Last of the Amazons (Hardcover)

At first, I found it hard to get into. I wasn't really sure where the story was going for a while - Bones' present? Her early life? I found the characters not too interesting to me during this first part, although after Selene runs away and Europa tells Bones she will follow, it really picked up.

Some people said they couldn't get into the characters. Bones - wasn't too interested. Damon - I loved him at some parts, but others...I just hated Theseus. But Selene, Antiope, Eleuthera - these were some of my favorites. I loved them because to me, they represented the tragedy of the Amazons and their lifestyle (at least judging by this book, and one other I've read - so I claim to be no expert on their culture, as it actually was - my whole experience of them is through fiction). Antiope, recognizing the future of her people. Eleuthera, determined to preserve it. Selene, the only Amazon to be caught so thoroughly between two worlds.

My favorite chapter was the Agony of Antiope. To me, it was the most tragic moment in the book. I got a very powerful image of Antiope in my mind, where a (I believe it was Stratonike's?) charge pushed her backwards, and she pulled herself back up to keep on fighting.

On the other hand, there were plenty of characters I didn't care about. Bones I felt almost no emotion towards until the end, where I felt a little bit of compassion for her. Damon's perspective was intersting, but largely uninteresting, although at some points, he peaked and was one of my favorite characters. His narrative though, when he was not directly involved with the Amazons, was a little boring, especially during the prolonged battle scenes. I actually enjoyed the battle scenes a lot for the most part, but when it was Damon..."I ran away from battle, almost got killed five times - hey, let me tell you about each one!" The gore was bland in his narratives about the great battle against Athens. Selene's narratives during this period I found to be much more interesting, since the Amazon's tactics kept me engaged.

Selene's ending, Antiope's ending, and Eleuthera's were done very well, I thought. The way Bones ended up...I didn't like that, it seemed very unnecessary, although I won't spoil the book.

Basically, I liked the Amazons (although they struck me as unrealistic at times - I mean, one day they'd kill small baby girls with the Scyths, another they'd invite them eagerly to join - around Athens, I think), and I liked Selene's narrative the most. Some of the characters were bland, but those whose struggle I came to appreciate, I really cared about by the end, more in an epic sense though, than in a human sense. It was an engaging read for me.