Review: The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

The Goddess Test (Goddess Test #1) by Aimee Carter

Release Date: April 19th 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: ebook
Pages: 293
Source: Library
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Amazon/B&N/Goodreads

Goodreads Synopsis:

Every girl who had taken the test has died.

Now it's Kate's turn.

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.

If she fails... (Add Goodreads)

                                                                 Review: 

The Story

Mythology is definitely a new thing for me. I know that there are A LOT of books out there that have the some type of mythology theme, but its not something I actively seek out. So to ME the plot was very original and fresh and I liked that. But that's about it. Its not that the book was bad or anything it just didn't make the impact that I hoped it would. It actually to me FOREVER to finish it! And once I was finished I was like "That's it?" and then I kinda forgot about it.

The Writing

The writing was good, nothing bad enough to complain about. It had a good pace as well, the story never went to slow or to fast.

The Characters

At the beginning of the book I really liked Kate; she was strong, protective and loyal to her mother, and not easily fooled. Then about 25% into the book she did this complete 180 and all of sudden she was basically willing to die for Henry a.k.a. Hades, whom by the way she just meet. I mean with the death of her mom getting closer I understand wanting to feel close to someone else, but SLOW DOWN! I, for once, want to see a relationship that realistically builds up. Despite all that, I do still like Kate. She had strength in situations that, If in her place I probably would not have had.

Henry was... I don't know. Not necessarily boring but I just couldn't get into his character like I wanted to. With characters (like Henry) that are to have supposedly lived for hundreds of years, its hard to make them interesting, because they still have to act and sound like someone who wasn't born in the 21st century. Which is what I am now going to call the Edward complex (if someone else already started this I apologize).

As for the minor characters I liked them. They all had their uses in the story, that involves a very surprising twist ending :) Honestly I actually liked James better than I liked Henry even though I don't think I'm supposed to. I really would have liked to see more of him in the book.

The Good

Like I said before I like the whole mythology theme of the book. It's something new and exciting for me so I really enjoyed that ;) And despite some of her faults Kate was a DECENT enough character and didn't get on my nerves TOO much.

The Bad

I  really hate when character personalities change for the worse and for me, Kate's did. Her thought process and opinions on things sometimes got to the point where to just shake her and tell her to "SHUT UP!" And as for Henry/Hades he was alright I guess a little dull at times. And there was just some things about his character that I did not find believable. I don't know a lot about mythology but a thousands of years old GOD, that's a virgin. I mean COME ON! And the characters that I  actually liked weren't in the story that much.

As for the supposedly GRUELING tests that Kate was supposed to go through wasn't what I was hoping for, they didn't even seem that hard. I was hoping for a little more action from a book about gods, ya know?

My Final Thoughts

The book was ALRIGHT. Not great and not horrible just OK. Hence the average 3 star review. I do recommend the book to people who like mythology, who knows you might like it more that I did. And I think I will eventually read the second book just to give it another chance :)

Tell what YOU guys think about my review in the comments section!