I very much enjoyed this Greek myth inspired book of a hero quest. The main character is a blue haired, dreadlocked harpy, full of sass and the requisite resistance to being the chosen one. Family secrets unfold as her quest does. Plenty of YA feels and adventure. ( )

Characters were flat. Plot was messy. I love Greek mythology and I really thought I would love this but it's just bad. ( )

It was ok. Ancient mythology, a warrior not cut out for being a warrior, a champion of darkness, these are all aspects that actually did appeal to me. But for the first half of the book, I wanted to just quit reading. I had trouble connecting with the character. Too much exposition bogged down a good eighth of the book-too much world building, not enough world. I really felt like there's an excellent story to be told with everything Justina Ireland gave us, but it missed the mark and has a good chance at getting lost in a sea of other mediocre, mythology-focused YA fiction. ( )

I want this to be a series. I want more of this story. I want to see Zephyr coming onto and controlling her power as Nyx. I want to see her find love unlike other Harpies.

If you are a fan of modern mythology stories like Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books, Aimee Carter's Goddess Test series, or Terra Lynn Child's books Promise of Shadows should please you. It's well paced, the romance is understated,and the cover is mysterious black feathers. Even my boys could read the one without feeling uncomfortable. ( )

( + ) positive
( - ) neutral
( x ) negative

+ I liked Cass’ no-nonsense attitude. She was my favorite character. I hated when she died, but it made sense.
+ Zephyr is a whiny, pathetic MC who does not believe in herself, but I liked her narrative. I understood why she thought so lowly of herself. Her struggle with darkness is the best part. She legit murders people, and there are no Disney do-overs.
- That kiss scene after the murder attempt felt anticlimactic and misplaced
- Tallon. We only like male love interests who can communicate, and don’t hide behind their “tortured soul.” Well, maybe that’s on a case by case basis, but I didn’t care for him. He’s too wishy-washy.
- At first, I was super confused with the setting. Zephy kept mentioning prom, soap operas, and soda, but she never lived in the mortal realm. Turns out she learned everything from TV and the few rare occasions she visited with her sister.
- Zephyr feels jealous of another girl almost irrationally (due to feelings of self-esteem); I don’t like girl-hate either, but I’m glad she somewhat realized the error of her ways. she halfway killed the poor girl tho ._.
x Very slow/long-winded. In the middle of the book, there’s feels like prolonged filler. You can skip a little ahead and not miss anything. ( )