Book Review: The Goddess Test (Goddess Test #1) by Aimee Carter

The Goddess Test (Goddess Test, #1)

Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Release Date: 19 April 2011
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Format: ebook
Page Count: 293 (paperback)
Source: Purchased
Rating:

3 of 5 hearts

This review contains unbridled profanity. You have been warned.

Kate bargains her own life to save another, and to keep her end of the deal she must undertake a series to tests to see if she is worthy of being the new queen of the Underworld in this Gothic retelling of the myth of Persephone and Hades.

Reasons why I liked this book:

1) Henry! *swoon*

2) I thought it would be based in the Underworld but it was based in a big huge house in some kind of limbo-land, and that made it much more Gothic, and boy, do I love Gothic!

3) Kate. I suppose she was OK. She was better than most YA heroines. She actually had a spine and stood up to beings infinitely more powerful than her. She was sassy and smart-mouthed and I loved the way she fell in love with Henry.

Reasons why I disliked this book

1) Casually slut-shaming the goddamned goddess of fucking sexual love for fuck’s sake.

2) The gods could take mortal bodies then die and come back to limbo but if they died in limbo they went to the Underworld where Henry could bring them back and for some reason this was a HUGE DEAL and somehow all the gods were in limbo even though they’re technically not alive nor dead because they’re immortal and just GAH! MAKE SENSE, DAMN IT. Also, Henry could bring one god back to life but not another. Because that makes sense. Not.

3) Zeus said the gods “do not abide by lust.” Zeus. The motherfucker who turned into a fucking golden shower and impregnated Danae with Perseus. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. The dude who turned into a swan and raped Leda, mother of Helen of Troy and Castor (twin brother to Pollux) who incidentally are the main gods in The Goddess Hunt, so they fucking exist and the swan thing actually happened.

Reasons why I was ‘meh’ about this book:

1) If the tests were so non-life threatening and Kate didn’t even know when she was being tested, then that means that the other girls died by OTHER CAUSES, NOT from the tests. The blurb made it sound like the other girls failed and the tests might actually be difficult.

2) The murderer? Totally saw it coming. You only have several thousand years’ worth of myths and gods to work with. If you can’t guess who the villain is simply by looking at the who-is-who page at the back of the book, then you’re failing.

3) Kate didn’t seem interested in learning who the gods actually were. Hey, that might have made the novel a lot shorter!

I would have liked this more if the tests weren’t

a) Christian-based

b) Kate living her everyday life and being virtuous and kind rather than actual tests where she had to actually do something. Because that’s what I thought I was going to be reading. There was a big deal made out of these tests (it’s in the title, for fuck’s sake) and then nothing happens. I was hoping it would be more like Throne of Glass, with actual challenges and winning and losing.

MISSING OR DELETED SCENES (sarcasm):

1) My version of this book was missing the scene where Walter was introduced. Kate wakes up and is all like, “Everyone was here, including Walter.” And then doesn’t say who Walter is or why he’s relevant  And I’m like ‘Who’s Walter’? except I knew, because I’d looked in the back of the book at the list of gods. But I mean, he wasn’t introduced, nor was it explained what he looked like. I imagined him as another young tormented teen like the rest of the immortal gang, but in Goddess Interrupted it turns out he deliberately makes himself look older because he likes to look ‘distinguished.’ And I mean, Walter? Walter? Really? Yeesh.

2) Also, in my book there was a deleted scene where Kate was caught making out with Dylan, because that’s the only explanation for why, after Dylan only helped Kate to her feet, several scenes Ava was suddenly all like:

cut

Because that’s the women of the novel’s only response to Kate, apparently.

View all my reviews

Nemo
Nemo

About Nemo

A lover of kittens and all things sparkly, Nemo has a degree in English Literature and specialises in reviewing contemporary, paranormal, mystery/thriller, historical, sci-fi and fantasy Young Adult fiction. She is especially drawn to novels about princesses, strong female friendships, magical powers, and assassins.

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10 thoughts on “Book Review: The Goddess Test (Goddess Test #1) by Aimee Carter

  1. Merin

    Admittedly I read this one a while back (I finished the series, although it was touch and go), but I don’t think that scene was missing in my copy. Weird that they’d take it out. Also, the deleted scene is weird, too. I’m glad that wasn’t in the final version.

    I had so many issues with this book, and series as a whole. Kate was someone I actually liked in the first book, but as it went on she became practically intolerable, especially in The Goddess Inheritance. And I was SO frustrated with Calliope’s character! And yes, the Ava stuff was just poorly done and very distasteful. Ugh.

    1. Nemo

      Yes, I am currently struggling to finish The Goddess Inheritance. Do you mean to say that in your copy of the book Walter was actually introduced? And the deleted scene should have been in the novel because it doesn’t make sense with it otherwise.

      But hey, am I really expecting this series to make sense? Apparently I thought too highly of it.

      1. Merin

        I vaguely remember being introduced to Walter at least in passing. But maybe I’m completely making that up. It has been a few years since I read it, and aside from the things that utterly annoyed me, I don’t really remember much about it. But I know that deleted scene was not in the copy I read!

  2. the scarecrow

    For an average rating, you don’t seem to have liked the book too much. I’ve been waiting and WAITING for you to finish this since I saw your updates on Twitter, and I’m glad your review isn’t as severe as most of the ones I’ve read. I grew up on a diet of extreme right-wing conservatism and mythology (I like the latter but not the former) so I avoided this so far because of the bad reviews. Books that screw up mythology irritate the piss out of me (fuck you, Percy Jackson).

    Is it worth reading?

    1. Nemo

      The first book, yes. The rest, not so much. The rest of the series is being reviewed this week as well. Sorry it took so long to post, but I wanted to do it over one week – the review has been up on Goodreads, though.

      I think what saved this book for me was that I actually liked Henry. But yeah, the mythology is pretty screwed up, just to make Henry seem less of a bad guy.

  3. donadee

    Um….I think Walter was mentioned. Because he is the one who gives Kate the tonic after she is stabbed or something. And the only reason she knows he is walter is because Henry mentioned his name.
    Oh and the mythology? It was screwed up badly. I MEAN, all these GODS except were known to fall for Mortal women or men and get them pregnant with thier demi-god kids. So it was pretty hypocritical to say that Lust was a sin because Perseus (i hope I got the spelling right) was Zeus’s bastard son (don’t mind my language, I just think that he was a major hypocrate)
    And mixing Christian belief with Greek Mythology? No way man!
    Secondly, Hera was the gODdess of marriage. So she couldn’t have liked anyone except for Zeus so you see, she couldn’t have fallen in love with Henry (urgh) [I am just a fan of greek mythology and Percy jackson which is why I know these things]

    1. Nemo

      I don’t remember Walter at all apart from when Kate wakes up and he’s suddenly there at the end of the book. I can take certain liberties and suspend my disbelief with the mythology, but there’s only so much bastardisation it can take. I really hated how it mixed Greek mythology with Christian beliefs.

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