Oh How I Love Witchy Wednesdays: A Review of Hecate's Labyrinth by Michael Lightsey
Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.
I have a very special Spooky Season review for you all today. A huge thank you goes to Crossed Crow Books for sending me a copy of today’s read. They aren’t paying me for my review, they just sent me the book for free; all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you very much for sending me a copy of today’s book, it truly means a lot to me every time someone out there wants to send me books. Thank you, thank you. And what title was I oh so kindly sent?
Please give a warm welcome to Hecate’s Labyrinth by Michael Lightsey! Hecate’s Labyrinth released yesterday, October 13.
As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review on this site, then you will know I simply love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. This is your one and only warning. Now let’s get to the synopsis.
Our story today follows Helena, a young woman who does not exist within time. In fact, time exists within her. Past, present, and future, she’s lived it all and will live it all again if she wishes. That is unless she fails to stop the god Icelos from destroying the world.
Helena does not fully grasp the power she has, but she does know she is the only one capable of stopping Icelos. She is the only Esoni left in all of time. With her two brave sidekicks, Dogett and Catiana, by her side, the trio venture on a journey through folklore, mythology, and history to save the world.
I don’t know where to begin with this book. Firstly, I don’t know if this book wants to be an adult novel or a middle grade novel. The story itself feels very middle grade to me, the hero’s journey for example comes across almost like a teacher’s lesson plan on the subject, but the language Michael Lightsey uses says otherwise.
The middle grade allegations continue with Dogett and Catiana. They are Helena’s familiars. When readers first meet them they are a dog and a cat. When Helena goes back in time, they have human forms. If this was a movie, they would be cute, animated talking animals who argue constantly but are the best of friends and maybe, eventually, something more. Except this is not a Disney movie, and these characters don’t have a cute, animated form to make their constant bickering worth it. They drag this book down and irritated me to no end.
Hecate’s Labyrinth does have positives. Namely the plot’s unpredictability. There was not a moment in Hecate’s Labyrinth in which I knew what would happen next. Michael Lightsey keeps readers on their toes. As I said in my synopsis of this book, it is an adventure through time, folklore, mythology, and history; you never know what's going to happen next.
That said, I do wish Helena didn’t meet as many characters and figures while on her journey. Boom! Figures from Russian folklore. Boom! Shakespearian fae. Boom! Demons from the Bible. The supporting cast is so bloated it felt as if the author threw known figures in just for the hell of it. Especially considering very few came across as an actual threat to Helena and friends.
Thankfully the main characters are decently fleshed out. Helena is not a protagonist who I found annoying and irritated me with her choices. Although in comparison to Dogett and Catiana most characters are palatable. The romance between Helena and Dimitri is also decent.
Hi, I haven’t mentioned Dimitri once in this review. He is Helena's love interest, Helena's possible kidnapper, and also, maybe, her enemy...? I truly appreciate that he begins the story as a possible enemy; his motivations are completely unclear. I didn’t fully trust him until the end during the final showdown. Once again, Michael Lightsey keeps readers on their toes. I also greatly appreciate the relationship between Dimitri and Helena. It's fun, it’s playful, they’re rivals in university, they have banter. I do wish there were even more scenes of them together. Those mainly exist in the form of flashbacks. I do believe the plot would have been helped had Dimitri been on the journey with Helena. More of their banter would have been appreciated as opposed to Dogett and Catiana's constant fighting.
Sadly, Hecate’s Labyrinth has more faults than positives. Simply put, I did not have the greatest time with this book. I think there are some great ideas with Helena existing all throughout time and outside of time, but the execution is lacking. And Dogett and Catiana annoyed me to no end.
Thank you once again to Crossed Crow Books for sending me a copy of Hecate’s Labyrinth by Michael Lightsey. It truly means a lot to me when someone out there offers to send me books. Thank you, thank you.
With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds. I hope you enjoyed your stay. I will see you all again next with another great review. If you can’t wait that long, then I highly recommend giving Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books, then go ahead and check out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk about everything and anything. There are plenty of episodes to listen to so I’m certain you’ll find something that strikes your fancy. Nothing to See Hear can currently be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube with a new episode releasing every Wednesday.
Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.
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