Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

Sweet Venom (Sweet Venom, #1)

by Tera Lynn Childs

Meet Grace, who just moved to San Francisco. It's a tiny bit scary starting over, but it gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks exactly like Grace turns up to fight it. . . Gretchen is fed up of monsters pulling her out into the small hours, especially on a school night. Getting rid of a minotaur is just another notch on her combat belt, but she never expected to run into a girl who could be her double in the process. . . Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But everything tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're all sisters. . . These three teen descendants of Medusa must reunite and embrace their fates!

Reviewed by Angie on

4 of 5 stars

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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.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 1 April, 2015: Finished reading
  • 1 April, 2015: Reviewed