The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess by Leanna Renee Hieber

From Goodreads:

The Goddess: In the beginning, there were lovers: a winged deity of power and light, and a queen of grace and beauty. Phoenix was murdered, his beloved stolen away to the Whisper-world. But their passion inspired the Muses. Through great sacrifice, it could live again.  

The Guard: There are always six, mortal hosts for the divine. Battling spirits through the ages, they defy Darkness, Lord of the Dead. In 1867, a shadow rises. The tide turns against them, and all hope falls on a child of prophecy, an eerie, snow-white girl yet to be born. But her path must be cleared. A Great War is coming, and song, wind and stars whisper that the eighteen-year-old Beatrice Smith must give everything to prepare.

 Even though this is actually listed as #3 in the Strangely Beautiful tales, the story is a prequel to the first 2 books, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker and The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker (Strangely Beautiful). I reviewed both of them HERE. In a strange way, I do think it was appropriate to list it as #3 rather than .5 or such because the story makes more sense if you have read the first 2 books prior. Having said that, I must admit that I did not enjoy this book as I did the first two.

For me, the story was a bit all over the place and I had a hard time connecting to the characters. I didn't care for the goddess at all and found her to be flighty and selfish. I also did not connect to the Cairo guard, which is the guard prior to Alexi's group, until the very end.

The story felt uneven to me and my interest would pick up and wane as the story was told. It was as if too much wanted to be told in this book and it would have been better to concentrate on one story. Too much importance was equally placed on the goddess's relationship and the guard's relationships and nothing really stood out. The composition of how things were placed just didn't work for me. I would have enjoyed it more as a prequel to have concentrated on Persephone and the Phoenix's relationship and how darkness tried to ruin them. Perhaps even leading to her mortal birth, but still be the main focus to this book.

I give this book 2 1/2 stars. I just didn't love this book as I did the first 2. Those I recommend highly as I loved both books. In fact, the kindle version of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parkeris only $2.99. I believe it is a part of the summer sale.


I received this eARC from NetGalley and DP. No compensation was given.