Review: Why did I even bother?
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 03 30, 2014
This is why I tend to shy away from Greek myth retellings. (With the sole exception of Rick Riordan's books, of course.) Some books just twist the myths into bizarre and unrecognizable tales that you can't connect them to the original stories anymore. And then you'll just feel like you're reading an entirely different story from the one it's supposed to be based from. That's exactly what happened with The Dig.I really wanted to like this book. I love Greek mythology, so I always try to give retellings a chance. Hence, The Dig. But I was disappointed! Half the time I was reading this I wanted to strangle myself because I couldn't believe I was still reading the book! Ugh! Frustration overload!Zoe is so irritating and most of the time stupid. There were a lot of bad decisions and poor judgment on her part throughout the book that I'm not even going to mention them. Also, I'd expect someone who's well-versed in archeology to know, or at least be familiar with, the history and culture of the places she's been. And Greek mythology is quite popular, right? So I don't understand WHY ZOE DOESN'T KNOW THE OLYMPIAN GODS, THEIR POWERS AND CONNECTIONS WITH EACH OTHER! I honestly think her brain fried when she went through the portal. And it didn't help that she's head over heels in love with Zeus practically since she first saw him. *sigh* The horror of insta-love.It was a bad experience being in Zoe's head, too. She's shallow and judgmental.["Obviously, Zeus sees right through this cookie-cutter girl (Hera) and would never in a million years go out with her."]Did I already mention that Zoe's stupid? Duh. Zeus has been married to Hera for, like, ever.["Hera runs her hand over Zeus's forearm and he pulls away. Maybe they're not together. Maybe they're just brother and sister!"]Keep on dreaming, Zoe. That's really pathetic. They ARE brother and sister, yes. But they're also husband and wife. See, Zoe doesn't know her myths so yeah, negative points for her.The writing doesn't help either. If half the time I wanted to kill myself, the other half I was actually dying. Of boredom. I couldn't picture the scenes in my head because some of them were outright unbelievable and impossible even for a fantasy book. Some were just silly. I didn't like what the author did with the gods. It's okay that they're portrayed as teens but portraying them all, except Zeus, as mean? No way. Even Athena and Artemis came off as jealous and power-greedy goddesses. And what is Persephone doing there? She's not even an Olympian. Hades, too. Those two live in the Underworld so why are they in Mt. Olympus? And really, Hermes is a girl? Please! And what's with the pairing? Just because you have six pairs of gods and goddesses, it doesn't mean you have to actually pair them with each other! Seriously, this book nearly killed me.And what's with the ending? Is that supposed to be a cliffhanger? Believe me, cliffhangers only work when the book is really good. Will I recommend this book? No. Will I read the sequel, if ever there was one? Never.