REVIEW | Curse of the Sphinx by Raye Wagner.

Curse of the Sphinx by Raye Wagner was read 31 of 2016 and I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

This book is about a girl named Hope who lives in a version of our world where people are aware that the Greek gods, demigods, and monsters are still around and take part in our affairs.  Hope is a Sphinx - a part woman/lion/bird hybrid monster that is thought to be extinct but in fact never went away.  The Greek tale of the Sphinx is the story of her grandmother, but its only a partial truth.  Now Hope and her mother live in hiding, since the Gods think they don't exist and they want to keep it that way.  But when Hope's mother is murdered, she has to figure out how to remain hidden while maintaining her life without her mother by her side.

I received this book and the sequel, Demigods and Monsters, from Booktube Tours in exchange for an honest review. And I am so excited to say that it was so very enjoyable! While there were issues that I had with this book I was so engrossed in the story, I felt like I finished it so quickly!

Before going into the things I love I want to talk about the few issues I had with the book.

As many YA novels do, the insta-love KILLED me.  Athan is too perfect to be true both physically and emotionally.  And he is lovingly obsessed with Hope but only to the extent that doesn't feel creepy.  Too perfect.

The family dynamic was something that I didn't love but was also very intriguing. Hope's mom and aunt both irritated me so much because the family is essentially all in danger because of their species yet they don't tell Hope everything she needs to know when big events happen in the story and therefore frequently is pretty reckless.

Okay besides those few issues, I really loved this book. It is fast paced as I said, and there is a lot of action and intrigue.  I cannot wait to start Demigods and Monsters because there are so many unanswered questions I NEED TO KNOW.  

I also did love Hope and the friends that she makes throughout the book. Honestly I probably loved her friends more than her because sometimes she made dumb decisions that had me groaning "NO NO BAD IDEA!!" But that's pretty normal for me with the protagonists I read, especially the younger they are and I do love YA so I stick it out with that issue.

I wanted to talk about some of the things I loved about the family dynamic - in particular, Hope's aunt. I love her.  She is so freaking bad ass!  I want a short story or a whole novel based in her perspective while she's off doing her research that she's doing during this book, getting information about the people who are involved in Hope's mother's murder.  I LOVE HER.

I'm running out of things I can say without spoiling things, but I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes urban fantasy and/or Greek mythology!

Until next time, 

MissSassyKassie