Sweet Venom (Sweet Venom, #1)

by Tera Lynn Childs

As monsters walk the streets of San Francisco, unseen by humans, three teenaged descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned in Greek mythology, must reunite and embrace their fates.

• ISBN10: 0062001825
• ISBN13: 9780062001825
• Publish Date: 4 September 2012 (first published 6 September 2011)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Sweet Venom was so much fun! Long-lost triplets with Gorgon abilities reuniting to fight monsters from another dimension! And a prophecy! I love prophecies! And I love San Francisco, which is apparently the portal between the realm of Greek monsters and the human world. Gretchen has been fighting these monsters for four years alone. Then while hunting she spots Grace who looks just like her and can also see through the monsters' glamors. Then through Grace's geeky research skills, they find Greer! Of course, there's a bounty on their heads since the monsters want to stay in the city.

I basically adored Sweet Venom. It was a super quick, engaging, and just fun read! The author also did a great job of giving each of the girls their own, distinct voice. So even though the chapters are labeled, it was always clear who was telling the story. Also, we don't meet Greer until nearly two-thirds in, and her voice is very different than her sisters'! The story is very focused on these girls reuniting and finding that sisterly bond that they've never had before. There is some romance going on, but it's super minor and I loved how each of the triplets handle their guys quite differently.

My only kind of issue with Sweet Venom was the use of the "No one understands it, so it is what it is" explanation. That's really lazy to me, and a cop out for actually coming up with an explanation. Everything else about the world was clear and interesting, which was mainly a lot about how us humans got the mythology wrong. But why Gretchen, Grace, and Greer's venom is able to send the monsters back home was just glossed over with that excuse. I was wondering how it worked, and then Gretchen gave that non-explanation and I got a bit annoyed. Either skip over it, and let readers' assume that answer is coming later, or make something up! We won't know the difference!

Other than that one thing, I really enjoyed Sweet Venom. It just made me feel good to read it, and I laughed out loud in places. I liked each of the girls, and they felt different without falling too much into stereotypes (Greer did a bit, but I believe her!). I also just really liked the change from a couple out to save the world, to a group of siblings! Especially triplets!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

What a fun book! 3 incredibly unique long lost triplets who are descendants of Medusa? Yeah, definitely full of fun.
Full Review coming soon!

[Amanda]

Joint review with Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

Amanda: So, I was very proud of myself for guessing that there were three girls in this story. That is, until I went back and read the synopsis and realized it was mentioned IN the synopsis that there were three girls. I guess that's what I get for reading the synopsis after I read the book.

Kelly: Oh, Amanda! You just gave me a case of the giggles! Yes, the triplets were definitely in the synopsis. I find that I am VERY interested in the various boys who have suddenly popped into the girls' lives, though. There must be a connection between them and the weird things that are happening. There must be!

Amanda: I blame EVERYTHING on cold meds. They are such a convenient excuse. I was interested in the boys as well, except I kind of wanted MOAR information about them. And I found Grace's brother, Thane, more interesting than Milo, Grace's crush. Was that just me?

Kelly: It wasn't just you. I keep thinking that Thane will somehow be VERY involved in the upcoming events. Is he a guardian of sorts for Grace? The legends say that only three girls in every generation will be Huntresses but that doesn't mean that there aren't more siblings/cousins/etc around, right?

Amanda: Thane was confusing, I think, because he was so quiet. And Gretchen had Nick (who kinda cracked me up with his persistence). So, that would align with the guardian part, BUT what about Greer? She was kind of...odd, since she doesn't really have anyone. And she resists the whole thing more than Grace does.

Kelly: Yes, Greer throws a wrench into my "the boys are guardians" theory. Dang her! I don't know. I keep looking at it like Nick pops into Gretchen's life (I agree with you, btw, about his awesome persistence) and Milo is suddenly there making eyes at Grace and... it just feels very coincidental, you know. Are they guardians? Spies for the Gods? I don't know. I DON'T KNOW! And it's killing me.

Amanda: I was not satisfied with the amount of information in this book. I felt like what we did learn was pretty easy to figure out on our own (hence my ability to guess what was happening with the three girls without having read the synopsis) and the rest was... TEASING us. It kept me from enjoying the book as much as I could have...but at the same time, I enjoyed it enough to want to know MORE.

Kelly: YES! This! I want to know more! Part of me feels like we were really left hanging with the way this book ended. There's so much setup for the next book that I'm DYING HERE! I guess it's a good thing book 2 is already out, right? If I wanted to, I could go pick it up RIGHT NOW and see if we get more answers!

Amanda: So, what's your final rating on this? It's probably more of a 6 or 7 for me (I honestly can't decide right now). I mean, I liked it and I want to know more, but it's not high up on my MUST GET RIGHT NOW list.

Kelly: Overall, I liked the storytelling. I really enjoyed this take on the Medusas and how screwy everything is BUT... I'm trying to reconcile what we were told in the beginning of the book against some of the things we learned later on and I'm left feeling unsatisfied. A few more answers would have upped this to a solid 7 for me. Right now, I'm going back and forth between 6 and 7 like you.

Amanda: Yeah. I think the beginning of the book held a lot of promise, and I liked the alternating POV between Gretchen and Grace. Once things picked up and Greer was added into the mix, it didn't quite live up to its promise.

Kelly: We'll have to see what book 2 brings to the table, I guess.

[inlibrisveritas]

When it comes to reading I have fall back books for those times where I don’t want to read, those are vampires…and mythology. So since I’ve been in a slump I decided it was time for another mythology read to help me through a readathon.

Sweet Venom is a rather neat spin on the the tale of Medusa and her sisters, and when it comes to adding to a myth this one certainly did it in a way I didn’t quite expect. I really appreciate when mythology is given a cool little twist and especially when the author takes the time to add some depth to the story, which is what Childs does here. There are a lot of monsters, some familiar to the lore and others a little weirder, and some really cool fights. I love that the sisters are responsible for keeping the monsters at bay while the rest of the world keeps moving on without any clue. However, the whole plot centers around what basically amounts to a series set up, which brought the whole novel down for me. We do get to find out a bit of what’s going on and why the three sisters are so important, but you never really get to the actual point of the novel. They never really tackle the main issue at hand and they don’t really know who is behind all the bad things that occur, so it’s a bit of a let down that I have to wait to read the next book to see what’s really going on. However it does show the budding relationship between the three sisters who have never met each other before and how they deal with monsters.

We are introduced to Gretchen first in a rather fast hitting first chapter where she takes on a monster by herself and brings it down. I think at that point I knew right away that she would be my favorite of the three sisters. Grace is exactly what you expect from a girl bearing that name, she’s rather meek and overall a sweet character. She’s the perfect counterpoint to Gretchen’s hardness. And then there is Greer…my least favorite of the three but probably the most necessary in some ways. I personally didn’t like how controlling she was about everything in her life but when it comes to the other two girls it works perfect. Gretchen is all action and swift decisions, and Grace is not really a leader and rather unsure of herself…so to have Greer be able to fill that role is fantastic. I loved that their personalities varied so much and I really wish I would have been able to see how they work as a true team.

Overall I wish this one had developed more before ending but I did enjoy the world that Childs created, and I really enjoyed the whole twist to the Medusa myth. It’s a neat book but I think it needed a bit more in the way of explanation of the true plot.