Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

Warning: Very minor spoiler

“Sweet Venom” is the story of three young women who find out they are the descendants of Medusa. They’re charged with protecting the world from mythological monsters who like to sneak out from their cage and wreak havoc on the world. The three girls have very different upbringings, but after Grace, the sweetest of the three, moves to San Francisco, their lives will come together and never be the same again. They must put their differences aside if they are going to save themselves and the world from ruin.

Well, I miss my bullet points, so today I’m kickin’ it old school and going to bullet point this baby. Here goes.

Three gorgons and a bag of chips (aka I’m being silly so I can’t just say “the good”):

• I really like the idea of this book. As those of you who read my blog regularly know, I’ve been digging this whole Greek vibe that’s been out there lately. Medusa is mega cool and I love seeing myths creatively reworked.
• I like Grace and her family. She’s so sweet, but under that marshmallowy exterior is one kick-butt young woman. I am really looking forward to seeing more of that side of her in the next book. I also liked the relationship she had with her brother Thane. I hope we get to find out more behind his mysterious behavior next time.
• I like rotating between the girls’ different perspectives. Sure, it was confusing at times (I get the name alliteration, but it does make it confusing for the readers), but it was fun.

Things that turned my heart to stone:

• The plot feels shortchanged. I know I’m not a writer and that it is an art form, but I really don’t enjoy books that are just priming readers to buy into a whole series. I enjoy having a beginning, middle and end. We spent so much time getting to know two of the three girls, meet the third, and then quite literally BOOM, that’s it! All I got was a bunch of a lose ends and no real climax.
• Action, what action? Romance, what romance? Sure there are a few monster fights and cute boys, but they didn’t get a lot of page time. This relates to point number one... due to this being mostly backstory and character development, we miss out on potential action. I’m sure we’ll get to see more romance & action in the next book, but you’re just going to have to wait, readers.

Overall, I’m feeling pretty “meh”. It read more like a contemporary about three very different girls than the Greek based monster fighting girl power I was hoping it would be. I will probably read book two, but if it is more of the same, I’ll be done with this series. I want to know what happens to the girls now that they’ve come together and find out some more information about the mysteries surrounding them. Ms. Childs did a great job at creating three very distinctly teenage heroines and I think it’ll be interesting to see how their personalities mesh over time. I have a feeling that Ms. Childs is going to kick it up a notch in book two and I’m looking forward to it.

I received an ARC from the publisher to review. "Sweet Venom" is scheduled to be released on September 6th. It is published by Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins).