I’d lived in the city for a long time, and working the drive-thru window of coffee shop meant I’d seen some things. From blowjobs to furries. Sometimes furries getting blowjobs. Let’s face it, no one was at their best when they were uncaffeinated.

So a strange lady with a creepy monotone prediction wasn’t that odd. Normally, I would have just shrugged it off as just another day in Boston.

Except a whole bunch of other weird shit had happened to me in the last three months.
I’d started seeing golden streaks of light. I thought it was a brain tumor, but it turned out to be pregnancy. Didn’t matter that I hadn’t gotten laid in nearly a year after I caught my ex-boyfriend banging his hairy Albanian superintendent.

I’d rationalized the improbability away the best I could. Maybe I was one of those people who sleep walked and had a whole other life at night. Or maybe that one night I went out and got drunk at my co-workers farewell was a little wilder than I remembered.

But it was hard to rationalize away a shadow monster attacking me while I was watching reality television, or that my grumpy neighbor, Nate, grew two feet and killed it with a giant ax that glowed like pure light.

The shadow monsters kept coming. The weird shit kept happening. Eventually, an unexpected trip to the Greek Islands was my only option.

But nothing–not the crazy prophecies to weird shadow monsters–could have prepared me for what I found in Crete.

I mean, I finished ‘The Trouble With Monsters’ and dived head-first into another book by Grace McGinty; this time we find our heroine in Wren, and she has got a LOT OF PROBLEMS, thanks to the pesky meddling of otherworldly beings! As it is mentioned in the blurb of this book, Wren finds herself pregnant despite not having been sexually active in the last twelve months and that is just the beginning of her problems!

Wren –

Another complicated character, unused to a man’s warmth and goodness. She has persevered through hardships and kept building a life for herself despite all the difficulties thrown her way. She first encounters Nate as a human man she might have a crush on. His act of heroism expands her world and opens her to the possibility that there’s more to it than she thought. A throwaway moment from Wren’s initial introduction becomes a major plot point and drives the plot’s direction. When the world seems to have completely shifted on its axis, Wren demands to go to Crete, and the real story begins there.

I’ve found another character I enjoy and can relate to. I honestly didn’t realise how bogged down I’d become reading about needy, powerless women or reading about battle-ready women who can’t let their guard down. Wren is relatable. She is kind, strong, understanding, but also sarcastic, crazy, and wistful. She earned my respect as the story unfolded, and I enjoyed that she was her own person before the male characters entered, and that, with them, they added to her world but still left her the autonomy to be herself and make her own choices.

Nate (Neit) – Celtic God of War –

We meet Nate as the other tenant in the building where Wren lives. Only a few grunts of ‘good morning/afternoons’ and ‘hellos’ have passed their lips till Wren’s news sent her world a-kilter. Then he opens up to her. He is a very grounded character. Steadfast and loyal, he is like an immovable wall of muscle protecting Wren from all angles. He is clearly surprised by this change in his life, by Wren’s inclusion, but from my understanding, she is a soothing balm to a tired soul.

Typhrone – Genii (Shares soul with Era)

Wren’s first glance at Tryp makes her scream and faint, which, all things considered, wasn’t the best first reaction. However, the concept of Tryp and Erus is almost so mythological that I had a hard time wrapping my head around it. They share the same soul but are different people, and one would presumably die without the other. Typr is loud and boisterous. His smile is infectious, and he often talks before thinking. He welcomes Wren into his family and home, and when something unexpected happens, he doesn’t shy away; he embraces it, which I wasn’t sure he could do. The soul-sharing aspect makes the two characters more complex in design than the others. It’s not something I expected, so I didn’t know how to handle it, but it does add layers to the plot.

Erastus (Erus) – Genii (Shares soul with Typ)

Erus is the polar opposite of Typr, but since they were created as two halves of the same coin, that is hardly surprising. Where Typr is loud, Erus is quiet; where Tryp is messy, Erus is neat, etc. Erus has his own distinct personality; it is as separate from Tryp as Tryp is from him. Though the quieter of the two, he isn’t pushed to the back of the narrative; he is still front and centre like the rest of the male characters. When the unexpected happens to Typr, I thought we would be entering a tumultuous period of writing, but like Wren, I was surprised by how easily he accepted the situation and, instead of feeling jealousy and wanting vengeance, embraced the change and welcomed it into his life.

Demke – Minoan God of Renewal –

Is not a happy male; he almost tortures himself. I feel like he has the most to overcome in the main plotline. He shines brightly, and it burns Wren’s eyes; he’s cold and looks angry. He has lived many a millennium and suffered as a result. He sees himself as instrumental in understanding why these things are happening to Wren and why the chosen male characters have been called to her aid, but he also recognises his limits, whether he accepts or denies them. Emotionally, I think he is far from accepting Wren into his heart, but he still stands with his family and makes sure they are all together.

Teron – The Great Gryphon –

Teron would look at home in the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ library. He is a connoisseur of knowledge from all areas, and he has lived so many millennia that he is a fountain of knowledge. Wren turns to Teron for medical help, and he willingly accepts the role. He quickly accepts her into the fold, without any of Demke’s hesitation. I think he may not know exactly what is happening to them all, but he understands more than most. He seems content to let fate play out as is, but I think he is also longing for connection and to stand by Wren as the others do.

Milonos (Milo) – The Divine Bull –

Milo comes into the plot front and centre at a critical moment for Wren, when she experiences something strange that worries both her and Nate. He handles it surprisingly well, but all things considered, having learned about the characters, Milo really needed something to believe in again. He needed something to focus on and give his life meaning again. Whatever hands set him on Wren’s life trajectory, I don’t think he is at all displeased. Even his family seems surprised by his personality change since Wren started staying with them, and I get the impression Milo was at rock bottom before she arrived.

I have, of course, left out a plot point in my review as I do not want to give anything away to potential readers, so if it feels a little disjointed, that is why.

Not going to lie, this cliffhanger was PHENOMENAL! It was completely unexpected and made me smirk in the best way possible. What an ending to walk into the weekend with!