Old Mythology with a New Twist

Thought you knew Medusa? Mean, old hag who wanted to turn people out of stone out of anger for being romantically spurned? Not so much. As Tera Lynn Childs has done in the past, Sweet Venom takes an old story and makes it exciting again. You won't want to miss the new take on Medusa and her gorgon offspring!


Gretchen accepts her fate in life. She is a huntress, descendant of Medusa, the first huntress. Mythology was tainted by vengeful Gods and Goddesses who wanted the history books to portray Medusa as an evil monster, but in reality she hunted monsters, keeping mortals safe. And her legacy lives on through her generations long after her death. Medusa and her two sisters' children carried their talents and their need to kill monsters. And so Gretchen kills monsters. But when her mentor, Ursula, goes missing, and Gretchen bumps into a girl who could be her twin, she knows something is up... that is besides the fact that all of a sudden there are a lot more monsters on the street.


When Gretchen sees Grace, she is taken aback. But when Grace reacts to the monster Gretchen is trying to finish, she knows Grace is a huntress as well. She takes off with Grace, saving her from the venomous claws or fangs it is trying to sink into the unsuspecting new huntress. At first Gretchen just wants Grace to go away, but when it becomes clear the monsters are not going to stop chasing Grace, Gretchen agrees to train her. In the midst of their training, they realize they are part of something bigger than they both could have imagined- even bigger than all of newly realized Greek Mythology. And the scariest part is they aren't twins... they are triplets.


Tera Lynn Childs usually writes fun, witty, silly books that make you giggle and you enjoy just because they are so fun to read. They aren't the deepest stories in the world, but they certainly entertain. But this book is different. Interesting and exciting, yes, trivial and silly, no. I was surprised by the new tone Childs wrote in, but I liked it! I liked it a lot! And the story was really interesting with the three girls separated at birth to protect their legacy from being destroyed by their deaths. Plus, who could possibly dislike the kooky monsters skulking about the city?


The story is a little darker than her previous novels, but this could be a good transition from the obvious middle reader books into more young adult titles. If readers liked Childs' previous books, but they are growing a little immature for them, pass this on! Plus it is clearly going to be a series (Thanks, by the way Tera Lynn, for leaving me TOTALLY hanging!), and can keep them hooked for much more reading to come!