Making up for lost time…two in one week!
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Who Let the Gods Out?
by Maz Evans, narrated by the author
6 CDs, 7.5 Hours
Elliot Hooper is an ordinary kid with some extraordinary problems. It all started when he wished upon a star to change his life. Well, no…it all started during a horrible day at school when he fell asleep at his desk and his odious teacher Boil tried to force the headmaster, Call-Me Graham, to expel him. Elliot does have several reasons for losing sleep–his Mom is ill, and he’s trying to hold both of them together while trying to save the farm that’s been in his family for generations, there’s a Scary Letter with a deadline hanging above his head–but it would do no good to tell the school that. It’s enough that their suspicious neighbor, Mrs. Porshley-Plum has been prowling about. If any of them figured out that Elliot is taking care of everything, they would just send him away and he’d lose the farm and Mom. So Elliot wishes.
Elsewhere, Virgo is trying to show the other constellations that even though she’s the youngest by several thousand years, she can still be responsible. And she sets off to prove it by bolting during a confrontational meeting and taking over a mission that none of the other constellations want. So she didn’t get the details. So she doesn’t know anything about the mortal realm. So she doesn’t know how to maneuver her constellation form well. So what–she can still do it!
Elliot and Virgo come together when Virgo crash-lands through Elliot’s cowshed and into a pile of manure. After Virgo realizes that Bessie is not a Bovinor but a cow, and Elliot is actually the person representative of Earths main life-form, the two form a reluctant partnership. It takes a bit of time for Virgo to accept Elliot’s help, but once Elliot is convinced that Virgo isn’t just a strange girl, but instead an immortal with a mission, he thinks they can help each other. And if Elliot can help with her mission, then Virgo will help save the farm.
But things don’t work out quite the way they’re planned when Virgo and Elliot botch the mission and release Thanatos, the evil Daemon of Death. Suddenly Elliot’s farm is full of Virgo’s family–Gods like chubby Zeus and his noble high horse Pegasus, Hermes, who is obsessed with social media, and Hestia, who starts immediately renovating and redecorating . But it’s good that the gods have come to help, because Thanatos has discovered that Elliot is the one person who might be able to cause his downfall…and he’s on the hunt.
The audio for Who Let the Gods Out? is narrated by the author. It’s always an enjoyable experience to listen to an author read their own work; obviously, they already know the characters inside and out. This book is no exception; it’s a great narration. I love all the various accents for the characters. I couldn’t tell you which type of English accent they’re supposed to be, but I can tell that they’re all different! And the humor of the situation and the characters definitely comes out in the reading. What’s not to love?
Who Let the Gods Out? is both heartwarming and hysterical. I love the silly names for the characters in the mortal realm, as well as Elliot’s nicknames for some of the more outrageous individuals. (It’s definitely reminiscent of Roald Dahl.) The gods are over-the-top funny. Each god and goddess (as well as the non-god immortals) take their mythological background into account, but give it a modern and unexpected twist. And they are funny! Elliot’s care of his mother and his desire to save her and the farm make him a admirable character, even when he lets his impatience get in the way. Virgo is clueless and a bit rude, but her heart is in the right place.
I would recommend Who Let the Gods Out? to readers who enjoy a little humor (well, a lot of humor) with their adventure and mythology. If you like the Goddess Girls, Beasts of Olympus or the Myth-o-Mania series, you’ll definitely like this book as well. Some listen-alikes are Thor’s Wedding Day, Hatched, and Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures. While the audio is enjoyable for all ages, the book is probably best for fourth through seventh grade readers.
Who Let the Gods Out? is the first book in a trilogy, so I’m hoping the others will be just as much fun to read. They’ve been published in the UK, but the next book–Simply the Quest is coming out in the US in 2019.
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So there you have it! Another great audio book to listen to. Percy Jackson fans–you should try this one. It’s an adventure, and an interesting take on characters you already know. Not Percy, of course, but the gods and goddesses in his family tree.
As always, if you need help finding this or any other book or audio in our library, just ask one of our librarians. We love to help you find your best book!
::Kelly::