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Alas: Apollo and Hyacinthus
Apollo, God of Music, embarks on a journey of reflection and healing as he returns to the place of his greatest tragedy – Lacedaemon. Along the way, he is beset by intense memories of his tumultuous childhood, his growth as a God, and his intense first love with the mortal Hyacinthus, Prince of Lacedaemon. It’s a tale of Gods and Men; of lover’s mortal and immortal; of passion and pain; of revenge and remembrance. It’s the Gods as you’ve never seen them before, up close, personal, and practically human.
102 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 17, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 11, 2021
You might be a Greek God, but you should still use lube.
June 8, 2021
This is a good retelling with the perfect title that just needed a bit more polishing and development.
The text was primarily narrative summary so it was difficult to really step into the scene but the characters provided the bones for a good story. The tone of the dialogue was inconsistent, there were a handful of typo’s, and the print version had inconsistent leading.
The text was primarily narrative summary so it was difficult to really step into the scene but the characters provided the bones for a good story. The tone of the dialogue was inconsistent, there were a handful of typo’s, and the print version had inconsistent leading.
June 14, 2022
The book “Alas” by Richard C Gray was an amazing and very emotional retelling of the Greek myth the revolves around the love of the God Apollo, and the spartan prince Hyacinth.
It really hit me in the first chapter, especially with the line “I am here, my love.” It started really strong and only got stronger from there. The emotions that the characters felt, I felt.
It took me almost a few weeks to finish ever since I read that first chapter. I got the courage to read and really finish it this time and I did! And it DID NOT DISAPPOINT! May I add that I was at school! So tears were most certainly spilled!
I’m a Greek mythology nerd, I truly loved this book and it hold a very VERY special place in my heart. The poem that Hyacinth wrote for Apollo in the end will live in my mind forever!
10/10, 5/5 ⭐️’s this book was a rollercoaster I enjoyed with my whole soul!
It really hit me in the first chapter, especially with the line “I am here, my love.” It started really strong and only got stronger from there. The emotions that the characters felt, I felt.
It took me almost a few weeks to finish ever since I read that first chapter. I got the courage to read and really finish it this time and I did! And it DID NOT DISAPPOINT! May I add that I was at school! So tears were most certainly spilled!
I’m a Greek mythology nerd, I truly loved this book and it hold a very VERY special place in my heart. The poem that Hyacinth wrote for Apollo in the end will live in my mind forever!
10/10, 5/5 ⭐️’s this book was a rollercoaster I enjoyed with my whole soul!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2021
3.75 ⭐️!
This was a very quick read! The writing was pretty without being too flowery and even featured some poetry and such. I really liked how true the book was to the greek gods in the story. They were merciless and crazy, but you love to see it. Hyacinthus was kind of a baddie and he knew it. 🥵 love that for him and I’m glad we got that big of his prophecy before hand. The sex scenes were pretty steamy, but we could’ve used more tbh!
My problems lie with the insta love of it all 🥱 I get it, the story isn’t very fleshed out in the myth, but a retelling can be made more believable. I also wish we’d been given more details in the musical duels.
This was a very quick read! The writing was pretty without being too flowery and even featured some poetry and such. I really liked how true the book was to the greek gods in the story. They were merciless and crazy, but you love to see it. Hyacinthus was kind of a baddie and he knew it. 🥵 love that for him and I’m glad we got that big of his prophecy before hand. The sex scenes were pretty steamy, but we could’ve used more tbh!
My problems lie with the insta love of it all 🥱 I get it, the story isn’t very fleshed out in the myth, but a retelling can be made more believable. I also wish we’d been given more details in the musical duels.
July 9, 2021
3.5 rating.
For a self-published book, I thought it was quite beautiful. Of course there were several grammatical errors, but the writing itself was enchanting and very fitting of the story.
I think the length suited this story well. Much longer and it would have overextended itself, much shorter and it would’ve been over too quickly.
As far as retellings go, I don’t really like modern retellings, so I’m very happy that this was essentially just a more detailed telling of the original myth itself.
This novella isn’t perfect by any means, but it was a quick, fun read, and the cover is very beautiful.
For a self-published book, I thought it was quite beautiful. Of course there were several grammatical errors, but the writing itself was enchanting and very fitting of the story.
I think the length suited this story well. Much longer and it would have overextended itself, much shorter and it would’ve been over too quickly.
As far as retellings go, I don’t really like modern retellings, so I’m very happy that this was essentially just a more detailed telling of the original myth itself.
This novella isn’t perfect by any means, but it was a quick, fun read, and the cover is very beautiful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2021
Quick read, it’s a simple story. I really liked the foreshadowing that happened.
December 29, 2020
Great story!
This was a heartfelt story that brought tears to my eyes and left me wanting more. I will definitely be on the lookout for more stories by Mr. Gray.
This was a heartfelt story that brought tears to my eyes and left me wanting more. I will definitely be on the lookout for more stories by Mr. Gray.
November 26, 2021
The plot of this book was very interesting, but the execution was bland. If it was longer and not just explaining the story, I would have enjoyed it more. But the writing made it hard to get through, and I am a classic studies major so I have to read boring Greek stuff all the time, but at least that is written well.
August 21, 2024
This short story about the love between Apollo and his first true love, Hyacinthus, keeps you captivated until the end, i've been looking for a book about the love between the two for a while and this book manages to portray their love perfectly.
Unfortunately the story is a bit on the short side and less gripping than a longer, more detailed book.
The narrative perspective could also have been different. A little more space between the events would have been perfect...so that there would be more passion in the story.
All in all this is a very nice retelling about the love between Apollo and Hyacinthus!!! And I loved reading it!
Unfortunately the story is a bit on the short side and less gripping than a longer, more detailed book.
The narrative perspective could also have been different. A little more space between the events would have been perfect...so that there would be more passion in the story.
All in all this is a very nice retelling about the love between Apollo and Hyacinthus!!! And I loved reading it!
June 12, 2023
Apollo and Hyacinthus have a beautiful story, but the borderline unintelligible typing errors and the subpar writing did such a poor job conveying that story that I found myself repeatedly saying “it’s such a short book, just power through for umpteen more pages.” If you like reading about Greek gods and their tragedies, it’s good, but Wikipedia tells it better.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews