Book Review: Oppression (Children of the gods #1) by Jessica Therrien

Title: Oppression
Author: Jessica Therrien
Series: Children of the gods
Publisher: ZOVA books
Release date: February 28, 2012
Source: ARC book tour
My rating:  


Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She's been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she's closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability. Or so she thinks. Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable--except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning--and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules.


My Thoughts:


   A little bit of Greek plus some secret society, and you get the world of Oppression.

   Right from the very first page, everything is fast-paced. The main character, Elyse narrates the tragic accident that killed her parents. Elyse is unique, she ages five times slower than the normal human-she’s not an alien, or any other mythical creature there is. After fifty years of her parents’ death, she learned she’s not alone, there are many others, and they were called “The Descendants”. What’s worse is that a prophecy said that she was hidden by her parents from their own society because she will save them all from their oppression.
   I love the cover and it’s greenish theme. :) The plot itself is interesting and kind of unique. The fast-pacedness of the story in the beginning was a little overwhelming at first but when you get used to it it grows on you and I’ve realized it was actually good. However, one-fourth to the story, when Elyse learned the truth (the basic that is), things got stagnant and everything that happened basically from that moment on is like a buzz. I actually got bored in the middle, and it’s so sad because the story building from the start was good! Only to find it plop down. Basically what happened most of the time was their classes, making out, strolling, doing nothing, blah! It was a routine of boring stuff! I was really disappointed. Good thing, by the end of the novel, things started picking up again, but not so much. The climax was not much of a climax, it was pretty expected. The ending was okay though, left some things to pick up for the next book, but I’m not really excited for the next book.
   For the novel, I didn’t feel the “spark” I feel when reading a book. The story was okay, but I didn’t exactly love it, but I also don’t hate it. The characters were easily forgettable. I’m just disappointed because the story had so much potential. Lacks action and movement. I will probably read the next book if I’m given, but I’m not really anticipating it. Good story though.

Watch out for my special deleted scenes post for this book tour! :)

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