Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

Title: Sweet Venom

Author: Tera Lynn Childs

Rate: 3.5 glass slippers

Summary from Goodreads:

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

Ahhh, the joy of reading a paranormal mythology book. I've always had a soft spot for them and I definitely liked Sweet Venom. With its interesting title, I was expecting more but I really did like it. Or maybe it was just the fact that I was sitting on the beach and reading it that made is so much better... Either way, I love demigod (I think?) triplets that kick butt! In California! With hot guys! On the beach! Ok…I’m done…



The Heroines

Oh gosh, I have never read about triplets or even siblings that are more different! Grace, Gretchen, and Greer are all so different...lets just say I liked some of them, I hated some others...

Grace: 

Oh Grace, where do I begin? She is the typical nerdy/cute, passive girl that leads a normal life but just happens to be thrown into a world of monsters and takes it in stride. She has an overprotective older brother, a caring family, and a scholarship to an elite school and she still decided to fight for good monster hunting.

Can I hear someone say, cliché? No really, she’s not as horrible as Greer but I can rattle off at least five other characters that are like her. She kinda offsets Gretchen and Greer’s aggressive personalities but still…Sometimes she just seemed so nice and sweet, I kinda  wanted to shake her and tell her to get a backbone but I guess we can’t always get what we want. But then we come to Gretchen…

Gretchen:

Gretchen is what we teens like to call a bamf. She’s like that intense person my nerdy self would be scared of. But yet! She manages to slip under the radar during the day and kick monster ass during the night…That is cool. That demands respect. Gretchen tries to seem tough but it’s hard because of her terrible childhood. Oh dear god, then Nick (!!!) comes and tries breaking down her walls. I sometimes wish the entire book would be from her point of view because she’s just so awesome!!

Greer:

I hated her. Really did. She was snobby, annoying, and rude. She brushed off Gretchen and Grace but really I did not like her. At all. First off, what kind of name is Greer?? Come on…it rhymes with beer! Next, she’s so controlling! Greer goes on a date with her boyfriend and spends most of the time deciding if he deserves a kiss. On the cheek. Someone needs couples counseling… Greer is that type of person that if I knew in real like, I would hate her. 

Oh gosh, my favorite part....




The Guy(s)

Nick, Milo, and Kyle. Gretchen, Grace, and Greer. Bam.

Ahem, let me just say first off, I hated Kyle for being dick but him and Greer kinda deserve each other. They are both self-absorbed, snobby, and fake. Shudder, I was tempted to skip the parts about them! He was a wannabe surfer in San Francisco! That is biologically not possible…

Milo…oh sweet goodness, where do start?? Dark curly hair, mint green eyes, and a soccer player! Yes, I said it, ladies and gentlemen, we have a soccer player. He’s adorably sweet, nice, and just the perfect guy for Grace.

Ahh, and then we come to Nick. Oh Nick, the adorable new kid who refuses to give up his chase for Gretchen. He starts breaking down her walls and by the time the book was over, I was dying for more of their romance! He writes her long notes, tracks her number down, and even tries taking her on a picnic! *Dying*

The Adventure

Ms. Childs, I applaud you for making such a great book! She set up the setting, had a bunch of kick ass fight scenes and the descriptions were so vivid. That is how you write an adventure book. There wasn’t as much romance as you YA readers like, but personally I still liked it!

Now my dear reader, we must part until next time, when I shall review some Maggie Stiefvater. Hehe, be prepared. So go check out Sweet Venom and don’t forget to comment on what you think below! Thanks for enduring this longg review, and until next time!

xoRafia