ARC Review: "Of Blood and Lightning" by Micki Jane ★★★★

ARC Review:Of Blood and Lightning by Micki Jane

This was excellent! A perfect young adult read for fans of the Percy Jackson and Pegasus book series. Ideal for autumn as it is set in September and has a witch in it. Extremely suitable for Black History Month, with good POC representation.

Every time I swing my sword, the storm finds a new voice. Thunder cut straight from the pounding in my chest. Lightning called from my blood.

[Contains some spoilers]

PLOT SUMMARY
16-year-old Ophelia Johnson’s life has been bleak thus far. Not knowing who her mother is has to be the least of it: her grandparents and cousins 4 years prior, and now her father, have all died. She has been taken in by her uncle Janus and aunt Cherice after her father’s death, moving from Austin, Texas to New River, North Dakota.

There, she meets a group of high school kids around her own age: Roman, Cassian “Cass”, Baxter, Alessia and Olivia. They all swiftly become friends over the summer. As the new term starts at New River High, one by one Ophelia’s friends begin to mysteriously skive school. Ophelia keeps having nightmares, as do her friends. They discover they have all inherited powers from Greek Gods: Zeus (Ophelia), Poseidon (Roman), Hades (Cass), Apollo (Baxter), Artemis (Olivia), and Athena (Alessia).

One night, a Vessel of Destiny, General Griffin, appears before the kids seeking their help. The three Fate sisters are missing and have been held hostage in the Underworld since the day Ophelia’s father died. They are all brought to the Sacred House of Athena, where it is believed if the Codex Sanctus an ancient book can be found, it can be exchanged for the Fates. They must first retrieve the Eye (an all-seeing-all-knowing artifact) which can tell them where it is.

But not all is as it seems, with her aunt and uncle keeping secrets from her. With Scions watching them carefully in the shadows at every corner, and with the imminent threat of the merciless Nyx, the Mother of Shadow and Queen of Paradise, Ophelia must watch her back, for nowhere is safe and there is a traitor in their midst.

This is told from the first-person present-tense POV of Ophelia.

OVERALL OPINIONS
A decade ago, when I was a teenager, I was a fan of books containing Greek mythology: particularly the Percy Jackson and Pegasus series, by Rick Riordan and Kate O’Hearn respectively. This has a lot of vibes from these but with a touch of the Stoneheart trilogy by Charlie Fletcher because this also contains a Sphinx with a riddle, though Fletcher’s is more helpful than Jane’s. Micki Jane has taken everything that came before and brought it back as a beautiful epic story with excellent POC representation. The present-tense narrative is on brand with the young adult genre and is used effectively here, making you feel as if you are going through the motions there and then with Ophelia.

This story captured the typical high school atmosphere perfectly. The descriptions of the canteen, for example, “we both take ceramic blue plates that are hot to the touch. The steam wafting into my face carries the scent of fried tenders”. Another thing we can all relate to is the peer pressure in high school to do things, like how Cass dares Ophelia to jump off the cliff early on. Also, when Ophelia and Roman discuss what universities they are hoping to get into after graduation, and what career they plan to pursue.

The novel also explores another aspect many will know of or relate to: the “strict parents raise sneaky kids” idea. While it is her aunt and uncle, the same vibes are there. She starts poking around her family history, and they tell her not to, so she says she won’t but eventually, of course, she does. And she questions why she is not allowed, which is again something kids do. Even if they explained why, she would have still gone behind their back.

I like how we get that reminder that it is okay for men to open up and allow themselves to feel scared or upset.

I think some sections could have been fleshed out, particularly the final section. Overall, for me, this is a rating of 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. If I was younger I would like it more.

<< Positives >>
🠚 There are some gorgeous descriptions! Take this example: “The tower’s platform overlooks New River in all its sleeping glory. The forest is a castle of shadow and foliage. In the distance, an ocean of sparkling lights stretches from east to west like a wall of fire.” Or how about this one: “ The melody is light and whimsical, like a waltz between fairies.”
🠚POC representation and its release on Black History Month should not be ignored. This is huge for teenagers who struggle to find media and books with main characters who look like them, and this will be amazing for them!
🠚I learned more about both today’s culture and Greek mythology. One example is when Baxter says “In a town where nothing happens, the possibilities are endless” and Olivia laughs and says “Thank you, Langston Hughes” – Hughes (1901-67) was a black American writer who made the earliest jazz poetry.
🠚A decent amount of humour throughout, which I like. My favourite part is when they all are coming up with excuses and settle with “Oh, Marvel movie night” and Griffin is confused and they all say “Parents” in unison, as an explanation.
🠚The plot twist was good, about who the intel working on the inside was. I had my suspicions when they mentioned the map was wrong and who had given them the map, but I liked when it was confirmed.

<< Negatives >>
🠚Having Alessia, Olivia and Ophelia for names is confusing because they all end in “ia”, especially Olivia and Ophelia.
🠚It is never revealed why nobody mentions Ophelia’s mother.
🠚I’d love to have been given more information about the other characters, like how the friend group all met and became friends, and their own problems. 🠚Some of the plot particularly near the end feels rushed. I really didn’t expect Alex to be bumped off so early on, too. I didn’t see the point of that especially because it was never addressed later.
🠚I feel like some of the narrative is unrealistic. An example of this is when Ophelia first meets the group. They are all talking among themselves, then Roman eventually is like “Oh yeah, this is Ophelia”, like this should have been much earlier.
🠚Cass asking Ophelia about cliff-jumping after they have just met felt so random for me to read. And she immediately says “yes” like he was asking if they could all go have coffee.
🠚Baxter’s issues and conflicts with his father I thought would be covered more because it is mentioned at the start. The name of his father is mentioned too, which I feel is misleading as nothing comes of it.
🠚I thought there would be more to that restricted section too, that they would sneak into there later. To my knowledge, they don’t seem to
. 🠚Logic doesn’t seem to always be there: when Baxter asks who Cherice and Janus are on page 242, though they clearly saw them previously when the parents are summoned to the school.
🠚(Minor) This book has moments where characters shout but full-stops are used. I think this should be changed to exclamation marks.
CHARACTERS
-ˋˏ ꒰ Ophelia꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ I like that the main character’s name is Ophelia, the name of the tragic heroine from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Like Shakespeare’s character of the same name, she suffers greatly. The name itself means “help” or “aid”, which is also fitting as this Ophelia is the Godender, destined to help in the war to come. I like her strength, resilience and positivity! There were some moments where she got on my nerves or the logic wasn’t there – like her going alone after Nyx with severe wounds and after nearly dying. Overall though, she is one of the most real, well fleshed out characters in this story. Poor girl, so many questions and not enough answers.
“If I don’t get out of this car, none of this is real.” – This sort of denial is relatable. Another moment like that was when she says “I’m so angry I think I could cry”, because this is literally the sort of mood I can get.

“There’s no justice in this world, Roman. You have to forge your own.” I turn the blade over, letting the catch the light.
“The Old Gods have to die. That’s the only justice my father can have, so that’s what I’ll do. I’ll kill them all, starting with her.”

-ˋˏ ꒰ Other characters꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ I liked Roman and Cass the most other than Ophelia. Roman is just your typical book boyfriend, how can you *not* love him? And Cass has a sense of humour and a good heart.

FAV QUOTES
• “You’re a lucky man.” | This time, he doesn’t laugh. “I don’t think so. I think I’d be luckier if I knew what your favorite color was. Or how you like your coffee.”
•I try to ignore the wild, fluttering sensation in my stomach. I hate it when boys call you magical on water towers and split bottles of wine with you. It’s just not practical.
• We reach across time and her hand is warm. It makes me sob. All this time, all these layers between us, and her hands are still warm.
• With sunlight spilling over him, it’s easy to imagine that thousands of years ago, people would be clamoring to carve slabs of marble into his likeness. • “I always think that people have the wrong idea about death. Fear, repulsion, avoidance–it’s the wrong attitude. When the leaves die, they decay into pieces of gold, and pave our streets. Death is beauty.”
• “I’ll always come when you call.”
• The hummingbirds in my stomach are restless. It’s stupid. It’s so, so stupid. But it’s the best feeling I’ve had in months. Something wild and warm, breaking the ice around me. Something new.
• Today, we had our first real brush with death. Somehow, the thirty-second conversation Olivia has with her mother is so much worse.
• I’m beholding. It’s terrible. And it’s beautiful. He walks the road between dreams and nightmares, bridging them both.
• “Lord Zeus was the King of Olympus, the most powerful god in his Pantheon. I believe you inherited his powers for a reason, and you’re proving it everyday.”
• “Hail the Gods of Olympus–rule all, kneel to none”

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I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review and I’d like to thank Micki Jane, and Three Rooms Press for the opportunity. This has not affected my opinion in any way.

“Of Blood and Lightning” is out now!