Review: Goddess Interrupted by Aimée Carter

Title: Goddess Interrupted

Author: Aimée Carter
Publication date: March 27th 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Age group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy- Mythology
Series: Goddess Test #2 (Review contains spoilers from the 1st book)
Cover rating: 4/5
Content rating: 5/5
Buy (pre-order) : Amazon US, Amazon UK, The Book Depository, Barnes and Noble

Description:

Kate Winters has won immortality. 
But if she wants a life in the Underworld with Henry, she’ll have to fight for it. 
Becoming immortal wasn’t supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she’s as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he’s becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate’s coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans. 

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future. 
Henry’s first wife, Persephone.

My thoughts:

Goddess Interrupted was simply brilliant! I thoroughly enjoyed The Goddess Test (you can see my review for that here) and was so glad I was able to dive right into the second book immediately! I felt that this one took a bit of time to really get to the action, though. At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like it as much as book one but it quickly picked up and I read the second half without even looking away from the page once! It definitely did not disappoint. 

Kate has made her choice. She decided she wanted to become immortal and spend six months of the year with Henry, as Queen of the Underworld. A big undertaking for a young girl! Kate's just come back from from spending six months away with James and tensions are running seriously high among the Gods and Goddesses! Henry is annoying and distant for the first part of this book. He's still hung up on Persephone and has gotten the wrong idea about Kate and James. I really don't get why Kate spent so much time begging. I realize that the Gods and Goddesses are all she has now but she did too much begging of Henry at the beginning. It would have been better if she'd just played it cool.

This book was so intense! The whole world is at risk of being completely destroyed and it's up to our characters to save it. Calliope has really started to show her evil side and it was so awful watching her plot against the people she was supposed to care about! It was really interesting to see Kate developing her powers as an immortal and her struggle to get the rest of them to see that she was no longer helpless in their world. She didn't need protecting because she was one of them and needed a chance to use her powers because how else is she supposed to learn? I thought Kate was incredibly brave in this book and I'm glad the other characters realized this. Both Kate and Henry do a lot of growing and developing in this book and that was great to see.

In this book, we get to meet Persephone and see how she interacts with the people who use to be her family. We also get the story from all angles so we can make up our own minds about what happened! I was hooked on this book the way through and the ending nearly killed me. It was such a shock and I don't know how I'll handle waiting for book three! Goddess Interrupted was a really good sequel and I hope the next book will do even better. 

Review: The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter

Title: The Goddess Test
Author: Aimée Carter
Publication date:  January 1st 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Age group: Young Adult
Genre: Mythology
Cover rating: 4/5
Content rating: 5/5
Buy: Amazon

Description:

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 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.

My thoughts: 

I really did not know what to expect from this book. I was drawn in by the lovely cover and the description definitely intrigued me. The reviews I'd read hadn't made it look too promising though so I definitely went into it with a cautious mind and didn't expect too much from it. I was seriously delighted to find how much I loved it! I actually adored it from the start and knew it was my kind of thing after the first few chapters.

I am not that into Greek mythology, in general. I know bits and find it interesting but I am in no way well educated on it. The only other Greek myth books I've read were not ones I really enjoyed. This was so different though! I was just sucked right into Kate's world. Her mom is dying and her mother's last wish is to move to Eden, her hometown. So they pack up and head to this small town.

Kate's just trying to enjoy the little time she has left with her mom and has no time for friends or a social life. She has pushed the rest of the world out so that she can care for her mother. I'll admit that lately I've been getting a bit tired of YA book parents being dead or sick or absent but thankfully this situation turned out to be different than usual and I actually didn't see the twist coming at all!

I loved reading about Kate's time in Eden Manor. The concept of the Seven Tests was something that fascinated me as I always like plots like that. All the characters were so awesome though I'll admit Henry did irritate me at times! I get why he was acting like he was but I do think he's had long enough to come to terms with it, really! Kate went back and forth between being dependant and needy and definitely had a desire to play heroine to everyone around her. Which is understandable given that she had so little control over the rest of her life.

I was gripped by this whole book and I'm so glad to have found a series that I think I'll actually be able to follow through with for once! I am so excited about the second book and have really high hopes for it.