Epeolatry Book Review: Nine Levels by Elana Gomel

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Title: Nine Levels
Author: Elana Gomel
Genre: Horror/Fantasy
Publisher: Mirror World Publishing
Publication Date: 17th July, 2024

Synopsis: Waking up on the beach in Greece after a midnight party, Cleo, a British-Greek tourist, sees a stranger sitting next to her. The stranger has a giant spider on his forearm.

So begins an incredible odyssey through the nine levels of the mysterious mountain populated by an odd assortment of monsters, demons, and avatars of dead gods. Still grieving the unsolved disappearance of her twin sister Cora, Cleo is thrust into the world whose rules she does not understand and whose inhabitants confound everything she thought she knew about Greek mythology. Confronted by Woven Women, masked huntresses, sentient graffiti, and Mother of Monsters, Cleo has to make sense of it all. And meanwhile, a mysterious Call reverberates in her brain: You have to go up. You have to find your sister.

A story of self-discovery, courage, and breathtaking adventure, Nine Levels is a highly imaginative, innovative, and engrossing retelling of familiar legends with a twist you won’t see coming.

Gomel’s novel drops the reader into a situation where they are just as confused as the protagonist. A strange beach, a man with a spider tattoo, and an unusual new world. That may sound off-putting, but it’s not. Rather, it’s necessary to place the reader into the confusing situation that, Cleo, the main character, has found herself in, and to prepare us for what is to come. Because if you find the first of these levels strange, wait until you dive into the rest of the story.

Just like the title, there are nine levels to the mountain of Orcus, the upside-down underworld Cleo has to traverse to find her sister and freedom. Each level features unique monsters and difficulties that she must either overcome, or just run away from as fast as she can. It is through these levels that Gomel’s skill as a writer shows. Writers develop worlds for their characters to inhabit, and even books set in our modern world still entail an element of worldbuilding. Gomel has given us nine separate worlds, each distinct from the others in a new and horrifying way. Several times throughout the book, Cleo says to herself “well the next world can’t be worse than this one” only to find out just how many times she can be wrong. Gomel’s imagination for darkness is impressive, and while Cleo was anxious to ascend the mountain for freedom, I was just as anxious because I wanted to see what was coming next.

The book is more than just a bizarre travel guide. With each level, we learn more about Cleo, her family, and friends. As we journey up the mountain, Gomel peels back layers of Cleo’s personality and the misconceptions about the people Cleo knows. Each new danger offers her opportunities for personal growth and introspection, granting her a strong character arc that keeps the story together.

A major component of Nine Levels is the Greek mythology throughout, which is a large part of what drew me to this book. The description promised to confound everything I thought I knew about Greek mythology. As someone well-versed in Greek myth, I looked forward to a fresh take. Gomel takes the familiar tales and creatures and transforms them into something new, but it never felt like change just for change’s sake. I was able to recognize the creatures and make guesses about upcoming plot points based on what I knew. The knowledge she clearly has about Greek myth shines throughout this story, and with that background, it let her play around with the myths from a new (and horrifying) angle. 

Nine Levels is a wild ride through monstrosity, self-discovery, and Greek mythology from start to finish.

/5

Available from Amazon and Bookshop.

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