Trust & Obey

If you recall from my Greek Mythology and C.S. Lewis post, I mentioned I delight in Greek/Roman Mythology. Since writing that post, I read another Greek mythology spin off titled Go The Distance. Like Conceal Don’t Feel, which I reviewed back in December of 2020, this is another Twisted Tales novel written by Jen Calonita.

This book is based on the film “Hercules” and the mythology of Hercules, but mainly the Disney movie. Hercules was the mortal man who had to complete a series of tasks all in the hopes of becoming a god like the others that reside in Mount Olympus. In the Disney film, Hercules falls for a mortal woman named Megara. This book takes us down the path of Megara’s dilemma. Can she be with Hercules or must she complete a quest to become a goddess so she may join him? Unfortunately for her, it is the latter. Hera- goddess of marriage and fertility- pulls Megara (usually called “Meg”) and gives her a quest so she may achieve godhood like her lover. If she completes the journey, Meg can be with her love forever. The quest? Easy, just go into the Underworld and rescue her early love’s deceased wife and return her to him. For Meg, this will bring out heartache and stir up old memories, but is it worth it to be with Hercules?

So, I’d like to preface this review by stating that I will be pretty critical of this book. There are a few things that really grated on me. However, for a twelve year old, I would say this is a great book. Due to the fact I read a lot of adult fiction, I am a lot pickier about language and style than I was back in middle school. So, if you’re around middle school age, I would say this book is a winner! I think young teens would really like the storyline and the romance that spices up this novel. I would definitely put this under Action-Romance, which is something I would have enjoyed as a middle school girl.

The specific things that irritated me was the language Calonita used. She nicknamed too many characters too quickly and it bothered me. This really is just an opinion and it may sound a bit ridiculous, but it made the story feel cheesier to me. In life, I have so many friends and loved ones who I call by their name and not by a nickname. This doesn’t mean I don’t care about them, I just like their name. In Go The Distance, it felt like every character that we were supposed to care about had a nickname. Megara is called “Meg”, but that was already a thing in the movie. Peagasus is called “Peg”, Hercules is called “Wonder Boy” which felt so deeply cringy it ever hurts writing it. I recognized that this was in the movie, but I felt this shouldn’t have been used nearly as much as it was. It seemed like this nickname was supposed to show us how endeared to Meg Hercules was but instead it just sounded too weird in my head. Am I the only person who notices cringiness in books and movies and it borderline ruins it? Do I sound crazy? Tell me in the comments if you feel similarly!

Besides the cringiness in the book, I did like the overall plot and the little twists and turns. Nothing surprised me greatly, but I did really like the feel of the novel. It had a nice pacing and good character development. We are also being presented with the theme of abandonment. Meg deals with feeling that she has been abandoned by everyone around her. People all around her have left her, rejected her, or betrayed her. This causes Meg to be prickly and snarky to others, even when they are only trying to help her. Throughout the book, we see her turn into a more loving and vulnerable person as she learns that people aren’t always trying to hurt her and things are not always as they seem.

Go The Distance is a winner for any preteen or young teenager. It is clean, has a good story, and presents some good themes for people to grapple with like abandonment and love. However, for anyone older, I worry it may be feel a smidge immature. Unless you’re a big Disney fan. In that case, go for it.