Review: Arrowheart

Arrowheart
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

The gods are gone. 
The people have forgotten them. 
But sixteen-year-old Rachel Patel can't forget - the gods control her life, or more specifically, her love life.

Being a Hedoness, one of a strong group of women descended from Greek God Eros, makes true love impossible for Rachel. She wields the power of that magical golden arrow, and with it, the promise to take the will of any boy she kisses. But the last thing Rachel wants is to force someone to love her . . .

When seventeen-year-old Benjamin Blake's disappearance links back to the Hedonesses, Rachel's world collides with his, and her biggest fear becomes a terrifying reality. She's falling for him - a messy, magnetic, arrow-over-feet type of fall.

Rachel distances herself, struggling to resist the growing attraction, but when he gives up his dream to help her evade arrest, distance becomes an insurmountable task. With the police hot on their trail, Rachel soon realizes there are darker forces hunting them - a group of mortals recruited by the gods who will stop at nothing to preserve the power of the Hedonesses - not to mention Eros himself, who is desperate to reverse the curse . . .

Rachel must learn to do what no Hedoness has done before - to resist her gift - or she'll turn the person she's grown to love into a shadow of himself ... for ever. 

I'm sure you guys know by now...as soon as I see the words "Greek Gods" I'm in. If there's mythology, I'm all over it. Throw in some interesting quirks and something a little bit different and I'm totally here for it. I'm not going to lie, I read this in one go and I regret nothing. 

Arrowheart hooked me from the start, and I was so ready to sit glued to this book. I had snacks and everything! The world of this book is an interesting one, St Valentines is a school for all the Hedonesses but reading about it via Rachel...it felt like quite a stifling environment. I liked that Rachel didn't glorify her gift, she pointed out the wrongness of it which was interesting to me, because usually it's like "Look at my awesome power, let's ignore how wrong and immoral it is". 

I really felt for Rachel throughout the book, she's so stifled by her environment. She doesn't want this gift, she doesn't want to use it, and everyone's shoving it down her throat. I empathised with her so much, and she tries so hard to do the right thing. Then when things with Kyle happened my heart broke for her. I loved him and he was hilarious and I'm hoping to see more of him next book...but my heart ached for Rachel. For me, it was really easy to root for Rachel and support her throughout and I loved having her as an MC. 

You know who I didn't like? Marissa. She was my one issue with this book because honestly she was such a silly cow...and kind of dumb because she got them in to such a mess. Like the whole situation is entirely her fault and I felt like she really didn't care at all. I got so frustrated with her so many times I just couldn't feel sorry for and I do feel kind of bad because I think I was supposed to but...I couldn't relate to her and I really didn't like her as a character. What I'm hoping for...is that she'll be redeemed in the next book because I think things from this book shook her up a bit. It's just...she's supposed to be Rachel's friend but she really doesn't act like it. 

On the romance front, I shipped Ben and Rachel so much, their banter was so amusing. I couldn't quite work him and his motivation out in the beginning but it all becomes clear. He really doesn't give up at all, and he's a lot less mad at Rachel than anyone else would have been at the end, I think! I  liked that he made some effort to understand Rachel and he let her explain things. Oh and I have to give a quick shout out to Eros because he was hilarious and interesting...and more of him please! 

I got such strong Percy Jackson vibes from this book for some reason, even though it wasn't remotely similar...perhaps it was the group of teens out on a quest vibe? 

Arrowheart is a wild ride with plenty of twists and turns, action and romance to keep you hooked. It's easy to binge read and get completely absorbed in because it's a lot of fun! It's an original and fun idea, well thought out and it personally made me think a lot. There's an emphasis on choices in this book that's hard to ignore. The world building is well executed and we even have a super shady organisation that I'm curious about and resent on Rachel's behalf at the same time. 

When I read this...I had assumed it was a standalone book, so as I was reading the final few pages I was preparing to write some notes on how well wrapped up the story was and so on...but Sky was like "bitch you thought" and threw in one last twist that had me screeching because hello cliffhanger! And you know...the wait for book two and I just...whyyyyyy! 

No, for real, I'm actually super excited for book two because after certain....developments it's going to be interesting to see how Rachel and co handle things and what the Committees end game is here...I have a suspicion but we'll see! I also feel like book two is going to give us different vibes from this book!

If you're looking for a fun and entertaining read, with interesting mythology and some adventure, this is the read for you!