Temping Fate, Esther M. Friesner

Ironically, I began reading this novel in Summer. Even more uncanny, was the fact that my mother had been pestering me for weeks to get a job. Aside from that, I did find this book a good read!

Temping Fate, is your is that weird situation where a conventional chick-lit novel meets Percy Jackson. It revolves around your misfit female lead, with the appearance of cute guys, mayhem and menace. Where it meets Percy Jackson is where we also meet the main plot of the story. More pleasantly, the novel also fits into the not-so femme-centric box, with more feminist and informed understandings of the chick side of the literature. Rather than taking a pretty girl from the box of generic characters, Friesner created a relatable, yet quirky enough to stand out heroine.

Ilana Newhouse is the newest employee on the job-market. She wants a job (any job), and she gets something she probably wasn’t quite expecting. She ends up temping for the Fates of Ancient Greece.

Admittedly, when the plot of this novel was introduced I was ecstatic. I love myself a greek-god, and when theres more than one, and an entire secret society thrown in the mix… Well, I was in fan-girl heaven.

This book gets major points for putting ancient Gods and Culture-centric Myths into a modern setting and preserving their integrity or their genuine nature. The gods that we meet in the story are convincing characters and they work perfectly in the modern environment. It’s the first book I have read in a while that can claim as much.

More so, the story had me in virtual hysterics 99% of the time. Ilana truly is a oddball – and I am sure Friesner had as much joy in writing her character as I did reading it. Ultimately, despite the infuriating nature of Ilana in some cases (I’m talking in the stereotypical horror character answers the sounds in the kitchen with a who’s there? like the killers going to turn around and offer her a sandwich) I found the entire novel enjoyable, and, an easy, light read!