Too Much of a Fantasy

Pegasus and the Flame of Olympus:  Pegasus #1 by Kate O'Hearn

Adolescent Fantasy

You must completely suspend belief to read this.  The plot is unbelievable; the characters aren't realistic at all; and, the dialogue is stilted and false.  Yet, slowly, I started to enjoy it.  By the last page, I thought I'd give #2 in the series a try.  Maybe.

Emily's life isn't great to begin with.  Her mother passed away two years ago and her father is largely absent.  It goes from bad to worse when a winged horse crashes onto her roof in New York City during a thunderstorm. (A warning here:  beware of violent plot shifts like this!)  For some reason, the horse (Pegasus) trusts Emily and she enlists the help of a surly classmate (Joe) to save the horse with large amounts of breakfast cereal.  Pegasus is fleeing because Olympus has fallen.  Don't get excited--Channing Tatum will not make an appearance!  Instead, a group called the Nirads have attacked the Greek stronghold and are looking for the winged wonder.  Pegasus was unable to save Olympus because a petty thief (Paelen) stole his magical harness.  Now Pegasus needs to retrieve it; the goddess Diana is PO'ed; and, Paelen has been captured by some FBI/Greek God type of group.

Rick Riordan doesn't need to worry.  It's not a female Percy Jackson.  It's a series that doesn't end on the last page, if you care to keep reading after that strange, but accurate, summary.  It was just a little to fantastical for me to be too keen on it.  Still, the character of Emily is likable and you just can't help rooting for her.