Book Review: Dancing in the Athenian Rain, Katie Hamstead

Title: Dancing in the Athenian Rain
Author: Katie Hamstead
Published: 09/09/2015, Soul Mate Publishing
Pages: 293
Source: Netgalley
Format: Ebook
Rating: 2/5
When Donna is sent back in time to Classical Athens, she's furious at Dr. Stephens for sending her against her wishes. Then a Greek soldier purchases her to be his wife.

She's forced to learn a new language and culture, and faces her fears of never returning to her own time. The society hates her, especially because they think she's an Amazon, which forces her to confront her issues - being compared to her genius brother, borderline abusive friends, and a cheating boyfriend.

But her husband, Peleus, is kind and patient. Although against her best judgement, she allows him into her heart. He counters all the negative voices from her past, but those voices drive a wedge between them. She must let go of her fears, her inhibitions, and insecurities, and admit her feelings, or she could lose him and the life they've built.

This is a really hard review to write. I honestly do not know how I feel about Dancing in the Athenian Rain. I didn't hate this book, but I didn't really like it either. It was just an okay read really, which really disappoints me because I've enjoyed the other Katie Hamstead books I've read.

Dancing in the Athenian Rain is set between modern-day Sydney, Australia and Ancient Greece. I really did not understand this. I mean, when Donna time travels back in time, why does she end up in Ancient Greece of all places? Why would she not stay in the same area she was? I'm also unsure as to how she managed to time travel. I know Dr Stephens gave her something, but I just didn't understand the logic behind it.

To begin with, Donna really annoyed me and I almost DNFed because of her. She lets her friends walk all over her and she has no self-confidence at all. She thinks she deserves the horrible treatment. Hell, the even lets her boyfriend hit her! Just no! But in the end, I gradually came around to her as she gained confidence. I was intrigued by her relationship with Peleus and how the story would play out.

Dancing in the Athenian Rain is told from Donna's perspective and, in all honesty, I found it a bit immature. I also felt the writing in the first few chapters was a bit disjointed and didn't flow that well. Again, I almost DNFed because of this, but I stuck with the book and I thought the writing did get better as the story progressed.

I thought the plot had a fairly quick pace to it, however, it was a very odd plot. I was unsure of how logical some parts were - they seemed a bit strange and all over the place. Particularly, the part where Donna joined the army and received certain items through some sort of time travel technology. However, these did add twists to the story.

I was also quite unsure about the ending. I didn't feel like it was explained well and I finished this Dancing in the Athenian Rain with more questions than answers, in terms of the time travel at least. It just felt a bit hazy.

I thought Dancing in the Athenian Rain was an okay read. I enjoyed the romantic aspect to this read, but the time travelling aspect just fell a bit short for me. However, I'm sure others may enjoy Dancing in the Athenian Rain more than me. I just feel there are better Katie Hamstead books out there (particularly Deceptive Cadence - another time travel romance).

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