The Alien Review Shop

Kalliste, the Goddess of Love

Title: Kalliste, the Goddess of Love 

By elizaaa_schuyler

Cover

Is the artwork original? I really like the character design a lot. The font threw me though I would look into a different design, and the author's name isn't on it.

Blurb/Premise/Hook

I would reword the first paragraph if you can. "Aphrodite used to be the goddess of love." That's fine. The next part though goes and goes and goes. "But when she really messed up and angered Zeus, to the point where Zeus banished her from Olympus..." You can convey the same ideas with fewer words.

"She suffered the wrath of Zeus, who stripped away from her immortality and banished her to the mortal realm to live as a (less than pretty) human. Who will replace her as the new goddess of love and beauty?

Your premise is definitely different than the real thing, doesn't look like there's a lot of research being done here, but it looks fun.

Conflict

Kalliste (you) v self

Kalliste v gods

Character Analysis

The gods don't really act like...gods. They act like high school students really. For the sake of having fun in this book, I don't have a problem with it, but it did trip up to my idea of what the Greek gods are like. The author clearly disregards the actual mythos to create her own twist on the gods and who they are. This is a little weird but fine I guess. Rick Riordan modernized the gods so why can't we?

Grammar

Sorry, I never evaluate grammar but I need to give a tip on sentence structure here. Every phrase you wrote had the exact same pattern. "I nodded slightly at Athena, who nodded back, her fierce gray eyes surveying me. We both were on neutral terms with each other, since at least she was part of some kind of romance, even if its intelligence and whatnot." Blah blah blah comma, blah blah blah comma, article comma, blah blah blah period. That's the pattern you used over and over throughout. Try and variate your sentence structures to make your prose less repetitive.

Plot

Aphrodite unleashes monsters into the world so that she can swoop in, kill them all, and prove to Zeus that she is a hero. The plan doesn't work. It gets her banished to the mortal realm where she has to live as a human for the rest of her life. You, the reader, must take her place as the goddess Kallista. I love this plot! This is such a creative twist on the myth, and I love how all the gods act like normal modern people (especially in the prologue). This is a fun book to read with a crazy out-there easy-to-follow-plot that shows the gods in a light I've never seen them in before.

Themes

Beauty on the inside and out, immortality, definition of beauty, myths

Worldbuilding/Setting

Not a lot of world-building or mechanics given here. The gods still have their powers and Olympus isn't described because it doesn't need to be. Some new backstory is given to the gods, like Apollo who was banished to be a mortal before, and I thought that was interesting. Also, the fact that the gods can be replaced with mortals is a new concept as well and I thought that was fun too. You(Kalliste) gain some very interesting powers that are fun to explore but I won't spoil what they are.

Yeah, the mechanics concerning how the god's work are ill-informed and made up, but it's super fun and I like it a lot.

Summary
This is honestly a pretty cute idea and a ton of fun. You get to become the new Aphrodite and interact with the other gods, who act just like normal people (high schoolers really with the way the dialogue is structured). There are some grammar mistakes but since this is just a silly little adventure for you to go on they're not too bothersome. It's an original idea and an enjoyable experience, and I like the interactive part of it.

See you, Space Cowboy...