Is 'Black Ships Before Troy' Suitable For Middle School Readers?

I was Apollo’s most devoted follower, the lover he handpicked from a sea of worshippers. With me, he’d always shed his divine arrogance. He was so tender, so attentive. I actually thought he loved me to the bone. Until seven days before our Consort Ceremony, when I used my gift of prophecy to peek into our future together. I expected to see a lifetime of blinding love. Instead, I saw him violently tangled in the sheets with my adopted sister, Cassandra. Wrapped around him, Cassandra giggled. "You're so good to me, my Lord. Thanks to you, I'll finally get my sister's Sight and take her place as High Priestess." And Apollo—my god, my lover—smiled down at her with pure adoration. "Whatever makes you happy, little bird. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have played pretend for this long, let alone allow her to become a god's consort." In that split second, my heart turned to ash. My faith shattered into a million pieces. With seven days left until the ceremony, I didn't confront them. Instead, I fell to my knees before the altar of Hades, Lord of the Underworld. "I offer you my gift of prophecy. I will be your most loyal follower in exchange for your sanctuary." "Please. Take me away from here. Take me somewhere Apollo can never find me."

Hades was well-cast to rule over the land of the dead. But what if Hades, the fearsome monarch of the Underworld was, in fact, a goddess? Everyone called her, 'Lord of the Dead' out of mockery since she prefers the company of women. She was considered an isolated and violent immortal, who loathed change and was easily given to a slow black rage like no others. But then everything changed when the dark goddess met the daughter of Demeter, Persephone. Now the tale of Hades and Persephone will be retold with a sprinkle of twists and turns.

My husband Hades gave another woman my birthday celebration. Then he gave her my mother’s brooch. Then he let our son call her home. Nympha was the flower spirit who had grown up beside him. The healers said a curse was killing her, and she had only six months left before she disappeared forever. Hades said he only wanted her final days to be free of regret. So I was expected to be generous. Even when our five-year-old son, Eren, curled up beside her at the hearth and whispered that she felt more like home than I did, I still told myself he was only a child. Then one night, I heard him say to Hades, “Nympha is so gentle. So beautiful. I wish Mother could be more like her.” Hades only smiled. “Your mother is strict because she wants what is best for you,” he said. “But if you like Nympha so much, I can let her stand beside you at the family altar. She can bless you like a second mother.” That was when I finally understood. My husband had already given her my place. And my son had accepted her there. So the next morning, I placed a marriage dissolution agreement before Hades. He signed it without reading, because Nympha had collapsed again and he was desperate to reach her.By the time he realized what he had signed, I was already gone. If they wanted Nympha to be the lady of the Underworld, I would grant them their wish. But why, after I left, did Hades tear the Underworld apart looking for me? Why did my son cry himself sick, begging for the mother he once pushed away? And why did the dying woman they protected so carefully suddenly stop looking so fragile?

After the cruise ship strikes a hidden reef, panicked passengers shove me and Kristen Langford into the sea. My boyfriend, Elijah Jensen, is the ship's captain, so he plunges into the water. But instead of saving me, he grabs Kristen and boards the last lifeboat. I thrash and cry for help, but he slaps my hand away. "You can swim. Stop pretending for attention!" Elijah snaps. "Kristen's body temperature is dropping. I have to get her to a hospital!" The waters around me are pitch-black, and his words feel like a death sentence. When the tracking bracelet I always wear is discovered inside a shark, Elijah dives alone into shark-infested waters, searching for three days and nights. In the end, the brilliant captain who once ruled the oceans can never sail again.

In the human world, Olympus is merely a fantasy found in books, known as the abode of gods since ancient times. But in another world, Olympus is an enchanted and dangerous place. A place not for gods and goddesses but for peculiar people from the seven castes of power. However, powers have their limitations, and so does Olympus. And, in the midst of war and darkness, a woman struggling with an identity crisis in the human world has mysteriously entered the enchanted world of Olympus. In a world where power is the only way to live, will she be able to survive, especially since she has to deal with the man who possesses one of the elemental powers in Olympus? This isn't just an ordinary world. This isn't just a mere fantasy, nor a figment of imagination. It's the world of Olympus, and it's about the love untold.

Princess Thalia’s life ended in fire and betrayal. But for her, death was not the end—it was a second chance. Waking up one year in the past, she is the sole keeper of a horrifying secret: the king, her own father, is about to unleash an apocalypse. To stop him, she must transform herself from the forgotten, useless princess everyone despises into a master of magic and intrigue. Her only hope lies chained in the darkness beneath the palace—a legendary elven warrior, the last of his kind, broken by a centuries-old curse. He is a weapon she must wield, a secret she must protect, and a soul whose fate is inexplicably tied to her own. As they forge a desperate alliance, their combined power awakens ancient magic and a forbidden love that could unite their peoples. But in a world of whispering shadows and monstrous creatures, their bond may be the very thing that triggers the doom they are trying to prevent. For in a battle against fate itself, the price of saving the world may be everything they have come to love. Warning: This book contains scenes of graphic and descriptive violence. Reader discretion is advised.