Review: Winter of the Gods by Jordanna Max Brodsky

Myth and reality collide in this sequel to The Immortals that sets Greek Gods against a modern Manhattan backdrop.
Manhattan has many secrets. Some are older than the city itself.
Winter in New York: snow falls, lights twinkle, and a very disgruntled Selene DiSilva prowls the streets looking for prey.
But when a dead body is discovered sprawled atop Wall Street's iconic Charging Bull statue, it's clear the NYPD can't solve the murder without help. The murder isn't just the work of another homicidal cult -- this time, someone's sacrificing the gods themselves.
While raising fundamental questions about the very existence of the gods, Selene must hunt down the perpetrators, tracking a conspiracy that will test the bonds of loyalty and love.

Winter of the Gods is another enjoyable installment. It starts with somewhat familiar ground as it kicks off with a murder mystery. Of course, every murder and story behind it is different, so this is not a bad thing. And this time, it appears that the Gods themselves are the targets. Ohhh… fun. Someone out there is trying to take out the gods. Like the first book, I found the mix of mythology and urban fantasy to be fun. Theo and Selene, now an official couple, are working to solve the crime and take us along for the ride.

As I mention often, I am not a huge fan of mystery books, so there has to be more than that to carry a story for me. In this, I think the mix of the UF vibe with mythology is what creates that something a little different to keep me engaged.

As for the relationship in this book, I have to admit that I struggled a bit with the concept of a virginal character with a love interest. I just really felt like the romance in this felt somewhat artificial and also more problematic than it needed to be. Maybe I just didn’t connect with the characters enough to feel chemistry between them.

I do know that when the conflict of Selene struggling with her relationship with Theo would surface, especially in terms of preserving her centuries old virginity, I found myself just not caring at all. That’s not good. This was suppose to be a real trial for the character and my reaction was “just do it and be done with all this whining. More sex, less stress. Or don’t and just get over it. I. Just. Don’t. Care.” Now, I am sure it is possible to have a successful romance without sex, but yeah. This one, with the stress surrounding it, just wasn’t working for me. Like at all. It was the entire strain on the relationship that irked me.

But outside of that, this was a fun story and I found enough aspects of it that I enjoyed to keep me interested and reading. If you enjoyed the first one, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with this one.

Audiobook Notes: I am always fascinated when an author is able to narrate their own books, and have the voice and performance to execute it well. What I love about this is that you know every nuance in inflection and tone is precisely how the author intended it to be read. Brodsky’s performance in this was very good.