Thursday, February 16, 2012

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

Note: I received an Australian ARC copy of this book (so the cover is different).

Release Date: April, 2012

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Pages: 304pgs

The Story

Kate Winters has won immortality.

But if she wants a life in the Underworld with Henry, 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.

The Review

A big thanks to Gabby from HarlequinTeen Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!

Honestly . . . where do I start with this review? There was so much love and high praises for Aimee Carter's wonderful debut novel, The Goddess Test, and I was really really looking forward to its highly-anticipated sequel as did everyone else who was craving for an ARC copy like I did! For those who've read my book review, you will understand my excitement. Unfortunately for the author, unfortunately for this book, and unfortunately for myself, I've never been so disappointed in a book in my life, especially a sequel to the first book that I loved so, so much. I hate saying it right now . . . I really do . . . but that's what happened to me and I wished I could turn back the clock and pretend I did love it, and that I never said the above things. *infinite cries* But I guess it just happens at the most unexpected times for a reader. And I think it happens to all of us at one point or another.

While the interesting mythology of GODDESS INTERRUPTED remained much the same as did in The Goddess Test and while I loved the direction the story was heading towards, however I had three major problems which had a greater effect on my overall book rating. The first would have to be Kate herself, the main heroine. Now in the first book I absolutely loved Kate and the young woman she had become, but I kind of felt in this book she lost way somehow. Both in strength, confidence and independence. All of this was caused by her constant whining. Where has my dear Kate gone? I get where Kate's insecurities were coming from, what with Henry being the cause of almost everything going haywire for her, but Kate needed to realize that Henry is the King of the Underworld and he too had a lot on his plate. He needs time to adjust to things as does she. I mean, after all, he's been alone for a very long time and had lost the person he loved the most. And still loves. Through my eyes, Kate needed to not put so much pressure onto him and allow him to go through the several steps in order to get used to things between the two of them if you know what I mean . . . but like I said before, the whining was one of those problems I had with Kate and made me feel . . . sad for her character.

The second major problem for me was Henry. Oh Henry . . . I really stuck up for you when people said they didn't like you and called you an Edwardian 'creeper'. Which you are not by the way. Much like with Kate's character, I absolutely, positively adored Henry from start to finish in The Goddess Test and I had very high hopes for him to get readers to fall back in love with his character in the second book. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of Henry. One moment he's there and I'm all giddy, then the next he's off trotting somewhere that left poor Kate jumping over large hurdles and leaving me crying and saying things like, "Where are you, you selfish hottie God?! You're wife is being hassled and almost-killed by stupid trolls . . . some husband you are!" Yes. I did yell those things. And no. There's no trolls in this book whatsoever . . . it's just a metaphor for meanie characters. Needless to say, Henry fell flat on his face in this book and I wanted so, so much more from him in his character development. I wanted scream. I wanted to smack. I wanted to cry. All because of him. But I still love you Henry . . . Hades . . . Henry . . . whatever you preferred to be called. Even though you were still in love with Persphone (I really loved Persphone I really did) and you were to blind to see what was right in front you . . . but I do forgive you Henry! For now at least.

And finally, there was a problem number three which was the actual events that occured in GODDESS INTERRUPTED and that so-called ending it delivered to me. Story-wise - it was fun, entertaining, edgy, and thrilling for all the right reasons, but everything happened so quickly. Literally. There was so little time for a small breather. Don't get me wrong here, I love a good old fast-paced story but I also like to have some events that leave me calm for a few minutes of reading, just so I can prepare myself for more action sequences that come later rather than hitting me with scenes of BOOM BOOM BOOM. There's only so much I can take of it. Then there's that ending . . . I must say the ending was one of the few things that did surprise me through the novel. Part of me thought this 'ending' was coming our way, but I didn't actually think it would happen. I mean whoa. Really? Really? I won't say too much but I was a bit on the fence about the ending . . . but it'll sure make an interesting turnpoint - that's for sure - and it will make me wonder what the bad guys - or rather the bad girl - has planned for the final installment.

Overall, despite my disappointment with this book it doesn't mean I didn't like it. The fact is . . . I did enjoy some parts and seeing some issues being resolved in this sequel and I'm glad for that. However there's still a lot of things that need answering . . . so I'll definitely be looking forward to reading the third book which I'm sure contains quite a lot of surprises and twists along the way for us readers. If you're a fan of Greek mythology or a fan of The Goddess Test, then I definitely recommend this book in a heartbeat. Just be aware it has a different feel - at least for me - compared to the first book in the series!

The Rating

2 1/2 / 5 stars

9 comments:

  1. The ending shocked me too! I didn't think she'd go there and then... she did! Not sure entirely how I feel about it, but like you, I think it will make an interesting set up for book 3.

    Overall, I very much agree with your review. Henry and Kate especially. I was expecting something completely different from these two and unfortunately they went in a direction I was not overly happy with =\ But yes, loved Persephone! Fantastic, well-written review!

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    1. Thanks Brodie! Glad to hear I wasn't the only one who thought this. The ending . . . . I saw it coming . . . but it happened and I'm still shocked over it. But yeah, I was expecting more from Kate and Henry's characters but what can you do?

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  2. I'm not going to read this because I felt TGT should've been a standalone and from your review it seems like it really should've been. It's SUCH a letdown when you love a book and the sequel doesn't live up to it, especially when the characters seem to have changed. I'm sad you didn't enjoy this as much as you wanted to.

    P.S: Love your Bones button but....Bones is mine ;)

    The Cait Files

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    1. Yeah it's a real shame. Well, actually Bones is Cat's but . . . he is mine. ;) mwhaha.

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  3. SIGH.

    Man, this makes me sad :( I don't think I LOVED TGT like you did but I reeeeally, really liked it and I had such high hopes for this one! I can see what you mean about the characters - very well-explained, thanks :) Great review! Hopefully the 3rd book will bring the series back up again?

    Sonia

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    1. I know! It was such a downer for me . . . but like you said, I hope the 3rd book brings the series back up to the high standard I got when reading TGT!

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  4. I have this series in my wishlist, but after reading your review of this second book... I don't know, maybe I'll wait when the third book is out to read the reviews. And then I'll figure out if it is a series worth buying. Thank you for posting! :)

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  5. Oh no! I'm really sorry you didn't like this one as much as you hoped! :( I adored The Goddess Test too so I was really looking forward to reading this, but the fact that Kate isn't as strong and brilliant as in the first book makes me sad. But I LOVE how you said that Henry's not an "Edwardian creeper" LOL! So funny, and VERY relieving! x)

    Still, thank you so much for the beautifully honest review, Erin! <3 It will warn me to what I might feel for the book too. I'm crossing my fingers that the third book will bring back your love for this series! :)

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  6. The main problem that I had with this book was Kate. She was completely and utterly annoying. I found myself skipping over a lot of her inner monologues b/c it was the same complaints over and over again. Other then that, I enjoyed Goddess Interrupted. I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy it as much

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