Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips

December 26th, 2007

Gods Behaving Badly
Marie Phillips
277 p.

Jonathan Cape,
Random House, 2007

Back cover blurb:

Being immortal isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Life’s hard for a Greek god in the 21st century: nobody believes in you anymore, even your own family doesn’t respect you, and you’re stuck in a dilapidated hovel in North London with too many siblings and not enough hot water. But for Artemis (goddess of hunting, professional dog walker), Aphrodite (goddess of beauty, telephone sex operator) and Apollo (god of the sun, TV psychic) there’s no way out… Until a meek cleaner and her would-be boyfriend come into their lives, and turn the world literally upside down.

I think that in order to really like a book, the cover has to be nice. If a book has an ugly cover, it is likely that I would be put off. If it is really abysmal, I might not even give it a try. Here, Gods Behaving Badly won my heart. I love the cover. It is so creative and happy and it has so few colours and is still really effective. It is, in short, really nice. This is one of my sister’s books, and I sometimes stay clear of them, seeing as they belong to her. I would’ve left this book alone if it hadn’t been so extremely pretty. And the story reflects the cover.

It isn’t a too complicated story. It’s enjoyable but not the best thing I have ever read. The language was easy and flowed nicely. It was funny. Doctor Who was mentioned, which is an automatic plus. I am not very good at Greek mythology, and sometimes I got mixed up as to who was who. Thankfully, knowing exactly who was who wasn’t the most important thing. As long as I kept track on that Apollo had to do with the sun, it was fine. In a way it reminded me of Jasper Fforde’s later books - new takes on old characters. It wasn’t really done with the same vigour or elegance. Still, it was a good read.

Entry Filed under: English, Fiction, Humour