Guiding Gaia

The world is in danger. The goddess Gaia has been reborn as a teenager and is tasked with determining whether or not the world is worth saving. Demi must act as her guardian and guide and protect her while Gaia struggles with hormonal mood swings and new discoveries about what the world has become. They also must travel throughout the world to gather various treasures that Gaia had hidden in the past. With each treasure she collects, her powers grow. When they meet Uri in Antarctica, Demi knows that there is something strange happening—but will he be a hindrance or a help to their cause? They can only wait and see.

Tish Thawer’s take on Greek mythology and the goddess Gaia is exciting and full of potential. However, the author leaves the onus of understanding the underlying mythology on the reader, only offering cursory explanations of who each character is or what mythological events occurred in the past. These explanations occur very late in the book, seemingly hidden to create suspense but at times only causing frustration or confusion for readers. The plot had a lot of potential and some excellent moments to keep the readers enthralled. But overall, it began to feel repetitive, stagnant and draggy. Despite this, Guiding Gaia is a light read full of strong female characters and adventures throughout the world—introducing readers to some of the world’s greatest wonders.

Shailyn Rogers