Review- Apollo: The Brilliant One (Olympians #8) by George O'Connor

Title: Apollo: The Brilliant One

Series: Olympians #8

Previous books in this series: Zeus: King of the Gods (#1) | Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess (#2) | Hera: The Goddess and her Glory (#3) | Hades: Lord of the Dead (#4) | Poseidon: Earth Shaker (#5) | Aphrodite: Goddess of Love (#6) | Ares: Bringer of War (#7)

Author: George O'Connor

Genre: Middle Grade, graphic novel, fantasy, Greek mythology

Publication date: January 2016

Published by: First Second

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: From high atop Olympus, the nine Muses, or Mousai, recount the story of the powerful and quick-tempered Apollo, the Brilliant One. Born of a she-wolf and Zeus, King of Gods, Apollo is destined fro the greatest of victories and most devastating of failures as his temper, privilege, and pride take him into battle with a serpent, in pursuit of a beautiful but unattainable nymph, and into deadly competition with his beloved. Watch closely as Apollo navigates the tumultuous world in which he lives. Will he rise above the rest and fulfill his destiny as the son of Zeus, or will he falter, consumed by his flaws, and destroy all that he touches?

My rating: ★★★★☆

Despite his faults, or perhaps because of them, the most divine god is also the most human.

Apollo is one of my favorite Greek gods, so I was very excited about this volume! And I really liked it!

The narrators of this volume are the Muses, which is very appropriate for a god of many of the arts. Lol. Each Muse told a different story that featured the god, such as the birth of him and his twin sister Artemis, him defeating the python, Delphi and the oracle, the sad story of Daphne, the satyr Mrsyas, Hyacinth, and even his son Asklepios!

The myth of Asklepios is one of my favorites! Asklepios was an amazing healer, rivaling his father, the god of medicine. And I loved how proud Apollo was of his son for everything he accomplished. Unfortunately, Zeus wasn’t as impressed with what he could do and put a stop to him.

Apollo retaliated and Zeus punished him in return. Did you know that Apollo spent time as a human running errands for a king and building a wall for him? Yeah, that was his punishment.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this! I loved that we got a little bit of a lot of myths. It was just nice and concise.

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊