The Gods of Love
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Frida McKenzie has exactly what she wanted in life: a successful divorce lawyer at a very young age, her career is speeding up and the meeting at NeoStar is going to secure her place at the top. Yet, the encounter there does not go as planned and she finds herself locked in a meeting room. A mysterious message in her handbag and a hidden cell phone lead her to Dan whom she already met the days before and identified as mad. However, what he has to tell her now appears in a completely different light: Dan is actually the Oracle and Frida a descendant of Eros, the god of love. And, not to forget: she is destined to combat Anteros, the old enemy.
“The Gods of Love” is quite a unique mixture of a treasure hunt, a love story and masses of Greek mythology. This sounds a bit weird and it actually is, but I had a lot of fun reading it. Well, of course, the story is all but realistic and far from credible, but leaving this aspect aside, the gods that show up are more than human in their characters and possess all the vices you can find in any human being.
Frida, the protagonist, can easily carry the burden of the action – well, there is godly blood running in her veins, so there must be some hidden strengths after all. She appears to be strong and determined in her role as a lawyer. Rather cynically she condemns the naivety of her clients. Yet, when you look under the surface, the fragile and lonely Frida appears who is herself susceptible to affection and easy to seduce and deceive. However, she is becoming stronger throughout the story, not only because the gets aware of her heavenly ancestry. I liked her a lot, even though she appears to be arrogant at the beginning, she is actually quite lovable.
Nicola Mostyn cleverly integrated the Greek mythology and the gods that show up are more than just decals of the ancient myth. Nimbly their stories are told in passing so even if you are not too familiar with them, you know everything you need to get an idea of their role. I liked Psyche especially, her first appearance is simply hilarious just as the narrative tone.
All in all, a wonderful and funny novel best read close to February 14th.