Published By: Zephyr
Pages: 240
Released On: 11/09/2025
Reading Age: 9+
Phoebe dreams of becoming an artist like her grandmother, Cass, a brilliant storyteller who has passed on her love of Greek myths to Phoebe. But Cass is disappearing before Phoebe’s eyes, lost to a cruel illness that is destroying her memory. When Phoebe ruins Cass’s seascape inspired by childhood holidays on the Greek island of Ithaca, she is mysteriously swept away to a fantasy world that resembles her favourite myth of all – The Odyssey.
There Phoebe is caught up in a young boy’s mission to find his long-lost father – a shipbuilder to King Odysseus, last seen going off to fight in the Trojan War – and faces an epic quest of her own. To seek the shape-shifting monster whose ravenous and growing power may hold the key to Phoebe fighting her own demons. Only by defeating the monster and facing her fears, will she have any hope of finding her way home and back to Cass.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Zephyr for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This is my first Annelise Gray book, although I do own a copy of the first Circus Maximus book just waiting to be read.
This had the same feeling I get when I read a Katherine Rundell book, right from the off, as well as hints of C.S Lewis‘ Narnia.
Like all good kids books, it is fun and magical and thrilling, but it doesn’t talk down to them. It contains some difficult topics, ones that even adults struggle with, and I think that’s important in keeping the story and characters grounded.
The problem I find with some kids books is that because the protagonist is a child, I find it hard to connect to them as a 32 year old. But Annelise has created such a mesmerising character in Phoebe that she really spoke to me. All the characters, whether I could relate to them or not, were so well written and felt so real, even the mythological ones, and you get swept up on this journey with them.
Its a relatively short book and I read it in a few hours as it’s so addictive and well written, and so smooth. I think for younger readers, it would be a great read at bedtime, a chapter at a time. I truly did enjoy it, but I think younger readers will get more out of it, which is fine, as that is the target audience.
I loved the weaving of the Odyssey stories and other myths like Jason and the Argonauts for example.
It’s a fantasy, and a fairy tale, I suppose. But it’s also about family, friendship, love, sadness, memories, bravery, hope, the power of imagination, and the power of art.
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