LitPick Review
Mistress of the Rock is a story following Richard as he discovers the origin of the Goddess Aphrodite, and how she has played a vital role in his life. First learning about her beginnings when he was in the military, he prayed to her to get him home safely. Throughout his life, he always keeps Aphrodite in the back of his mind, always wanting to return to her birth place, always wanting more time with her. Finally he takes a trip with his wife in hopes of getting closer to the Goddess of Love, as well as getting his wife to appreciate her power. While back where his love for her started it all, Richard reconnects with an old friend from the military, and together with his wife they discover there is so much more to the Goddess than first meets the eye. Richard continues to get closer and closer to Aphrodite. In spirit or with the spirit?
Opinion:
I think overall The Mistress of the Rock was a decent book. There were certainly parts that were very engaging and entertaining. I think there's plenty of people who would thoroughly enjoy this story, as it is an easy read that does have some intrigue. The getting ever closer to connecting with Aphrodite and how that's resolves was engaging and kept me continuing to read.
The writing did keep me feeling like there was always something new and exciting about to happen with each chapter, even if that was not always the case. It was a fairly quick read that has a nice, easy pace to it. If I had to stop reading, it wasn't difficult to get right back into it. The authors style of writing contributed to that. The writing did not necessarily suck you into their world, but the descriptions were enough to keep you in the story. I liked the overall story of the book, but I wished that there was more depth to the characters. Most of the main characters were fairly one noted. We did not get to learn much about them other than what was absolutely necessary to the story, which is fine, but I prefer character development in order to feel more connected to the characters and understand their true importance in a novel. Just knowing a characters name, description, and their relationship status just isn't enough. The only one with real passion was Richard, but still he could have had more to him than just the love of Aphrodite. There were also a lot of moments that were unnecessary, really seeming like page filter. For example, characters going out to eat where nothing really added to the story, information-wise.
I did get to learn more than I knew about Aphrodite. For example, I was unaware there was a place anywhere, let alone in Cyprus, where there was a place with the origin story of Aphrodite. I'm fairly familiar with Greek mythology, but somehow this was some knowledge I did not have. I enjoyed getting to learn more about the area in Cyprus and being reminded how people really are impacted by their faith, as well as how people can come together when their faith is shared.
