LEUCA by John Sleeper

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the author, John Sleeper, for an honest review.

Genre: Adult/YA/Fantasy

Plot: How could anyone resist when this 6 foot 1½ inch drop dead gorgeous platinum blonde standing in the middle of a swimming pool completely naked beckons you to join her? None could and everyone at the Brentwood party jumped into the Olympic size pool.
Leuca, the world’s most sought after clothing model has her own jet plane, her own house on the Malibu coast, makes more money than any other model and she has a secret that she tells no one. Only her closest family members know her secret and they won’t tell because it is their secret as well.
A private investigator gets curious because of what his girlfriend Marie, Leuca’s housekeeper, tells him in confidence. He tries to find out what the truth is when he stumbles across a story in a tabloid and Leuca decides to quit the modeling business at the same time to go live with her family whom she hasn’t seen since she was two years old.
She suddenly quits the modeling business and goes to live in a small village where she was born and orphaned at the age of two. She finds relatives here that she never knew existed and if anyone had told her about them she would not have believed the stories.
The truth of who Leuca really is and where she comes from is stranger than anything any of her friends could imagine. Even those who would like to pry into her secret must be careful because everyone knows curiosity killed the cat and others as well.
Myths and legends are fascinating things. When investigated they always appear to have roots in fact. Wouldn’t it be fascinating to find that someone you know or maybe even yourself could be related to mythic heroes or gods? Would you know if you were a direct descendent of such people? How would you react if someone pulled you aside and said you were a descendent of what you were always told were mythological gods?
Chances are you wouldn’t believe it but… what if they offered to prove it to you? And if they gave you some small but compelling evidence on the spot? Can you say you would tell them to get lost and walk away? No, you wouldn’t… would you?

Opinion: This story is a bit difficult to explain without giving the entirety of what happens away to potential new readers, but alas…here is my attempt to do so, as your faithful book pusher. As this has been my first read in over a month (I know, I can’t believe it either) due to an insane work/school schedule, this book was something different to get me once more into the mode of becoming a hermit and escaping back into “book world”. Leuca gives the reader an interesting look at the beauty and terror that engulfs the human race, but also combines the mythical fantasy of Olympic Gods that we all grew up learning about.

Leuca is the world’s top model, and various designers are on a list that goes out two years just for the chance to work with her. With a close to perfect physique and spectacular personality, Leuca is loved by all she comes in contact with. But soon a modeling opportunity in Greece turns Leuca’s rather unique lifestyle into an even more exciting discovery. She soon finds her long-lost family and the truth about herself and why she is so different, she is immortal and comes from the bloodline of Olympian Gods. While Leuca learns of her family history and new skills that she hadn’t realized she had before, she is also put in various dangerous situations and is forced to see the uglier side of humankind. With the world falling deep into horrible human acts such as animal cruelty and terrorism, the Olympic Gods are forced to decide the fate of the humans due to the Gods being their creators. Readers follow Leuca as she learns about herself and the history of her family, while also trying to find a solution to what to do about the species that she spent her life growing up with.

The entire time I was reading Leuca, I don’t think I ever once wondered to myself “Oh, I know where this is going”. Something I have always enjoyed about reading, is when an author isn’t EVER predictable in their storytelling. Nowadays it can be rather impossible to find a story in the Fantasy genre that doesn’t have to do with vampires, wolves, faeries, or some kind of angel and demon. Though we all are still obsessed with reading about these creatures, I can now only truly appreciate the tales that blindside me and go in a completely sideways direction than where I was prancing my excited little feet towards. In this case, John sleeper has done a WONDERFUL job of ensuring that I was a blinded passenger just along for his fantastical ride into a realm where Olympic Gods walk among humans.

The pace throughout the story is even and very easy to follow, but the way in which each character converses is probably my favorite quirk about how this author writes. Our main character, Leuca, is told to the reader to have traits where her voice is melodic and enchanting. Most might agree that being told this by the author is enough for the reader to understand that the characters voice makes her desirable and demure sounding, but OF COURSE this author takes it a step further. He binds Leuca and many of the other Olympic Gods to speak in a very “old-timey” and proper fashion. I adore the fact that the author put that extra step into the character development by ensuring that they sound highly educated and that their personalities emit worlds and millennia’s of knowledge.

Another amazing aspect in this story is the outlook the author gives the reader about our fellow humans. I think the author did a great job of showcasing the uglier side of humans and what they are capable of, while also giving the Olympians the opportunity to decide their fate. I do feel as if the ending was rushed through, and wish that this could have been a little bit more elaborated on. I was able to witness the Olympians discuss the fate of the humans and the various options as to what could happen to them, but then all of a sudden the decision was made and that was that. It felt rushed to me, and I wish the book could have been a little bit more drawn out with a conclusion that really made me feel like I was in awe. More descriptions and elaborations are never a bad thing in a story, ESPECIALLY when the genre falls into Fantasy!

All in all, this is a very unique fantasy story. I think this was a great book to get me back into my reading mode, and the originality of it is definitely going to be a book that I will be telling others about. I highly suggest you guys give it a try and see that there are other Fantasy books out there that AREN’T just about demon slayers and teenage girls that have obsessions with mythical creatures. This is something different and refreshing and I think you guys will really enjoy it!