Book Review of The Aftermyth
The Children’s Book Review
The Aftermyth
Written by Tracy Wolff
Ages: 12+ | 434 Pages
Publisher: Aladdin (2026) | ISBN: 9781665985-468
What to Expect: Greek mythology; magic, school adventure, friendship, and challenging fate.
The ancient myths of the Greeks collide with the modern world of cars, cell phones, and skittles in this rollercoaster fantasy school story.
Penelope can’t wait to start school at Anaximander’s Academy—and she has everything planned down to the last perfect detail. As an Athena girl, she’s trained her whole life to be the best of the best. However, when she gets to Anaximander’s, nothing goes to plan. Penelope finds herself assigned not to Athena Hall—where her twin brother and her whole family have always been placed—but to Aphrodite Hall, where chaos and glitter reign supreme. Worse still, fate itself seems bent on thwarting her attempts to be moved to Athena Hall, where she belongs.
Still, there are plus sides to being an Aphrodite—not least, her new best friend, who is a kindly force of nature and her biggest supporter. The school is known for being quirky and magical, but the moving mosaic tiles, constant run-ins with snakes, and unexpected trip to the underworld seem to be unique to Penelope’s experience, as if the Gods are trying to share a mysterious message with her—or, at least, someone is. But who? And why?
Penelope grows throughout the story from an anxious and single-minded control freak to a young woman with courage, determination, and compassion, and readers will love how she merges the ambition and competence of an “Athena girl” with the kindness and effusiveness of Aphrodite Hall to challenge the compartments fate tries to box her and her friends into. Any reader who has ever longed for a kick-ass best friend will fall equally in love with Fifi, whose insistence on cheerleading and caring for Penelope makes so many of her triumphs possible.
Anaximander’s is a richly imagined magical setting, full of surprises and opulently luxurious. However, the greatest strength of the story is the way it challenges, deconstructs, and reimagines the well-known and well-loved stories of Ancient Greece to offer questions that feel timeless and universal.
For any reader who loves magical schools, fierce friendships, and determined women, The Aftermyth is a must-read novel.
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About the Author
Tracy Wolff is the #1 New York Times, #1 internationally, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY bestselling author of the Crave series, as well as many other novels. A lover of mythology, vampires, and getting lost in a great book, she’s spent her whole life asking “what if” and “what happens next”—questions that being a writer has helped her answer again and again. At six, she wrote her first short story—something with a rainbow, a unicorn, and a shapeshifting prince—and at seven, she forayed into the wonderful world of middle grade literature with her first Judy Blume novel. A one-time English professor, she now devotes all her time to writing fun, action-packed, romantic stories with fantastical worlds and characters who leap off the page. She has written all her seventy-plus novels from her home in Austin, Texas, which she shares with her partner, her sons, and their three adorable dogs.
