*Spoiler free*

Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality. Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family’s sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt’s promises of eternal glory. For years she’s pushed away any thought of revenge against the man–now a god–responsible for their deaths. Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods. The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore’s decision to bind her fate to Athena’s and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost–and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.

It’s an Alexandra Bracken book, of course I had seen it around, most usually surrounding with lots of excitement. I don’t know why I wasn’t completely drawn to this book when I first found out about it, but my desire to read it was definitely something that grew. The cover was gorgeous, I knew it was about Greek mythology, and I found out it featured the friends-to-lovers trope and was very dark. Those last two things got my attention, and I was totally ready to see what this book was going to be about. Trigger warnings: sexual assault, mentions of sexual abuse, violence, gore, blood