Gods Behaving Badly had a very promising premise, but, like a lot of first novels, it lingered over details in the beginning and then glossed over the really interesting action near the end. regardless, Marie Phillips will be a very interesting author to watch if she can iron out those problems. ( )

Channelling the ancient Greek Myths into a modern-day romp is quite entertaining. This story borrows bits from many stories from ancient Greece, and brings the Greek Gods into present day London. I have always enjoyed the Greek Myths, and this is a great extension of them. This is Marie Phillips' first book. I am looking forward to more books from her in the future. ( )

Artemis, great huntress, ravager of defiling men, chaste guardian of the moon, leader of the hunt amidst the unspoiled and serene wilds, wears a track suit and walks inbred dogs. At least, in modern times she does. She and her Olympian family have been forced to relocate to a crumbling house in London, expelled by the rise of Christianity from their Greek homeland and the minds of humans. To make ends meet, the gods must labor like the poor schlubs they would torment in the good old days. Aphrodite works as a phone sex operator; Apollo, when not transmogrifying rebuffing conquests into trees, tries rather vaingloriously and unsuccessfully to be a TV psychic. Hermes is a workaholic, having been drafted in earlier times as the god of money, he never gets to stop in the modern age of financial worship. Demeter is withering like the plants she struggles to tend, and nobody has seen Zeus or Hera in some time. To say the Olympian family has fallen from lofty heights would be something of an understatement.

However 'Gods Behaving Badly' is not just about the pouting and insouciant downward plunge of faded deities. It is a love story. A love story of the grandiosely small scale. The main characters are pathetically human, not so very gifted with looks or wealth or power, even if the female is an absurdly astute Scrabble player. Such verbose acumen does not prevent her from being a pawn of the gods, cast into schemings and vengeance different from times past only in that the scale of power is significantly less (all the gods are a bit paranoid about wasting what little power they have left, not withstanding Apollo's retribution when his vanity is snubbed).

How is it then that the fate of the world comes to reside in one rather innocuous mortal's ken? The gods screwed up...again, that's how. One would think that immortal beings on the verge of becoming not-so-immortal would harken to a greater sense of...well, something other than petty jealousy and revenge. One would think. And be wrong.

Full of wit and snark and joyous mythological winks and groans, Phillips has crafted a tale in the very spirit of the Greek myths, layering the blatant narcissism and self-interest of the gods over the poor humans who populate their shrinking playground. Anybody have the number for Aphrodite's direct line? ( )

An amusing read and the issue of whether gods only exist or are powerful if you believe in them is quite profound really, don't you think? ( )

I really enjoyed reading Gods Behaving Badly. The story revolves around a group of well-known Greek gods who are living together in a flat in London. Things start going awry when they allow a woman that Apollo has fallen for become their cleaner. The adventure that follows is amusing, and well paced. It’s well worth checking out, especially if you enjoy books about Gods living among us. ( )