Review: Eleusis by Genevieve Fairbrother (review)

Eleusis
written by Genevieve Fairbrother
published by CreateSpace

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Smashwords, Goodreads

Why did I pick this book: I participated in the blog tour hosted by CLP Blog Tours. I like this genre.  I enjoy seeing how people twist myths around to make them seem new. (I received a copy of this book for review purposes.)

Did I enjoy this book: I did.  Sort of. Maybe.

Macy was likeable enough (though her medical skills felt contrived once I realized she needed them to further the plot), and Jason was all kinds of intriguing and beguiling.  This was a fun book – full of mysteries, Greek gods, adventures, and yes, even a bit of ancient Egypt (although I’m still trying to figure out why exactly).  Unfortunately, once I took off my “reader” hat and put on my “writer/reviewer” hat, I found a few problems I couldn’t ignore.

First there’s Jack.  Jack and Macy’s relationship could have been much more robust; Jack’s only distinguishing feature – his unrequited love for Macy –  felt contrived as well.  Wasn’t there any other dynamic in which Macy could get him to ready her boat overnight?  She was wealthy enough to own two homes and a boat; couldn’t she have just paid him a ridiculous amount of money instead of dooming the poor lad to life as a stock character?  And whatever became of Jackie, anyway? He disappeared entirely about half-way through the story.  He didn’t even make a comeback at the end.  Poor guy.

I also want to know more about Macy’s childhood.  Sure, she was adopted, but when?  How?  Does she remember her childhood?  When she forgot her immortal identity, did she somehow also de-ageify herself so she could grow up again with her adoptive parents? Was she reincarnated as, um, herself? Did she put her adoptive parents under a spell so they would only think they raised her?  Jason said she looked different than he remembered.  Why?  And why was Jason starving in the woods if immortals don’t need to eat (as evidenced by Macy’s six month foray in the underworld)?  Don’t the gods all have to follow the same laws of nature?  I’m all for willingly suspending my disbelief, don’t get me wrong, but you’ve got to make the disbelief BELIEVABLE.  Um. So. Maybe there’s a simple explanation.  Maybe one sentence would do it.  But I want that sentence.

Macy and Jason were annoyingly cute, but I didn’t feel that tingle in the pit of my stomach that I wanted them to make me feel, and I’ll be honest – I’m pretty sure the only reason they waited so long to hit the sheets was so Macy would remember her other identity at the appropriate time in the plot line.

I’ve been accused of being difficult to please.  Well, it’s true (and it’s much easier to review than to actually write, goodness knows), but I don’t hate this book, and I’m not giving up on it.  It’s got the dreaded “p” word… potential.  I want more.  I want more of Jack, more of Macy, more intensity, more everything (except sweet little kisses.  There were plenty of those).  Mostly, I want to sit down with Ms. Fairbrother and edit the heck out of her book.  If she won’t let me edit, then I want her to sell the story to Hollywood.  It would make a great summer blockbuster.

Would I recommend it: I would recommend it to the Hollywood folk in charge of making movies.  I would also recommend that Jason be played by Johnny Depp.  Yum.

Will I read it again: Maybe.  I’d love to see Fairbrother streamline her story, expand her characters, and get rid of those pesky e-book typos.  This book was a great idea (I think it would make a killer movie), but as a work of fiction it needs some work.

About the book – from Goodreads: Her parents are dead and now a moody trespasser has set up camp on the property Macy has inherited. When the stranger confesses himself to be an ageless sea-god and tells her she has been guarding a secret she never knew existed, her once simple life takes a drastic turn. Just when she thinks it can’t get any stranger, a back door to the Underworld opens up and it’s time to run like hell.

Mythology and contemporary life collide as this fast-paced novel explodes and dark forces tracking Macy surface to capture her. In the transatlantic chase that follows, she learns of her forgotten past and a centuries-old connection to the sea-god who helps her escape. A tragic miscalculation derails Macy and in a moment of self-sacrifice she ends up where it all began, trapped in the Underworld.

Has she learned enough about her past to forge a meaningful future? Utterly alone, she realizes that to gain real freedom, she must reject her assigned place in history and in doing so risk everything.

Events challenge her whilst she comes to grips with her legacy and decides what she wants in life. Family betrayal, sinister plot twists, and unlikely friends fill this exhilarating story of one woman’s journey to shape her future as she learns her true identity and strives to become a force in her own right.

Eleusis by Genevieve Fairbrother is one-of-a-kind contemporary paranormal adventure novel that narrates a unique perspective on women and relationships using the life of one immortal woman moving through time.