Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: Sometimes the plot got a little confusing, especially with the love "quadrangle" that's going on between the main characters, but when they weren't falling in and out of love, I loved them all. The funniest parts of this book involved the three gossips in the kitchen. They didn't have as many personal things going on that could often muddle the plot, so they were a refreshing break and told you clearly what was going on in Troy, with a fair bit of their gossip thrown in for good measure.
Rating:
Summary: Side-Story in the Epic of Troy
Review: The book, Troy, was written in a very different style than I'm used to. It centers on two sisters: Xanthe and Marpessa. They live in Troy, Xanthe as nursemaid to Lord Hector's son, and Marpessa, an attendant to Helen.
The story tells of the events of the sisters' lives before and after the Greeks destroyed Troy. Some parts were very evocative, and the plot was very interestingly portrayed. Adele Geras's setting very vivid, and her characterization was well done.
Though I really disliked many parts, the story was well written, and at times leaves you to imagine what's going to happen afterwards, particulary in the end.
I'm still undecided whether this book makes my top ten list of books, but it's still a good read, and I enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: The Iliad--in English
Review: The Iliad is enjoyable as a great work of ancient literature, but oft-neglected due to the fact that it's written in a distant and often difficult style. This book gives us a good insight into how people would have felt and seen things.The war between Greece and Troy has been lasting years, and Troy is beginning to crumble under relentless pressure to win back the beautiful Helen. The characters we know already, Paris and Helen and Hector and so forth, are shown from the viewpoints of servant girls, who have a tangle of loves and infatuations worthy of a high school soap. Marpessa is Helen's servant, and her sister Xanthe is Hector's son's nurse. Their anguishes and loves spin their courses as Troy collapses ever further, a situation including the famed wooden horse. The gods appear, as they do in myth and legend, but only in brief spurts -- the humans are the ones we wish to see here. And it is these unknowns, the invented people that interest us for anyone with a passing knowledge of the Iliad will know the conclusion for Troy, for Paris, for Helen. But we don't know what will happen to Marpessa and Xanthe, and thus we care a great deal. Marpessa and Xanthe are interesting characters, but I often felt that the focus shifted a little too far off them. That, and I got bored easily by the kitchen gossip — it was entertaining for a bit but got a little older later on. I also tended to get a little lost in the tangle of who-loves-who, where A loved B who is secretly in love with C, who got A pregnant. One inevitable thing is that the writing style will be a bit off when one adapts a novel from an ancient poem. Often it seemed to sag or to lose something that could have made a scene sparkle. It was fairly sprightly throughout most of the book, but I felt that it was a bit "off" when the major events of the legend came together at the finale. Overall, an enjoyable adaptation with a few awkward spots, but a nice read.
Rating:
Summary: Look inside Troy...
Review: This book is AMAZING. The author cleverly displays the pros and cons of living in the amazing city of Troy in it's height. The book is divvyed up via where the characters are in the city. (The Kitchens, Helen's House, ect.) Although the pace of the book slows down between battles, there are many other things to keep you busy. I don't recccomend people under twelve read this book-- it gets gory and the romance is something younger children wouldn't like. All in all, I heartily reccomend it!!!
Rating: 
Summary: High and Dry
Review: This book was a good book. The story never gets old, I loved the development of the characters and the story itself. I do have a couple problems with it though. I don't know if the stuff with the servants and such is made up or based on fact, but personally, I was hoping for more concentration on the major players, but i guess i knew wot i was getting into in the first place. Okay, if you're going to novelize the legends, give it a novelized ending, wrap things up, and this book does not do that at all. It kind of suggests things, but pretty much just leaves you hanging and guessing and I can't stand it when anything does that. Sure most of the characters have just had to settle, but poor Xanthe? So she's not totally miserable? and? Another problem is one that is about the style of writing the book is in and personal tastes. I love description... it's mostly the best part of reading any book for me, and this book just leaves me high and dry. The wording is just there, cause and effect and actions and almost no deep feelings at all. I know its aimed at younger readers (me being 22) but i have read young adult books a lot more descriptive than this one. Overall though, this book is a great introduction to mythology and the storyline, a great primer for the movie coming out i hope!
Rating: 
Summary: Best book ever!!!!
Review: This book was amazing! It totally shed new light onto the Trojan War. It was awesome because it's like reading a soap opera, and yet it's historical fiction, so there is some truth to everything. This book is a better way to learn history; more kids would want to learn if every historical event was put into historical fiction like this book was. Troy made the Trojan War real, and made it interesting, instead of reading the entire lIlliad. Even though it is for more mature people due to some explicit parts, Troy is a "two-thumbs up" kind of book!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book; Bad Ending
Review: This book was GREAT, had me on the edge of my seat!! Loved it. The only problem was that the ending was confusing. I didn't really close the book!
you know the story of Helen and the Trojan War, but in this book the Trojan war is told through the eyes of two sisters, but of course the Gods HAVE to interfer.
A great read, terrible ending.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Book Ever
Review: This is my favorite book I have ever read! Its about love and war. There are many love triangles, and much worry about the war. You'll start to love the characters and really feal you are right their with them. If you like love stories, than you should read this. This book is packed with action, and is never boring. After the first chapter (which is really short) or so, then their is already love. So, it pretty much gets on with the story from the start. The only thing I didn't like, was the ending. Just because it kinda leaves you hanging. But still, all in all, the best book ever
Rating: 
Summary: Utterly pathetic
Review: This novel evokes only one emotion in me: pity. Pity for the writer (who cannot express herself in eloquent terms and who struggles to recreate the Trojan War with meaningless observations and obvious plot twists), and pity for the readers, who waste precious time on a novel that should be in the sewer, where it would doubtlessly find friends in the other muck that rests there.
The characters are as flat as a piece of paper, flatter even -- if you looked at them sideways you would see nothing. They are made up of nothing more than insubstantial fancy and awkward description; they feel nothing that is not contrived, they react with idiocy and dumb blindness, and they appear to be robots, completely controlled by the twisted, confusing, and often self-indulgent imaginings of the author. Simply put, they have no vitality and no life. They remain obediently within the lines on the paper, never stepping outside of the boundaries that the covers create, never rebelling against the lack of talent that fashioned them. Good characters should surprise you. Xanthe and Marpessa do surprise, it is true -- I am amazed at their stupidity and at the falseness of their emotions.
In her attempt to recreate the Trojan War, Geras has mangled the true meaning of Homer's Iliad, insulted readers everywhere with her lack of creativity, and spoiled bookshelves with the presence of this novel, offensive in every aspect, every element, of its description and contrivance.
Once again, I offer my pity to anyone who read this novel. In the future let it remain on the library shelves, moldering and collecting dust, or better yet, let it return to that which it came from: the bottom of a garbage can.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to mythology
Review: This novel is an excellent introduction to mythology. While a student may not at first be interested in reading Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, the student may consider reading this paperback. Though some of the events seem improbable...anything is possible when Greek gods and goddesses intervene. Readers will end this book wanting to learn more about Eros, Aphrodite, and others. Obviously, readers will want to know more about the legend of Troy as well. It was interesting to view the story of Troy through the eyes of four teenagers who are common citizens who had to endure the siege that not only limited food resources, but nearly reduced everyone to the same level. This story includes passion, action, violence and sadness.
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