Review and Giveaway! "Goddess Girls: Athena the Wise"

Authors Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams have generously provided an awesome Athena the Wise Swag Bag and a copy of the book for one lucky reader of my blog! See contest info after the review!

"Athena the Wise" (Goddess Girls #5)

by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

Publisher: Aladdin
Release Date: April 5, 2010
Source: sent by author

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

Join the class at Mount Olympus Academy with this new series that puts a modern spin on classic Greek myths!

Athena the Wise (April 2011): Zeus says Heracles has to do 12 tasks or get kicked out of MOA. Athena's not sure it's wise, but she agrees to help out.  

My Review: 

The Goddess Girls series is one of my favorites, and "Athena the Wise" is an especially sweet installment! As a romance fan, I love the cute romance blooming between Athena and Heracles. I also love Athena's relationship with her so embarrassing dad, Zeus. 


As with the previous Goddess Girls books, there's a subtle but important message woven throughout the story. The book takes a look a the varying shades of right and wrong. It also explores anger and revenge. The authors are never preachy but instead ask the reader how far is too far when it comes to revenge and retribution.


Readers of the series get to revisit all of our old friends from Mount Olympus Academy, including the animal companions. Athena's relationship with her dad, Zeus, the principal at MOA, was first explored in the first book in the series, and I loved the way it was developed here. You can tell he just embarrasses her so much in all the classic ways that parents can embarrass their kids. But she loves him so much no matter how embarrassing he gets. 


Heracles is a great mortal hero. His list of 12 labors that he must accomplish are pretty impressive for a 12-ish year old! I love that Heracles is a great guy but he's not perfect. Instead of fighting or arguing though, Athena and Heracles talk it out to understand their differences and learn about each other. 


The romance in this book is oh-so-sweet! I couldn't help but get a serious case of the warm fuzzies when I finished the book. The romance will keep the most boy crazy goddessgirl interested while still being completely age appropriate.

Main Characters: 5/5
Supporting Characters: 5/5
Setting: 5/5
Romance: 5/5 (love it)
Uniqueness: 5/5
Cover: 5/5 (LOVE all the covers!!)
Writing: 5/5



Bottom Line: Another wonderful book in the Goddess Girls series, "Athena the Wise" is not to be missed!

Check out my reviews for the first four books in the series:

"Athena the Brain"
"Persephone the Phony"
"Aphrodite the Beauty"

"Artemis the Brave"

More info on the series at: http://www.joanholub.blogspot.com/

GIVEAWAY RULES:
Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams are generously providing one lucky reader an Athena the Wise Swag Bag!! The swag bag was carefully put together by the authors and includes:

* GODDESSGIRLS bead necklaces made by Joan and Suzanne.
Strung on colorful stretchy cord, they can be shortened into bracelets. (Beads & cord packages purchased at Michaels say they're not for under age 14. Actual colors will vary.)
* Plush lion (Heracles comes up against a fierce lion in the book!)
* Athena the Wise book signed by Joan and Suzanne
* Bookmark featuring six Goddess Girls books

All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and leave a comment on this review with your email address!Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :) Also, if you aren't comfortable leaving your email here, go ahead and leave a comment and then send me an email with your email addy.

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• Ends Sunday May 1

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