GODDESS GIRLS 21

I have been terribly lazy about my reviews, because I keep getting so distracted by other things! Pallas the Pal has been sitting in my book pile since December when it came out.

Pallas the Pal alternates chapters between Pallas and Athena. Pallas is Athena's old friend from the very first Goddess Girls book. Athena lived with her family before being summoned to MOA and learning she was a goddessgirl.

Each girl has specific struggles to overcome. Pallas misses her old friend and wonders why she hasn't written her lately. She's also on the "Cheer Blades" team for her school, a sport that combines sword-fighting and cheering sort of. She's part of two sword events throughout the book. Athena meanwhile has a surprise baby sister, Hebe. Hebe has a very magical birth, so it's not like Athena had the normal nine months to get in the big sister mindset, so she's dealing with a case of sibling rivalry. And both girls are a bit jealous of the other's new friends and take awhile to figure out how to move forward in their friendship.

Add in the fountain that Hebe appeared in turning out to be the Fountain of Youth and causing all the grown-ups to act like children, and Pallas and her friend Eurynome being trained for the big sword-fighting competition by Achilles and Agamemnon and you've got a book jam-packed with stuff.

I'm never really happy with how the books treat the Trojan War characters. I think Athena's Hero-ology Odysseus was an adult, but Achilles and Agamemnon are both kids. And Achilles is definitely the one from the war, because that's acknowledged, so it's odd that he's a) young and b) alive.

But the first rule of Goddess Girls is to forget everything you know about Greek mythology. It's kind of odd, but I really do try not to think about it. I just get hung up on wondering how their decision-making process works though, because so many adults are seemingly arbitrarily kids.

Eurynome is an odd choice for Pallas's best friend's name. Eurynome is multiple figures in mythology, but none of them are anything like the one from this book.

The story of Pallas and Athena is actually mirrored fairly well in the book. Pallas is a daughter of Triton, which is reflected in the story by her town being called Triton. Both girls were raised together. And the story of Pallas fighting Athena in a friendly battle and Zeus interfering with the Aegis is also myth accurate. Except that Pallas was killed in the real myth, but obviously, that's not gonna happen here. They even have a bit in the book about Athena and the palladium, which is nice.

Pallas the Pal is a solid book in the Goddess Girls series. There are a lot of good characters and mythological nods. I feel it's almost got a little too much. I think they could have eliminated the silly Fountain of Youth plotline entirely and had an even tighter story. It's not one of my faves, but it is quite good.