Keepers of the Labyrinth

by Erin E. Moulton

Lilith Bennette runs at midnight. She scales walls in the dark and climbs without a harness. She hopes that if she follows exactly in the steps of her strong air force pilot mother, she’ll somehow figure out the mystery of her mother’s death—and the reason why her necklace of Greek symbols has been missing ever since.

So when Lil is invited to Crete for a Future Leaders International conference, the same conference her mom attended years ago, she jumps at the chance to find some answers. But things in Melios Manor are not what they seem. Lil finds herself ensnared in an adventure of mythological proportions that leads her and her friends through the very labyrinth in which the real Minotaur was imprisoned. And they’re not in there alone. What secrets does the labyrinth hold, and will they help Lil find the truth about her mother?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Mythology, Adventure, Greek Mythology, Mystery, Teen

304 pages, Hardcover

First published August 25, 2015

About the author

Erin E. Moulton writes books and tracks dead people. An experienced novelist, Erin is the author of Flutter, Tracing Stars, Chasing the Milky Way and Keepers of the Labyrinth. She is also the editor of Things We Haven’t Said: Sexual Violence Survivors Speak Out. In addition to her creative pursuits, Erin has over 12 years of experience tracking down interesting real-life questions at the reference desk and is an experienced librarian and genealogist. She holds a BA from Emerson College, an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a certificate in genealogical research from Boston University. When she isn’t searching for just the right word or just the right clue, she can be found teaching people of all ages about writing, publishing and research. Visit her online at www.erinemoulton.com.

Listen to Teen Title Talk at http://teentitletalk.podbean.com/

Or subscribe to Erin's Newsletter at http://fburls.com/89-SL7PRcnV

Reviews

[Erin Moulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally got to sit down and listen to the audiobook version, and I am so pleased. Elizabeth is a VOICE NINJA. I was really worried about all the accents, but she seems to handle the accents and the voices quite seamlessly. Lots of fun!

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars...rounded up to a 4 since it held my interest well enough.

Lilith Bennette is invited to Crete for a Future Leaders International conference, the same conference that her mother had attended years ago. Lil is still reeling from her mothers death and trying to make sense of what happened and why. She also is plagued with worry about her mother's necklace of Greek symbols, which had been missing ever since. She hopes that by attending the conference and walking in her mother's footsteps, she will start to uncover the mystery of it. Things though, are never what they seem and Lil finds more than she bargained for at Melios Manor.

I'm honestly not sure how I felt about this one. The writing felt a bit choppy to me. In my opinion, the action was rushed into without a whole lot of explanation. There are alternating POV's between Lil and the villainous characters, so while you get a peek into their heads to see their motivations, I still didn't fully know what they were after and why until the last 40 pages or so.

Things I really liked : A strong sense of friendship between the characters ( for the most part ), and it was so nice to read a YA without any romance and especially without a love triangle factored in. Very refreshing. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for swooning in the right circumstances, but no room for that in this one.

I haven't seen anything about a sequel, but I can't imagine that this would be a standalone, there are too many unanswered questions. All in all, not a terrible read, but not remarkable either. Just meh, but would definitely recommend to anyone with an interest in Greek mythology.

[Lisa Mandina · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, thanks to the author, Erin E. Moulton, as well as her publisher, Philomel Books, for sending me an advanced readers copy of this title to review. I got a little behind, and didn't get started and finished till this past weekend, and the book came out on Tuesday. I was ready to do a review on Tuesday, but then my time got away again, crazy busy stuff at school, so I am a couple days late with my review. I am very glad to share my thoughts on this one, as I'm sure there are many out there who will enjoy it.
I loved all the mythology "change", the way that you could kind of turn the myth into a different story, but still stay true to the original, or well known version easily. The trip through the labyrinth really reminded me a lot of the movie The Goonies. Solving riddles, and all the dangerous booby traps and paths.

If you are a big fan of mythology retold, kind of like the Percy Jackson series, or dangerous adventures like in The Goonies, then this is the book for you!

To read my full review, please go to Lisa Loves Literature

[Dark Faerie Tales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Keepers of the Labyrinth is an interesting read because of its take on Greek Mythology but the slow beginning and choppy writing may take away from the enjoyment.

Opening Sentence: The wind blew in from the Aegean and swept toward the Libyan Sea.

The Review:

I was really excited to read Keepers of the Labyrinth because I really love Greek Mythology and I couldn’t wait to see how the Minotaur and the Labyrinth would play out in modern day. My only problem with this book was how long it took me to get into it. The set up took way too long and I just couldn’t quite figure out what was supposed to happen. What I did love about this book was how Erin explained the origin of mythology and gave everything a twist which could only be discovered by going through the labyrinth.

Lilith Bennette’s mother committed suicide a few years before the books opens. Lil didn’t believe her mother would do a thing when her motto for life is, “Min zeis aplos. Zeis tolmira.. Do not just live. Live boldly.“ So when Lil gets accepted to go to Crete to a Future Leaders International conference in order to win a scholarship she jumps on it. It was the same program her mother went through as a teenager. She believes that she can reconstruct her mother’s life on the island through pictures and hopefully a woman who knew her mother at the camp.

At the camp, Lil meets three other girls whom she gets teamed up with in order to win the scholarship. Their virtues and strengths will be tested and judged for worthiness. As the story progresses, Lil stumbles upon some strange occurrences and even over hears the leaders speaking of her mother’s death. Then one night the camp is attacked and Lil and her friends venture into the labyrinth in order to get the answers that Lil needs.

Lil is a strong young female character, along with her friends Charlie, Sydney and Kat. They each have their strengths and weaknesses as pointed out in the novel. They are a little reckless and even when things seem a little bleak they are still in it together. There are some spoilery things that I won’t discuss especially about a team member but when its life and death on the line, some things are said and some things happen which don’t look good for the group.

There are several third person point of views in this novel which I think also kind of threw me off. The main focus is Lil but a couple of the Zephylites, basically the “bad guys”, are shown in order to know their motivation for their attack on the compound in Crete.

The writing was a little stilted and jarring at times and it made it hard for me to focus, especially in the beginning. I would have to reread scenes again in order to make sure I understood what was happening. The writing is very descriptive in the beginning trying to set up everything that is going on with Lilith, the conference and Zephylites. After the girls descended into the labyrinth, I was able to get into the story more and the last half of the book went by in a flash.

I would recommend this book for those who want something a little different and love Greek Mythology but I would warn about the slow buildup. The ending was well thought out and worth it.

Notable Scene:

“The police said it was suicide,” Lil said. “No questions asked.” She shook her head.

“And she had this necklace?” Charlie said, scribbling in her notebook.

Sydney extended her hand for the picture. Lil passed it over to her. “And she knew Bente,” Sydney said, circling Bente’s picture on her own chart.

“Before we arrived on the rock,” Kat said, her knitting needles clicking, “you were talking to her. Did she give any indication of knowing what happened to your mom?”

“That’s just it,” Lil said, pulling her feet up onto the chair. “She said it wasn’t like my mom to commit suicide.” She paused. “My mom had this saying. She said it was an old Greek adage. Min zeis aplos. Zeis tolmira. Do not just live. Live boldly.. Bente must have know this, because she said it to me before I started climbing the rock wall.”

“That’s weird,” Sydney said.

FTC Advisory: Erin E. Moulton graciously provided me with a copy of Keepers of the Labyrinth. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[Mlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely amazing!!! The author is Erin E. Moulton and it just came out this year. This book is about a girl named Lilith Bennette who runs at night, scales walls, and climbs without fear. She wants to follow in her mom's footsteps and become an air force pilot like her mom to find out the mystery of her mom's death, and the reason why her necklace of Greek symbols has been missing ever since. So when Lil gets invited to Crete for a Future Leaders International conference, the same conference her mom went to a long time ago she gets excited and immediately accepts the invitation. But things in Melios Manor are not what they seem, when Lil gets pushed into a mythological adventure that leads her and her friends in to the labyrinth where the real Minotaur was kept. But the labyrinth in not one of those cute corn mazes set up for Halloween. This is the real deal. There are death traps everywhere with secrets more and more dangerous hidden deeper and deeper into the heart of the maze. If anybody is a sucker for Greek Mythology or regular old adventure this is the book for you, but watch out or you might just get sucked into the labyrinth too!
My favorite event in the story is when Lil has to climb up the wall to get the book that Horatio wants so he can find out how to become immortal like Zeus. This has now become one of my favorite books! (Book Report)

[Rebecca L]

Couldn't get into this one.

[Ruman · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars!

Spoilers

Keepers of the Labyrinth is ponderously paced. The first hundred pages are a bore. I was introduced to characters that I don't really care about and an ominous backstory on Lil. Overall, the chapters plod through in a very stale manner.

Yet, there is some originality to the plot. I thought it was quite clever how each dorm had a mythological backstory. And I quite liked the incorporation of the point of view from the antagonist side. However, I felt the characters were flat and difficult to differentiate. And I easily began to dislike Sydney and Lil the second half of the book. It's clear to say that they do not do well in pressurized, deadly situations, and thus, grate on my nerves with their hostility.

[Liberty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book for less than 75 cents at a library sale this last fall. It’s something I probably wouldn’t have picked up if I had to pay full price. And after reading it I feel like I can still agree with that assessment. It’s definitely worth reading for what I paid for it, but if I had to pay full price to read this story it probably would have come up with a worse rating. The first thing I’ll say about this book is that it isn’t what is advertised. So if you read the summary on Goodreads and expect that you’ll automatically be disappointed.

However, the main issue I have with this story is that it lacks any world building. Everything is surface level and I really hate that because this story had so much potential. It discusses Greek mythology so a lot of that is already built into it. The secret societies are all that the author really needed to build up in the story and they just didn’t. That alone was disappointing. It was also really disappointing to see the lack of depth in the characters. The main four characters are slotted in as being the “artsy one” or the “historian” or the “protector and so they never develop their own personalities.

I like, but wish I had a lot more of, the setting and the mythology. When we finally see the girls enter the labyrinth and face a bunch of different tasks, it’s really the highlight of the book. But nothing is ever explained fully or ever delved too deep into. I think if this book had an additional 50-100 pages added for world building and character development, we’d be sitting at a 4 or higher rated book. I know I always say I want more, but for this book it’s absolutely necessary.

[Becca's Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up at a library sale thinking the premise of the story sounded interesting. The idea was good, the execution was NOT. This book was not altogether terrible but I have some issues with the characters and setting.
First of all the characters in my opinion were underdeveloped and flat, the stereo type of tomb raider style heroines. I kind of liked Charlie and found her to be the best developed character by far. Lill was unimpressive as a main character and from what I experienced, quite unintelligent. Like, Oh yeah I'm going to take all my friends into a dark maze that we are unable to navigate, where I might find a clue about my mom. Cause that's a wise decision! Second I hated Sydney's negative outlook on EVERYTHING. She was very whiny and it got on my nerves.
Third the labyrinth was very repetitive and boring, and I found it very lifeless and quiet. The labyrinth was rumored to be haunted by monsters and demons;The only thing haunting this labyrinth is four girls who are crazy enough to follow their hearts into a cave. The rooms in the labyrinth were varying, some of them I liked, and some were too easy. The wrap up was very sudden and left the end hanging like there was supposed to be a sequel but I couldn't find one. One final point is I couldn't tell if this book was written for children or not as there was cursing and violence, but the writing style was more simple than young adult books I have read. Over all I found this book unengaging but the story idea was good. I wish she did more with this story. If you enjoyed this story great. It just didn't ring my bell.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up because I love Greek mythology and am always thirsty for more. I read everything I can get my hands on. This book was interesting, but the pace was slow, and then suddenly extremely fast. I felt like I couldn't get my breath while reading, felt hurried and panicked as I turned the pages. These sensations had nothing to do with what was happening on the pages, so the pacing kind of ruined the experience for me, but it was still a stunning idea with a fun ending. I loved how the characters were forced to think of classic Greek stories in a different way in order to get out of dangerous situations.

[Kaitlyn Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay-sarcastic spoilery question coming up in

3.....

2.....

1....

Okay... if something is so dangerous that it must never fall into anyone's hands ever...wouldn't it be more efficient and effective to simply destroy it, rather than a super complex network of secret guardians guarding it for thousands of years?

Aside from this, the book was okay. Going through the Labrynth was fun but everything else was zzzzzzzzz.... the main characters were mediocre and the villains were BORING. Ares started out seeming like he had some interesting quirks...but then he is mentioned like 2 more times. The book was a good idea executed in an entirely blah way :/

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Altogether not a great book, the idea for the story is good, the writing is okay, but the characters and story isn’t alive. The book is kind of like if a fairly interesting event where to be recorded and made into a documentary by a robot. The robot doesn’t have feelings, and doesn’t record other’s very well.

Overall I think that it just lacks life, which is what sets books apart, I do however think if/when the author improves on that they could/will have altogether much better books. (I haven’t read any of their other books, if there are any, as of yet)

[Kristian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the theory behind the myth. I found it an enjoyable read. It was easy to read and follow. There is a lot of energy in the latter part of the book. I have been interested in the Minoan culture for awhile and found this aspect rather interesting.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mythology is a passion of mine and this was a wonderful way to look at myths in a whole different way. The four young woman each have faults which makes them very human and makes the story the much more dimensional. The ending did leave room for a sequel so we'll wait and see.

[S Tondra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good, don't get me wrong, but it was not fabulous. The pace was fast and kept me turning pages but there was just something missing for me, but, I'm just not sure what that is. So 3.5 for me one this one.

[Alisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a random book from the library discard pile. I liked it, but it just seemed a bit muddled in the middle. A good idea, but it was very hard to picture all the activities in the labyrinth. A short diversion.

[Keri Sparks]

I just can't do this book right now. I don't know if it's just my mood or if it's the style of the book, either way, I can't bring myself to be even remotely interested.

But, to be fair to the book, it isn't bad. Probably just written for a younger audience then what I read.

[Erik · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author had an interesting idea about the reality behind Greek mythology but apparently thought the only way to get it in print was to make it a massive info dump at the end of a bad Indiana Jones knockoff. The characters are all completely flat, especially the villains. Why even bother writing chapters about them if you aren't going to flesh out the characters or provide much (any really) insight into their motivations? And why is there a leadership conference that gives girls scholarships based on how well they finish obstacle courses? This idea, as stupid as it is, isn't even explored. It's dropped after it gets the girls to the labyrinth and never brought up again. Terrible book made all the worse because the writing is actually pretty good for the most part. The author should put her talents towards better ideas.

[Beth Wilkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this fantasy set in plain sight! With realistic characters and a depth of Greek mythology it gave me plenty of curiosity to pursue over the summer!

[BiblioMaja · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

[Kate Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story with lots of mythology elements. The characters are a little weak, and the main story seems a little rushed, but it was still entertaining.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow start but nice to read about a strong female protagonist- girl version of Percy Jackson. Great for people interested in Greek mythology. Ending was predictable.

[Kelly Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just get a copy, find a quiet spot and enjoy the ride!

[Darci Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good storyline, almost wish there was a second but it was summed up well

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟

[Hannah Hays · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t have any idea what this book was about, and I loved it! It’s quick paced and interesting. It’s a fun take on Greek Mythology and I really enjoyed reading how it played out!

[Abs · Rating 3 out of 5]

National treasure type beat but with religious cults and secret societies

[Gail Johnson, Ph.D · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book on Greek Mythology. My favorite is Ariadne and her daughters.

[Lily V · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good book. I sugest this book to anyone who likes a good mystery book and those who like the Percy Jackson series. Lillith is a likable character along with her friends.

[Kristie Elston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally reviewed at Dark Faerie Tales: http://darkfaerietales.com/review-kee...

Quick & Dirty: Keepers of the Labyrinth is an interesting read because of its take on Greek Mythology but the slow beginning and choppy writing may take away from the enjoyment.

The Review:

I was really excited to read Keepers of the Labyrinth because I really love Greek Mythology and I couldn’t wait to see how the Minotaur and the Labyrinth would play out in modern day. My only problem with this book was how long it took me to get into it. The set up took way too long and I just couldn’t quite figure out what was supposed to happen. What I did love about this book was how Erin explained the origin of mythology and gave everything a twist which could only be discovered by going through the labyrinth.

Lilith Bennette’s mother committed suicide a few years before the books opens. Lil didn’t believe her mother would do a thing when her motto for life is, “Min zeis aplos. Zeis tolmira.. Do not just live. Live boldly.“ So when Lil gets accepted to go to Crete to a Future Leaders International conference in order to win a scholarship she jumps on it. It was the same program her mother went through as a teenager. She believes that she can reconstruct her mother’s life on the island through pictures and hopefully a woman who knew her mother at the camp.

At the camp, Lil meets three other girls whom she gets teamed up with in order to win the scholarship. Their virtues and strengths will be tested and judged for worthiness. As the story progresses, Lil stumbles upon some strange occurrences and even over hears the leaders speaking of her mother’s death. Then one night the camp is attacked and Lil and her friends venture into the labyrinth in order to get the answers that Lil needs.

Lil is a strong young female character, along with her friends Charlie, Sydney and Kat. They each have their strengths and weaknesses as pointed out in the novel. They are a little reckless and even when things seem a little bleak they are still in it together. There are some spoilery things that I won’t discuss especially about a team member but when its life and death on the line, some things are said and some things happen which don’t look good for the group.

There are several third person point of views in this novel which I think also kind of threw me off. The main focus is Lil but a couple of the Zephylites, basically the “bad guys”, are shown in order to know their motivation for their attack on the compound in Crete.

The writing was a little stilted and jarring at times and it made it hard for me to focus, especially in the beginning. I would have to reread scenes again in order to make sure I understood what was happening. The writing is very descriptive in the beginning trying to set up everything that is going on with Lilith, the conference and Zephylites. After the girls descended into the labyrinth, I was able to get into the story more and the last half of the book went by in a flash.

I would recommend this book for those who want something a little different and love Greek Mythology but I would warn about the slow buildup. The ending was well thought out and worth it.