Review: Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test #2)

By Aimée Carter

Published: March 27, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin TEEN

Paperback, 297 pages

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. --Goodreads

2 Stars

Review

With all of the hype this series is receiving, you'd totally expect something extraordinarily original or dramatic, but unfortunately Goddess Interrupted doesn't stand out in that retrospect. Instead, this book is an overly dramatic, but fun read.

After all the trials Kate has gone through to get to the stage of being hitched to Henry, trouble strikes. I know! You totally didn't expect something abnormal to happen! Yes, Calliope (Hera) is insane, releasing the very daddy who ate her when she was a newborn for no reason besides what? She wants to avenge her misery with her useless husband by hooking up with Henry and killing of Kate. Of course, things never turn out as one expects when half of the cast is insane.

As you've probably figured out by now, Goddess Interrupted is the continuation of The Goddess Test (genius, yes I know). With the words of continuation, this also means a continuation of the hilarious soap operatic moments that can only happen with a straight man (girl in this case), and the insane almighty gods. With Henry kidnapped, we've lost the "Beast" of Beauty and the Beast. Now it's "Beauty" running off to find her hubby's first wife who everyone hates. Then what was already making no sense just spirals downward to become one of the most awkward and sexist books in YA history.

Basically, the author retells a Greek myth in modern times, but unfortunately decides to add tons of sexist and nonsensical situations. For example, Persephone has never loved Henry, not to mention was forced to marry him. Then when she decides that she cannot live this loveless life anymore, and falls in love with Adonis, all of the gods consider her a slut? It is understandable that this situation has happened in the past, and many people have thought the same things hundreds of years ago. But seriously! This is the 21st century, this book takes place in the 21st century, so shouldn't at least the one character born in this century (hello Kate) act like she can understand Persephone's decision. It just floored me out sexist this series could get. 

Then there's the ending. What kind of book ends with such an awkward ending that has the antagonist flash her playing cards in front of the protagonist before her plan is even in the final stages? For goodness sakes! After the sudden revealed plan, there's a frikkin' time skip that feels so out of place. One reason is because it's from Henry's point of view, and we've never had a single moment in this entire series with another narrator besides Kate, so it feels disjointed. Let's just say that there could have been a better way to end this book.

I won't deny that I enjoyed reading Goddess Interrupted. It was like watching Breaking Dawn: Part I, funny because it couldn't be taken seriously. The OMG moments were laughable, and the plot moved too rapidly to be seriously reprehensible. Still, this is definitely one of the biggest slumps of a series that I've read, but I love the cheesiness of this series so much, so I'm definitely putting The Goddess Inheritance on my to-read list.

Purchase this book: Amazon/ B&N/ TBD