Threads That Bind | ARC Review

In a world where the children of the gods inherit their powers, a descendant of the Greek Fates must solve a series of impossible murders to save her sisters, her soulmate, and her city.

Descendants of the Fates are always born in threes: one to weave, one to draw, and one to cut the threads that connect people to the things they love and to life itself. The Ora sisters are no exception. Io, the youngest, uses her Fate-born abilities as a private investigator in the half-sunken city of Alante.

But her latest job leads her to a horrific discovery: somebody is abducting women, maiming their life-threads, and setting the resulting wraiths loose in the city to kill. To find the culprit, she must work alongside Edei Rhuna, the right hand of the infamous Mob Queen—and the boy with whom she shares a rare fate-thread linking them as soul mates before they’ve even met.

But the investigation turns personal when Io’s estranged oldest sister turns up on the arm of her best suspect. Amid unveiled secrets from her past and her growing feelings for Edei, Io must follow clues through the city’s darkest corners and unearth a conspiracy that involves some of the city’s most powerful players—before destruction comes to her own doorstep.

Four Dead Queens meets Percy Jackson in this exciting debut! I’m not sure I’ve ever read greek mythology quite like this which makes it that much more appealing.

This was one of the best-paced books I’ve ever read. The action was consistent, but there were still moments to breathe. We would get all the action to keep things exciting and moving forward, mixed in with good conversation, character building, and secret revealing. Additionally, Hatzopoulou knew just when to throw in those little romantic moments.

I thought the mystery of who was behind all these murders was fun. It was clearly building up to something bigger (this is the first of a duology) but we were given enough answers in this book to be content until the next. That’s not to say everything was wrapped up all nice at the end—far from it—but I can wait for the next.

Our main character, Io, was interesting in a few ways. She was sensitive and “human” in ways I didn’t expect. I went in believing she was this cold-hearted, hardened by the world, killer instinct of a girl, but she wasn’t. She was scared throughout the book and had lots of doubts about her abilities and love life and had internalized some toxic words from a family member. She was relatable in so many ways, but still had good growth as the book progressed.

There is a lot of discussion of social equality. There is talk of “other-borns” being treated differently and immigrants not being given opportunities and other similar discussions. I thought Hatzopoulou did a great job of weaving these modern issues that we see in this made-up world. Their problems are the same, just tweaked a bit to fit this fantasy environment.

The world this takes place in has aspects of post-apocalyptic to it. It feels like our modern world with hints toward sunken cities, near world-ending battles/wars, and other climate aspects.

Overall, this was an entertaining and good book. If you enjoy greek mythology (and references to Egyptian and Norse mythology) and are interested in a new, unique concept, check this out.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed a gifted and advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating

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