Pantheons by E.J. Dabel

Synopsis

On the streets, they call fifteen year old orphan Isaiah Marshall the “Indestructible Diamond”. Isaiah is the leader of the “Redrovers”, a group of teenage misfits consisting of his friends Jeremy, Monty, and Pipsqueak, but when they trespass into “Kaliber Academy” to get even with the arrogant Jason Ollopa, they are in way over their heads.

Isaiah is thrown into a world where the democratic Olympians, war-mongering Norse, Gothic Celts, firstborn Egyptians, the enlightened Hindu, the animal-like Aztecs, the martial artist Asians, the intelligent Babylonians, the great spirits of the Native American Indians, and the fierce Finnish will war against one another for the greatest of all prizes: the Dominion.

Review:

Here we are with another YA novel, which is something I am super surprised to say I have started to enjoy the genre. And to be honest I was pretty excited about this book because I love the who Greek mythology thing, in fact it was the Greeks who made me minor in history. So long story short I love books with Greek themes, they are just so much fun and entertaining. 

I have to say that thing I enjoyed the most about the book were the characters. They are really well thought up, really well developed by the author to the readers, and in general it is easy to really like them. As a reader I enjoyed the characters, I wanted to know what was going to happen to them next, and I wanted them to come out on top in the end. I love when I read a book and I really get into the characters. 

I have to say that I also really enjoyed the way that the Greek mythology was written about. It gave you a substantial information on a level that would be on par for a young adult book as well as interesting enough for adult readers to stay interested. I think when you have a history like Greek mythology an author can easily over complicate things and do a lot of "info dumps" but I was very happy to say that this was not the case in this book; the information was revealed in an organic way to the characters and plot. 

I really want to note that the writing in this book is really good. I had this idea about young adult books, that a lot of the authors seem to almost dumb down their writing, but this author didn't do that. The writing is really good and I really appreciate that. Not only is the writing good though, I think it is exceptionally good for young adult readers, because the author explores a lot of really great themes for young people. There is a lot in this book having to do with coming of age, and being able to understand the responsibilities that entails. 

Between the Greek mythology and the quality writing, I have to say I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult books, but especially to young adults looking for a book to read. I think if you are an adult reader this book can be enjoyed all the same as well, so check it out.