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Underworld Saga #1

The Gatekeeper's Sons

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Fifteen-year-old Therese watches her parents die. While in a coma, she meets the twin sons of Hades—Hypnos, the god of sleep, and Thanatos, the god of death. She thinks she's manipulating a dream, not kissing the god of death and totally rocking his world.

Than makes a deal with Hades and goes as a mortal to the Upperworld to try and win Therese's heart, but not all the gods are happy. Some give her gifts. Others try to kill her.

The deal requires Therese to avenge the death of her parents. With the help of Than’s fierce and exotic sisters, the Furies, she finds herself in an arena face to face with the murderer, and only one will survive.

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

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7292 people want to read

About the author

Eva Pohler

104 books1,739 followers
Eva Pohler is a USA Today bestselling author of over forty novels in multiple genres, including mysteries, thrillers, and young adult paranormal romance based. Her books have been described as "addictive" and "sure to thrill"--Kirkus Reviews.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 549 reviews
Profile Image for Carmen.
2,025 reviews2,425 followers
July 31, 2015
Than reached across the bed and wiped the tears from her face and then lay back on his side. "My brother told me I should come to Earth and have my way with as many girls as I wanted, to sow my wild oats, he said; but that's not my style. There's only one girl I'm interested in."

Therese's heart sped up. "You can't really mean me?"


BOOK #8 in Carmen-Downloads-20-Free-Ebooks-Onto-Her-Kindle-Day. More widely known as March 3rd, 2015.

Therese Mills is a 15-year-old girl. One night her parents are shot to death while driving home with Therese in the car. Therese survives.

Therese is a special snowflake! She loves animals and has a special connection with them. And she is a lucid dreamer. When, after her parents' tragic deaths, she has a dream about the Underworld, she meets Thanatos and Hypnos - the gods of Death and Sleep.

Both are very attracted to her and want to kiss her. (Stop laughing!) Thanatos petitions his father and wins 40 days to woo Therese. He hopes to win her heart and get her to agree to be his queen and live with him in the Underworld.
...

Okay. This book basically encapsulates all the reasons I avoid YA. "YA is not a genre! You can't hate YA because it's not a genre!" one of my favorite librarians grumpily chastises me all the time. Still, I can't help associating YA with Special Snowflake Girls, love triangles, and poor character development. This is no exception.

Joe Valdez has said before that one shouldn't read books for which one is not the intended audience. I violently disagree with him. I read (almost) anything and everything, target audience be damned. But in this book's case, I will concede he has a point. Even though I really didn't enjoy this novel - I thought it was juvenile and extremely silly - I think 12 and 13-year-old girls would eat it up with a spoon. It's like fan fiction. It's like a romance novel with training wheels on.

PROS:
1.) I like that Therese loves animals, and is a compassionate, merciful person (I always love people who show mercy). She loves her friends and tries to help them - unlike some self-centered YA heroines. She doesn't slut-shame.

2.) Greek mythology is always nice to read about.

3.) Pohler doesn't just have Therese's parents die and then just sweep the whole issue under the rug to focus on romance. I mean, she kind of does - but she makes sure to let the reader know that Therese is mourning, she cries, she sometimes sleeps in her parents bed for comfort and to enjoy what's left of their scents, she has trouble sleeping, and she prays for death. The mourning and grief Therese experiences is NOT realistic - but at least it's there, which is more than I can say for some books. o.O

4.) The book has it's gems:
Why couldn't grownups ever just do what kids asked of them without asking a million questions?

Hilarious and so much truth. LOL

When Thanatos talks to his father Hades about making Therese his wife:

"I worry I would make her into a despondent wife down here."

"There is no other kind of wife down here," Hades said. "Remember that."


And I really like when Athena gives Therese a golden locket that reads: "The most common way people give up their power is by believing they have none."

CONS:
1.) Therese is absolutely a Mary-Sue Special Snowflake. Therese is 15, allegedly unremarkable looking, but yet everyone is crazy about her. Basically the book consists of all the gods of Olympus following her around and praising her. But she's humble and modest about it, of course. LOL

2.) The writing is laughable - comparable to fan fiction or a badly written romance novel.

His thick golden hair covered his ears and fell on his forehead almost to his eyes. His eyes were blue, his skin fair, and his lips moist and peach. They parted into a smile.

His lips moist and peach? Are you kidding me? o.O What about this dialogue:

"Most people call me Hip, short for Hypnos."

Okay, that's strange. Whatever.

"Hip. I'm Therese."

"Are we going to make out now, or what?" He took her in his arms. "Your beauty, as well as your power, draws me."


Ummmmm... okay.

"And I like your dimples. You've got a cute round face and full lips. I wouldn't mind kissing them."

Who talks like this?!?! Seriously?

What about this:

"Jealous?" She would never be so bold outside of her dreams.

"Absolutely." He looked deeply into her eyes, his face close to hers.

"Do you want to kiss me?" The air left her body and her mouth flooded with moisture.

"Absolutely."

She closed her eyes and leaned in.

"Listen," he said, swallowing hard. "I haven't stopped thinking about you since that day you kissed me, and that brings me to the third thing I want to say. Thank you for your affection. Know that I stay away, not because I want to, but because if I don't, you'll die."


How very dramatic. o.O Also, the air left her body and her mouth flooded with moisture? What the bleep?!

Than shook his head. "What man asks his wife to die in his place? That's plain cowardice."

Something clicked for Therese just then. Than was just, not cruel. Her admiration for him multiplied like the heads on the hydra.


LOL Really?

3.) The book is so precious and cutesy. Poseidon lets her ride dolphins! Aphrodite gives her a magic travelling robe! Artemis gifts her with a sparkly diamond crown that makes her invisible! Her god-boyfriend takes her on a whirlwind trip around the world to watch the sun set in 8 different countries! Etc. etc. etc. It's like the daydream a 13-year-old girl would have when she's bored in history class - which, I guess, is the whole point.
...


ADDITIONAL NOTES:
1.) There's no sex in this - it's clean. Just some kissing. As Thanatos puts it, "You have to know that every time a god has ever made love to a human, it has always, invariably, ended in pregnancy." There you go. Like a romance novel with training wheels, I told you. Chaste. Very pre-sexually-active teenage fantasy type stuff. This is for younger readers who don't actually want to have sex yet, just kissing (YAY! Kissing!!!) and sweet-talk. This isn't going on my list of cons, it's perfectly acceptable and understandable, I have no problem with this.

2.) I hate to say this, but Sherrilyn Kenyon does it better. (That should be a t-shirt!) Anyway, what I'm saying is that gods and dreams and romance novels regarding this kind of stuff can be found in her novels. Of course, her romance novels are definitely for adults. o.O But if you like this kind of stuff, books like The Dream Hunter will provide an adult version for you that is better quality than this - but again, not YA.

3.) This is the first in a trilogy, I don't plan on picking up the other ones - but you never know.
...

Tl;dr - Please take my low rating with a grain of salt - I really think girls aged around 12 or 13 would really enjoy this blatant fantasy. You're amazing, gods love you, kissing (I didn't think the kissing was well-written, but kids probably won't know the difference), everyone adores you... magical objects are gifted to you, etc. etc. Very fanfic, very junior-romance-novel. The writing is side-splittingly funny if you are an adult reader with a critical mind, but again, that's probably not the intended audience for this. That being said, it could be better written and more engaging. I think Pohler could have done better with this material.

PLEASE NOTE THAT I am NOT the kind of person to sneer at young girls' fantasies and their particular brand of daydream-type-fiction. It really angers me when people do this. As a grown woman, of course this kind of book has no appeal to me, but that doesn't mean it's worthless or doesn't serve its purpose. Absolutely it is fine to adore this type of book and swoon over this type of story. Young tweens/teens deserve to have their fantasies and their books about this type of stuff - in NO WAY is reading this "stupid" or shameful. Girls, really, listen to me - if this kind of book floats your boat, go for it! Never let anyone make you feel ashamed for what you enjoy reading, okay? Hopefully you will graduate to full-blown romance novels when you get older (there's some great ones out there - even though they're a bit hard to find), and when you DO, don't let anyone make you feel dumb for reading those either! A woman needs a bit of fantasy in her life! Ain't no shame in it!

TWO REAL STARS, TWO ROMANCE STARS

I got this for free on my Kindle by just browsing through Amazon, they were having a special. This was entry #8 in Carmen-Downloads-20-Free-Ebooks-Onto-Her-Kindle-Day. More widely known as March 3rd, 2015.
Profile Image for catherine ♡.
1,704 reviews172 followers
June 9, 2017
Actual Rating: 0

Okay, bear with me guys, this one is going to be a long one. First of all, I am so surprised that Eva Pohler is a writing and literature teacher at a university and not, as her writing shows, an immature twelve-year-old student.

Let me tell you, the writing in this is absolutely awful. From the very first page, I could tell that the author broke the rule of "show, don't tell". The car crash scene was already written TERRIBLY - it felt as though the author was trying to make it scary and heartbreaking, but her writing style was simply not up to par.

My least favorite part about this book was - well, everything - but my LEAST LEAST favorite part about this book was Therese.

I've already mentioned this in one of my status updates - as Therese's parents drown, memories suddenly invade her mind and she reminisces about deer. One, this broke the vibe of the crash that Pohler tried and failed to establish, and two, if your parents are dying in front of your very eyes, actually do something.



(Update: The author told me how it was meant to portray how Therese was overcome by memories in the moment and it seemed like everything was going in slow-motion. I haven’t experienced such a tragedy, and I guess I wasn’t able to tie in this feeling with the book at the time. I reread the scene and I still feel like it broke the vibe, but now I know the reason it was included.)

Next, Therese is a lucid dreamer.
I'm a lucid dreamer, and so I know what they feel like.
I did some research, and Eva Pohler used to be one too, meaning that she should be able to describe them in more vivid detail, and yet her descriptions of Therese's dreams are repetitive and juvenile.

Let's look at a few examples, shall we?
Therese willed his shirt off, and the shirt disappeared.
The boy laughed. "You have so much control. Very few people are lucid dreamers, and I've never known anyone like you."

Oh yes, Therese. Aren't you just SO special?

Let's look at more examples!
She looked around the room. They were all zombies. That's when she knew she was dreaming.

She touched a front tooth with her finger, and the tooth fell out. Then she smiled. "This must be a dream."

One group of rocks resembled a giant hand, like that of a god. That triggered an idea in Therese's mind. I'm dreaming.

Noticing a pattern? I sure did. Every time I read another dream scene, I became more and more annoyed, because I knew that Pohler was going to have Therese realize the exact same way. And so, once, again, there was proof of the author's terrible writing.



Now, for the relationship between Than and Therese.
It was a case of insta-love, which I have never been a fan of.
The first time Therese hugs Than, he is already smitten - to the point where he begs his father, Hades, to allow him to become mortal to chase after the girl he's known only for a few seconds.

Now, I haven't read Twilight - but I've seen enough of it to know about that scene where Edward tells Bella she likes watching her sleep. And a scene in The Gatekeeper's Sons definitely reminded me of that. Let me explain. Than can turn himself invisible - and obviously, he takes advantage of this power. Blah blah blah, one day, Therese finds out exactly how, and this is how their conversation goes down.

"You were there? In my room?"
Than blushed. "Are you angry with me?"

Now, ladies, if you ever find out that someone has been sneaking into your room and spying on you, I hope you do the exact opposite of what Therese does and gives that creeper what they deserve.
This is what Therese says in response.
"I'm only angry that you didn't make yourself visible and kiss me, especially when you saw me crying."
"Yeah. It was hard not to take you in my arms."
"I'm angry you didn't."
"I'm sorry."

What the actual fuck? (Pardon my language) but this is a big NO-NO for me. There are SO many things wrong with situation - starting with Therese's attitude. Especially in this conversation, Therese is revealed to be weak and dependent on her lover - and in her eyes, Than's crime was not invading her privacy, but it was not being there for her when she needed him.

Keep in mind that he wasn't even SUPPOSED to be there.



Moving along with the relationship, Therese's attidude completely transforms into one that is unacceptable for a heroine. She transforms, to the point where she cannot LIVE without Than; she defines her own identity by him, and she begins to embrace death because it means becoming closer to him.
Then she said, "And if you leave me again, I swear I'll kill myself to be with you."

No. I just...no. This line set of all the warning signals in my brain - this relationship has gone from bad to worse to toxic. What is Pohler trying to tell her readers? That this is the definition of love? That love is the willingness to lose yourself to hold on to someone else?

I'm a romantic, but I have to say, that this is not the definition of love at all.
There are moments where people have to realize that loving yourself is important too - you have to be able to love yourself before you love someone else, and before you accept their love for you. Therese breaks all the rules here - she diminishes her own worth and sets Than high above everybody else, including herself.

That's not love, that's obsession.

Therese was just SUCH a Mary-Sue. She could do everything, and she had all the traits that made her perfect - everything about her was so perfect that even the gods fell in love with her.
To make it easier for you, I've compiled a list!
1. Therese loved animals and nature (which is why Artemis loved her)
2. Therese had a kind and giving heart (which appealed to Zeus)
3. Therese played the flute (Athena invented the flute, so she loved her)
4. Therese loved to swim (so Poseidon took mercy on her)
5. BASICALLY THERESE'S KIND AND MERCIFUL SOUL (Persephone, Hestia, Aphrodite, Demeter)

Therese's overperfection was just sickening.



She was perfect, and yet she was so wishy-washy and annoying that I wondered what Than even saw in her.

For the last part of my review I want to go back to Eva Pohler's writing style - the entire book was simply written badly, but there were a few instances where I really paused and had to put my phone down just to -


This one line in particular:
Then he covered her mouth with his and gave her a deep, lusty kiss.



Ugh.

And when she had the opportunity to write something like this:
They smiled softly and Therese felt her eyes trembling with the tears she had held back for so long. Her legs tangled together as she collapsed into their arms, desperate to hold them one last time.
Pohler wrote this instead:
They smiled and held out their arms. She ran to them and felt their warm embrace.

See the difference?



I have so much more to say but this review has gone on long enough and I know if I keep going it'll just be one loooooooong rant, so let me just end this on the worst line of their entire book.

"It's almost like you're voice is singing in place of the flute, or as if the flute were an extension of yourself."


Yes, the author committed a grave sin - she used the wrong "your" and that is completely unacceptable. Not to mention how bad this line already was.

So yeah, don't torture yourself by reading this book.
Profile Image for ♥ℂĦℝΪՖƬΪℕÅ.
230 reviews3,959 followers
Read
March 10, 2018
What in the actual fuck is this? It's garbage I tell ya... GARBAGE!!! Maybe a little harsh? Yeah? Well so be it! I have wanted to read this book for forever, but sadly I only got to Chapter Sixteen before I decided to give it up. And I seriously struggled with it, I was ready to quit in the first damn chapter. I really do hate to DNF books but if you get that far into a book and your bored out of your freaking mind. It's time to move on. Also I found the writing style to be completely awful and if i'm being truly honest this book sucked balls... BIG TIME!!! It was like reading something a little girl wrote. I don't think this book was ever edited either because my god it was mistake galore! To think Eve Pohler actually teaches writing and literature at a university is just insane... The Gatekeeper's Son was that horrific and it was all extremely juvenile! All the day dreaming Therese did and at the most stupid times was the dumbest shit EVER. Seriously who goes into a day dream when Um, NO one because that makes no sense. Am I right? I have no clue how this is rated so high. Must be a lot of delusional people out there lol. I don't know, perhaps this was wayyyyy to YA for me? Anyways whatever, it's done and over with now.

*I recommend this to only teeny★bopper!*
Profile Image for NAT.orious reads ☾.
960 reviews413 followers
October 30, 2019
3 shy ★★★✩✩
This book may suit… younger readers who find the naivete of the main character adventurous and can tell the distinct difference between actual love and premature romance.

Overall.
Overall, Eva Pohler provided me with an entertaining audiobook. The narrator's voice was very agreeable, the biggest influence on my opinion of an audiobook. Although entertaining and gripping, the thematic hook (a very premature romance) of the book made it tough for me as an adult listener to engage with the story on the level I would have wanted to.

The concept of the book had its hold on me from the beginning, I was very enthusiastic to dive into this universe. Both the main and side characters were depicted well, which made them easily distinguishable from one another and provided for a vivid story. Greek mythology was approached from an interesting viewpoint, although I cannot say anything about the accuracy since I've not busied myself with it much.

Sadly, as an adult reader who studied literature and culture for the duration of a Bachelor's degree, I couldn't help but pick the text apart and I wasn't too happy with what I've found.

First of all, the whole grieving process definitely laked page time which is what made it so hard to judge it. From the rational viewpoint of somebody who is privileged enough to not have crossed paths with grief too much yet - thank the universe for that - I'd definitely say, although there is the chance Therese might get her parents back in the beginning, it should have dawned on her sooner or later that things might not turn out well. I'm sure realistically speaking, the process is entirely different, but I can't even suspect since it wasn't really addressed apart from the occasional teary eyes and squeezed heart.

There's no way to do a hem and haw dance here. Meeting someone a couple of times in your dreams and then wishing to be with them for eternity in the Underworld is not exactly credible, especially under the light of the recent death of family members. It does, however, fit the stereotype of the ya genre very much.

I also failed to recognize the age difference between the two main characters until the other Gods came into play towards the middle of the book. Than chose to depict himself as a teenager and acted like one so I'm rather undecided how to feel about the fact that as a God Than is thousands of years old, while Therese is FIFTEEN.

In the light of recent political events and the terrible behaviour of the Western world in general, the topic of the ‘evil’ Pakistanis that produce fake medicine should have been handled with more grace, i.e. explaining that the Developing World is now the bogeyman for trying to make it in an economized world with no mercy for those it has enslaved and oppressed for hundreds of years.

What’s happening.
‘What a strange circumstance she found herself in: baking brownies for a handful of gods from the Underworld.’

Never would Therese have thought the biggest echo of her parents' death would be the intimate company of the gods of Ancient Greece. The promise to avenge her parents and to find eternal happiness with Thanatos, the God of death, keep her from falling apart over the murder of her parents.
_____________________
Writing quality + easy of reading = 4*

pace = 4*

plot/story in general = 2*

plot development = 3*

characters = 2*

enjoyability = 3*

insightfulness = 3*
_____________________
This audiobook was provided by Eva Pohler in exchange for an honest review. Thank you very much!
717 reviews23 followers
July 11, 2018
I loved this book to no end!! It was quite an emotional ride!!! On to the second book!!
Profile Image for Zarah.
752 reviews21 followers
October 29, 2014
People actually LIKE this? But... why?!

I got a free Kindle edition, got approximately 20 pages in and was so bored and annoyed I contemplated pulling my hair, just to make it more enjoyable...

To me, this book reads NOT like teenage Fanfiction but rather as the pre-stages of Fanfiction, written by a pre-teen. The language, the drawn out descriptions, the exceptionally horrible language (someone said that the author is a teacher? Please, say it isn't so, or the kids she teaches will go out into the world with an urge to repeat the same pronouns over and over - and not be able to separate you're and your.) and the sheer stupidity of Therese... no thank you.
I also didn't quite care for the roundup of Greek Mythology-characters, all in a neat line to point out that This Author Knows Her Shit, or something along those lines.

The only thing I can say about the instalove and hint at bizarre love triangle (dear gods, no sane person would say that another person has "a lovely round face and plump lips" or whatever Hip blurted out in one of the many, many weird attempts at being charming - which he completely and miserably failed at) is that MAYBE it can exist. I DID after all instahate both Therese AND the Brothers Shirtless...!

I deleted this and saved myself the hairpulling.
Profile Image for Fafa's Book Corner.
515 reviews347 followers
Read
May 21, 2017
DNF

Mini review:

I received this free copy through kindle for a promotion the author was having. I heard about said promotion through booktube. I wasn't really sure what I was expecting. I was looking a for new series to get lost into (as if I don't already have enough of those) and when I saw this for free I downloaded it. I do enjoy reading about Greek mythology so I wanted to see this author's take on it. Unfortunately I did not enjoy this.

Like Vampire Addiction the writing felt very juvenile. This book had such an odd beginning that I just dropped it. I do not want to waste time on books I don't like. Why bother when there are so many better books I could be reading?

All in all I did not enjoy this. It's up to you if you want to read it.
Profile Image for Jonel.
1,717 reviews311 followers
June 12, 2015
This novel was a phenomenal introduction into the Gatekeeper series and into the world of Greek mythology.

I have great respect for authors who do their research before writing fictional work based on fact or existing mythology. That said, I love the fact that this story is mythologically accurate. I also like the fact that Pohler includes a variety of Greek gods in her writing, rather than simply using the Olympiad as so many authors attempting to write about Greek mythology do. And Pohler doesn't just attempt to wrote a world based on Greek mythology. She succeeds. Pohler has not only researched her facts with respect to mythology, but with her novel as a whole. Even the trail riding and equine aspects of this novel, where present, are factual. I appreciate the fact that almost everything that Pohler includes is very well researched and extremely detailed.

Pohler is very detailed in her writing. Everything is precisely worded to convey a specific thought, feeling, or image. Each and every word seems to have been carefully chosen to build a cohesive overall picture. Everything is vivid and extremely well laid out. She creates a world that you can imagine yourself walking into. I also appreciate the differentiation in writing style between Earth and Olympus. Everything on Olympus is much larger and more elaborate than Earth, as it should be. Her writing also sports an intensity rarely seen in a YA novel, while also giving you some very good laughs.

The characters in this novel are quite well developed. You may not know their entire life histories, but you do get to know everything that is pertinent to the story and to let you get to know the characters. It was very refreshing to read a story by an author who can differentiate between necessary development to create a well-developed character, and giving an entire life history that slows down the storyline because it isn't actually relevant to the plot.

As a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and can't wait to tear into the sequel. Pohler manages to end this novel without a cliff-hanger but still needing to grab for the sequel to find out what happens next. Bravo!

Please note that I received this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review
Profile Image for Kayla Silverss.
Author 1 book127 followers
April 9, 2018
I actaully loved this. Yeah it's not a work of litreature but it's enjoyable and fun and I loved every single thing about it.
Profile Image for Cogito_ergo_sum.
628 reviews17 followers
June 21, 2015
1.5 stars

The Greek mythology premise is nothing new here; it's been a trend floating around YA for a while now. When picking up this book, I was hopeful due to all the lovely ratings, but I was disappointed.

My review will come off severe, but maybe the problems I am about to list will help future authors avoid this, and I will have a better selection of books to read in the future.

This book is lacking serious editing. There was potential here, but it was poorly executed. I'll just list the problems I've noticed in order of how they appeared.

In chapter one, we are briefly introduced to Therese's parents right before they die. However, the author decided to add a flashback/memory scene right in the middle of the action to show us just how much Therese loves her dad, and why it's important she save him. Show, don't tell. Just by showing me that she is trying to save him, shows me that he is important to her, and that she loves him. The flashback memory just bogged the scene down. It lost whatever emotion it was trying to evoke in me.

Secondly, the "instalove" Therese feels towards Than. Do I really have to explain why that doesn't work? Insta-love gives no substance to their relationship, and I, as the reader, see no reason why I should be invested in their relationship.

This next issue, I don't know why any of the author's beta-readers didn't pick up on it (maybe they did). The author proceeds (throughout the whole story) to give us a history lesson on random stories on each of the greek gods, and Hercules' trials and so forth. Now I understand that the author wants to make sure her readers know the gods before they meet them, but what part does Hercules play in the story? He stays a historical figure. In no way does "Hercules" progress the plot forward. This... and the history lessons on the other gods need to be cut out. (For example, if it's important that you need us to know that Hera is a jealous wife, show us, don't give us a history of her actions). This story is about Therese, and whatever doesn't have to do with her story needs to be cut out. It makes for a very messy, loose plot, and weakens the story (a lot).

What also didn't work in the plot is mixing teen love and mature adult crime world (I won't go into detail, so as to not give spoilers). The books where the blending of the crime world and the paranormal worked had the main character become not a vigilante, but sort of like a detective (but not really). Those stories had urban settings and mystery. But, here... the two concepts (teen love, and crime world) were poorly mixed. It can be done, but the world building felt a little messy, and more editing needed to be done for the merging to really work.

The last problem I had with this book was the author's tendency to give an entire, long paragraph description, all at once, as to what the character is wearing.

Like I said, this book needs heavy editing.
Profile Image for Jane Stewart.
2,462 reviews964 followers
September 23, 2014
DNF. Might be good for teens, but not for me.

The author is a teacher. She is writing about Greek gods and mythology. That is educational. But the story about 15-year-old Therese did not work for me. Therese almost dies. She interacts with two gods during her dreams. She and Than (a god) are immediately attracted to each other when they meet in a dream. Than gets permission from his father to be human for awhile so he can woo Therese to be his goddess wife. She liked him in her dream. But when she sees him in person she decides not to like him and acts aloof. At that point I stopped. I didn’t care to read anymore. Her motives were not consistent and did not fit. Prior to that, the writing was ordinary. A normal person doing normal things is not interesting.

I’ve loved many YA books, but I’ve disliked some that are very popular. So keep that in mind. You might like this.

This is book #1 in a series.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 385 pages. Swearing language: mild in the part I read. Setting: current day Colorado. Copyright: 2012. Genre: YA fantasy.
Profile Image for Nomnivor.
792 reviews93 followers
February 6, 2021
Mann, ich weiß gar nicht, wo ich mit der Kritik anfangen soll.

Ich fange einfach mal bei Superthan an. Er kann echt alles. Wo ich es noch halbwegs verstehe, dass er als Tod in Sekundenschnelle durch die Welt reisen, jede Sprache, sogar die von Tieren sprechen, und unsichtbar werden kann, kapiere ich einiges absolut nicht. Warum muss er superschnell schwimmen können? Warum muss er tolle Bauchmuskeln haben ohne zu trainieren? Warum kann er in Frankreich ohne Probleme ein vegetarisches mehrere Gängemenü auftreiben? Jedes Mal, wenn Than wieder perfekt war wurde es lächerlicher. Es gab wirklich nichts, was er nicht konnte. Nennt eine Superkraft, er hat sie.

Therese ist genauso schrecklich. Sie ist die beste Schwimmerin im Team, sie ist die beste Flötistin in der Band (obwohl sie niemals übt), sie ist die beste luzide Träumerin, die Hypnos jemals gesehen hat, sie ist der Liebling aller Götter ohne es auch nur zu versuchen, Tiere lieben sie auf Anhieb und sie ist die beste Pferdebürsterin der Welt. Sie lebt in einer Hütte im Wald und kennt jedes Tier und jeden Baum beim Vornamen.

Der Schreibstil. Oh boy. Nu ja. Bis auf die ständigen unpassenden Fremdwörter war er wenigstens einfach zu lesen. Aber immerhin habe ich was gelernt mit den neuen Wörtern. Ansonsten ist er wohl so ziemlich in die Tonne zu kloppen.

Es war, als hätte eine 12-jährige ihre Fantasien aufgeschrieben. Noch zu prüde und unbereit, um wirklich über S.E.X zu schreiben lässt sie immer mindestens eine Bettdecke zwischen den beiden Charakteren. Dafür wird aber Therese Hund von Artemis Unsterblichkeit verliehen. Und sie bekommt von ihr ein Gänsefederkopfkissen. Und eine Unsichtbarkeitskrone. Und von Poseidon einen Ritt auf Delfinen und sein Zimmer im Olymp. Von Zeus einen Ritt auf Pegasus. Von Athena bekommt sie einen Reiseumhang, einen Anhänger und… Ach, eigentlich wäre es einfacher, aufzuzählen, was Therese alles nicht von Göttern geschenkt bekommen hat. Ach so, und ihre kleinen Brüste findet Hypnos viel besser als große. Außerdem darf sie, sollte sie in die Unterwelt ziehen, ihre Haustiere mitbringen, auch wenn das vor ihr noch nie jemand getan hat.

Die Story über die Mördersuche an ihren Eltern konnte man auch nicht mitfiebern, weil es dann letztendlich irgendein Typ aus einem anderen Land war, von denen weder Therese noch der Leser je gehört haben.

Dafür haben sowohl Than als auch Therese mindestens 50 Duschen in dem Buch genommen. Dafür, dass man von Therese so viel von ihrer Morgen- und Abendroutine mitbekommen hat wurde erstaunlich wenig über Zähne putzen und kämmen geredet. Nämlich gar nicht. Therese steht auf, packt sich Lipgloss auf die Lippen, und ist perfekt.

Der Rest des Buches ging um Tierpflege. Es waren bestimmt 100 Seiten (MIN-DES-TENS) nur übers Pferde bürsten, wie sie ihren Hamster und ihre Schildkröte füttert und ihr Hund mit seinem Stummelschwanz wedelt.

Am Schluss kam dann tatsächlich ein bisschen Stimmung auf, die Autorin hat das aber gekonnt ganz schnell wieder abgewürgt. Aber dem Leser, der bis hierher ausgehalten hat, sei versichert, dass Therese dabei perfekt war.

Die ganze Mythologie war auch von vorne bis hinten falsch und ich kann mich nicht entscheiden, ob die Autorin das getan hat, um das ganze zu vereinfachen, oder weil sie keinen Bock hatte das zu recherchieren.

Achso. Als Therese denkt, Than könnte eventuell die Beziehung beenden wollen geht sie zum nächst logischen über: Sie geht in ihr Haus, telefoniert mit einem Typen, von dem sie weiß, dass er wegen eines Liebespfeils Hals über Kopf in sie verliebt ist, und datet ihn am selben Abend “um sich abzulenken.” Eine schreckliche Person.
Profile Image for Kristi.
37 reviews
July 8, 2013
Wow where do I even start......First I want to ask how exactly is Eva Pohler not as well know and published as some such as Stephanie Meyers? No disrespect to Stephanie, but I would much rather own paper copies and see movies of this brilliance! I have always loved Greek mythology but this book has given me an even more profound love of it as well as my one true love, books. This story has everything in it hope, despair, joy, sadness, depth and meaning. True love and loss are so amazingly written in this that I could actually feel them while reading. There is so much detail and emotion in this book I could picture it all clearly in my mind, I could feel the emotions from sadness (which I will admit I cried), anxiety, joy, humor (I laughed out loud), and excitement. I can not wait to find out what happens next. I love Than by the way.....sexy in my mind, Death yet life in truth. Therese and her love of nature and animals connects too well with me to explain. Oh I could go on and on about this book, but I'm to eager to start the next. Thank you so much Eva you are so talented and I can't wait till the whole world knows your name and your stories!!!!! :)
Profile Image for Rachel.
30 reviews
May 6, 2018
DNF AF! What the bloody hell is this book!? So awful. I feel bad for saying it, but this book is garbage. The whole time I was taking notes, just trying to get down everything bad about it, but I couldn't. I was exausted trying to keep up with the mistakes. It had to be put down, never to be picked up and read agian... To be completely honest I wasn't sure if I just downloaded a self- published novel on my Kobo or if it was just that bad. Who in their right mind would publish this? I know writing a book is hard, but this book seems like it was never edited!

Without further ado, in order of when it was noticed here is all the mistakes that reared its ugly ass head:

"She was, after all, prone to use her imagination and fully capable of making daydreams as real as reality." --
That sounds awful. Its seems to me like the character can't tell her daydreams from reality, in other words she hallucinates. If I ever got to the end of the book, I wouldn't be shocked if the whole thing was just an elaborate daydream!!

The parts that I read of this book I had no idea what was going on. Everything was so fast an they never even bothered to transition between events. They just jumped right into everything, confusing or not! In the beginning the characters were having a conversation right after they got out of some sort of award ceremony, YOU CAN'T DO THAT! Who's getting the award? And who is the main character? What's her name, cause we didn't learn it till like the 3rd chapter!

There were a few scenes that really bothered me... She thought she was dreaming, but really she was between life and death. So she 'swan dived' into the air and turned a star into a diamond then plucked a flute out of the air and began to play a tune. Like WTF is this? Then she went around willing people's shirts off! That is weird as hell! And rude!

Not to mention the main character is an awful person, besides so rudely willing shirts off innocent victims she also likes to go around kissing everyone. She kissed Than then before you know it she's kissing Hip too! DOUBLE STANDARD! And in her spare time Therese goes around kicking animals, no joke! "Therese didn't like having to hit or kick or growl at the animal to get their cooperation," this is when she's comparing a well behaved horse to the other ones, obviously she spends a lot of time taking out her frustrations on innocent, but uncooperative animals! "'A friend of the family. Hey, let's shoot for next week, okay?' 'Okay.' 'Bye now.' 'Bye.' 'Ugh' Therese said to herself. What was she going to do with that girl?" You make plans, then blow her off with some flimsy excuse which causing her to be upset and you say what are you going to do with her? No Therese, just straight up no.

"Why couldn't grownups ever just do what kids asked of them without asking a million questions"--
If your trying to sound like a teenager, the first step is not to say grownups. No one except for adult talking down to little children say grownups; 'No little Timmy, this is grownup juice'. Step two is not to refer to yourself and your peers as kids. I know it's hard to believe, but us teens don't think of ourselves as children.

The whole story is predicable. I can see everything coming from a mile away. That girl Therese say in the forest calling her name? The one she flipped out over? Yeah, it is too obvious that she was one of the furies that Than said he was going to send.

There was no world building. They basically threw a bunch of shit together and said 'WE HAVE OURSELVES A NOVEL'. I have no idea what is happening let alone how they perceive greek myths to be. You're gonna have to do a little better than that if you want me to like it.

"Officer Morgan slept on a cot on the back deck, so Therese felt a little more at ease."--
Another thing is the character's blatant disregard for their responsibilities! Hello? Officer Morgan, the whole point of being on watch is to watch! You're not supposed to sleep? What the bloody hell is with everyone? Her aunt? Has a job, an apartment, and a man where she lives, which is far away. But as soon as Therese's parents die she drops everything and moves in with Therese. When your an orphan, they don't come to you, you go to them! And its not like she really has much of a life anymore either... But its fine her aunt can work from home they won't care, and conveniently she's at the end of her lease so she can leave, she and her boyfriend have done long distance before so he is fine with it!!!! Likely story I say! Likely story...

"Hip shrugged 'I think he wants you to to become his queen of the dead.' Then he said, 'Why don't you become my queen instead?' Theres laughed. 'You're not the marrying kind Hip. I can see that."--
Oh I am swooning. It is so adorable. Not. No NO Therese. It is completely normal. You keep flirting.. While the guy you met for 2 mins and kissed and said "so lovely" to for most of it is coming to make you his bride. That is completely normal. Happens everyday. Don't freak out CAUSE I TOTALLY WOULDN'T FREAK OUT AND SCREAM STALKER!

They aren't consistent! Because what I thought they said was they found a guy who they could hold under suspicion and he was in the system, but when they went it in to the police station there were magically other suspects. Unless I'm getting the process wrong... I don't know, I've never been a victim who had to pick out her attacker or anything before... And at one point Therese saw the lady in the forest and said she could have sworn that there was a bird on her shoulder, but later on she said that she thought she was carrying a snake. WTF IS GOING ON!?

"By then. --
Oh honey... I think you mean bye then with an end quote. There were so many spelling and grammar issues! And it seemed to me like they were switching between 3rd and 1st person.

The idea is cool, but still overused. The whole 'fall in love with a greek god idea,' 'he faced eternity alone until he met you,' ' you must be so special because otherwise why would a greek god want you?'
Omg not another girl who is oh so gorgeous but doesn't know it! She even makes typical remarks about another girl saying 'she's so much prettier than I am' and thinking my love interest would probably like her so much better, but NO GIRL! He likes you!

At one point she went to hang out with her friend and went straight into grooming horse while her friend just left her? What!? This just makes not sense! And every time she thinks about Than it is considered a prayer and he can then hear them so he gets to hear such things as: "What are you looking at? You think you're so sexy? So what if you are? Quit looking at me like that! You're a jerk, aren't you?"

They don't have any descriptions which make reading any part of this very tedious.

"'Okay, Obi Wan Kenobi.' She laughed'--
They must have used this joke about 3 times! NO you can't do that! Ugh!

"She hadn't played since before... Everything changed."--
She kept saying before everything changed... That was two days ago!!! Nobody thinks like that. When someone dies your probably give up a lot of hobbies for years then you think 'I haven't done this since before everything changed'. Why is this book so stupid!!?? WHY? Doesn't accurately portray the reactions one has over the loss of a loved one. And speaking of she never really seems very saddened over her dead parents. It says she sometimes cries over it, but other than that she doesn't seem to be affected.

"Who in the history of time has ever done that to Death?"--
I don't know DEATH. Maybe that's a question you should be able to answer yourself. It is not dramatic to ask rhetorical questions such as this. It's straight up annoying.

I apologize that my review is very sloppy, but when you read a jumbled up pile of words such as this novel, your reviews tend to turn out like this. A cat dancing on a keyboard could write a better story than this... If there was an option to give 0 stars, trust me I would. I would not force this book upon the most evil of people!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jasmine.
999 reviews84 followers
July 19, 2013
**This review may contain a spoiler or two**

First off, I’d like to say that The Gatekeeper’s Sons is the first book in the Gatekeeper’s trilogy. Also, I won all three books in a contest, and they have been signed by the author.



Now…on with my review.

The Gatekeeper’s Sons is about a 15 year old girl named Therese. It starts out with Therese leaving a college with her parents; her mother had been celebrated for some sort of antidote. As they are in the car getting ready to leave, Therese sees a man’s face in the window. But no one else does. Then gunshots ring out, and her father takes off. he ends up swerving the car off a bridge and into the water. Therese’s mother has been hit by a bullet, and even though she tries to save her parents, she cannot. They drown, and before Therese blacks out, she sees someone swimming towards her.

After that, the book delves into Greek mythology, using two gods that aren’t usually discussed or very well known: Thanatos and Hypnos, both sons of Hades.

Therese is in a coma, but she meets Hypnos in her dreams. He finds Therese fascinating and wants to make out with her. She refuses, but then she sees her parents on a ferry with another boy. That boy is Hypnos’s brother, Thanatos, the god of Death. Still believing she’s in a dream, she wraps her arms around Than and kisses him. But because he’s the god of Death, being around him will kill Therese, so both brothers have to let her go back to the waking world.

Now out of the coma, Therese realizes that her parents really, truly are dead, and she ends up going back home with her aunt Carol, who has agreed to take care of her.

Meanwhile, Thanatos goes to his father, Hades, and asks if he can give up his duties as the god of Death and become human so he can try and win Therese’s heart and make her his queen. Hades agrees to give Than 40 days, while making Hypnos take over Than’s duties.

Than ends up working for Therese’s friend Jen at her barn. Therese, who is also helping out, is immediately drawn to Than, but thinks she’s being ridiculous believing that she already knows him or that he’s the god of Death.

Slowly, but surely, things start to click with her, though, and she realizes that the Greek gods really are real. But then comes the hard part. With the help of Than’s sisters, the Furies, Therese must avenge her parents’ death by killing the man who had them killed.

She earns gifts from certain gods and goddesses because of her kindness to nature and animals, but when the time comes to face off with the murderer, she realizes that perhaps she isn’t cut out to be a goddess of Death after all.

There is a lot more to the book, but I don’t want to give it all away. I found it fascinating, although I did think the romance with Than was just a little rushed. After the ending, though, I thought a bit differently.

The ending did remind me slightly of The Hunger Games, but only because it was a ‘kill or be killed’ sort of event Therese had to be involved in, and the gods and goddesses were merely spectators, only allowed to give yes or no answers in response to Therese’s prayers to them.

Eva Pohler does seem to have a firm grasp on the mythology, and even though her interpretations of the gods may be different than yours, it’s definitely well written and researched. I enjoyed it immensely.

If you’re a fan of Greek mythology and like reading about gods you normally wouldn’t see as main characters, I’d say give this book a whirl. I’m currently reading the second book and will be reviewing that as soon as I finish.
Profile Image for April.
2,640 reviews175 followers
September 1, 2016
Check out my other listens at Eargasms Audiobook Reviews

Wow! I have always been a fan of Greek Mythology and this was a real treat. So many of my favorite Gods and Goddesses make appearances and many lesser known ones I was introduced to in this story.

This was a really unique story. I thought it took a real twist from the typical young adult books. Great storytelling with a terrific pace. The major event of the book had me on edge for the whole end of the book. Definitely one of those what would you do situations and survival instincts taking over.

Therese is a really interesting and complex character. I liked her from the start and really felt for her situation. Even though she is really very sweet, she also shows great strength of character. She truly faces many major dilemmas. I was a touch bothered by her age, fifteen is rather young to be making the life choices she faces. I work with teens and would not trust them to act as wisely when facing the same circumstances.

Thanatos is a really great character as well. It is really interesting to see his progression from bored God to a more rounded being. He is very serious and a perfect match for Therese.

I really loved all the fun moments with Hypnos as well. He is a charming playboy who made me giggle quite often!

I am very eager to see where this series is headed. Really inventive concept and a truly engaging story.

I listened to the audio-book and was entranced by the narrator. Debbie Andreen did a wonderful job and brought the characters to life in delightful manner. Really happy ears here!

*I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Jamie.
95 reviews3 followers
September 8, 2013
Oh wow, where do I start?! I love this author! Eva Pohler has a gift for making the reader emotionally attached to the characters, in a matter of PAGES! I love the fact that she's an English teacher, I can be confident that my brain will never stumble over something in her books. Can't even stress how important that is to me, lol. Now on to the book!

Therese Mills is a 15 year old girl who watches her parents die, right in front of her. If things had happened just a little differently, she would've died too. In a coma for a week, with an amazing gift for lucid dreaming, Therese meets the gods Hypnos and Thanatos. Hip is fascinated by her dreaming skills. After one kiss, she about sweeps Than off of his feet, causing him to make a deal with his father Hades that will change both of their lives forever!

I loved this book! I can't wait to start the next one! I really wish Amazon let us do partial stars...this would get more than a 4. Not quite a 5 though, I save that for another amazing book this author has written. She really has a way with writing, from describing Than's first experiences, to the personalities given to Therese's pets, lol! I just love her writing and can't wait to read more. I, like another reviewer friend of mine, just don't understand how this author is not more well known! She is an awesome writer, and hands-down better than many of the more mainstream writers that I've read in my life! I hope this author continues writing for many years to come! I can't wait to see what she will come up with next!

Amazon Links for the Series
The Gatekeeper's Sons The Gatekeeper's Challenge The Gatekeeper's Daughter
Profile Image for Dianne.
6,815 reviews631 followers
February 18, 2013
Take one immortal Greek god of Death, add a fifteen-year-old girl who barely survived the murder of her parents and blend well and we have a nice take on a YA paranormal romance by Eva Pohler!

Thanatos, the god of death, who looks around eighteen, but is, in fact, an ancient immortal son of Hades, twin brother of Hypnos, the god of dreams falls instantly in love with Therese, a mortal girl who gave him his first kiss. Actually, she gave him his first taste of being around humans, because, really, who WANTS to be visited by death, you know?

Therese and Than have a few weeks together in the Earth Realm, they are in love. Than must find a way to make Therese his immortal wife, a goddess, but it usually doesn't work out too well for humans, but Hades has made an offer Therese cannot refuse. If she is able to kill the man who arranged for her parents' murder, she will have earned the right to become immortal. Being a truly 'nice' kid, Therese has won the hearts and support of many of the gods. But, is she capable of committing murder, even if it means losing Thanatos forever?

At first, I was sucked right in, then, the story got a little too detailed for me, with too many 'mini' details tucked in the story. Instead of blaming the story, I tried to read it from the eyes of a young teen, and, tada! Suddenly, what the characters said and did made complete sense! I already loved the plot idea, not too many books out there that toss in tons of gods, not only their names, but who they are! A real mini mythology lesson!

Therese's day to day life was real! Her friends and family felt real! Her emotional reaction to different situations was real!

I completely enjoyed this escape from reality and have recommended this book to a couple of teacher friends of mine, for their students.
12.6k reviews189 followers
May 28, 2021
Absolutely fantastic new series that had me hooked from the first page. How will Therese manage in this new world. Ready for the next.
Profile Image for Laura Doe.
278 reviews8 followers
February 8, 2021
Great mythological story

For anyone who enjoys mythology, thus is a great book. You get to know some of the gods and goddesses from Greek mythology. The only thing I found a little unbelievable was parts if the love story between Than and Therese, although it was lovely to read as a young girl fell in love with the Hod of death, I sometimes forgot that she was supposed to only be 15 as some of it was written as though she was an adult. I would give it 3.5 stars overall as it was a fun little read!
Profile Image for Nancy.
213 reviews18 followers
March 18, 2013
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

So. Therese, a 15 year old, watches her parents die. While unconscious and hovering near death, she meets Hades' sons, Hypnos, god of sleep, and Thanatos, god of death. Though she believes she is experiencing a lucid dream, her experiences are real. While in this unconscious state, she kisses Than, the first one to do so, as most mortals - and even immortals - fear him because of his role in the world. Unable to stop thinking about the girl, Than convinces his father to allow him 40 days as a mortal to win the girl's heart and convince her to return to the Underworld as his queen. But there's one catch:

I don't normally read mythology-based books; though my interests are pretty varied, and I'll read anything that catches my eye, I'm not normally drawn to mythology. I think the last mythology book I read was Mythology by Edith Hamilton, in high school. While it was fascinating - and had the added bonus of ticking off the members of the horrible church I attended at the time (not insulting churches in general, just the controlling cult I went to) - I've never had the urge to find fictional novels about the various gods and goddesses. I found myself wanting to read the Greek stories in Edith Hamilton's book again as a refresher. Luckily, Eva Pohler gives a bit of background and short retelling of the myths to remind those who can't remember and inform those who have never read Greek mythology. Even though this isn't the kind of subject I would normally choose, the description sounded interesting, and I found myself wanting to check it out. I'm glad I did.

I was expecting, based on the cover and my own assumptions of the description, to read a story of brother-gods competing for the love of a mortal. Nope! While Hip does want affection from Therese, it's mostly because he's the playboy dream god who simply expects kisses and make-out sessions from the females he visits in dreams. While this story was romance, it's also quite the adventure story. The author managed to pull me in right away and keep my attention throughout. If I hadn't been so busy, I would have most likely read it in one sitting, like I did the second book of the trilogy.

Fantastic book. Great trilogy, at least the first two books. I now want to read more stories with mythology themes. That is one of the best compliments I can give a book. If it's a genre different from what I normally read and can make me want to seek out more books with the same theme, it truly is a great book.

Only complaint: I noticed a few spelling errors. I don't think there were more than maybe 5 or so; nothing I can't look past for the sake of a great story.
167 reviews10 followers
April 19, 2013
Tragedy happens in Therese´s life after she watches her parents die.. While she´s in a coma she dreams with a hot guy called Hypnos (She doesn´t know he´s the Greek God of sleep). She´s been known to be a lucid dreamer always taking control of her surroundings so she summons her parents and see that they are fine and "alive". Below her she watches as a raft with people in it. She flies to the edge of the Underworld where she sees that her parents are in the raft with a man. She calls after them and she almost faints. Thanatos holds her and still thinking she´s controlling one of her dreams she kisses Than.

Having a God falling for you is not a wish of every girl...specially if he´s the God of Death. But this one is a Greek God Hot as Hell .!! called Thanatos.

A lot of twists and turns happen in this book that make you stay glued to your computer/Kindle as long as your eyelids allow you to stay awake LOL. After six pages and I was hooked and crying in my desk AT WORK.!! ;)

Thanatos wants to make her his queen of the Death so he makes a deal with his father Hares to make her a God. Hares accepts but with one condition. She has to avenge her parents by killing the man who orchestrated their deaths. Thanatos goes to the living world to try to win her heart.


I don´t want to give anything away about this book. You must read it to enjoy the fantasy world Eve has given us in this Triology. Even though I loved the plot, the love, the friendship, the twists and turns there was something I didn´t like about it that was the "sex" talk. I think this book should have been directed to a more mature audience giving Therese an older age and a less immature personality.


Favorite Moments:



www.lust4books.blogspot.mx


Profile Image for Kassie.
435 reviews483 followers
August 1, 2019
DNFed at about 80%.

The things I loved:
The take on Greek gods and goddesses felt very flushed out. I enjoyed getting to see all the different gods and their reactions with each other as well as with our main human characters.

The things that I didn't love:
It feels a lot like Twilight but greek gods instead of vampires.

While this is supposed to take place in current time with a 16 year old as our MC... our characters' actions made it feel like a historical fiction. The biggest thing for me was our characters waiting until they got home to call each other on their home phones. Teens generally don't do that.. they text or FaceTime whenever they want.

Our main character experiences both of her parents' death in a very traumatic situation at the start of this novel. And for approximately 1 week, she feels like an accurate representation of someone who has gone through that. But her grief is quickly forgotten when the cute god-boy comes onto the scene.

Why I DNFed: (minor spoilers)
In less than ten minutes, we have two very big moments that happen to our secondary and tertiary characters that just didn't feel like they were explained in a respectful way.

TW - suicide, sexual assault -
First, our MC's friend calls her up and suddenly tells her that another (tertiary) character's mom committed suicide last night. It just felt weird. I had some vibes about the scenes that follow and how our MC talks with the tertiary character, etc

Then we find out that our MC's good friend's dad has come back home and there's some tension about that. We switch perspectives and watch this friend's youngest brother take the dad's side while the friend is clearly upset that the dad has come home. In this scene there is a line where the youngest brother says something like "it's your (the friend who is the only female sibling) fault he left in the first place and it's (the oldest brother's fault) for telling!) In this scene the mom does appear to have our female friend (her daughter) as her first priority. She first says that between the dad and her, she'll pick her every time. All feels like this is going okay. EXCEPT the mom then says "but doesn't everyone deserve a second chance?" NO NOT IF THE FIRST TIME HE SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HIS OWN DAUGHTER. It felt gross and I couldn't continue, especially given that these aren't our main characters. It doesn't feel relevant whatsoever to the main plot.

Profile Image for Josheka.
93 reviews1 follower
December 7, 2012
More of my reviews @ Reading 24x7


First of all, I would like to thank Eva Pohler for providing me a hard-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. :)

The Gatekeeper's Sons was on ok-ok read for me. There were some things in this book which I really enjoyed, like-

1.) The starting was interesting. It made me instantly curious about what might happen next. I'm not a big fan of mystery, but reading the first chapter made me instantly interested. :)

2.) The writing style of the author was quite simple. As a debut novel, I would say she did a nice job. :D

3.) The human characters were pretty likeable. Therese was sweet and nice throughout the story. She didn't throw away her morals for Than. She was compassionate and pretty easy to like. :D


I liked how it began, but somewhere in the middle of it, I lost interest. It took me almost 2-3 weeks to finish it, just because......

1.) The Gods just seemed so...mundane. I mean, the first thing which you expect a story with gods is for it to be at least godly. With lots of magic. Sadly, there was no magic here. From the slang the gods used to the way they acted throughout the story was just a bit too lame for me. I expected them to be a lot more grander. And by grand, I don't mean rich, though that was well-shown in this book.

2.) The speed and the direction of the story wavered A LOT. Sometimes it was incredibly fast like in the beginning and in the end and sometimes it was just too painfully slow.

3.) The romance bit was very hurried for my taste. Love at first sight is possible but I think most of the readers would agree that a steady build-up of the relationship is more interesting to read than instant "I LOVE YOU"s. Especially when the romance includes a god who's been alive since ever.

Overall, I would've really appreciated a bit more..spunk in the novel. There were moments where I did get excited but they weren't enough for me to entirely love the book. The slow pace which the story took at one point was quite irritating but the ending was good enough. :)
Profile Image for Jasmyn.
1,604 reviews19 followers
July 29, 2013
This is a great book for lovers of mythology. I always enjoy a well written story that brings the old gods and goddesses of any mythology back to life in modern times. Eva Pohler held true to the mythology of the Greek gods and goddesses through the story, which was an added bonus as well. Thanatos is the god of death, he guides the souls to the ferryman to ensure they enter his father's Underworld. While he may not be happy, he is at least content and understanding of how important his duty is. Until Therese's spitit visits him while she is in a coma after a tragic car accident takes the lives of her parents (which is an amazing little mystery/sidestory that helps to tie it all together perfectly). He is fascinated by this mortal who shows no fear of him. He is determined to make her his queen, but he does not want to follow in the path of his father, Hades, and use trickery. Instead he appears on the mortal plane ready to win her over. But some of the gods disagree with his choice and are set to stop him, while others think it's just grand and will do anything to help them out. - See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/...
Profile Image for Terri.
152 reviews3 followers
October 13, 2013
This book will have you emotionally invested in the characters within the first few pages. The author really brings them to life for you with her incredible writing style. She obviously researched her Greek mythology and intertwined it into the storyline beautifully. This is a new and unique take on the mythology aspect.

Therese witnessed her parents' murder, barely escaping her own death. While in a coma, she watches her parents being led to the Underworld, where Death awaits to guide them to the afterlife. Having the mysterious ability of controlling her own dreams, Therese attempts to interact with them, catching the attention of two gods, Hypnos (Hip) and Thanatos (Than); who happend to be sexy twin brothers, yum!

Hip is fascinated by her dreaming skills and after one kiss, she about sweeps Than off of his feet, causing him to make a deal with his father Hades that will change both of their lives forever!

The secondary character were enjoyable as well and added some great moments.

This probably goes without saying, but I would definitely recommend this book to absolutely everyone, loved this read!
Profile Image for Maggielou.
92 reviews21 followers
July 23, 2013
I won this book in a giveaway that was held by Kristi’s Book Readery. I was so happy to have won though regardless I would have purchased the books as I found them to be quite intriguing. Greek mythology has always sparked an interest in me however; I find that when most people write about it, it tends to be BORING! And though I am no expert on the subject I did not find this story boring at all!

Pohler did a wonderful job with this first installment. She developed the characters well and gave us only information relevant to the plot. I loved that many of the Gods were presented in the story and they each played an important role. Therese the heroine of this story is strong-willed and very compassionate. And with characteristic such as these who better for her to fall in love with but Death (Thanatos). It’s an amazing love story filled with sorrow, guilt, hatred and any other emotion you can think of. And it’s not just the main characters that keep you wanting more but the supporting characters as well like Jen and Hip.

I recommend this book I was definitely not disappointed!
Profile Image for ponderinghope.
149 reviews
February 16, 2013
When I read this book's summary I knew I was going to like it. I love Greek Mythology I am practically in love with Greek mythology. But I went through so much to read this book. I broke my tablet so I could not read it on my tablet and I did not have time for the computer so I had to print all three hundred and eighty two pages in my school. Make it worse I got detention for "wasting paper" as the principal said (yes I had to go see the principal). But when I watched the book trailer I had high hopes for the book and I beginner to read the book. Let me just say that I would go through ninety detentions to read this book, because it was so worth it. Even though I cannot not relate myself to Therese. Those boys look so yummy I just want to eat them up :) thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
Profile Image for Alison.
Author 10 books122 followers
August 3, 2013
I really enjoyed this story. It starts off with a bang (literally) and holds you throughout. One of the things I loved about it was how original it was, something that is not easy to say anymore. Ms. Pohler weaves a fascinating tale using the God of Sleep and the God of Death, Hypnos and Thanatos, who are the sons of Hades. The author obviously knows a great deal about Greek mythology and I enjoyed her twist on it. If you are a Percy Jackson fan, this series is definitely for you. But even if you’re not, you will enjoy the love story and the adventure. Her characters are believable and likeable, and, I have to say, Thanatos was just adorable. Great story and a fun read.
Profile Image for Alexia Purdy.
Author 117 books1,094 followers
April 5, 2015
I enjoyed the audiobook edition of this story, the narrator was pleasant to listen to and was awesome interchanging parts. The book was definitely interesting and I liked this unusual twist on the mythology of gods and humans.

The main character Therese has experienced a lot of tragedy in her short life. But she's different and can control her dreams in a way that most people can't. In doing so, she inadvertently catches the eye of the twin sons of Hades: Thanos and Hypnos. What comes next is most surprising.

A great story to get lost in and I highly recommend the audibook edition of this story!
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