Goddess Test Review

Book Review March 14

The Goddess Test

by: Aimee Carter

★★★★★ 5 Stars

Blurb: 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.

The Goddess Test was like an answer to my prayers, after reading some not so good books recently.  I’ve always been interested and intrigued by Greek mythology and this book was far better than any history class has been. Trust me, you’ll be doing some mythology research at least once while reading this book. It was thrilling, captivating, exciting and mysterious. An absolute joy to read and the best part was the non cliff-hanger ending.

Kate is not your average 18 year old. She’s given up so much of her youth to take care of her mother who is dying, and has been for the last four years, from cancer.  The bond between Kate and her mom is unbreakable and Kate will do anything she can to prolong their time together.  Of course, when Kate meets Henry (AKA Hades) she thinks either he’s playing a sick practical joke or she ended up in the twilight zone. Close, but Eden is like the gateway or stopping point to the Underworld.

Kate is not ready to be without her mom and knowing her time is soon to end, Kate feels alone and without a purpose. (This is honestly my only main problem with the book. Kate is beyond strong and willing to go the extra mile. But she really felt it was the end without her mom. ) Luckily, her stint in Eden helps her regain a purpose and she is able to move on in her new role. 

I loved the interaction between Kate and Henry. He’s so standoffish and moody (like typical guys) but it’s only because he fears the worse. So many before Kate did not make it and he too is most likely afraid of a broken heart. Getting attached and losing her in the end anyways. But these two are able to overcome this battle.

I was surprised by who the enemy was. Especially considering the god that person turned out to be.  I definitely found myself cringing when the minor skirmish occurs. All I can say is Ouch….

It was hard at times to keep all the characters straight. (Only because there are so many for a book of barely 300 pages.) They each make minor appearances throughout so you become familiar with each one and their Eden connection to Kate but once they’re all together I was scrambling to differentiate between them. (Mostly the goddesses. The gods seem to stand out more individually.)

I was a little perturbed when he kept mentioning his love (in the present tense) for Persephone. I felt my heart breaking each time and it only made me feel more connected to Kate.  

Some Things I Really Enjoyed/Noticed

Kate’s strength is admirable. She was a young teenager who practically gave up her youth to take care of her sick mother. Even missed her entire senior year and saw nothing wrong with having to go back and finish after she turned 18.

I don’t know why but I kept thinking about the Iron Fey series while reading this. Henry and Ash seem like they could be kindred spirits. 

I am a sucker for any book guy that gets the girl a puppy. Instant winner in my eyes!!!

Hahaha. She scored higher than him on her mythology test. 

Okay, so I hated the fact that Ella got to pick out her clothes and stuff her into outfits she didn’t want to wear. Thank the heavens this is something Henry fixes because out of all she had to deal with, I swear, this angered me more than anything. And we kept being reminded of her being stuffed into these outfits which made it easy to remember all those ugly outfits my mother shoved me into when I was little. I felt for Kate, it was as if the clothes were taking away her independence. 

 The connection between Kate and readers is phenomenal. There is a pull that is undeniable and you can’t help but feel for her and want to follow her through to the end. She has dealt with and is still dealing with so much pain at times I wanted to yell, “Enough Already.” There are constant reminders of her struggle and not only is the easy to relate to but so strong willed you can’t help but to hope she succeeds. “I couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to another person in my life. I’d had enough tragedy for one lifetime.” – Kate

I wonder wonder wonder if there is some big mystery that we will discover in later books about her father.

Also, I’m up in the air in regards to James, much like Kate is. But when they first meet and are eating lunch and he pulls out an entire bottle of ketchup I could not help but laugh because as ridiculous as it is, there are many people out there who carry around their own condiments and not the travel sized ones either!!!

“It has been a very long time since I’ve received a gift as extraordinary as you.” –Henry

I would recommend this book to fans of YA and definitely fans of mythology. It is extremely intriguing and though the book is not all about the gods and their powers but also about Kate’s journey to become Queen, there is a strong connection to every character and their role as a god or goddess. This brings me to my last point that this book does NOT have enough charts and information in the back. I practically used a whole packet of post it’s to make charts of who were siblings, what they were god of and what their symbols were. Wikipedia became my friend LOL. 

 Here’s the Wikipedia link I used. And a Family Tree as well. 

HAPPY READING!!!