Book Review: The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Title: The Goddess Test

Author: Aimee Carter

Aimee’s Website: aimeecarter.com/

Aimee’s Twitter: twitter.com/aimee_carter

304 pages, Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release Date: April 19, 2011

From The Publisher:

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. (Summary provided by Harlequin Teen.)

My Thoughts:

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter is the latest  offering in the recent outpouring of mythology based YA novels, and so far it is my favorite of the bunch! First, can we talk about this book’s cover? I know we’re not supposed to judge books by them, but the cover art and photography for this book is beautiful. Also the tag line, “Become Immortal or Die Trying” gives me the chills! And speaking of chills, the prologue gives just enough information to both intrigue the reader and foreshadow what’s to come while also setting the ethereal tone for the rest of the book.

I really liked the heroine, Kate. It was easy, as a reader ,to empathize with her situation. I think most anyone would do anything to spend more time with a dying parent. Also, Henry could have been a really unlikeable character, but he wasn’t. Ancillary characters, James and Ava’s storylines were well-developed and added an extra element of surprise to the story (on more than one occasion!). I hope they are both featured prominently in the next two books, because I want to know more about both of them.

I enjoyed Carter’s unique spin on the Hades and Persephone mythos. She truly makes the stories her own. The book posits  a “what if” scenario. What if a replacement goddess needed to be found? How would the gods go about filling this role? So creative. So original. So intriguing. I love this premise and I can’t wait to read the next book in the trilogy, Goddess Interrupted.

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