The Gatekeeper's Sons (Gatekeeper's Saga, #1) in Paranormal and Fantasy in the Window Seat

Nov 03, 2012 Chani rated it liked it

Shelves: readandratedindiebooks, gave-3-stars

**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 **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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