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Gods Behaving Badly

3.37 of 5 stars 3.37 · rating details · 6,872 ratings · 1,423 reviews

Being a Greek god is not all it once was. Yes, the twelve gods of Olympus are alive and well in the twenty-first century, but they are crammed together in a London townhouse--and none too happy about it. And they've had to get day jobs: Artemis as a dog-walker, Apollo as a TV psychic, Aphrodite as a phone sex operator, Dionysus as a DJ.

Even more disturbingly, their powers...more

Hardcover, 293 pages

Published December 10th 2007 by Little, Brown and Company (first published 2007)

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Jul 09, 2008 Rachael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: myths-folk-tales-religion, favorites

After reading Gods Behaving Badly, I began asking my friends if they have a favorite Greek god or goddess. I was trying to determine my own level of geekiness. I suspect the average person today does not have a preference and may not even be able to name more than one or two of the gods. Fortunately for me, most of my friends can not only name several members of the Greek pantheon, but also were more than willing to enumerate the many reasons they prefer their favorite over all the others. Havin...more After reading Gods Behaving Badly, I began asking my friends if they have a favorite Greek god or goddess. I was trying to determine my own level of geekiness. I suspect the average person today does not have a preference and may not even be able to name more than one or two of the gods. Fortunately for me, most of my friends can not only name several members of the Greek pantheon, but also were more than willing to enumerate the many reasons they prefer their favorite over all the others. Having a favorite may make me a geek, but at least I'm not too much geekier than most of my friends.

If you, too, cannot only name several of the Greek gods and goddesses but also have a personal favorite, you absolutely must read Gods Behaving Badly. If you don't have a favorite or can't name many of them, you should think about reading this book anyway. The plot is good, the characters are excellent, and the writing, especially the dialogue, is hilarious, frequently a bit crude in keeping with the old legends, and filled with fantastic one-liners. Gods Behaving Badly is never going to be a considered a classic work of literature, but it is a fun and enjoyable quick read.

Gods Behaving Badly is based on the premise that the Greek immortals were real and, as immortals, are still alive and well in the modern day. Or at least, they're mostly well. Their powers have been on the decline for centuries and they've also been stuck living together in a now decrepit house in London since around the 1600s. Since most people have long since forgotten the Greek pantheon, and those that remember don't believe the gods and goddesses are real, they've been forced to take odd jobs to provide for their own upkeep and have fallen far from their former glory. Artemis is a dog walker, Apollo is a TV psychic, Aphrodite is a phone sex operator, and Dionysius runs the hottest night club in London, just to name a few. Seemingly only Ares (god of war) and Hermes (god of money and responsible for conducting souls to the underworld, among other tasks) are kept busy with their actual divine duties. As with several of the old legends, the plot is set in motion by various sexual escapades of the gods, here mostly Apollo, that cause unforeseen mayhem. Immortals face-off against other immortals, pulling hapless mortals into their battles at whim, until ultimately minor differences must be set aside and efforts made to recreate the heroic feats of old to prevent the destruction of the world.

I highly recommend this novel for any fan of Greek mythology. Comparing Phillips' take on the gods in modern times and the fully-fleshed out personalities she has given them to how I might imagine them and watching how she riffed on the old stories added to my enjoyment of the novel. Those unfamiliar with the Greek stories might not get as much out of the novel but I think they can still enjoy it as a fun and well told story that might ignite a desire to read some of legends that served as inspiration.

Oh, for the record, my favorite of the gods has always been Hermes. He is a major B character in Gods Behaving Badly and I love what Phillips has done with him.(less)

22 likes · like · see review

Apr 04, 2008 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, fantasy-and-scifi, wits-and-fools, owned, 21st-century

This was indeed Fluff with a capital F. For most of the novel, the pages flipped over like the wind was turning them. It wasn't that it was that suspenseful or anything, it was just such easy, frothy reading that it just fell through your fingers without you really noticing. It did get a bit heavy in the middle, but probably appropriately so, given events. That was the only time it dragged a little.

Essentially: Think of this like a whipped cream dessert version of American Gods. Same basic conce...more

21 likes · like · see review

Jan 17, 2009 Bunny rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Lovers of Greek mythology

Recommended to Bunny by: People Magazine

Shelves: read-in-09

I have a serious hard-on for all things involving mythology.

1-17 - I am in love. And lust. And my nipples got a little hard.

Sorry, all of Aphrodite's phone sex got me a little excited.

This book is so clever, and so funny, and I'm insanely jealous that this is Marie Phillips' first book. As a lover of mythology, this books make me laugh entirely too hard.

Alice and Neil were so adorable. I loved how meek and quiet the both of them were. The meek shall inherit the earth someday, but they saved it...more

7 likes · like · see review

Apr 15, 2009 Michele rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who wants a good laugh

Recommended to Michele by: Publisher

Shelves: ancient-greece, fiction, humor, spoof

Need a good laugh? Look no further, especially if you retained any of the Greek mythology you were taught in college. Author Marie Phillips has given us the gods of Olympus all over again and this time, you'll never again forget just who was the god of what.

That's right, the gods of ancient Greece are alive and well (sort-of) and currently residing in a dilapidated house in the suburbs of London. That's right. London.

The good news is that they've evolved with the times. Aphrodite, the goddess of...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 28, 2009 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: given-away

Gods Behaving Badly is an amusing and irreverent look at the Greek gods in the twenty first century. Many of the gods are living together in a crowded house in London. The gods engage in infighting and sexual escapades even as their powers diminish. Alice and Neil are mortals who become manipulated by the gods. In Neil, the gods find an unexpected hero who does more than rescue Alice.

Gods Behaving Badly is a light, fun read. The personalities of the gods are consistent with the traditional stori...more

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Dec 28, 2008 Serena rated it 5 of 5 stars

Marie Phillips' Gods Behaving Badly is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. What would the ancient gods of Greece and Rome do in today's 21st Century world? Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, a phone sex operator; Apollo, the God of the Sun, a television psychic; Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and Chastity, a dog walker.

The gods have weakened since their days on high at Mt. Olympus, and they are all crammed into a dilapidated home in London, getting on one another's nerves. The conflic...more Marie Phillips' Gods Behaving Badly is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. What would the ancient gods of Greece and Rome do in today's 21st Century world? Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, a phone sex operator; Apollo, the God of the Sun, a television psychic; Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and Chastity, a dog walker.

The gods have weakened since their days on high at Mt. Olympus, and they are all crammed into a dilapidated home in London, getting on one another's nerves. The conflict truly begins one night during a taping of Apollo's psychic show where Eros shoots a love arrow into Apollo's heart, leaving him powerless against his love for the next person entering his view. Unfortunately, that person happens to be a mortal named, Alice, who cleans the theater where the show is taped. Alice and her friend Neil, who both love one another but are too afraid to make a move, become the center of conflict in the gods' world.

Watching these gods cope with the 21st Century is a hilarious delight, but even more delightful is Phillips' use of language on the page. From Aphrodite's bottom "bouncing like two hard-boiled eggs dancing a tango" (page 89) to her description of Neil as a teenager, "an ugly, spotty, skinny-arsed spoddy minger" (page 88). The dialogue is witty as well: "'. . .you'd better come quick. I've got a god passed out on my kitchen floor and I think the world's about to end.' (page 213)."

One of the best scenes in this book comes when Apollo finds Zeus in the upper floors of the house staring at the television much like a zombie would. He's lifeless, but still a god able to stand on his own and still strike down mortals with lightning. Reading this section brought to life the dilemma that often faces many of us, do we unwind too often in front of the television rather than through more challenging activities, like games, competition, reading, and exercise? Is this section a commentary on the lives we continue to lead now, watching television, zoning out, and withdrawing into ourselves away from society. But, I digress.

With an interesting cast of characters from a Christian Eros to a drunk, DJ in Dionysus, Phillips uses her cast of characters to dramatically set the stage for a modern day Greek comedy of errors and missed chances. Even readers who do not have a firm background in mythology will enjoy this book.(less)

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Feb 12, 2009 Betty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fantasy novel

Shelves: fantasy, novels, humor, fiction, historical-fiction, paranormal

Wickedly entertaining, an imaginative first novel for Marie Phillips. Gods Behaving Badly is a unique take on what happens when belief in the Greek gods no longer exists. They move to London. They become bored and disrupt the lives of mortals. Immortal and immoral, Apollo is a TV psychic and all-around tomcat, Aphrodite is a telephone sex operator, and Dionysus owns the Bacchanalia nightclub. A little too much promiscuity for my personal taste, but what else are you going to do with the characte...more Wickedly entertaining, an imaginative first novel for Marie Phillips. Gods Behaving Badly is a unique take on what happens when belief in the Greek gods no longer exists. They move to London. They become bored and disrupt the lives of mortals. Immortal and immoral, Apollo is a TV psychic and all-around tomcat, Aphrodite is a telephone sex operator, and Dionysus owns the Bacchanalia nightclub. A little too much promiscuity for my personal taste, but what else are you going to do with the characters of Apollo and Aphrodite? They and almost all of the gods and goddesses live in a crumbling, ancient house that barely contains them. Artemis, goddess of hunting and chastity, and currently professional dog-walker, appears to be somewhat more rational than the others. Eros has taken up Christianity to the disgust of his mother, Aphrodite. It appears that most of the family do some type of work.

Enter two mortals, probably the most non-intimidating and ordinary of the species, attending Apollo’s TV show, the very time that Aphrodite has ordered her son Eros to shoot a love arrow at Apollo so that he will fall in love with the first mortal woman he sees, and a hate arrow into the one his eyes alight on. Eros is extremely unhappy about this, and when Apollo spots Alice in the audience he immediately falls irrevocably in love with her, as only the god of the sun could, Eros does not send the hate arrow. When the program is aired, Alice, who is the cleaner at the TV station and not allowed to be in the audience, is spotted and fired.

Neil, who attended the show with Alice, convinces her to freelance as a cleaner and as luck or the gods would have it, she arrives at the door of their house, and Artemis hires her as their cleaner, the gods being slovenly for the most part much to Artemis’ disgust. And now, with all the players in place, the story really begins to unfold. This extremely dysfunctional family is hilarious with their antics, Apollo in particular with his oversized ego and undersized thought processes. This book is certainly a rare breed, vastly different from any other book I’ve read. The journey to the underworld is quite fascinating, and the interaction of the family, and the two mortals, is well-done. A fantasy of fun, life and death, and a wealth of imagination. (less)

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Apr 30, 2008 Steve rated it 5 of 5 stars

Problems associated with immortality have sprung up all across literature. From Dorian Gray to modern science-fiction some of the largest questions that arise from cheating death are the most mundane. Slogging through a daily existence in which everything is doomed from the moment of conception to die is an existentialist nightmare.

Now imagine being a god from an age that lives on only in college classics courses and cheesy television parodies. If this isn’t humiliation enough, imagine being stu...more
Problems associated with immortality have sprung up all across literature. From Dorian Gray to modern science-fiction some of the largest questions that arise from cheating death are the most mundane. Slogging through a daily existence in which everything is doomed from the moment of conception to die is an existentialist nightmare.

Now imagine being a god from an age that lives on only in college classics courses and cheesy television parodies. If this isn’t humiliation enough, imagine being stuck with your family, also gods, who are legendary for their deeds which are less than flattering.

Well, according to Marie Phillips, they would make a half-hearted go at things but their basic natures wouldn’t change. And history, or mythology, is doomed to repeat if the proper lessons aren’t learned. Or if those involved just get bored and don’t know how else to react.

The bulk of this tale, set in modern London, is told from the point of view of Artemis who is reduced to walking dogs for a living in a nation that has banned hunting. Always in a tracksuit and confessing that Clash of the Titians is her favorite film, her steely eyed hunters gaze is what gives this tale its brilliant charm.

Without giving too much away, an ancient Greek myth is replayed with apocalyptic results. But it is played with a keen British sense of humor and laugh out loud scenes.

How else could this be? Comedy and tragedy are very close and this is one of the funniest books I’ve read in quite awhile.

Half the mystery is figuring out what happened to these gods and the other half is how our poor unfortunate mortal sort-of couple (these is always some poor mortal getting pulverized in one fashion or another) of Nick and Alice cope with a situation way beyond their imaginations.

This is a fantastic debut novel from a BBC researcher who wrote the book in her spare time. I read it in a single sitting with a wry smile. Marie Phillips knows her mythology and if you do as well, or just need a refresher, this is the book for the beach. It’s a light read that engages you and flies along like the gods on one of their better days.

Get it. You won’t be disappointed.
(less)

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Jan 20, 2009 Stuart rated it 4 of 5 stars

A thoroughly adorable book, particularly if you're a Greek mythology geek like I am. Reminds one of a Shakespearean comedy or a pastoral romp, but with a slacker aesthetic thrown in. The principal characters, Alice, Artemis, Apollo, Neil, Hermes, Eros, Aphrodite, are all very nicely drawn and there are some genuine moments of pathos and poignancy mixed in with a great deal of screwball comedy and some genuinely substantial literary wit. I would have liked more Athena, Hera and the other gods in...more

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Mar 30, 2009 Erica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Brilliantly funny, inventive and well written. The Greek gods living (with limited powers) in modern-day London is a great premise, though risky. She successfully avoids cliche though by exploring the human side of these gods, allowing them room for growth in utterly surprising ways and failure in some unsurprising but equally funny moments.

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May 01, 2008 Lindsay rated it 1 of 5 stars

This novel opens with so much promise: the Greek gods living in modern London, bored and barely able to sustain themselves. We get some of the classic elements demanded by such a project- rogue love interests, fighting, revenge, jealousy. However the book fizzles at the helm of predictability, unlikable characters, and just plain poor writing. I did not come in with high expectations; I wanted an easy, enjoyable read. Readers definitely get the easy part, but any joy I got out of this novel was...more

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Mar 08, 2008 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mythological

This is definitely not a masterpiece of literature, but it was incredibly entertaining. Phillips does a wonderful job characterizing the Greek gods. They were not over the top, and their personalities and behaviors were very much what I would imagine the gods acting like. The novel is pretty much a greek myth that takes place in modern day London. Hermes carries a cell phone and takes the dead to the underworld on a motorcycle. Charon is the conductor of a subway train, instead of a ferry. If yo...more

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Jun 02, 2013 Anne Toronto1 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, xrate

The major Greek gods are bored after three centuries living together in a crumbling crowded north London house. Their powers are dwindling. Athena (wisdom) uses too many big words, and cannot clearly explain that their powers are failing because mortals do not believe. They all have minor abilities. Clarity is not one of Athena's.

Very X-rated (see author page for her favorite quote if you doubt) for Chapter One "blow job" p4, Chapter Two adult incest "thrusting rhythmically .. illicit bathroom...more The major Greek gods are bored after three centuries living together in a crumbling crowded north London house. Their powers are dwindling. Athena (wisdom) uses too many big words, and cannot clearly explain that their powers are failing because mortals do not believe. They all have minor abilities. Clarity is not one of Athena's.

Very X-rated (see author page for her favorite quote if you doubt) for Chapter One "blow job" p4, Chapter Two adult incest "thrusting rhythmically .. illicit bathroom shag .. her nephew" p6. Luscious Aphrodite (beauty) routinely consorts with her male relatives while carrying on phone sex job (no pun intended) conversations. However, in petty revenge for not heating her shower, she sets son Eros (Cupid) on haughty selfish nephew Apollo (sun).

Taking advantage of his still-prophetic followers, Apollo debuts as a TV psychic. His Cupid-bespelled eye falls on meek Alice, office cleaner. Alice is fired for breaking the rules so Neil could join her in the audience. Both humans are too shy to take the much desired next step beyond friendship. The mortals are not stereotype protagonists, are the exact opposite of the physically elite and morally debauched gods, are plain-looking but kind and nice.

Irresistible Aphrodite persuades Hermes (finance, messages) to bring Alice to their door, where Artemis (hunting) hires the mortal to clean the filthy heavenly abode. Father Zeus hides in the attic, guarded by wife Hera, and is fooled by drunken Apollo to zap Alice with lightning. Hermes takes ghosts, including Alice, on his motorcycle to Islington station for the train to the underworld, where mortal Persephone winters with husband god Hades.

Artemis knows they need a hero. Neil is "scrawny and mousy and short". "Odysseus was scrawny, and he was one of the best" heroes. Neil is "the best .. at such short notice .. short being the operative word". But when Apollo falls comatose, the sun goes out. The River Styx "raised an eyebrow. You are most unlike any hero who has visited me before"'. To Neil's "It was an emergency.", she retorts "It always is." p224.

Orpheus set a precedent by singing to the underworld rulers for his beloved Eurydice. (view spoiler) An alternate world where the Greek pantheon rule could inspire innumerable books, but I expect no sequels, and Phillips plans none.

This seems authentic to the mythology canon, though perhaps I was too young to understand traditional implications, or worst was edited out for children. This title effectively conveys the temper within. Humans and gods are a believable mix of faults and virtues. Amusing adult fare.

Forever I've loved myths from every culture. Started with Greek, Roman, Egypt, Africa .. to present-day variants. Ben Bova's "Vengeance of Orion" reworks Odysseus http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... Rick Riordan"s Lightning Thief starts a series on the Olympus gang as teens, http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... made into a movie http://aneyespy.blogspot.ca/2012/01/d... Here, Marie Phillips's old but childish Greeks are rather the reverse of TV Almighty Johnsons, where New Zealanders reconsider their lives when suddenly becoming Norse gods at age 21. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd80D3... (less)

1 like · like · see review

Jan 21, 2009 Anna Hanson Bevens rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, library-book, read-in-2009

"Gods Behaving Badly" had an awesome concept, an okay delivery, and a flat ending.

I'm an avid fan of Greek mythology, and this book starts out with a lot of promise.

Unfortunately, in reading the book, I felt as though the author had assembled all of the horses for the Kentucky Derby, then put them on the Indy 500 Speedway and said, "Okay, GO!" There just wasn't that much cohesion in the book, and no characters really stood out, which is such a huge shame, because we're talking about *gods* here...more

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Jan 13, 2009 Paula rated it 4 of 5 stars

What did happen to the Greek gods after people began believing in a single deity? It appears that they are living rather seedy lives in London, still keeping the sun and the moon in place etc. I was surprised at how well the premise held throughout the book. It was fun and amusing. I loved having those myths I love resurrected.

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Sep 16, 2008 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

After reading a short review of this book, I knew it would be entertaining. What would happen if the gods of Olympus suddenly were forced to reside in a shabby home in London? The book gives a good background of Greek mythology while being a quick and fun read.

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 14, 2009 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

A remarkable debut novel that is at once funny, poignant, dramatic, thought-provoking, and absurd, yet oddly charming and appealing.

The gods of Olympus are living in London, their powers diminishing and their spheres of influence humorously modernized. Their interaction with mortals is reminiscent of "Midsummer Night's Dream." Their flawed disorders accelerate the drama until only the power of courage, true love, and faith can make things right. That these emanate from mortals and become the sou...more

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Mar 24, 2009 Michelle Hankes rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is absolutely a beautiful portrayal of the Greek Gods at their best. It is set in modern time London where 12 of the original gods live in a tiny, cramped townhouse, dirty and unkempt. Each of the originals have their power, albeit limited because they are getting older and although the world doesn't look up to them anymore, they are desperately needed to keep it turning. Aphrodite (a sex phone operator), Artemis (a dog walker), and Apollo (a TV psychic/medium), along with all the othe...more

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Mar 30, 2009 Janet rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ridin-in-my-car-cd, fiction-not-fluff

When I first started listening to this audiobook, I cringed just about every second because of the authors "He said, she said" style of writing. It probably wouldn't be so obvious if you were actually reading the written words, but listening to it is quite annoying. Fake example: "Hello, said Artemis." "Hi, said Apollo." "What are you up to, said Artemis?" "Not much, said Apollo." Okay - I think you should get the picture. It really became annoying for me but after about 4 hours of listening, it...more

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Feb 27, 2009 Djrmel rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, fiction, professional-author-rpf-ff, romance

It's a setting that just full of possibilities: the Greek Gods of Olympus are still around and most of the principles are living in a rundown house in modern London. With characters like Apollo and Athena and Hermes, there's no end to complications and plot twists, right? Phillips does come up with jobs suitable of her cast - Aphrodite as a phone sex operator just makes perfect sense. And if Apollo and Aphrodite live in the same house, they probably would end up having sex with each other, consi...more

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Feb 04, 2009 Jamieson rated it 5 of 5 stars

What would happen if the Greek Gods of myth actually existed? What would happen if the Gods lived among us? How would they exist? What would they do? And would people still believe in them?

This is the premise for Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Philips.

The novel is a sheer delight and has cured me of my book reading blues. It tells the story of what would happen if all the former gods were forgotten and lived amongst mortals.

There’s Artemis, Goddess of hunting, now a dog walker. Aphrodite, Goddess...more

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Jan 21, 2009 Alison Looney rated it 2 of 5 stars

This story reads like the novelization of a comic book. It's short on thoughtfulness and introspection and long on silly action/romance scenes.

Marie Phillips does provide a funny take on what life would be like for the fading Olympians: slummy home in London, imbalanced relationships, lots of time spent plotting revenge. Some of the gods have to get jobs to maintain their minimal lifestyle, so Apollo works as a TV psychic, Artemis walks dogs, and Dionysus owns a night club. Zeus spends most of...more

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Sep 26, 2008 Jam rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people that like fluffier Gaimen

Shelves: familiar, thisshelfmightbeaspoiler

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Holiday reading.

This book's chief feature for me is that it falls under what I'd tag (if it wasn't also a spoiler) of "this is not the happy ending you seem to think it is". The basic plotline is appealing, if not especially groundbreaking*. The Greek gods are stuck in an increasingly run-down house in Primrose Hill, while their powers get weaker. They can't leve, they have just enough power to keep things ticking over, but doing anything other than general maintainance is a huge waste of resou...more Holiday reading.

This book's chief feature for me is that it falls under what I'd tag (if it wasn't also a spoiler) of "this is not the happy ending you seem to think it is". The basic plotline is appealing, if not especially groundbreaking*. The Greek gods are stuck in an increasingly run-down house in Primrose Hill, while their powers get weaker. They can't leve, they have just enough power to keep things ticking over, but doing anything other than general maintainance is a huge waste of resources. They more or less all loathe each other, they're utterly bored with ech other.

And they're generally sociopathic. In the opening chapter, Artemis gets angry at Appollo for turning a woman into a tree for rejecting him ("I suppose a blowjob's out of the question."), not so much for the act, but for the way it used power they can't afford to lose. She doesn't approve -Artemis is the closest thing to a nice one- but she understands.

The story kicks off when Aphrodite makes Apollo fall in love with a human, a nice scrabble-playing cleaner, setting off a chain of events that lead to petty revenge, death, a trip to Hades and... well, you know the sort of thing.

The punchline is unsurprising-- power is linked to belief! The drain is fixed when people start to believe in them! Which seems to be pretty much the standard god-power-explanation thing these days. The problem is that it has what seems to be a happy ending, what is in some ways a happy ending, without really getting in to the fact that on the final page, godlike power once again rests with a bunch of sociopaths who are unlikely to get any better, and any lessons they've learnt about humanity will probably be quickly lost when they can once again turn people into gorgans for being raped or killed for accidentally seeing them naked.

It's not a bad book and entirely adequate holiday fare. It's not a novel idea, but it's nicely written, it has some good scenes and nice bits of characterisation, but I can't quite get over the fact that the happy, fluffy endinging leaves the world in care of self-absorbed pyschos. That's not a happy ending in my book, even though it is in this one.

Also, no real mention of gods from other cultures, which is a bit disappointing.

*in terms of urban fantasy/mythology stuff.(less)

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Aug 16, 2012 Miriam rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Romantics and classics geeks

Shelves: fantasy, mythology

The gods of Olympus are real, and they're just as spiteful, petty, and self-centered as myths depict. They live in a run-down London townhouse, and shy Alice is the unfortunate mortal they hire to clean the place.

Neil wishes he could be more than a friend to Alice, but is too timid to ask her out. But when Alice and the entire world may be destroyed, Neil will dare anything to save them.

Neil and Alice are introduced in a scene where they are visiting in her cleaning cupboard:

"Suddenly Alice's

...more

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May 05, 2008 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: hersday-book-club, i-own-it, what-i-read-in-2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips is the latest book on my quest to 30 and the May selection for the HBC. The story imagines a situation in which Greek gods living among us. The primary characters are all the immediate family of Zeus, and all live in a house together in suburban London. There’s Apollo, a romancing talk show host. Aphrodite, the phone sex operator. Artemis, the dog walker. Eros, the born again Christian. Athena, the scholar. The list goes on. Through a turn of events, the gro...more

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Jul 07, 2009 Hilari rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

~~about halfway through. is it bad that i've fallen asleep twice while reading?~~

The premise is great, the opening is good, but the book really fizzles out before it even gets to the halfway point. The characters are not fully realized and the writing is just plain sloppy toward the end. A very predictable end. In fact, the ending was so predictable, I thought it had already been written several chapters prior. I gave myself an ice cream reward for finishing the thing.

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Dec 10, 2008 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book; from the very beginning I was attracted to the font. I know it's strange, but I really like certain fonts in books, and I especially like certain styles of question marks. The font used in this book was highly satisfactory. On top of that, the story was excellent. I liked reading about the Greek gods when I was in school, and I especially enjoyed the story about Eurydice and Orpheus. I think this story flowed very well, and had a good pace. The mortals were lovable, a...more

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Jan 10, 2009 MsMiz (Tina) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Gods Behaving Badly is about the Greek Gods in modern times. What happens to our Gods when people do not believe in them? They loose their powers. This book is a laugh out loud delightful easy read. It has typical story lines of belief and love with a bit of added mischievousness with very very badly behaved Gods. I have always been attracted by mythology and the Greek Gods, this was a fun reminder about reading more!

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Apr 15, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fun read.

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Jan 24, 2009 Debbie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is more of a 3.5 stars but I couldn't figure out how to do that.

This was a fun book to read. I mean how can you not get into a book in which the first chapter you are told a woman was turned into a eucalyptus tree because she refused to give Apollo a blow job. It was hilarious to see these once all powerful gods having to hold down mortal jobs and yet have no real respect for mortals so it’s a wonder they manage to survive in the world. These gods of course cannot be bothered to clean up af...more

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Sounds just like American Gods	12	134	Mar 04, 2012 07:35pm

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About Marie Phillips

I was born in London in 1976 and have lived here all my life. I studied Social Anthropology and Visual Anthropology and worked in TV for several years. I left TV to become a writer in 2003, and worked in bookshops while I was writing ‘Gods Behaving Badly’. I now write full time.

As well as writing fiction I have a blog on all things popular culture which is at www.womanwhotalkedtoomuch.blogspot.com ...more

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Quotes from Gods Behaving Badly

“Just shut up. Shut the fuck up, you stupid, uptight, don't drink, don't smoke, don't fuck, don't do anything that might almost be interpreted as fun, sanctimonious little fucking virgin. Fuck, fuck, fucking fuck, I've had enough. I'm not going to this fucking meeting, I don't care what happens to the fucking family, you can tell Athena what the fuck you like, just as long as you get out of my fucking face and stay out of it. - Apollo” — 20 people liked it

“There's no direction I can go in. If I met someone else, what meaning would there be left? If the pain goes, does that mean I never loved her? How can I get over it? I can't, I mustn't. But what else am I going to do?” — 12 people liked it

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