Do you think the Greek God of time would be for or against Daylight Savings Time? Is there a Greek God of time? Can we do a ritual or something and ask them?
Even though I barely know what day it is, I am losing my mind over this latest book tour by Rockstar Book Tours. Lifestyles of Gods & Monsters is the literary Baz Luhrmann mash up I am obsessed with.
“Killing a big-name monster is the fastest route to something even more valuable–fame, eternal glory, their name written in the stars.”
Take the legend of the Minotaur, set it in a modern Greek world where Gods and Goddesses, Kings and Queens, still rule the people. Add the myth of the maze and turn it into a worldwide televised reality gameshow, and you have Lifestyles of Gods & Monsters.
This is obviously an over-simplistic summary of this book. Roberson gives so much life to this myth. The Minotaur isn’t a senseless beast. Or at least, not entirely. The depth of his character is one of the reasons this modern retelling works so well.
Same with Ariadne, Theseus, and Icarus. This isn’t a callous legend, where the whims of gods highlight their cruelty and humans are fickle creatures merely doing what they’re told. These characters are complex and you can feel the turmoil and struggle they face as this story progresses.
“I thought I was special because I hid from the cameras, because I was my own person. But I always only did what I was told.”
The idea of putting these legends in the scope of reality television is BRILLIANT!!! It’s not that it captures a certain accessibility to make this story modern. These legends were the reality television of ancient Greece. The heroes were revered and the villains provoked terror. To place it beneath cameras and ratings and social media blasts is simply genius. I love that this gives teens not just a way to relate to the story, but also to understand how important these stories were to these ancient cultures.
Now, I realize I’ve been on a Baz Luhrmann kick, and I’m not even sorry about it. But seriously, to all the gods and goddesses, what sacrifice do I need to make to get him directing this delicious novel into a movie BECAUSE I NEED THIS NOW!!!
In fact, just do all the greek myths based on this idea, because legends told through the lens of modern reality television is exactly the entertainment I need in my life. I think it’s the only version of reality TV I can take, TBH, and it may not even be reality television, exactly, but I don’t care. I crave this story in full visual effect.
“Ariadne, we’ve just established that destiny is a manipulative pile of trash, have we not?”
While this book was focused entirely on the Maze and the Minotaur, Roberson sets up the expansion of not just these characters, but tying in for future legends as well. And if I can’t get Baz Luhrmann to direct all of these stories, I really hope Roberson writes more. At least give me that! Whatever legend she tackles next, I will be devouring it. Hades, even if it isn’t a legend, I’ll be grabbing it because I am a fan!
Thank you to Rockstar Book Tours and FSG Books for sending me a copy and including me on this tour! Go grab your copy today.
Want to win a copy? Click below! 3 winners will receive finished copies of LIFESTYLES OF GODS & MONSTERS, US only.
Sixteen-year-old Ariadne’s whole life is curated and shared with the world. Her royal family’s entertainment empire is beloved by the tabloids, all over social media, and the hottest thing on television. The biggest moneymaker? The Labyrinth Contest, a TV extravaganza in which Ariadne leads fourteen teens into a maze to kill a monster. To win means endless glory; to lose means death. In ten seasons, no one has ever won.
When the gorgeous, mysterious Theseus arrives at the competition and asks Ariadne to help him to victory, she doesn’t expect to fall for him. He might be acting interested in her just to boost ratings. Their chemistry is undeniable, though, and she can help him survive. If he wins, the contest would end for good. But if she helps him, she doesn’t just endanger her family’s empire―the monster would have to die. And for Ariadne, his life might be the only one worth saving.
Ariadne’s every move is watched by the public and predestined by the gods, so how can she find a way to forge her own destiny and save the people she loves?
Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD
MILY ROBERSON is the author of LIFESTYLES OF GODS & MONSTERS (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, October 2019). She lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Emily has been a bookseller in Little Rock, a newspaper reporter in Vicksburg, a marketing manager in Boston, and a writer in Chapel Hill and Dallas. She graduated from Brown University and has a master’s degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin. She now lives in Little Rock, Arkansas with her husband, three sons and no pets.
You can find her on the web at on instagram @robersonemilym and on twitter @RobersonEmily.
Sign up for Emily’s newsletter here if you would like book news and other updates.
Image by: Laura Kellerman photography
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Tour Schedule:
Week One:
| 10/21/2019 | Two Chicks on Books | Excerpt |
| 10/21/2019 | DjReadsBooks | Spotlight |
| 10/22/2019 | Kait Plus Books | Excerpt |
| 10/22/2019 | Moonlight Rendezvous | Review |
| 10/23/2019 | BookHounds | Interview |
| 10/23/2019 | A Bookish Dream @a_bookish_dream | Review |
| 10/24/2019 | Lifestyle of Me | Review |
| 10/24/2019 | The Phantom Paragrapher | Review |
| 10/25/2019 | Dazzled by Books / @love2dazzle | Review |
| 10/25/2019 | Mythical Books | Excerpt |
Week Two:
| 10/28/2019 | Here’s to Happy Endings | Review |
| 10/28/2019 | Lilly’s Book World | Review |
| 10/29/2019 | Kat’s Books | Review |
| 10/29/2019 | Turning the Pages | Review |
| 10/30/2019 | Smada’s Book Smack | Review |
| 10/30/2019 | Book-Keeping | Review |
| 10/31/2019 | A Gingerly Review | Review |
| 10/31/2019 | Sometimes Leelynn Reads | Review |
| 11/1/2019 | @fictitious.fox | Review |
| 11/1/2019 | Jena Brown Writes | Review |
jenabrownwrites 