SAMBAJON, Arwil D.

STEM-15

BOOK REVIEW

Part One (Basic Information)

I. Title of the Book
- Lore
II. Author of the Book
- Alexandra Bracken
III. Author’s Reputation
- Alexandra Bracken is an American writer, a #1 New York Times bestselling
American author, known for The Darkest Minds series and Passenger series.
IV. Publisher
- Disney Press
V. Year of Publication
- January 5, 2021
VI. Special Features Included
- Illustration on limited edition book

VII. Built
- Pages: 480
Sales Rank: 654
Dimension: 6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.50(d)
VIII. ISBN #
- ISBN – 13: 9781484778203
IX. Literary Survey
- From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Darkest Minds comes a
sweepingly ambitious, high-octane tale of power, destiny, love and redemption.
Part Two (Piece Dissection)
I. Preface
- He woke to the feeling of rough ground beneath him and the stench of mortal blood.
His body was slower to recover than his mind. Unwelcome sensations burned
through him as his skin tightened like newly fired clay. The dew of the grass seeped
into the back of his thin blue robe, and he felt the dirt splattered on his bare legs and
feet. A humiliating shiver passed through him, sweeping from scalp to heel. For the
first time in seven years, he caught a chill. The mortal blood that flowed through him
was like sludge compared to the liquid sunlight of the ichor that had burned away all
traces of his mortality and released him back into the world. For seven years, he had
swept through lands near and far, stoked the vicious hearts of killers, nurtured the
embers of conflicts into flames. He had been rage itself. To feel the boundaries of a
body again . . . to be poured back into this weak vessel . . . it was torment enough to
make him pity the old gods. They had lived this atrocity two hundred and twelve
times over. He would not. This would be his final taste of mortality. His senses were
dulled, but he recognized the city and its grand park. The smell of mowed grass
mingling with faint sewage. The sound of traffic in the near distance. The electric,
restless feel of its veins deep beneath the street. The corners of his mouth stretched
up awkwardly, forced to remember how to smile. It had been his city once, in his
mortal life; the streets had offered him riches, and the greedy had sold him pieces of
power. Manhattan had once knelt before him, and would again. He rolled, shifting
into a crouch. When he was certain of his limbs, he rose slowly to his full height.Dark
blood flowed in rivers around him. A young girl, her mask ripped from her face,
stared at him with unseeing eyes from the edge of the crater. A knife was still buried
in her throat. A man’s head, severed from his body, bore the mask of a horse. A
dagger was balanced in a limp hand that was missing fingers. There was a faint
shuffle of footsteps to his right. He reached for a sword that was no longer at his
side. Three figures stepped out from beneath the shadow of the nearby trees. They
crossed the paved trail between them, their faces hidden by bronze masks that each
bore the visage of a serpent. His mortal bloodline. The House of Kadmos. They had
come to collect him, their new god. He stretched his neck until it cracked, watching
their approach. The hunters were awed, and it pleased him. His predecessor, the
last new Ares, had been unworthy to hold the mantle of the god of war. It had been
an unspeakable pleasure to kill him and claim his birthright seven years ago. The
tallest of the three hunters stepped forward. Belen. The new god watched, amused,
as the young man plucked the arrows from the bodies in a ruthless harvest. A shame
that his only surviving offspring had been born a bastard. He could not be the heir of
Aristos Kadmou, the mortal the new god had once been. Still, his lips curved, and he
welcomed the glow of pride at the sight of the young man. Belen lifted his mask and
lowered his gaze respectfully. The god reached up, feeling along the lines of his
face. The boy’s was so much like his own now. The scarred husk of decades had
been peeled away from the god when he had ascended, leaving him young again. In
his prime, forever. “Most honored of us all,” Belen said, kneeling. He offered the new
god a rolled bundle from the bag at his hip—a crimson silk tunic to replace the
hideous sky-blue one he wore now. “We welcome you and offer the blood of your
enemies in tribute to your name, as a sign of our undying loyalty. We are here to
protect you with our lives until the time comes for you to be reborn again in power.”
The words were gravel in the new god’s throat. “Beyond that.” “Yes, my lord,” Belen
said. More hunters approached from behind Belen, all cloaked in a hunter’s black.
 They dragged a figure also wearing a tunic of sky blue. “Bring him to me,” he told
Belen.Two black SUVs, their lights off, approached from the nearby street and drove
over the grass to reach them. The Kadmides then began their work. They unrolled
tarps on Central Park’s grass and rolled the dead hunters onto them. They
overturned the soil. Replaced the bloodied grass. Loaded the brutalized carcasses
into the trunk of yet another SUV pulling up behind them. This same ritual, he knew,
was being performed by the other bloodlines across the park. The captive lashed out
again as he was drawn forward, battering the nearest hunters with his skull like a
rabid animal. They had cut the tendons of his ankles to prevent him from using his
heightened speed to escape. Good. The hunters forced him to his knees. The new
god reached down to rip the hood off his head. Gold eyes burned as they glared up
at him, the sparks of power there swirling with fury. Blood poured from a wound at
his forehead, staining his once-luminous skin and tunic. “Your last useful power has
been taken from you,” the new god said. He clutched a fistful of the old god’s curling
brown hair and wrenched his head back, forcing his gaze up. “I know what you
desire, Godkiller,” the old god said in the ancient tongue. “And you will never find it.”
He’d only needed to know that it hadn’t been destroyed. The new god’s rage was its
own kind of euphoria. He brought the razor-sharp edge of his blade to the old god’s
soft mortal flesh. The new god smiled. “Trickster. Messenger. Traveler. Thief,” the
new god said. Then he slammed the blade through the ridged bones of the
prisoner’s spine. “Nothing.” Blood burst from the wound. The new god drank deep
the sight of the old god’s fear—that pain, that disbelief—as his power faded. A
shame the new god could not add it to his own. “It’s the way of things, is it not?” the
new god said. He leaned down, watching as the last flare of life left the old god’s
eyes. “The way of your father, and his father before him. The old gods must die to
allow the new to rise.” The park was silent around them, save for the wet sounds of
the new god’s sawing blade, and the invigorating crack as he finally separated
thehead from its body. The new god thrust the head of Hermes high enough for his
followers to see. The hunters hissed in pleasure, banging their fists against their
chests. The new god took one final look at it before tossing the head onto the
nearest tarp with the other remains. Come morning, there would be no sign of the
eight gods who had appeared like lightning within the boundaries of Central Park, or
those hunters who had fallen in their attempts to kill them. The city thrummed around
him, aching with barely constrained chaos. It sang to him a song of coming terror. He
understood that longing—to be unleashed. “I am Wrath.” The new god knelt, dipping
his fingers into the bloody mud. “I am your master.” He dragged them down over his
cheeks. “I am your glory.” The hunters around him lifted their masks to do the same,
smearing the damp earth across their eager faces. A new age was in reach, waiting
to be seized by one strong enough to dare. “Now,” the new god said, “we begin.”
II. Point of View
- Third-person View
III. What was the Story about?
- Lore is being pitched as Percy Jackson meets The Hunger Games, which is a pretty
solid comp. It is the story of our main character, Lore, an orphan living in NYC, who
we meet as a competition called the Agon begins. The Agon happens every 7 years
and is a punishment for 9 of the Greek gods who defied Zeus back in the day. The
descendants of different old school Greek heroes must hunt down these gods
(Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Poseidon, and
Dionysus) who are made mortal for the 7 days, and if successfully killed the person
who did it takes that gods immortality and aspects of their power.
IV. Characterization (Itemized)
 - Melora Perseous (Lore) – of House Perseus, underground fighter, trying to block out
the loss of her family in the past, and the recent loss of another loved one. Lore is
also last of her bloodline.
- Castor Achilleos – of House Achilles, Lore’s best friend and fighting partner growing
up, who had leukemia.
- Miles– Korean, queer, Lore’s roommate and best friend.
- Van – Black, queer, Castor’s best friend.
- Gil – Recently passed away, but the one who became a family with Lore and Miles
these last few years.
- Athena – Betrayed by her sister, Artemis, and one of the last original gods, yet is
wounded so badly at the beginning of this book that she makes a deal with Lore so
they can both try to get revenge.
V. Setting of the story
- New York City
VI. Plot
- Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek
gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient
bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.
Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family’s sadistic
murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt’s promises of eternal glory. For
years she’s pushed away any thought of revenge against the man now a god
responsible for their deaths. Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two
participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend Lore believed long dead,
and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.
The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for
Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore’s decision to bind her fate to
Athena’s and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost and still may not be enough
to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.
VII. Moral Value
- On the start of the story, Lore have fought one of the hunters and it was her
childhood best friend Castor, he fought Lore for the reason that he wants her help for
the next agon. Even though Lore doesn’t want to fight in the next Agon because she
doesn’t want to think of revenge to the Gods, when she finds out that the hunter that
she fought was her childhood friend Castor with the goddess Athena, Lore decided
that to bind her fate to Athena to help them to the Agon. I think helping a friend or
someone even if you don’t have reason to, will gain reputation that people will
remember and appreciate. Also, revenge is something that we must to control even if
we want to take a revenge, we won’t gain anything to it because past cannot be
changed.

VIII. Vocabulary Treasure

Blaze (verb)
\ ˈblāz  \ - "bright flame, fire," Old English blæse "a torch, firebrand; bright glowing
flame," from Proto-Germanic *blas- "shining, white.” Define as to burn brightly.  
Contort (verb)
con·tort | \ kən-ˈtȯrt  \ - late Middle English: from Latin contort- ‘twisted round,
brandished.’ Define as to twist in a violent manner.
Crevice (noun)
crev·ice | \ ˈkre-vəs  \ - ome from Old French crever "to break or burst" and refer to an
opening of some kind. Define as a narrow opening resulting from a split or crack.
Exasperate (adjective)
ex·as·per·ate | \ ig-ˈza-spə-ˌrāt  \ - exasperate comes from the Latin word exasperatus,
which means “to roughen,” “irritate,” or “provoke.” Define as to cause irritation or
annoyance to.
Excruciate (verb)
ex·cru·ci·ate | \ ik-ˈskrü-shē-ˌāt  \ - from Latin excruciat- ‘tormented’, from the
verb excruciare. Define as to inflict intense pain on
Foliage (noun)
fo·liage | \ ˈfō-lē-ij  also  -lyij;  nonstandard  ˈfō-lij, nonstandard  ˈfȯi-lij  \ -  from Old
French feuillage, from feuille ‘leaf’, from Latin folium. Define as a representation of
leaves, flowers, and branches for architectural ornamentation.
Grimace (noun)
gri·mace | \ ˈgri-məs  , gri-ˈmās \ - mid 17th century: from French, from
Spanish grimazo ‘caricature’, from grima ‘fright’. Define as a facial expression usually of
disgust, disapproval, or pain.
Heir (noun)
\ ˈer  \ - Latin word “heres” meaning "one who inherits, or has right of inheritance in, the
property of another," Define as one who receives property from an ancestor.
Lore (noun)
\ ˈlȯr  \ - comes from the Old English 'lár' and is related to similar words in Dutch and
German. Define as a particular body of knowledge or tradition.
Lurch (noun)
\ ˈlərch  \ -  from French lacher "to let go," from Latin laxus (see lax). Define as an
abrupt jerking, swaying, or tipping movement.
Malign (adjective)
ma·lign | \ mə-ˈlīn  \ - from Old Norse stakra, frequentative of staka ‘push, stagger’.
Define as evil in nature, influence, or effect.
Mortal (noun)
mor·tal | \ ˈmȯr-tᵊl  \ - The word has roots in Old French mortel and Latin mortalis both
meaning "fated to die" as well as mors meaning "in danger of death".  Define as a
human being.
Obstinate (adjective)
ob·sti·nate | \ ˈäb-stə-nət  \ - has the root stinare or "stand" or "persist", so an obstinate
person "persists against" one; Define as stubbornly adhering to an opinion, purpose, or
course in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion.
Ostracism (noun)
os·tra·cism | \ ˈä-strə-ˌsi-zəm  \ - Ostracism and ostracize derive from the Greek
ostrakizein ("to banish by voting with potsherds"). Define as a method of temporary
banishment by popular vote without trial or special accusation practiced in ancient
Greece.
Petulance (noun)
pet·u·lance | \ ˈpe-chə-lən(t)s  \ -  from Latin petulantia "sauciness, impudence,"
abstract noun from petulantem (see petulant). Define as the quality or state of
being petulant.
Predecessor (noun)
pre·de·ces·sor | \ ˈpre-də-ˌse-sər \ - “pre” meaning "beforehand," and decessor, which
means "retiring officer." Define as one that precedes. Also, a person who has
previously occupied a position or office to which another has succeeded.
Solitude (noun)
sol·i·tude | \ ˈsä-lə-ˌtüd  , -ˌtyüd \ - Middle English: from Old French, or from
Latin solitudo, from solus ‘alone’ Define as the quality or state of being alone or remote
from society. 

Squint (adjective) \ ˈskwint  \ - 1570s, "looking different ways; looking obliquely,"

shortened form of asquint (adv.) Define as of an eye  : looking or tending to look
obliquely or askance (as with envy or disdain)
Stagger (verb)
stag·ger | \ ˈsta-gər  \ - from Old Norse stakra, frequentative of staka ‘push, stagger’.
Define as to reel from side to side
.
Part Three (Literary Criticism)

I. How did you like the story?

- It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that is inspired by Greek mythology, so i
already knew i would enjoy this. adding that story gave me a very mature Percy
Jackson meets hunger games vibe, this was a lot more fun that i had anticipated. i
think readers will be surprised by just how brutal this story actually is. i mean, Greek
gods are violent beings, and this story leans into that side of them. I think it made the
concept of the agon that much more desperate and dangerous. it gave me anxiety,
but in a good way.
II. Given the chance of alteration, how would you like the story to be ended?
- I don’t want to change the ending because I was satisfied to it, it was a tragic with
happiness ending. I’m really glad that there is no main characters have died in the
story, only betrayal and I’m really disappointed that he betrayed Lore and Castor.
Though, the ending was good and hoping to have a sequel.
III. Who is your favorite character, why?
- Melora Perseous(Lore), because she was brave and strong, always protecting her
comrades, a caring person and always thinking rationally when situations go down.
IV. Will you recommend this material to others, why and why not?
- Yes, because this book is very amazing and it is more on adventure, so it is very
exciting. Though, there are lots of tragedy and brutal war, it is worth to read and I
think that anyone who loves Greek mythology and hunger games will also love this
book.
V. Incidents in the story that you can relate well.
- There’s one chapter in the story when one of the characters (I forgot the name
because it is a filler chapter and not one of the main) always loses a fight and still
wanted more fight, which I can relate well because whenever I play online
competitive games, whenever I loses, I still want to play until I win.
VI. Best part of the story that serves as you lesson in life.
- One part in the story when Lore and the company fighting a God and she thinks that
it is impossible to defeat that kind of power, she nearly loses hope and nearly gave
up on fighting, but she did not let despair devour her, she believe in her strength and
power, and she has something to protect. This serves me as a lesson, because in
some scenarios I always nearly losing hope and feel like I can’t do it anymore and
this is nonsense, and me, when I’m losing hope I always think of someone precious
to me like family, cousins, friends and think that I can do it, I believe in myself
because there is someone cheering for me and placed their bet for me.