Nobody’s Prize by Esther Friesner

Helen of Sparta returns for yet another adventure. This time she disguises herself as a guy and along with her best friend Milo sets off to join the quest for the Golden Fleece. Aboard the Argo though Helen and Milo quickly run into trouble. Not only do they have to avoid Helen’s brother’s detection, but Helen also has to keep her feelings held back for the adorable guy on board. Then there is the fact that Hercules has fallen in love with Helen’s boy self, Milo’s becoming a tad jealous of Helen’s new crush, and there are many battles to be fought in order to reach the Golden Fleece. As Helen starts to become more of a women it becomes harder and harder to mask her identity. Her journey doesn’t stop with the fleece though as she continues beyond the myth and into a story completely her own.

Well, I have to say I was expecting a lot from this book, but it just did not deliver. The writing made it hard to get into the story and I just could not get into it. Once events picked up though I enjoyed the adventurous nature of the plot and the twist of the classic Golden Fleece myth. I also really enjoyed the continuation of Helen’s journey and the return of some fun characters from the preceding book NOBODY’S PRINCESS. I did find though that at many points there was a lot going on in the book and it all got very confusing.

As for the characters, I felt they were underdeveloped. None of the characters felt real at all, but they did have some personality. Helen was a fun heroine who was always up for an adventure, while Milo was extremely cute and I wish he had been more present in the story.

Overall though it was a likeable book that fully concluded Helen’s story. I loved the author’s originality in her creation of the story and look forward to reading more of her work.