Review: The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Book Description:

E-galley, 384

April 26, 2011, Harlequin Teen

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 now 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.

If she fails..

Source: Netgalley & Harlequin Teen (Thank you!)

My Thoughts:

The Goddess Test was really evocative. After the first 14 pages, I was in love with it. Kate’s feelings for her mother were so strong that I found myself feeling her pain, her sadness and her fear of the inevitable future without her mother. This initially became the driving force for Kate to strive to accept Henry’s offer and to pass the seven tests. But as time passed, Kate found another reason to keep fighting and hoping. Her life has been suspended, stopped for years starting when her mother got diagnosed. Her life was all about her mom. Inside the gates of Eden, Kate was able to live for another purpose, for another person.

Henry was very interesting. There was something with the kind of pain and sadness that he endured and experienced through the years that drew me in. I love that Hades was portrayed not as the bad guy but as the victim of fate. He loved and lost. He was not the one who took advantage. He was the understanding one – the one who made sacrifices for his love. His offer to Kate led them both to a complicated relationship – a strained partnership that ventures past friendship into something a little more intimate. It was agony and joy to read all about it. Some people might say that it was unbelievable but we need to consider that Henry was a god. He was gorgeous, had an unnatural charm and was incredibly generous and kind to Kate. He also gave Kate the one thing that she would do anything for – more time for her mother.

Carter did a good job with making me feel the emotions of the characters. I was very affected. The writing seemed very true, bled out of strong emotions. I found out it extremely difficult to stop reading. The characters were very fun and interesting, each one having different struggles with their lives or afterlives. Seeing them interact with Kate was always entertaining. Neither too funny nor too scary, The Goddess Test was able to possess something in between – a delicious mix of light humour, slightly fate-related-scary, sweet romance, pain, sadness and hope. As the story progressed, I found a few things that were predictable. I was able to guess some of the gods in the council and I was able to guess some of the things that would happen but I was also surprised with several twists.

Readers will love this unique retelling with a gorgeous and not-so-evil Hades who will make pulses quicken. The Goddess Test is an amazing debut that I would never get tired of reading no matter what happens. Addicting, romantic, sweet, this captured my heart right from the start. I recommend this to people who like Greek mythology and gods/goddess stories!

Rating: