Divine By Mistake (Partholon #1) By: P.C. Cast (Book Review)

(((There will be spoilers in this review)))

Summary:

The only excitement Shannon Parker expects while on summer vacation is a little shopping. But when an antique vase calls to her, she finds herself transported to Partholon, where she's treated like a goddess. A very temperamental goddess...

Somehow Shannon has stepped into another's role as the Goddess incarnate of Epona. And while there's an upside, what woman doesn't like lots of pampering? It also comes with a ritual marriage to a centaur and threats against her new people. oh, and everyone disliking her because they think she's her double. Somehow Shannon needs to figure out how to get back to Oklahoma without being killed, married to a horse or losing her mind...

This is one of the best stories I have read in a long while. It's different, innovating and beyond enthralling. Cast's writing style is relatable and easily readable. And she knows when to be funny! There were many moment where I had to stop reading to just laugh out loud. Most of the supernatural books include; Vampires, werewolves, fairies and about a million lovers that it seems we walked into an orgy party. This book was definitely refreshing compared to the 'usual' books. I absolutely love that Partholon worships the goddess Epona; goddess of war and horses. She's also goddess of other things but those are the main two. 

Shannon is from a modern and mundane world where magic is only found in fairy tales and fantastical creatures are found in books and imagination. Then she is transported to Partholon where magic is real and her life turns into a fairy tale in it itself. I feel like this book is what a lot of us wish to happen to us. We wish we were brought into a world filled with adventure, magic and actually having a destiny to fulfill. Shannon is brought into a parallel world where she is a goddess incarnate, mind you I would love to have that happen to me. 

I don't know if other readers have noticed this but I found that this book is about a woman in her mid-thirties geared for teenagers. I feel this is really apparent when it comes to the very few sex scenes but when it came to teasing Nuada; the fearless leader of the Fomorians, Shannon or Rhea had no issue getting seductive and a little vulgar. I don't understand how Cast could easily write those scenes but yet we had these short sex scenes but she just barely brushed over them . Doesn't quite make sense which is why I thought this was geared more towards teenagers but then why have the protagonist in her mid-thirties? There was only one tiny part that was starting to get boring and that was when Shannon and Epi were trying to get to MacCallan castle. Once we moved past that part it was gravy. For a little bit in my life, everyday I would read a couple chapters after work and just relax into this fictional world where I felt safe and loved. 

I love just how well thought out this book was. Shannon is in this whole new world and as she learns about the new world so do we. Throughout the story, she finds out and accepts that she is important and speaking to Epona it validates that Shannon is more special than she can ever imagine. We all want to be validated and told that we are important and that what we do holds meaning, being told so by a goddess doesn't get better than that. We can clearly see who the villains in this story are; the Fomorians, we have Rhiannon who tries to switch places back with Shannon which her attempt ultimately fails and we also have ClanFintan (still not sure how to pronounce it in a sexy way) the sexy warrior centaur and the mate of Rhea. Cast has build such a fantastic story line and introduced us to this wonderful world called Partholon that now while the Fomorians are defeated, the big villain is defeated there is still a question left of  'what about Rhiannon?' and as well as the Fomorian babies. What about them? We know that Carolan had found a way to help the pregnant woman filled with Fomorian seed but no answer was given about the creatures that were already born. In the sequel, Cast has to keep up the same quality in the story line as well as character development. She has built up this whole new world, now that we are familiar with it she has to bring the thunder for the sequel. 

One of my favourite scenes in the book is towards the end when Rhea jumps onto Epi, grabs a sword and runs towards the human armies, urging them to arrive faster while also killing a couple Fomorians. I love a strong protagonist who can also kick ass even if it was for a couple of minutes. Shannon is funny, sarcastic and her story is just amazing that even after finishing this book it makes me want to read more of her story. This is one of those books you cannot get enough of. 

Rating:

I am going to give Divine By Mistake 4.5 stars on 5. I loved the story, I loved the characters and I just want to devour the next book. But the reason why it's not a perfect rating is because there was that moment where I was starting to get bored with the story, the evasion with the sex scenes and those little unanswered questions regarding the Fomorian babies. Otherwise, this has been a fantastic read and I can't wait to jump onto the next book in the series.