Review: The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
From Goodreads: It’s always been just Kate and her mom–and now her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate’s going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won’t live past the fall.
Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld–and if she accepts his bargain, he’ll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.
Kate is sure he’s crazy–until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she’ll become Henry’s future bride, and a goddess.
If she fails…
There is something you should know about me. I am a bit of a mythology geek. I spent my whole year in fourth grade nose in a book reading anything I could get my hands on and then profiling the gods in notebooks. Hades was always my favorite. I thought he got a raw deal, pulling the short straw and having to deal with the dead.
The Goddess Test was a mesh of all of my favorite myths. The tests for immortality that the demigods had to surpass in order to become a god, and the story of Persephone that I thought was oh so romantic. At ten years old who doesn’t want to become a Queen by any means?
I went into The Goddess Test very excited, and hoping that I wasn’t setting myself up for a disappointment. I am oh so pleased to announce that Aimee Carter did a brilliant job with the myth and adding in her own contemporary vibe and fresh new outlook on the story. I loved The Goddess Test.
Hades God of the Underworld
Kate was a smart girl, she wasn’t the kind of character that grated on your nerves with whining or making tons of bad decisions to move the plot along. Carter was able to write Kate as a strong independent teenager who has spent the past four years caring for her mother who was given six months to live. Kate did not whine about missing dating or High School or anything else that teenagers care about, Kate just wanted her mother to live and wouldn’t have had it any other way. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with her mother for as much time as her mother had left to live.
Kate’s mother wanted to go back home to pass on so Kate drove them from her beloved New York City to a small town named Eden. Kate meets Henry and he offers her a deal that she can’t refuse. Stay with him six months out of the year and he will keep her mother alive until Kate can bear to say goodbye.
The plot moves forward at a lightening quick pace and there are so many twisty bits in The Goddess Test that make you want to read even faster to come to the conclusion of the story. I love that this book is one of the very few that make you sympathetic to Hades, because he never has been as evil as modern literature paints him. He just happened to draw the short straw when it came to who would rule where. Poseidon took domain of the sea while Zeus grabbed dominion over the air and Hades was left to deal with twisted underworld and guard The River Styx.
I think no matter what level of love you have for mythology you will appreciate Carter’s retelling of Persephone’s troubles. This book is great for those who stick towards the contemporary side of YA as well because there isn’t much of the paranormal going on here just some awesome contemporary writing meshed with fabulous mythology.
The end of the book is a fantastic conclusion that isn’t the crazy I want to throw the book against the wall cliffhanger but it still leaves you waiting with bated breath for the next edition. I truly cannot say enough good things about this book.
I have a feeling these books will become just as popular as Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey for us Harlequin Teen readers.
FTC Disclosure: I downloaded this book from Netgalley as an ARC.
Review: Blue Moon by Alyson Noel (The Immortals Series)
To me Noel’s second book was stronger than her first. In Evermore the main character Ever annoyed me a bit. She seemed so dependent and weak to me. A bit over annoying and self pitying. Her parents died yes, but the pity party was a bit much.
In Blue Moon Ever is secure in her own skin. Damen and Ever’s relationship is strong and will probably withstand the tests of eternity. Roman a new bad boy in town gives Ever the creeps. Damen, Miles, or Haven notice nothing and even accuse Ever of just not liking new people. Figuring they are right Ever tries to open up to Roman to devestating consequences. Ever begins a race against time to save her friends and her true love. Will the Summerland give her the answers she is looking for?
Ever made some really bad decisions in this book. I would normally slam the book for the turns this took. It gets a bit outlandish, but it all works together well to end the book and makes me anticipate the time when I pick up the third book in the series. I have to know how all of this Damen / Ever stuff works out. If Miles becomes a pop star, if Haven and Josh’s relationship survives.
However what I do not need to see is Ever’s Aunt bumbling through like an idiot. I love YA books where the adults actually have a clue and aren’t complete idiots. Not every teen, or every teen who reads hates their parents. Ever seems to feel gratitude to her Aunt but not much real love going on there.
I missed the presence of Riley but adding the creepy twins Romy and Rayne made me miss her a bit less.
Ever grew up a lot in this book. I was very happy with her development. I would however like to see some development in the other characters in the third book.
If you like Shiver, The Mortal Instruments Series, or The Dark Guardian Series you will like Evermore and Blue Moon.
