Author: Aimee Carter
Series: Goddess Test (#2.5)
Pages: 304
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Date Published: July 31, 2012
Format: eBook
Source: Received From Publisher for Honest Review
For millennia we've caught only glimpses of the lives and loves of the gods and goddesses on Olympus. Now Aimee Carter pulls back the curtain on how they became the powerful, petty, loving and dangerous immortals that Kate Winters knows.
Calliope/Hera represented constancy and yet had a husband who never matched her faithfulness....
Ava/Aphrodite was the goddess of love and yet commitment was a totally different deal....
Persephone was urged to marry one man, yet longed for another....
James/Hermes loved to make trouble for others-but never knew true loss before....
Henry/Hades's solitary existence had grown too wearisome to continue. But meeting Kate Winters gave him a new hope.
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This story begins just after the war with the Titans. Every story about Greek Mythology that I've ever read has lead you to believe that Zeus is the ultimate player. He's drunk on power, self-centered, arrogant and unfaithful. In The Goddess Test things are skewed quite a bit and it's easy to blame Hera (Calliope) for all of the problems, but The Goddess Queen shows us why she is so angry. Hera was just as drunk on power and arrogant as Zeus was, but as a woman she was placed under Zeus' power. This makes her bitter and hateful, and Zeus plays on that weakness. After everything Zeus has done to her it's no wonder she finally snapped. I really enjoyed this story and getting to see into Hera's personality a little more. 4 Stars * * * *
"Because you had the misfortune of being made in our mother's image, and our mother chose to defer to our father. Because that is the example the Titans set for not only us, but for the world, and we must maintain some order. You will be a queen if you wish Hera, but only second to one of us."
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The Lovestruck Goddess
The story of Aphrodite (Ava) was pretty much what I expected. She's the Goddess of Love, and not only is that a blessing, it's also a curse. Anyone that loves her she can't help but return the love. That makes fidelity a little tough for her. She has two brothers, Ares and Hephaestus, that are both in love with her. Ares is all fire and passion, Hephaestus is a solid foundation. Aphrodite has to decide who will be her husband. The story was good, but I think I'm stuck on the fidelity issue. 3 Stars * * *
"Your love - it's the kind of love that feeds and grows, the kind that's steady no matter what. It's warm, it's inviting, it's accepting, and that's the love I want. That's the love I need."
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Goddess of the Underworld
The Goddess Test series takes everything you've learned about Hades and Persephone and spins it out of control. Instead of Persephone being the kidnapped by Hades and dragged to the Underworld to be his bride for all eternity where she pines for her dear mother you find out that Hades actually does love Persephone and their marriage is actually arranged by her mother. But none of those changes to the story change the fact that Persephone is in a situation not of her own choosing, and she hates the life she was forced into. Goddess of the Underworld is Persephone's story of why she made the decisions she did. I found this story to be a bit boring, but I did enjoy hearing Persephone's side of the story. She's not as heartless and cruel as she seems to be in Goddess Test and Goddess Interrupted, but she still comes off as a spoiled brat that cares only about herself. 3 Stars * * *
"This was my life from here on out -- a slave not only to a husband that I didn't love, but to a realm I hated with every breath in my body. Everyone would have a happy ending except me."
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God of Thieves
James (Hermes) is one of my favorite characters in the Goddess Test series so I expected to really like his story. It starts out pretty slow and I was worried, but it eventually picks up the pace and becomes an enjoyable story. Hermes is an outcast in his family, and in an effort to gain their approval he sets out to discover why gods and goddesses are fading. Along the way he meets a group of children that are bandits, thieving just to stay alive. He believes that Tuck, the leader of this group, holds the answers he's looking for, but first he has to gain her trust. When he reveals himself to her as the god, Hermes, she has no idea who he is. God of Thieves is a good story and helps explain how Hermes becomes James. 4 Stars * * * *
"I'm a god," I said. No need to dance around it. "One of the twelve Olympians. Well, er, fifteen now. Bit of a long story." [...] "I don't understand," she whispered. "There's only one god."
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God of Darkness
This was my whole reason for wanting to read this book, and God of Darkness didn't disappoint. This is Henry's story of trying to find a new queen. He initially tells the council that he wants to fade, but they beg him to give them 100 years to try to find an acceptable girl to be his new queen. He's not happy with the plan, but he agrees. We get to see him care for and lose girl after girl as they prepare for the tests. When Diana has a baby to be his new queen he refuses to meet the child. He can't grow to care for someone he never meets. When James convinces him to at least visit the surface to see Kate he realizes that maybe he does have a future after all. 5 Stars * * * * *
"She may have been seven, but there was something eternal about her gaze. As if she could see all his thoughts, his hopes, his fears, his pain in one look. As if she understood every moment he'd existed. [...] In her, he saw possibility. In her, he saw his future. And when she was ready for it, he would be, too."
