Review: The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter

The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter

Steph’s Rating: 3 stars
Overall Rating: 3 stars

Format: Paperback
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN
Publication Date: April 19th, 2011
Pages: 293
 
Goodreads Synopsis:

EVERY GIRL WHO HAS 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...

Steph’s Review:   

    I admit that I was attracted to this book because of its cover. I think it is absolutely gorgeous, and I especially love the little Greek touch to the lettering! But you know how the saying goes: Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

    The story starts off with Kate moving off to “Eden”, her new home and her mothers supposed birthplace. *winks* Kate’s mother is about to die from an aggressive form of cancer, and she wants to be in her hometown when it happens. Kate isn’t thrilled about moving to a small-town, but at this point she’ll do anything to make her mother happy. Her mother’s impending death is something Kate feels she won’t be able to move past, so she wants her mother to enjoy every moment she can. Being at a new school and loneliness are things that Kate knows and has experienced for many years in her life.

    After a prank takes a completely wrong turn, Kate finds herself spiraling into trouble with the people of Eden Manor, namely Henry. Henry, the hot and tortured soul, who offers to undo the tragedy in exchange for her agreement to attempt a series of seven tests. If she passes all seven, she has to become Henry’s wife. If she fails...she could lose everything.

   

    The Goddess Test wasn’t really bad, but I just found it to be a little mediocre and confusing. The plot of it is interesting enough, and the whole situation with Kate’s mom actually made me tear up a little. It really can bring out a reader’s sympathy.  This is a book that has Greek mythology intertwined in it, and of course that includes all of the Greek gods. Carter provides us with a glossary of sorts as to which character is representing a certain god/goddess, so readers can know beforehand which gods are in play. The thing that really confused me was some characters seeming to not know that they were a god, while others did know. I also thought that some of the character roles did not really represent the god/goddess they were made after (e.g. Hera, Poseidon).

   

    The characters themselves were actually not bad, although I think my biggest problem is that I liked the main character the least. Yes, Kate. Everyone else is fine and their stories are pretty interesting, including Henry, Ava, Ella and so on. Kate is just so naive and on several occasions I wished I could jump into the book and chastise her for her stupidity.  I just don’t even understand why Kate even was qualified to take these seven tests. I feel that Carter makes Kate too special; I usually like it when heroines in YA have some sort of competitor because it makes the plot much more interesting. You may not feel the same way, but that’s just my opinion.

    I would recommend this book if you are interested in anything related to Greek mythology. The setup that Carter creates in The Goddess Test is pretty original, and is something that could actually be a possibility with Greek gods not being immortals. It was a little on the average side for me, but I’m sure that somebody else would immensely enjoy The Goddess Test.

--Steph

AWOW currently has a giveaway going on for Primal by D.A. Serra, a book we hosted a tour for. If you are interested in this you can see the REVIEW and enter the GIVEAWAY.