.
I really liked Lore’s resilience and her ferocity. However, I’m a character-driven reader so I hoped we’d get much more from the entire cast of characters. For me, there were too many characters introduced only to be killed off.
Also needed MUCH more Miles & Van! ?
Starting in the previous section and continuing on into this section, the constant action started to be chaotic for me. There may have been too many elements introduced to be able to resolve them all well.
I felt Athena’s final change of heart wasn’t particularly believable– especially after several gratuitous descriptions of the way she tortured Lore’s family (and probably countless others) in her pursuit of the aegis.
Since this book is positioned as Greek mythology in a feminist light, I appreciated that Lore fought the final battle herself, rather than relying on Cas’ power. Although I strongly believe characters should not be denigrated for needing or accepting help (female characters in especially– we all need help some time!), I did feel like it undermined the point when she needed Cas to save/heal her & ground her in that particular moment. I would have preferred if Lore just needed epic rest after battle then had her heart-to-heart with Cas after.
Speaking of Cas– I was also disappointed that we spent so much time wondering why his power was different only for the explanation to be little more than a footnote after the action.
All this aside, thanks so much to Ashleigh for hosting!
I loved it! I was really happy Athena changed at the last minute and saved herself and Lore. I had really liked her up until she betrayed Lore so was happy she got to ascend. I’m glad Lore and Castor were able to become mortals again as that’s all they really wanted so I’m happy with the ending. It’s definitely a 5 star book for me!
I suspected the way to end the Agon would be by willingly giving up your power when Lore’s most defining feature was wanting out of this contest. I was pleasantly surprised, though, that Athena came back around in the end. That was a very clever way to play on her pride and her “godly aspect” of protecting cities.
Talk about an impressive climax battle! I literally gasped when Lore cut off Wrath’s arm. The earbud thing was very clever too, and I think that’s a call back to some mythological story (I’m remembering bee’s wax in the ears?). I loved the bit about Lore keeping the shield from intimidating Wrath because she wanted to intimidate him herself!
I wonder if there is going to be a second book? It seems as though the Agon is over, but there won’t be any way to know for sure until seven years pass. Too, I really thought Bracken would have something that would connect Lore’s mantra of “My name will be legend” and that her name is Lore…another word for legend. I like the few lingering questions at the end of this book. I don’t know that I want everything answered in a sequel.
I think my favorite part of the whole book was the Hermes reveal and my favorite character was Vin.
Hi guys!
I really loved this ending! I don’t think anything really surprised me, probably when I’m going to bed this evening something does come in mind, but not for now.
I totally loved Miles and his friendship with Lore, I would’ve liked to get to know Gil/Hermes because I think I would’ve loved him as well.
Thank you for the readalong, I really enjoyed reading this book together with you all. Thanks for hosting it, Ashleigh!
Love, Sandy.
First of all: Thank you for the readalong! It was my first one ever and it was very much worth it 🙂 I loved getting to see all of your opinions and recapping the evens each day. That way, I had a more aware reading experience. Putting all my theories in here was also fun! Thank you Ashleigh, for hosting it so well and encouraging us to share our thoughts!
I found the end of Lore to be fitting and very well written. Everything fell in place in a way that just made sense! The gods did have to give up their power to be free of it all, Athena having to give up the shield was just one more bittersweet sacrifice.
Lore and Castor giving up their powers was great, often books where a character gains immortality without wanting it don’t give them the chance to give it up. But now Lore is finally free, and Castor too.
I’m so happy that Athena redeemer herself somewhat. She still killed Lore’s family but saved Lore in the end. And Athena forbidding Wrath to kill Lore was just…. The most awesome Athena moment in the whole book. In general, I loved that the last standoff was not Lore against Wrath, but Lore talking to Athena. Wrath was just the bystander, which was hilarious and an immensly satisfying twist.
Iro came back as an ally, which I also loved. She was just not very focused upon. In a standalone there is not that much space for every character and that’s okay. I do love standalones, they give me a feeling of completion and don’t leave me at a cliffhanger.
And I called it about Miles and Van in the first day! They are so cute together and seeing Van happy was super cute! Van and Lore finally talking it out and accepting their differences was also heartwarming. I’m glad that the human main characters all survived 🙂
I think my favourite part is still Athena’s and Lore’s chat on the roof. It tied the books themes nicely together and gave us a deeper understanding of them both. The whole Medusa idea was so powerful and every scene with Lore and the Aegis was badass and empowering.
Athena as Palass Athena, the protector of cities also spoke to me and I loved that she gave herself up to save New York. It just felt RIGHT for that character to do that and I love moments where a book just clicks without ‘t needing to explain anything.
Did anyone else have a typo on page 383? There’s a line that said “His ace [sic] was a book that had been written only for her.” Should say “face”.
Anyway, the book was amazing! Overall, I rated it ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I liked how fast paced it was because the events of the book had to happen within 7 days.
The Athena twists were so surprising, I’m still not over it!
I noticed the typo too ^^
That was… so good! The ending kind of surprised me, but also ended how I wanted it to, somehow. I really like that Athena realised her mistakes and sacrificed herself and that Lore was the one who saved the city she loves so so much. I think the ending just… was really kind of satisfying, in that all the lose ends are kind of tied up.
My favourite part of the book was honestly how complicated and conflicted Athena was – her character was just really interesting to me, and she’s one of those characters I love to hate but kind of respect as well. Lore’s dad also had some of the best quotes and Miles as the loveable human sidekick was just the best character! Lore was also just so badass and the real feminist reframing of the Greek myths was amazing and so on point right now.
Basically, I just really really enjoyed this readalong! I knew I’d enjoy Lore because I’m a sucker for all Greek myth books, but I honestly wasn’t expecting to get this swept up in it all quite as much as I was. I’m looking forward to next month’s readalong too! Thanks for this week!!
Castor saying, “I was born to do three things – how to breathe, how to dream, and how to love you.” That sentence melted my heart!!
I needed that because that brutal violence from Wrath?? Yikes, I didn’t feel bad for Belen until this point. When you have become nothing but an annoyance? Poor Belen. This whole time, I’ve seen Wrath kill people quickly, but when he was fighting with Lore, I felt like he was torturing her with the poison and cracking her lower back. He didn’t want to give her a quick finish and I winced so much for Lore.
I was so mad at Athena for going after Lore’s family and killing them off in a horrible death when the Aegis was stolen by the Kadmines in the first place. Athena should have went after them, I’m salty over that lol. But we do end up seeing Athena sacrificing herself for Lore and the Aegis, and find out that Apollo did the same to Castor seven years ago.
I love the roof scene because it’s just them against the world. Spending what they thought was their last moments all together watching the sun go to sleep. There’s just a certain tenderness and wonder during sunset hour, especially those shared with friends.
Athena was so well written! Really enjoyed her character. The ending was quite surprising to me, but definitely satisfying.
I really enjoyed this book!
I really enjoyed the ending of this one!
So pleased that I managed to guess Apollo gifting himself/his power to Castor, and that being the true way to “win” the Agon. And it tied together really well with the theme of sacrifice, but also acknowledging the gods themselves have rarely given up anything
This definitely felt like a case of…. a good ending raising my rating for the book too!
When Lore started letting her friends in more, I also connected better.
But also… I’m a sucker for a happy ending like this, and it ended on the really nice note with them becoming mortal once more.
Also bonus points for quoting the Spartans!
I feel like all of Lores tiredness got transfered to me hehe I kept falling asleep wihile reading the book thats why I am one day behind everytime hehehee
Oooh I love the ending them hugging as they get to stay with the ones they love soooo awsome
But my favourite part of this day was Castors worsd that he always knew how to breathe how to dream and how to love her ooooooh the hopeless romantic in me was screamming yeees
It was a good book all together and I think my first greek mythology inspred book that I read I love it and now I hope that there is a tv show based on it like Aleksandra hinted in ig live chat hehe
Have a great day everybody i loved reading the book with all of you and reading your comments and now I cant wait thill the next one
I loved that Castor got a second chance at life … it’s a nice fairytale to think about with all of those whose lives are destroyed by cancer…
Finished! Finally! Its about 4am here at the time of writing this, but I’m free like a feather from a wing. I really enjoyed this last section in particular, with Athena’s evil and then ultimate, when all else is lost, redemption
– and yay to Miles and Van getting together! At least one of them had enough backbone to go over and sort out that unspoken pining. ?
I give this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐◽
I overall liked it a lot, but I wasn’t so absolutely floored by it as to warrant a fifth star. Besides Miles, who is just an absolute delight and I would read a whole book about, and maybe Van because he’s fun, none of the characters super stuck with me and I found the plot a bit confusing at points. Also some of the on page gods seemed a bit OOC? Obviously with myths that old to work from a lot is interpretation and I dont fault anyone else’s exactly, but it clashed with my interpretations enough that it sometimes pulled me out of the narrative a bit, yknow? ? I did also find it a bit slow to start but it really picked up pace in the last couple of sections!
That said I loved the brutal world Alexandra created, and all the nods to myths which were laid out (for the most part… sometimes she just up and categorically said that a bit was supposed to show symmetry to a myth lol) subtley. Also (how many times can I use the word also in one comment) I appreciate that Alexandra didn’t shy away from calling out how utterly abhorrent ancient Greek society and stories was towards women, rather than the story trying to particularly make it seem noble or good. And the gods we met were all horrible people, which is also pretty true of the myths lol.
I haven’t read a lot of Greek mythology outside of Percy Jackson and Lovely war and my knowledge on the personalities etc of the Greek gods and goddesses is a little hazzy but I enjoyed this book and especially liked that it is urban fantasy. It had lots of twists that I failed to see coming + I liked how fast paced it was
Wow, so I definitely didn’t expect some of the things that we got in the end! 😀 I thought that Lore might inherit either Artemis’ or Athena’s power, but I did not expect her to be free of it in the end. Plus Castor got out too, yay!
I liked the story, it was really fast paced at some parts, especially in the end.
My favourite part was probably when Lore and Castor finally reconciled properly during chapter 57, I’m a big softie. 😛
Thank you for hosting the readalong, looking forward to the next one! <3
OH that was a good book!
Really liked the idea of hiding the aegis right under ther noses ?
And Miles’ alright. So everything is fine. He’s my favourite character.
I feel sorry for Belen. He didn’t deserve such a father.
And I must say it was well played by Athene
So glad everything ended and the importent people are still alive. And Iro and Lore are friends again
Really a good book! Thanks for picking it for your box ?
Really, no one commented so far?
Well, I might be later than planned, but I just finished the book and I love it. I always enjoy some Greek mythology and so this book was bound to be fun.
Castor may be a literal deus ex machina because he always shows up to heal Lore, but whatever.
It was clear from earlier on (after the talk with the Reveler, I think) that Apollo let himself be killed and that a god giving up power willingly might be the way out of the Agon. And I expected Athena to do something similar before she was revealed to be actually the bad guy. Glad that she came around in the end and understood what her purpose was.
The ending was so sweet. I bet Castor was having the same prayer as Lore did. Such a moral lesson that the only way out was to willingly give up power and only those who have it but don’t desire it will be free.
It’s a bit sad that the other gods didn’t learn that in time. I feel especially sorry for Hermes as he clearly seemed to have grown fond of Lore. And Miles. And now they’re stuck in the underworld, as Hades usually is not someone to let his subjects go, unless you sing a heartbreaking song like Orpheus did. But well, at least Hermes can find his Reveler and reconcile with him.
After all I really liked the book, I enjoyed it very much, even though it didn’t completely overwhelm me. So a solid 4 stars out of 5.
I began to piece together the ending as we began to learn more about Lores past and Castor. Castor though. My God. I fell in love with the way he loves Lore. It’s just the exact kind of romance I look for in my books. So good.
I was a bit surprised by the way things wrapped up. I didn’t really know how they were going to handle another Agon and was glad that they were granted peace. So deserved.
I was thinking I’d love to read this same book but from Miles perspective.
I liked the book. It was a good read. I do however think that Athena wasn’t believable for me, because she did not come across as smart or wise, though she’s been living for ages. You’d expect her to be wiser.
I really enjoyed this novel on the whole. I found some issues with the pacing through the middle and a couple unnecessary scenes. BUT I loved the ending. I loved that Lore got her wish, so we as readers got a HEA, which I honestly was not expecting given that Greek Mythology is all pretty tragic. I also liked, that Athena’s was redeemed through her (necessary) sacrifice.