Book Club: October

Book club for October is not only coming late this time, it’s untraditional.  Recently, due to financial pressures, I’ve had to get a second job.  So before, when I had three days off, I had more time to read and time to go to book club on Thursdays.  Well that went out the window. Bye time I used to have!

That being said, I decided to improvise so that I could still do book club blogs, but instead of it being books chosen and talked about in book club, I will pick books I’ve read in that month to discuss.  I didn’t read many books in October, so my choices were limited, but I read a great book that I’d like to talk about here.

Image from MatterDeep Publishing

The book is called Olympia Heights by Amy Strickland.  She’s a local author here in Birmingham and I came across the book from my friend Cathie who works with Amy’s husband, who recommended the series to her.  My friend Cathie really liked it, so she passed it along to me.

A Young Adult fiction, the story is set in a high school just outside of Miami, Florida.  Football captain Zach is a leader, popular, and has a way with ladies, much to the distress of his girlfriend June.  During a football game, Zach experiences what he believes is being struck by lightning, when really he produced the lightning.  What then transpires is normal kids in high school discovering that they aren’t normal and they aren’t really kids: they’re ancient gods.

Many people who have read the series compare it to the similarly written Percy Jackson novels.  I enjoyed coming into the reading having not yet read Percy Jackson.  My friend Cathie said at times she had difficulty differentiating the stories because they are so similar.  Not having that problem was refreshing for me because I got to enjoy the story without constant comparison or confusion.  Another great part is that the characters names have a common letter with the god or goddess they represent.  Zach=Zeus, June=Juno, etc.

There were only two downsides for me.  At times the storyline didn’t seem present.  Events would move along, but it lacked cohesion at parts that made the story difficult to follow.  Also, there is such a multitude of characters, representing gods, that it can get incredibly confusing remembering who is whom.  Some of them are more obvious based on their talent and how frequently it is used.  But the lesser known gods get forgotten at times and I had trouble remembering which god or goddess they were and their power, and their history with the other gods and goddesses.

I don’t have any quotes for this book since it was loaned to me and I don’t usually mark other people’s books.  Overall, I found it a very amusing read and got to enjoy the story as separate from Percy Jackson.  At times it was hard to follow, but still a great and fast read.  I’m currently reading the second book of the series, so that might end up being my November book club. We’ll see.

For more by Amy Strickland, visit her website here and access her blog here!