Extreme Denial

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Covid-19 Denial, Jodi Doering, South Dakota

South Dakota right now is one of the states who is seeing an enormous surge in not only people testing positive for Covid-19, but also having to be hospitalized and dying. This is due in part to Republican Governor Kristi Noem’s refusal to follow CDC guidelines not encourage mask wearing and social distancing, and encouraging massive crowded events like the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. On Twitter this past Saturday, South Dakota registered ER nurse, Jodi Doering, shared some of  her experiences with Covid-19 patients she’s tried to help. Some, desperately ill and dying, continue to insist that they don’t have the virus and the pandemic is a hoax.

The ones who stick out are those who still don’t believe the virus is real. The ones that scream at you for a magic medicine and that Joe Biden is going to ruin the USA. All while gasping for breath on 100% Vapotherm. They tell you there must be some other reason why they are sick. They call you names and ask why you have to wear all that ‘stuff’ because they don’t have COVID because it’s not real. Yes that really happens.

The following video is of an interview she gave to CNN this morning. What she relates is mind-boggling, sad, and frustrating.

 

Lore, By Alexandra Bracken ~ 4.0 Stars

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Contemporary Fiction, Greek Mythology, LGBTQ, Mystery, Romance, Thriller, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: January 5th, 2021

480 Pages

Synopsis: Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of  ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.

Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family’s sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt’s promises of eternal glory. For years she’s pushed away thought of revenge against the man—now a god—responsible for their deaths.

Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.

The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to finally leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore’s decision to bind her fate to Athena’s and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost—and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.

Before I start this review, if you’re getting a sense of deja vu, or see that you’ve already written a comment, that’s because this is an updated post I did a few months ago on the chapter sampler of Lore. I apologize for being lazy, but instead of writing out the entire synopsis again, I thought I’d just update my original review now that I’ve had the opportunity to read the entire book.

What do you get when you combine bestselling YA author Alexandra Bracken with Greek gods? A surefire blockbuster is what I’m thinking! Except for Madeline Miller’s phenomenal Circe(2019), once Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series ended, there haven’t been many Greek mythology-based books released, so I had high hopes for Lore. Well, it starts off with a bang and plenty of blood, gore, and even a decapitation. One word of warning, the violence continues throughout the book, including two scenes involving the murder of little girls. These two particular sections relate the murders in the third person, and compared to other parts, aren’t terribly graphic, but they still made me squirm, and may make some readers uncomfortable as well. While the storyline may sound similar to previous series, like Percy Jackson and The Hunger Games, let me assure you that this is completely unique. There are a lot of characters but they’re easily remembered because they each have an integral part to play. The romance is a bit ho-hum, but that’s okay because there’s so much else going on. The pacing is insane, and I flew through this in two days despite it being just under 500 pages. The only reason why I rated this 4 stars is because there are some rough passages, especially in the first fifty or so pages where the reader is being introduced to the history and rules of the Agon. I’ve been a voracious reader of Greek Mythology since I was a child and I consider myself fairly well-versed in the stories and characters involved, but there were a few times I was left confused and frustrated. Thankfully things became clearer the deeper I got into the story. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Lore and unhesitatingly recommend it to my fellow mythology enthusiasts who are looking for a refreshing take on the old legends.