The Goddess Test Series by Aimee Carter on April 19th 2011
Pages: 293
My rating:
Check it out in Goodreads
Synopsis
Every girl who had taken the test has died.
Now it's Kate's turn.It's always been just Kate and her mom - and 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 that 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...
So, this week I’ve been a bit of an hermit. More so than usual, because I’ve been with my nose buried between the digital pages of the Goddess Test series. *swoons* Melissa, from The Reader & the Chef convinced me to read it, and I’ll forever thank her for the recommendation!
To be honest, I read the first book a loong while ago and remember being a bit ‘meh’ about it. I didn’t continue with the second book, but Melissa’s promise of it being so amazing made me reread the first book and guess what? I wasn’t so meh about it anymore! It felt like reading it for the first time, which was a huge plus. Isn’t that what we wish would happen every time we reread a book, to feel as if it’s the first time all over again? 😉
I’ll share my thoughts about this series as a whole because I don’t think I could handle writing three individual reviews right now.
Henry/Hades is a believable dark, tortured, aged soul
Forget what you know about the brooding love interest. This one might put them all to shame. Henry has seen eleven girls die in the course of decades of searching for a new wife that may take his last one -Persephone’s- place, and rule the Underworld by his side.
Also, Persephone kind of never loved him while he did her, and she was an asshole to him for a long time until she fell in love with someone else and left her immortal life to be with him.
Poor Henry.
Kate is smart stupid
Kate, Kate, Kate. She makes a lot of stupid decisions, that end up hurting a lot of people. The thing is, I like this. I like this a log because she’s not stupid. She’s actually a very likeable main character. She just finds herself feeling really helpless. Even when she finally has power to do stuff, people keep telling her to sit things out, to wait, to shut up, and to not to do anything that may screw things up. And that’s okay. That’s totally okay, if she was Bella Swan. Bella Swan really came really close to being stupid. But she did everything out of love for a guy, so we’re going to forgive her.
But Kate, Kate has a world to worry about, and her mother, and Henry, and his dysfunctional family, and her own emotional stability because it seems that she’s fallen in love with a guy who doesn’t love her back. That should put pressure on anyone’s mind.
Divine family is dysfunctional and fun
Families are the best when they’re not just plot devices. Each god and goddess lets shine through even a bit of their personality throughout the series, even the ones who we don’t see as much. The dynamics and power play are really intriguing to see.
Evil villain is evil
We have a few villains here, and they have simple enough motivations. I like that the first villain we see continues being villain throughout the whole thing. Villain doesn’t waver in their convictions. They hold onto their fate and lust for revenge and THAT IS SO AWESOME LET ME HUG YOU. And then throw you into Tartarus. :3
Cliché villain is cliché
That said, there’s also a cliché aspect to one of our villains, that is always super annoying, but I thought you should know. View Spoiler »
Romance conflict gives you all the feels
Oh my god! So I mentioned earlier that Kate easily fell in love with Henry.
Their conversations, his quite appreciation of everything, and the fact that he’s just so alone… Cue tear. Okay so, great for her. But, the problem is, Henry’s still hung up on Persephone 🙁 He still remembers her fondly, and she’s just a ghost who is everywhere, everywhere to remind Kate that she is not her, and she can’t compete with her memory in Henry’s heart. It tears you apart!
You should read the Goddess Test series if
- You’re a demigod
- You’re a god
- You’ve seen ‘Hercules’ the Disney animated version
- You know an inkling about greek mythology
- You love getting the feels about a romance which is not easy peasy
- You can bear smart characters doing stupid things sometimes
- You don’t mind a lot of angst
- You’re a human
Even though there’s a lot of hate for this one (which is not entirely undeserved XD), I really enjoyed this one. It’s a nice book to read when you don’t want to think too much about what you’re reading. Also, mythology. I’m always up to try it. Great review!
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