The Gatekeeper's Sons (Gatekeeper's Trilogy, #1)

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The Gatekeeper's Sons (Gatekeeper's Trilogy #1)

by Eva Pohler (Goodreads Author)

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 53 ratings · 38 reviews

Fifteen-year-old Therese watches her parents die. While in a coma, she meets the twin sons of Hades—Hypnos, the god of sleep, and Thanatos, the god of death. She thinks she's manipulating a dream, not kissing the god of death and totally rocking his world.

Than makes a deal with Hades and goes as a mortal to the Upperworld to try and win Therese's heart, but not all the go...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published August 13th 2012 by Green Press/Eva Pohler (first published August 12th 2012)

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Percy Jackson Collection by Rick Riordan

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

YA Books With Greek Mytholgoy

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Dec 07, 2012 Josheka rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: complicated-love-story, fantasy, ok-ok-read, rba, supernatural, teen, ya-romance

More of my reviews @ Reading 24x7

First of all, I would like to thank Eva Pohler for providing me a hard-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. :)

The Gatekeeper's Sons was on ok-ok read for me. There were some things in this book which I really enjoyed, like-

1.) The starting was interesting. It made me instantly curious about what might happen next. I'm not a big fan of mystery, but reading the first chapter made me instantly interested. :)

2.) The writing style of the author was quit...more More of my reviews @ Reading 24x7

First of all, I would like to thank Eva Pohler for providing me a hard-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. :)

The Gatekeeper's Sons was on ok-ok read for me. There were some things in this book which I really enjoyed, like-

1.) The starting was interesting. It made me instantly curious about what might happen next. I'm not a big fan of mystery, but reading the first chapter made me instantly interested. :)

2.) The writing style of the author was quite simple. As a debut novel, I would say she did a nice job. :D

3.) The human characters were pretty likeable. Therese was sweet and nice throughout the story. She didn't throw away her morals for Than. She was compassionate and pretty easy to like. :D

I liked how it began, but somewhere in the middle of it, I lost interest. It took me almost 2-3 weeks to finish it, just because......

1.) The Gods just seemed so...mundane. I mean, the first thing which you expect a story with gods is for it to be at least godly. With lots of magic. Sadly, there was no magic here. From the slang the gods used to the way they acted throughout the story was just a bit too lame for me. I expected them to be a lot more grander. And by grand, I don't mean rich, though that was well-shown in this book.

2.) The speed and the direction of the story wavered A LOT. Sometimes it was incredibly fast like in the beginning and in the end and sometimes it was just too painfully slow.

3.) The romance bit was very hurried for my taste. Love at first sight is possible but I think most of the readers would agree that a steady build-up of the relationship is more interesting to read than instant "I LOVE YOU"s. Especially when the romance includes a god who's been alive since ever.

Overall, I would've really appreciated a bit more..spunk in the novel. There were moments where I did get excited but they weren't enough for me to entirely love the book. The slow pace which the story took at one point was quite irritating but the ending was good enough. :) (less)

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Mar 23, 2013 Jennifer Madero rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-challenge

I was given an ebook copy of the book as long as I made a review of it, and I'm glad I agreed to it. Where was this book that I never got it before now?!?! Like honestly, this book should be more popular.

One of the many things I loved of this book was how the characters stayed true to how they were originally made. The change in them were believable ones, not too drastic. At the end of the book Therese has to make a certain decision, and she does it staying true to how she is. And I liked that....more

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Dec 12, 2012 Paddy O'callaghan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hades, Hynos and Thanatos (from whom we get thanatophobia -fear of death BTW), are all characters in this great book. Why hasn't anyone written this book before; I really can't imagine why; it revolves around an excellent premise. Pohler has surpassed herself so read it now before it sells out.

Oh Hypnos gave us the word Hypnotism but I'd imagine you'll figure that out as you read the book, or may have already known.

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May 02, 2013 Jamie Zalot rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a fabulous book. It is about a young girl at a crossroads in her life. She has a dream and meets a young man and it all goes downhill from there like it always does. Doesn't anyone besides romance/harliquin like happy ending for their stories? Everyone is all obsessed with being dark and broody! I like the writing style, though. I am looking forward to the sequal and more? It did have some points that I would have changed. I understand that those points I disagreed with were critical to...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Alisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.
I love nothing more than a great series that I can really sink my teeth in to and I think this series will end up being one of my favorites. The Gatekeeper's Sons draws you in right from the start and has enough twists and turns to keep you enthralled all the way to the end. Not to mention building a love story that is so powerful but at the same time remains innocent enough for a young adult book.
The book starts out with the murder of The...more I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.
I love nothing more than a great series that I can really sink my teeth in to and I think this series will end up being one of my favorites. The Gatekeeper's Sons draws you in right from the start and has enough twists and turns to keep you enthralled all the way to the end. Not to mention building a love story that is so powerful but at the same time remains innocent enough for a young adult book.
The book starts out with the murder of Therese’s parents and Therese’s near death experience. In this book the traditional Western view of heaven and hell have been replaced by the Greek myth of the afterlife. In the Greek tradition souls of the deceased are escorted by Thanatos, or Death as he is sometimes called, to the underworld where they are transported for judgment and placement in to paradise or in to ‘hell’ where they are tormented forever. When Therese’s parents are killed she is close enough to death herself that she is able to follow the souls of her parents to the underworld. Therese believes she is dreaming the entire thing so when she meets Hip (Hypnos, god of dreams) and his brother Thanatos (Than for short) she has no problem being forward and she wraps Than in a huge hug and gives him a big kiss. No big deal for the girl that is dreaming but to Than that kiss changes his world completely. Than’s job as Death means that he rarely has any interaction with anyone other than dead souls and Charon, the man who ferries the souls down the river. Suddenly Than feels drawn to Therese and know that he wants to always be near her. He gets his father, Hades, to allow him to travel to the mortal world in order to win Therese’s love.
I had so much fun reading about all of Than’s experiences of being mortal. You can’t help but feel sorry for him because of his destiny. What a horrible existence he must have had before Therese came in to his life. Imagine an eternity of escorting the dead to the underworld and living there. Than describes it almost like living in a cave, no suns, no stars, no wind, nothing that we humans take for granted. You long for him to be with Therese so that he can finally have some joy in his life.
Therese is like the perfect girl that doesn’t know how great she is. She is always more worried about others, loves animals and nature and is so giving and loving. It is no wonder Than wants to be with her. She is such a great person that she ends up garnering the favor of many on Mount Olympus and most of the gods and goddesses are rooting for her and Than to get together. Between her the strange experiences Than brings in to her life and the drama of her parents murder her life becomes very interesting but Therese is able to see how strong she can be and continues to fight for her and Than to be together and for the safety of her family.
There was only one thing that I did not completely love about the book and that is Than’s sisters, The Furies. Anyone that knows anything about Greek mythology will know how scary The Furies are and this book does not disappoint when it comes to these characters. The Furies are sent to earth to help find out who killed Therese’s parents. They do not operate under any rules when hunting down criminals so their methods of gaining information can be a bit intense and disturbing. They do get the job done quite easily with these methods so I do see why the author chose to write their encounters the way she does. Just know that these scenes may be a little intense for younger teen readers.
I have been given book two to read and review also so I am anxiously waiting to get in to the book. It is killing me that I have other books lined up first but I am trying to be a good girl and read those first even though book two is calling to me. Keep a watch out for that review as I am sure I will love book two just as much if not more.(less)

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Feb 07, 2013 Jennifer Showalter - MAMA Bookasaurus rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-action, ya-fantasy, ya-life-issues, ya-mystery, ya-romance, ya-greek-mythology

FInd my reviews on my blog at http://mamabookasaurus.blogspot.com/
4.3 STARS (Rounded to 4 STARS on Goodreads)

Fifteen-year-old Therese watches her parents die. While in a coma, she meets the twin sons of Hades—Hypnos, the god of sleep, and Thanatos, the god of death. She thinks she's manipulating a dream, not kissing the god of death and totally rocking his world.

Than makes a deal with Hades and goes as a mortal to the Upperworld to try and win Therese's heart, but not all the gods are happy. So...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Katrina Welsh rated it 2 of 5 stars

Find more reviews at I Have Lived a Thousand Lives.

Not many myth-based novel even mention Thanatos or Hypnos so I pleasantly welcomed the change in characters, regarding Greek gods. I would have liked to see Hypnos have a bigger presence in the novel since it is called Gatekeeper's 'Sons'. But I suppose we got the more interesting brother since I suspect Hypnos' personality would have bored before too long and at least it wasn't about the brothers fighting for Therese's love. Thank goodness. The...more

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Jan 05, 2013 Kimberly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: firstreads

I really enjoyed this story, and I look forward to the sequel. I don't want to summarize the entire book, so I'll just say that I liked the characters, the plot, and the way the author wove the mythology into the storyline. I think it should appeal to those who like Percy Jackson, The Goddess Test, and similar series. I liked it enough to pick up the ebook version as well. I'll be picking up the other ones when they come out. Thank you to Goodreads First Reads for the opportunity to read this.

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Feb 18, 2013 Dianne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1-in-series, ages-12-up, debut-author, own, ya-romance, ya-paranormal-romance

Take one immortal Greek god of Death, add a fifteen-year-old girl who barely survived the murder of her parents and blend well and we have a nice take on a YA paranormal romance by Eva Pohler!

Thanatos, the god of death, who looks around eighteen, but is, in fact, an ancient immortal son of Hades, twin brother of Hypnos, the god of dreams falls instantly in love with Therese, a mortal girl who gave him his first kiss. Actually, she gave him his first taste of being around humans, because, really,...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Marjorie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mythology, young-adult

Full review here at Once Upon a Story

When I read the blurb, I immediately knew this was something I had to read. Personally, I stay away from the Greek mythology-inspired YA books because its usually the same Greek gods featured or because it bastardizes the mythology or because its the same plot all over again. So, I was curious to read about Hypnos and Thanatos-- two Greek gods that I hadn't read anything about. So I readied myself for the inevitable insta-love, the dreaded love triangle, and...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-dystopian, arc-arr

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

So. Therese, a 15 year old, watches her parents die. While unconscious and hovering near death, she meets Hades' sons, Hypnos, god of sleep, and Thanatos, god of death. Though she believes she is experiencing a lucid dream, her experiences are real. While in this unconscious state, she kisses Than, the first one to do so, as most mortals - and even immortals - fear him because of his role in the world. Unab...more I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

So. Therese, a 15 year old, watches her parents die. While unconscious and hovering near death, she meets Hades' sons, Hypnos, god of sleep, and Thanatos, god of death. Though she believes she is experiencing a lucid dream, her experiences are real. While in this unconscious state, she kisses Than, the first one to do so, as most mortals - and even immortals - fear him because of his role in the world. Unable to stop thinking about the girl, Than convinces his father to allow him 40 days as a mortal to win the girl's heart and convince her to return to the Underworld as his queen. But there's one catch: (view spoiler)

I don't normally read mythology-based books; though my interests are pretty varied, and I'll read anything that catches my eye, I'm not normally drawn to mythology. I think the last mythology book I read was Mythology by Edith Hamilton, in high school. While it was fascinating - and had the added bonus of ticking off the members of the horrible church I attended at the time (not insulting churches in general, just the controlling cult I went to) - I've never had the urge to find fictional novels about the various gods and goddesses. I found myself wanting to read the Greek stories in Edith Hamilton's book again as a refresher. Luckily, Eva Pohler gives a bit of background and short retelling of the myths to remind those who can't remember and inform those who have never read Greek mythology. Even though this isn't the kind of subject I would normally choose, the description sounded interesting, and I found myself wanting to check it out. I'm glad I did.

I was expecting, based on the cover and my own assumptions of the description, to read a story of brother-gods competing for the love of a mortal. Nope! While Hip does want affection from Therese, it's mostly because he's the playboy dream god who simply expects kisses and make-out sessions from the females he visits in dreams. While this story was romance, it's also quite the adventure story. The author managed to pull me in right away and keep my attention throughout. If I hadn't been so busy, I would have most likely read it in one sitting, like I did the second book of the trilogy.

Fantastic book. Great trilogy, at least the first two books. I now want to read more stories with mythology themes. That is one of the best compliments I can give a book. If it's a genre different from what I normally read and can make me want to seek out more books with the same theme, it truly is a great book.

Only complaint: I noticed a few spelling errors. I don't think there were more than maybe 5 or so; nothing I can't look past for the sake of a great story.(less)

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Feb 22, 2013 Angelique rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned-on-gobii, alphabet-cant-stop-reading, can-t-stop-reading-challenge, highly-reco-s

I want to start this off by saying that I just got over a REALLY bad head cold so my opinion on the ending might be slightly skew as I was not in my right frame of mind.

The Good News:

Therese is an amazingly strong character. I have a weakness for these as you might have noticed by now. But what I really liked about it is you don’t really notice how strong in the beginning. It kind of creeps up on you. She loses her parents early on in the book and has to learn how to live with out them, which I...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Sandy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-reviewed-2013, mythology, romance-based

The Gatekeeper's Sons was a well-thought-out mythical tale of adventure and the search for eternal love.

Therese's life is turned upside down when her parents are murdered in front of her eyes. While unconscious, she meet Hip and Than, the twin sons of Hades. When Therese meets Hip and then Than, she realizes that death is not the only thing she has to deal with. She learns that she has to deal with two gods - one of whom wants her as his bride - his future goddess. But there are tests she has to...more

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Apr 19, 2013 Fernanda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, mythology-greek-gods, lend-or-email-sent, paranormal

Tragedy happens in Therese´s life after she watches her parents die.. While she´s in a coma she dreams with a hot guy called Hypnos (She doesn´t know he´s the Greek God of sleep). She´s been known to be a lucid dreamer always taking control of her surroundings so she summons her parents and see that they are fine and "alive". Below her she watches as a raft with people in it. She flies to the edge of the Underworld where she sees that her parents are in the raft with a man. She calls after them...more Tragedy happens in Therese´s life after she watches her parents die.. While she´s in a coma she dreams with a hot guy called Hypnos (She doesn´t know he´s the Greek God of sleep). She´s been known to be a lucid dreamer always taking control of her surroundings so she summons her parents and see that they are fine and "alive". Below her she watches as a raft with people in it. She flies to the edge of the Underworld where she sees that her parents are in the raft with a man. She calls after them and she almost faints. Thanatos holds her and still thinking she´s controlling one of her dreams she kisses Than.

Having a God falling for you is not a wish of every girl...specially if he´s the God of Death. But this one is a Greek God Hot as Hell .!! called Thanatos.

A lot of twists and turns happen in this book that make you stay glued to your computer/Kindle as long as your eyelids allow you to stay awake LOL. After six pages and I was hooked and crying in my desk AT WORK.!! ;)

Thanatos wants to make her his queen of the Death so he makes a deal with his father Hares to make her a God. Hares accepts but with one condition. She has to avenge her parents by killing the man who orchestrated their deaths. Thanatos goes to the living world to try to win her heart.

I don´t want to give anything away about this book. You must read it to enjoy the fantasy world Eve has given us in this Triology. Even though I loved the plot, the love, the friendship, the twists and turns there was something I didn´t like about it that was the "sex" talk. I think this book should have been directed to a more mature audience giving Therese an older age and a less immature personality.

Favorite Moments:

(view spoiler)

www.lust4books.blogspot.mx

(less)

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Dec 30, 2012 Jen McConnel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, young-adult-fantasy, paranormal-romance

The first in a series by Eva Pohler, this novel blends mythology, romance, and contemporary characters to create something akin to The Goddess Test books.

When Therese loses both of her parents in a terrible car crash, she has a close brush with death herself. While she lingers between the lands of the living and the dead, she has a vision of two utterly handsome boys. As she gradually readjusts to her life without her parents, Therese realizes that her vision wasn't a dream: she encountered Hyp...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Sunmi rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I read this book's summary I knew I was going to like it. I love Greek Mythology I am practically in love with Greek mythology. But I went through so much to read this book. I broke my tablet so I could not read it on my tablet and I did not have time for the computer so I had to print all three hundred and eighty two pages in my school. Make it worse I got detention for "wasting paper" as the principal said (yes I had to go see the principal). But when I watched the book trailer I had high...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Martha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

Review to come.

Very curious to know which is Hyp and which is Than. The cover, I mean.

There is one type of book that 99.9% of the time if asked to review I will review and that's just because it's so fascinating! Can you guess what type of book that would be? No? Ok I'll tell you. Any book that delves into Greek mythology. Yeah like this one. Always curious to see what each author will come up with.

In Pohler's version Than and Hyp (funny nicknames!) are Hades' sons. Hyp is the trouble maker (pic...more Review to come.

Very curious to know which is Hyp and which is Than. The cover, I mean.

There is one type of book that 99.9% of the time if asked to review I will review and that's just because it's so fascinating! Can you guess what type of book that would be? No? Ok I'll tell you. Any book that delves into Greek mythology. Yeah like this one. Always curious to see what each author will come up with.

In Pohler's version Than and Hyp (funny nicknames!) are Hades' sons. Hyp is the trouble maker (picture a Damon Salvatore) and Than is the more thoughtful brother (picture Stefan Salvatore). Therese is the girl that unfortunately goes through a painful experience that some can relate to: her parent's murder. I couldn't empathize with Therese but I could sympathize and felt the need to help her except I can't obviously, good thing Than stepped in to help her. He's a great guy. Misjudged because of what he does but definitely a good guy. Now ladies if you happen to meet a guy names Hyp in your dreams STAY AWAY! Not because he's evil or anything but because...well you'll see why when you read it ;D.

There one thing I didn't like: Therese knows she has to avenge her parents to be with Than, meaning she has to kill the man who killed her parent's. She just says yes to this craziness! maybe it's because I'm completely against murder and killing people in general but how does one just say yes "I'll kill him"? Even if my parents had been murdered I would let justice do it's part.

From page one I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know what Therese would do to get her parents big, if she was going to be able at all, or if Than would figure out a way to help her out. Pit a girl against a grown man and we'll see who exactly wins. One more thing you're in for! Not just romance with the god of death but action in front of...well I won't tell you against who or it'll ruin the AMAZING ending!

Definite page turner, romance, adventure, Greek gods! if you like any or all of these things this is the book for you! Pick it up and read! NOW!(less)

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Feb 18, 2013 Cheryllynn Dyess rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Gatekeeper's Sons is not the book you would expect! Its so much more. This story puts the Greek Gods of mythology in your back yard, quite literally. While taking us through the life of Therese and being thrown into a whirlwind of activities with the great Gods it shows us just how human they can be. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants some suspense, thrills, a little bit of romance while getting a twist on the school days lesson of Greek mythology!

I gave it four stars because i...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Ely rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013

Originally posted on http://abooksofathomless.blogspot.com...

When first starting this book I was really unsure as to whether or not I would like it, this was one of my first self-published books and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

I liked how quickly the story started – instead of some unnecessary introduction to everything, it got straight into the action which made it a lot easier to get immersed in the story. We quickly meet both Hypnos (Hip) and Than...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Jonel Boyko rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arrs, first-installment-of-series-to-read, series-to-follow

This novel was a phenomenal introduction into the Gatekeeper series and into the world of Greek mythology.

I have great respect for authors who do their research before writing fictional work based on fact or existing mythology. That said, I love the fact that this story is mythologically accurate. I also like the fact that Pohler includes a variety of Greek gods in her writing, rather than simply using the Olympiad as so many authors attempting to write about Greek mythology do. And Pohler does...more This novel was a phenomenal introduction into the Gatekeeper series and into the world of Greek mythology.

I have great respect for authors who do their research before writing fictional work based on fact or existing mythology. That said, I love the fact that this story is mythologically accurate. I also like the fact that Pohler includes a variety of Greek gods in her writing, rather than simply using the Olympiad as so many authors attempting to write about Greek mythology do. And Pohler doesn’t just attempt to wrote a world based on Greek mythology. She succeeds. Pohler has not only researched her facts with respect to mythology, but with her novel as a whole. Even the trail riding and equine aspects of this novel, where present, are factual. However, I am a bit perplexed as to why they are using stallions in their trail string, which would be an extremely uncommon practice. I appreciate the fact that almost everything that Pohler includes is very well researched and extremely detailed.

Pohler is very detailed in her writing. Everything is precisely worded to convey a specific thought, feeling, or image. Each and every word seems to have been carefully chosen to build a cohesive overall picture. Everything is vivid and extremely well laid out. She creates a world that you can imagine yourself walking into. I also appreciate the differentiation in writing style between Earth and Olympus. Everything on Olympus is much larger and more elaborate than Earth, as it should be. Her writing also sports an intensity rarely seen in a YA novel, while also giving you some very good laughs.

The characters in this novel are quite well developed. You may not know their entire life histories, but you do get to know everything that is pertinent to the story and to let you get to know the characters. It was very refreshing to read a story by an author who can differentiate between necessary development to create a well-developed character, and giving an entire life history that slows down the storyline because it isn’t actually relevant to the plot.

As a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and can’t wait to tear into the sequel. Pohler manages to end this novel without a cliff-hanger but still needing to grab for the sequel to find out what happens next. Bravo!

Please note that I received this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.(less)

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May 14, 2013 Megan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: summer-reads-2013, 2013

Thanks to Ms. Pohler for a free copy of the book! :)
I don't know very much about Greek gods or mythology, so I can't really comment on how they were portrayed in the book. However, this book did renew my interest in wanting to learn about them, something that the first Percy Jackson book didn't do. I actually thought this book did a better job at combining YA Lit with Greek mythology than Percy Jackson did--well, at least, I found it more enjoyable. I could see how the insta-love thing might be...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Nancy (The Avid Reader) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: eva-pohler, reading-addictionl-book-tour

The following review is my opinion and not a paid review. I was given a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.

Therese witness her parents death in a tragic accident while sitting in the back seat of the car with them. While being close to death herself and in a coma she sees the god of death Thanatos aka Than take her parents to the underworld. Thersese also meets Than's twin brother Hypnos aka Hyp the god of sleep. Than and Hyp are the twin sons of Hades.

Therese kisses Tha...more The following review is my opinion and not a paid review. I was given a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.

Therese witness her parents death in a tragic accident while sitting in the back seat of the car with them. While being close to death herself and in a coma she sees the god of death Thanatos aka Than take her parents to the underworld. Thersese also meets Than's twin brother Hypnos aka Hyp the god of sleep. Than and Hyp are the twin sons of Hades.

Therese kisses Than which is a very big surprise to him. No one ever pays attention to Than because of his job of taking souls and helping them to cross over to the underworld. With this kiss Therese has managed to make Than fall in love with her. Than makes a deal with his father Hades to let him go to the upperworld and try to win Therese's love. Than wants to make her a god so that they can live happily ever after for all eternity. Therese falls in love with Than and will do whatever is necessary for the two of them to be together for eternity.

Hades says she can be a god if she avenges the death of her parents. Therese has to find the person responsible for her parents death and kill that person. Therese is a very loving and caring person. She loves all life and holds it sacred. She accepts Hades challenge because of the state of mind that she happens to be in at the time. The hurt of losing her parents and feeling as if she is alone in the world puts her in a different state of mine where she wants and believes that the person responsible for their death deserves to die to pay for what he has done. Being in this state of mind and wanting to be with Than causes Therese to feel hate and bitterness toward him. She wants him dead too and she wants to be the one to kill him. Will she kill the person responsible for the death of her parents? Is Therese have in it her to commit murder?

I really loved reading The Gatekeeper's Sons with all the Greek gods and goddess. I've read reviews of books about Greek gods and goddess and in some of the reviews the reviewers were mentioning where they were taught about the gods and goddess in school. If it was taught at my school I don't remember it. So therefore I love learning about all the gods and goddess. I liked learning or knowing that they be a god of death someone who helps souls cross over. Maybe making their journey more bearable for them.

If you like reading about gods and goddess then I think this is the book for you. Have you read The Goddess Test? If you have and you enjoyed it then you will love The Gatekeeper's Sons.(less)

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Jan 04, 2013 Tempest rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: gave-3-5-stars, readandratedindiebooks

**This review can also be found at http://www.readinginthewindowseat.blo...**

There were things about this book that I really liked, and things that I really didn't. I loved the concept behind this story. The idea of Thanatos falling in love with a mortal girl was really interesting. I love Greek mythology and have since middleschool, so that's really what drew me to this book to begin with. Pohler clearly knows her stuff, because she was able to weave a believable mythological world when it came...more **This review can also be found at http://www.readinginthewindowseat.blo...**

There were things about this book that I really liked, and things that I really didn't. I loved the concept behind this story. The idea of Thanatos falling in love with a mortal girl was really interesting. I love Greek mythology and have since middleschool, so that's really what drew me to this book to begin with. Pohler clearly knows her stuff, because she was able to weave a believable mythological world when it came to describing the gods, their positions, and their domains. This was not about a girl having a love triangle with two gods. And in fact, there wasn't much if Hip at all. I was disapointed in that last part. I was expecting more of the dream god because of the blurb, but there wasn't much of him. I hope that he plays a bigger role later on. The beginning I think was rushed though, what with the crash taking place so quickly that it was actually a little hard to follow at points. I would have also liked if she and Than had had a first kiss that was a little better. It didn't really seem like there was a point to her randomly kissing him, even thinking it was a dream. That also was a huge testament to how old she is-fifteen. I know this is a teen/young adult book, but some of the language seemed way too young for even a fifteen year old to be using. It threw me from the story, and also made me lose interest in what Therese was doing. Sure, she loves animals and is sweet because of it, but Than is a god who's been alive for a really long time. I don't really believe he'd put up with someone speaking like a thirteen year old. I also felt like if Therese were even just a year older, the story would have been more believable for me. Some of the words used to describe her when she's thinking about sleeping with Than and whatnot just seemed a little too much. At her age sure I was thinking the same things, but I couldn't help but constantly be reminded that this was a fifteen year old falling for an immortal who's been alive for a long long time. While it's only just a year, sixteen is one of those ages where everything becomes a little less taboo, and Therese would then have been a little more mature and their relationship would have been more believable. Another issue I had was that the book lulled in certain places. I don't think it needed to be nearly as long as it was, because a lot of events weren't necessary. There were times where we'd get a paragraph with dialogue in it just explaining she was going to go take a shower and have a nap. There wasn't a point to it and it felt like filler. I wanted to be engaged in the story almost the whole time. Those moments threw me from the book. Like I mentioned before, I understand this book is meant for a younger audience, however, there are many books out there that are young adult/teen where the character is young but doesn't seem that young. Circumstance and a lot of the word choices that the author used made it harder for me to buy into their relationship. The ending was also slightly disappointing, and brought me back to her age. Honestly I really didn't like the way it ended, the big scene where they're "fighting". She was ok with stoning someone, but then not actually following through with the final blow. Ok on that last part, after the hype, we all knew she couldn't really go through with that. However, stoning someone isn't a light thing. Not only would he have been in much worse shape then he was portrayed as, she probably would have actually killed him just by doing that. They weren't small rocks, and it's insinuated many of them hit their mark. People have been stoned to death for centuries, and with probably a lot less then Therese had available to her. I just would have liked more development with Therese and less of her actions forced. It seemed like she did things and said things because she was meant to be this sweet and gentle character, yet at the same time she blew off her friend Vicky. With that I'm hoping there's more to Vicky in the next book, otherwise this one could have done without her all together. I love Greek mythology, and I really love the idea behind this book. I think it just needs to be reevaluated in some aspects, such as the age and how she speaks, and then have those extra parts that aren't necessary removed. The book would be great then, and I would have given it more stars. Pohler is great with detail, and can clearly tell a story and come up with great ideas. I have the second book and am planning on starting it tonight. It's much shorter then the first, so I'm hoping that the author realized to only tell the parts of the story that matters and that's why. I would still recommend this book to a lot of people.
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May 09, 2013 Darian Carter-Pace rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

Rating: 3 out of 5
Series book: Yes
Will I read the next book: Yes
This book could've been a lot better. But I feel like it just dragged on. This plot wasn't enough to last over 300 pages. Maybe 250. Maybe. It was also a little two cutesy for a girl falling for Death. Oh so Death can talk to your hamster? And he wants to? I get that Than was supposed to be this sensitive, tortured soul. But was it necessary to talk to a hamster? Sorry, that just annoyed me so much.
The writing style was a little...more Rating: 3 out of 5
Series book: Yes
Will I read the next book: Yes
This book could've been a lot better. But I feel like it just dragged on. This plot wasn't enough to last over 300 pages. Maybe 250. Maybe. It was also a little two cutesy for a girl falling for Death. Oh so Death can talk to your hamster? And he wants to? I get that Than was supposed to be this sensitive, tortured soul. But was it necessary to talk to a hamster? Sorry, that just annoyed me so much.
The writing style was a little confusing and hard to understand at first. I took maybe 50 pages after she got out of the hospital for me to figure out when she was dreaming. After that there was a problem with maturity level.. like she would be a normal 15 year old at first and then she was like 50 by the way she was talking. And then the gods switched between modern language and attitude and regal, ancient language.
The plot was like one of those little kiddie roller coasters and an amusement park. Like it starts at the bottom like any other coaster and then it starts to creep up the first hill. It goes up a decent height and you're excited, thinking "It'll probably go super fast down and up even higher." It creeps down again and doesn't go up any hills half the size of the first one until it goes over the same course like five times. Not so exciting, huh?
So the human characters were kind of hard to get a read on. I actually couldn't tell what age half of them were. When/ if you read these books, come back and tell me how old Bobby was. My guess ranged from 10 to 13, but I could be way off. I also don't see how Therese, a 15 year old who just watched her parents die, was so disney princessy. And then she snapped to jungle-queen-killer-killer. Notice how I said killer twice. (view spoiler) That kind of inconsistency made this book hard to read.
Than was just adorable. And Therese was adorable. I felt like I was reading the script for a littlest pet shop and twilight mix up commercial. Here they are talking to animals but they fall in love so quickly and it's so intense I feel like it's too much. It's overwhelming the other problems in the book as well as the personalities and it just wasn't as good as I feel the author could've made it. Oh, and just a P.S the sexuality in here, having a 15 year old as the main character, just screamed This is why we have 16 and pregnant.
SUMMARY OF REVIEW(In case you don't actually feel like reading the review):
Writing: 3 out of 5
Plot: 2.5 out of 5
Characters: 3 out of 5
Romance: 2.5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5
Rated PG Some kissing, some sexual comments, mild violence(less)

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Sep 13, 2012 Alyssa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, romance, mythology

Going into this book, I was expecting a love triangle with two greek gods fighting over a girl. Let me assure future readers that this was not the case. Well, there's a bit of a love triangle, but mostly the story focuses on Than and Therese's relationship.

Despite some punctuation and grammatical errors, I thought the book wasn't too bad, but the writing and story felt a bit juveline even for a YA book. It seemed a bit more middle grade at points. Regardless of these complaints, I think I might...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Lisa Hubacek rated it 5 of 5 stars

I LOVED this book!! I finished it last night and now I cannot wait for the next book in the trilogy to be released!! The author obviously researched her Greek mythology and wove it into the storyline masterfully. My kids (ages 12 & 14) also read it and loved it! Greek mythology can be pretty far-fetched, but this author somehow made it all very believable! It was a page turner and now I'm dying to know what happens next! We highly recommend it!!

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Feb 22, 2013 Jacqueline rated it 4 of 5 stars

I want to begin by thanking the author for the chance to read and review this book. I am a big fan of mythology and I absolutely loved this book. Therese was ok and I really liked Than. I really enjoyed the characters in this story. I was a little shocked at the end and can't wait to see what happens in the next installment. (Which I already have!) I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a modern day mythology story. Happy Reading! ;)

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Feb 08, 2013 Richa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ohk this book was kinda dissapointing. Than's character could hv been so much better and more of Hips would have been good. I have read so many books in which female lead falls for death and dr ws nothing new in this. Basicaly it was kinda boring. N only coz of dt cliffhanger in the end I might read the next book. I hope it turns out to be more exciting then this one.

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Mar 19, 2013 Sheena rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, onmyebookreader, reads-for-2013

Wow! I knew it..when i read about the summary..i felt that i will really like this book. Well.. in fact..my hunch is true..I really did love it. I enjoyed reading it from start to end. Mythological teen romance...what a thrilling ride..those magics,romance,action,adventure,and all...rolled into one. A page-turner. I want to congratulate and thank Eva Pohler for a successful job of writing this kind of story. I will definitely read the next books.

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Feb 14, 2013 Toni rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-release, r2r, paranormal-romance, series, nook-books-i-own

First off this book, has great potential and the future books can only get better! I really like the characters.. I thought Therese could have been stronger! I loved Than! but I really liked the the secondary characters, especially Than's sisters! I thought the story line was enjoyable, but I thought it was better for middle school age! I will most likely pick up the next book, just so see where it goes. All in all I liked it!

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About Eva Pohler

I write fiction for teens and adults and teach writing and literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where I live with my husband, three kids, two dogs, and two rats (Katniss and Prim, of course). I'm also an avid reader and book reviewer. I've always said I never want to give up reading for writing or vice versa. I want to do both. My favorite authors are Tracy Chevalier, Ann Patchett...more

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The Gatekeeper's Challenge (The Gatekeeper's Trilogy, #2)

The Gatekeeper's Daughter (Gatekeeper's Trilogy, #3)

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