Review: Goddess Interrupted

Goddess Interrupted (The Goddess Test #2) by Aimee Carter
Release Date ~ March 27, 2012
Harlequin Teen
ISBN13: 9780373210459
E-galley received from publisher via Net Galley
Goodreads Synopsis:
KATE WINTERS HAS WON IMMORTALITY.

BUT IF SHE WANTS A LIFE WITH HENRY IN THE UNDERWORLD, 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.
As much as I enjoyed The Goddess Test (the first book in Aimee Carter's series), my experience reading Goddess Interrupted was very different from when I read the first book.  While the stakes are high for all the members of the council in Goddess Interrupted, the story mostly centers around Kate's internal thoughts and feelings and her relationship with a number of characters. It's interesting that the book's biggest strength was also its greatest weakness in terms of storytelling.

Regardless of any other events taking place in the book, the story is really about the romantic relationship between Kate and Henry; which is great for fans of books heavily influenced by romance, but lacking for those who may hope for something more well-rounded.

1. Masterfully emotional writing:
   This is the one thing that really sold me on Goddess Interrupted; after being convinced that I wouldn't find anything interesting enough to redeem itself in GI, I was happy to discover that Aimee wasn't going to let me down and she threw in some heart-wrenching scenes that pulled at my heart strings. And boy, did she ever deliver! I'd go so far as to say that this book was emotionally manipulating me, and that wasn't always such a pleasant experience. But Kate asks so many questions of herself and even of Henry, intimate questions dealing with their relationship, which was nice to see in a YA book. It's definitely neat to see a YA book with a slightly older character (Kate's 19 in GI, I believe) and one who's married (in a semi-arranged marriage, at that!) because you get some really unique dynamics and questions being brought up that just don't get asked when you have a 16 year old heroine. And let's be honest, Kate and Henry honestly do have an extremely complicated relationship. My heart may just bleed a little bit for them- and I didn't even want it to! So there you go, major kudos to Aimee for accomplishing that.
2. A twist I did NOT see coming:I probably pride myself a little bit too much on figuring out plot twists and whatnot (which is surprising, seeing as I seem to give this reason in a lot of my reviews for why people should read a book... maybe I'm not as clever as I think?) but yeah, I'll admit it: I was completely wrong about this one. I thought I had it alllll figured out and then WHAM- nope! Not even close! We get a FAST one pulled on us at the end, folks. There really isn't a hint that it's coming, but it still makes sense. And now I just kinda HAVE to read the third book. Because this is HUGE.

But- now, there's a big but to all of this: I didn't love Goddess Interrupted as much as I wanted to. I thought there was going to be tons of action and excitement going on, but the story largely revolves around Kate's feelings towards her marriage with Henry. Emphasis on "marriage" rather than relationship, because she isn't annoyingly obsessive about it the way some girls in YA books are, but it is a tad dull to read so many pages dedicated to Kate contemplating whether Henry will ever love her or not. And I sympathize. I do.
Which leads me to my next problem: Henry's pretty much a huge jerk. The conversations he and Kate have about their relationship? Um, I've had those. It's kinda freaky how they almost felt word for word. And my issue is that Henry can talk the talk... but he won't walk the walk. And for me, that's an issue in serious relationships. Maybe this is because I'm taking this a little bit too personally, because it hit a sore spot. And for me, I had to make a decision to walk away because it wasn't worth it. It was emotionally draining and really, borderline manipulative. I'm not okay with that, and I didn't feel that this was really discussed very well in GI. At times it seemed as if Kate was just being brushed off for being silly and paranoid; but she's NOT. Most of the time she's spot-on with her thinking, and I don't think she should have to brush off her feelings because Henry's vulnerable. I don't care if you've been hurt in the past, it does NOT give you any right or excuse to treat others poorly. Maybe I'm just extra bothered by this because they're supposed to be married, but the whole situation is actually pretty lame. Because they don't seem to comprehend what that might mean at all.

ALSO! Kate doesn't really DO anything. There's barely any fighting, and even then Kate's just told to stay at home... so she does. She sits in a chair and cries. And even if she does sneak off, there's no fighting. They just kind of all yell at each other. And then they leave, go home, and try to come up with a new plan. That's it. Huge disappointment for such a promising description.
I struggled with this one for a while because of the slow pace & large focus on romance (minus the romantic bits... go figure?) and it wasn't until the end when I finally felt excited and angry and frantic and annoyed. All. At. Once. But thankfully those last 50 pages or so really did bump up my enjoyment level for this one. And now you might see my two star rating and go "huh? But there were good things about it" and YES, that's true. There just wasn't enough of them. I'm definitely going to be picking up the next book, and I think a lot of people are going to like this one. There were just some pretty big issues in it for me, which detracted from a more positive rating.

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The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
Released: April 19, 2011
Harlequin Teen
ISBN13:  9780373210268

4/5 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
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.

I'm a Greek mythology nerd. So let me just say that I am LOVING all these new myth-based YA books.
Aimee Carter doesn't disappoint with The Goddess Test, either. This book is just so much fun- figuring out who's who, solving the murder mystery, falling in love. What's not to like?

There are a few different plots moving along in this book, and to be honest I'm not exactly sure which is the main one. The goddess test? Henry and Kate? Kate and her mom? It doesn't really matter in the end, because there's always just enough going on to keep you interested as a reader.

One of my favourite parts was how the book was like a game of Clue. Who's the murderer? Was it Zeus in the kitchen with a candlestick? Apollo in the study with a wrench? That's pretty much what it felt like to me as I was reading, and I thought that was just so cool and I did find myself guessing along and trying to weed out the killer.

I also thought the romance was very sweet, and believable. It didn't feel rushed, and it just felt so loving. Regardless of anything else going on in their lives, the romance remained fairly pure and untainted from any outside circumstances. I really appreciate reading that in novels, where (for the most part) they exhibit a healthy, funcitoning relationship which progresses over time.

It's definitely a fun book, and what seems to be a balance between Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series and Jennifer L. Armentrout's Half-Blood series (well, what I've read of it so far). Carter's Olympian characters play out exactly how they would being the Greek gods and goddesses of the myths, but with a modern twist. And while it's heavier and slightly more serious than Percy Jackson, it's still a lot of fun and definitely geared more towards females with its love plot.