Fleeced! An Aries Adventure

Julia Wills Press Reviews

Athena challenges the crew of the Argo, who are now in the underworld, for one of them to go on a quest in the over-world, however everyone is astounded when Aries the ram of the golden fleece wins the challenge and together with his friend Alex (a young but dead Athenian) heads off to try and find his fleece which has not been seen for millennia. The gateway is part of the Parthenon, but unfortunately for our heroes it is no longer in Athens, no, they find themselves in the middle of the British Museum in modern London. Then the fun begins. This is a great book with a tremendous sense of humour. The author talks directly to the audience, cracking jokes, making comments and generally involving the audience in the story. It races along at high speed and introduces us to a wide range of appealing and some very unappealing characters. One of the great things about this book is the unlikely hero Aries, after all he is a bald, fat and very self opinionated ram, but he does come through in the end. This is definitely a book for those who love their action with a bit of history, so younger readers of Percy Jackson as well as those who enjoyed Corydon and the Pig Scrolls will find plenty to keep them reading. -- Margaret Pemberton - The School Librarian Journal

I honestly don't know why it took me so long to get to reading Fleeced!-it's been on my shelf for AGES and I totally regret it. This book was so much fun to read! I've been longing for another series or book centered around Greek mythology after the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. I mean, there have been books I've read which do focus on Greek mythology, but the problem with YA novels is that the story tends to be about romance, the tradition girl-meets-boy with a twist. I've missed books that features no romance at all, where the main focus is on the adventure or the quest these characters embark on. That's exactly what Percy Jackson had, and, I'm glad to say, what Fleeced! had as well. I was a bit afraid of going into this book because I thought, because it's been absolutely FOREVER since I've read a middle grade novel, that I would be a bit more cynical of the characters and would think they would be too childish for my taste. I'm happy to say that the inner-child in me totally came through and there was no judgement on actions AT ALL. I totally went with the flow of the story, and I found that I really do love the idea that absolutely ANYTHING can happen in children's books: the most unsuspecting people can become heroes, evil can become good, and all is done with a hilarious narrative. I loved Rose's and Alex's characters, and Aries was such a great character as well. I loved to hate Medea, and honestly the tone of the story was so action-packed but light-hearted at the same time, which made Fleeced! even more enjoyable to read. You can really tell, when you're reading the book, that the author has done some amazing research. Wills really incorporates different aspects of Greek mythology as well as what Greek life was like in the past into her story. I've read quite a bit of myths so I generally got most of the references, but sometimes there would be allusions or terms I didn't understand. Never fear! There's a super handy-dandy reference guide in the back of the book that explains everything that you need to know. However, what I didn't enjoy too much were the footnotes that would pop up. Yes, they were pretty funny now and then, and seeing footnotes in a novel is a pretty rare occurrence, but the main problem that I had with these was that it normally broke the flow of the story for me. I'd constantly have to look down at the footnotes after seeing the notation in the text, and then I'd have return back to the flow. I know the author adds them to not break the flow, but I felt that it did the opposite and stopped me from time to time. Fleeced! was a fun ride, twisting the Greek myths that we've all come to know and love into a fresh story. Julia Wills's delightfully narrated debut novel is guaranteed to produce laughs from readers of all ages. I'm looking forward to reading the next Aries Adventure, with more ram-related humour and crazy spins on Greek myths! - Confessions of a Readaholic