Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test #2)

Originally posted at http://shelversanon.blogspot.com

I had such hopes for this book. I've already reviewed the first book in the series, The Goddess Test, and at the end of my review, I listed a few things that I hoped to see in the sequel, mainly growth from Kate and Henry.

I mean, after all, Titans! Titans are cool. The explanation given by Carter is a bit confusing, but I didn't care. The king's name is Cronos, so he has to be pretty awesome.

And he was awesome. Cronos was the coolest part of the entire book, amazing for his scarcity. He's locked deep in the heart of the Underworld but is able (through the help of a betrayer) to reach out via mysterious fog that can cause harm even to the gods and goddesses - Kate and Henry included. He's like the shark in Jaws, more terrifying because of the brief glimpses we're allowed.

~~~
"Cronos is still behind the gate," said Irene, "While he's awake, he can reach the corners of the Underworld most of us don't even know exist. Which is why the others kept him asleep all this time. But what you saw earlier was only a very small part of him, and if he were to fully escape, the damage would be catastrophic."

All of the blood drained from my face. "That-- that was only a piece?"

"Like a pinkie," said Dylan, wiggling his finger for emphasis.
~~~

Goosebumps, people. Life and death struggles, I love them!

What I didn't love so much? Oh, pretty much everything else, which saddens me greatly. I heard great things about this book. I fully expect other people to continue raving about this book. I wouldn't mind if they wandered on here and tried to convince me how wrong I am. But I just flat-out did not like this book.

More specifically, I wanted to push Kate under a bus. Repeatedly.

She was soooo needy. I understand feeling unsure of one's self, of feeling subpar, of feeling unwanted and second-best. I do. I also expected Kate to have all these feelings with Persephone's arrival so strongly emphasized in the summary on the back cover. Such emotions can be fun if done correctly, if balanced with other positive qualities and if we as readers are allowed to let those feelings simmer as we tend to other things.

Kate would not let them simmer. She whined and complained and sulked and cursed and moped and screwed things up royally. She was The Thing That Never Shut Up. Carter tried to give Kate balance by letting her be the one to lead the charge to defeat Cronos, to be the one to convince Persephone to help, etc. It just didn't work. Kate would have a moment of bravery and then collapse into a sniveling heap over Henry.

Oh, and Henry. That... that man. Uncommunicative is one thing, but freaking mimes can communicate better than that man. Grow a set and either hold her close or cut her loose, man!

I understand that the point was to build tension so that any possible resolution would bring relief. Cognitively, I get that. But about halfway through (if that), I was so done. The relationship was so incredibly dysfunctional beyond any bounds of normal. No one stepped in to smack Henry upside the head; instead, they all made excuses ("Aw, he's new at this." "He's just not good at expressing his feelings."). Kate was made to carry the burden. The initiative ALWAYS fell with her to a point that she came across as manipulative and Carter felt like she was purposely causing unrealistic misunderstandings to stretch the tension too thin.

I'm sure many readers will disagree with my assessment. Many already have in their own reviews. all I know is that I finished the book feeling disgruntled and disgusted. Nevertheless, I will probably read the inevitable sequel just to see what happens.

Points Added For: Cronos - he's the bomb; an interesting perspective on the Underworld and Hell.

Points Subtracted For: Kate's Bella-like ineptitude; a severe lack of communication; unrealistic and unbelievable tension; unpleasant relational dysfunction.

Good For Fans Of: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, all other books mentioned in my previous review (so says Amazon).

Notes For Parents: Language, adultery, sex (tasteful fade-to-black), extremely poor relationship models.

Having been neither under or over whelmed by The Goddess Test, I was expecting more of the same from Goddess Interrupted. After repeatedly putting the book down in frustration, just to pick it back up again a minute later, I quickly realized that Goddess Interrupted had successfully infiltrated my defences and dug its emotionally-havoc wreaking claws in deep.

Six months have passed since The Goddess Test, and Kate is eager to return to Eden Manor and start her life as Henry's wife and queen. Expecting him to greet her with open arms, Kate is dismayed to learn that Henry isn't even home for her arrival. This begins Kate's slow crumble into self-doubt - did she make the right choice in marrying Henry? In The Goddess Test, even faced with the possibility of living life alone after her mother's death, Kate was strong and fiercely independent. In Goddess Interrupted, her strength is slowly diminished as she deals with her overwhelming uncertainty of Henry's feelings for her. As she copes with the understanding that she might have made the wrong choice, that Henry might never be able to get over Persephone, Kate starts second-guessing herself, her decision to stay and her relationship with Henry.

"I didn't want to be married out of duty or an arrangement. I loved Henry. Maybe it wasn't the sort of endless, eternal love poets wrote about and musicians sang about, but he made me stronger, made me happy, and knowing he was in my life - he'd saved me, in more ways than one. And when he was with me, everything felt right. It felt real. And eventually we could get there if he would give me a chance. Instead he wanted to keep me at arm's length, and all the while I suffered, knowing I wasn't good enough for him to love me back. Knowing I wasn't Persephone."

So as much as Goddess Interrupted is about Greek Gods and Goddesses revolting against their creators for the sake of humanity, it is more about what happens when one person comes to the painful realization that the person they love, might not ever be able to love them in return.

This is where the frustration I was talking about earlier comes in to play. Kate's tumble into desperation was so realistic! The raw anxiety that arouse from having to make even the most minor of decisions and the all-encompasing panic that was constantly threatening to overwhelm her had me wanting to shake her for letting Henry treat her that way, while simultaneously had me panicking right next to her. Her angst did get a little annoying during some of Kate's more selfish moments, but for the most part I understood her feelings completely. I wanted to see Henry return her love - I would have settled for him showing her even a little compassion! - but he was the stoic-faced, broken-hearted Henry that Kate first met. Their six months apart seemed to have completely unravelled the progress they had made and my heart broke for Kate as she began to realize that she might have to abandon Henry, just like Persephone did.

Persephone. Just reading her name still makes my blood boil a little. Her flippancy over her treatment of Henry (even though I can now understand that she was too young and inexperienced to make the choice she felt pressured in to making), her selfishness (not caring that Cronus was escaping, only that they had led him to her doorstep) and her childishness (unwilling to teach Kate how to control her new-found ability unless Ava admitted Persephone was prettier) had me reacting just like Kate - disgusted and completely unable to understand why Henry couldn't let her go. As the book progressed however, Persephone showed that her choices were the result of her quest for happiness - something she felt she could never achieve as Henry's wife or queen.

Even though Kate was on the sidelines for most of the action, the plot was fast-paced and the introduction of a couple new characters made for an entertaining read. I absolutely adored Ingrid and that she was Kate's rock amidst her emotional storm. Her optimism was contagious and her advice was the kind that had me nodding my head in agreement.

"You can choose to be happy or you can choose to be miserable, and that's completely within your power. Henry doesn't have to do a thing."

We get a fuller explanation of the mythology behind Henry and his family's creation, and even though I know it won't sit well with many, it didn't bother me this time - most likely due to my ignorance of Greek mythology. But for once, the plot took second place for me. I was much more interested in Kate's inner turmoil, and Henry's inability to tell her what she needed to hear. I spent the last third of the book in tears, as much for Kate as for Henry, and the cliff-hanger ending had me cursing Aimee Carter - both for leaving me desperate to find out what happens and for almost breaking my Kindle after I threw it when I realized I had read the last sentence.

Not going to lie, The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter was not my thing, and yet there was this pull that kept me from closing the book and forgetting about it altogether. Two months ago, I would've said that pull was Kate and Henry. Now I realize that it was that looming promise for exciting Greek myth twists and crazy addictive action as a result, and my gut was, fortunately, on the right track and completely accurate. While The Goddess Test was penned in tune with an abominably slow pace, Goddess Interrupted by Aimée Carter is the after to its predecessor's before shots. With all the pulse-spiking action and awesome nods to the original myths (finally!), impatience shimmers as it's nearly impossible to guess what twists Carter's going to unleash. Kate's inner monologuing, with all her insecurities and doubts about her relationships with family and love interest, doesn't diminish the stunning developments of the plot. In fact, they seem to sketch depth and shadows to an already turning-toward-the-dark story, and sympathy is a simple gift to bestow upon a character that seems to have been born into the world for a single-minded purpose after the failure of a ghost still lingering in the hearts of so many cared by her. It's a heavy burden she carries and the doubts that possess her mind are plausible and hard to exorcise.

Kate's relatibility lies within her doubts, her desires, which, to some, may seem demanding and perhaps selfish given the circumstances, but, given her situation, seemed very reasonable to me. She's still young, a bit wide-eyed and wet behind the ears as far as her current job and to demand that she forgo those desires when everything is crumbling into unrecognizable rubble and considering the sacrifices she's made, the loneliness, the loyalty, why blame her for coveting something she's sacrificed normality and typical living for and then becoming frustrated for being denied? She's thrust into an unimaginable situation, has dealt with lies, deceit, and manipulation involving her life, both the living of it and its ability to exist, and all she has to anchor her is kept at a distance and is near-unreachable. Reminders of her simply being created as a replacement are shoved at her at every opportunity, so it would be impossible to remain completely confident in such a situation. Between hurt and loss and bitter enemies, Kate has much going on and rooting for her success and growth is a smooth transition from any preexisting dislike begun in The Goddess Test. While some prefer a more headstrong, kick-butt kind of heroine designed for these situations, Kate's plight is realistic, and maybe that's what people won't enjoy, that tie to reality and likeness to what we ourselves would do (in her situation).

In order to fully appreciate the characters, compassion and patience is required. Both sides of the story are given in Goddess Interrupted, as far as some of the dominant emotional issues between the characters, and we are able to make proper judgements. Who we side with is irrelevant; what matters is understanding the reasons for any hesitancy to forgive and love and enjoy found within the dynamics of the main characters. Hurt often does strange and incomparable things to different people, and with this new knowledge, we can forgive the characters for any missteps, the misconceptions and self-erected obstacles blocking progress for the romance.

Hope survives the chaos of most of the book, but dwindles as we approach the ending, a bridge to the next book half-drowned in water and awaiting repair which can only begin when The Goddess Inheritance's first page is flipped to. All pleasantness evaporates with a mostly shocking revelation that will be the match that sets the god of the Underworld's anger ablaze and will act as the trail to lead him back to the instigator. The promise of retribution is enough to grant goosebumps brought on by equal parts trepidation and anticipation. Although the wait for Goddess Interrupted wasn't agonizing, things are different this time—I can barely contain my rage at the estimated release date! At least there's The Goddess Legacy to look forward to.

Originally posted at Paranormal Indulgence, 4/3/12

Looking for another greek myth twist? Try out Josephine Angelini's Starcrossed.

Let me just get this out before I say anything else: this series is addicting.

Now, having said that, I think Goddess Interrupted, or rather just this whole series is the type of books that people are either going to love or hate. If you’re really in to pick it apart, you can. You’ll find that it’s a really, really loose and watered-down version of mythology, and that a lot of scenes basically contradict the basics and the core of the Hades and Persephone myth.

But if you’ve enjoyed The Goddess Test, Goddess Interrupted will not disappoint. It picks up right after The Goddess Test ends, and follows Kate’s experiences becoming an Immortal, and deals with the problems that Calliope cause as a result of Hades and Kate in the first book. It’s definitely action-packed, and there are new things, new twists, new surprises thrown at you chapter by chapter.

Goddess Interrupted is addicting in the sense that there’s never a dull moment. Like I said, it’s very action-packed. Things keep happening. A problem will be resolved, and a new one will appear. Carter throws curve-ball after curve-ball at you, and the ending will leave you breathless. The way she does this – the long string of problems and semi-solutions – makes you really curious to know what happens next, and after finishing, you’ll want to know what happens in the next book; you’ll want to keep reading.

But like I said, you’re either going to hate it or love it. Or maybe you’ll be a little of both, like me.

One of the things I hated (yes, hated) in Goddess Interrupted was the slut shaming. I mean, okay, I get that Ava’s Aphrodite and Aphrodite’s the goddess of love. But does that automatically make it okay to label her as a slut?

And Persephone. Persephone had to marry Henry. Then Henry fell in love with her and, unfortunately, she didn’t feel the same for him. So she left him for Adonis. First, I just wanted to point out that – this happened in The Goddess Test – isn’t this kind of like what happened with Kate, Henry, and James? James liked Kate, but Kate didn’t feel the same for him so she rejected him for Henry.

So, apparently, it’s perfectly fine to leave one guy for another if you don’t love them, as long as you’re the main character. In that case, it’s perfectly fine. After all, you can’t control who you fall in love with. But it isn’t okay to leave one guy for another if you don’t love them, especially when it’s the main character’s future husband that you left. Because you’re supposed to not hurt him/fall in love with him/leave you/whatever Kate wants Persephone to do (I honestly don’t know), because then you’re thought of as a slut, a target, and a threat.

Uh… okay?

Kate automatically sees Persephone as a threat. Of course, she doesn’t seem to realize that Persephone’s the one that wanted to leave Henry, and that she’s perfectly happy where she is doing what she does and spending endless days with Adonis. And I just don’t get why Carter had to go throw in all this extra drama that really just wasn’t necessary in Goddess Interrupted. Not every single second book in a YA paranormal romance series needs some girl vs. girl drama over a boy. Focus on the mythology, and the whole brewing war against the Titans and I’ll be a happy reader.

Then there’s Henry. Clearly, I’m the minority when I say this, but to me Henry’s a bastard. A cold-hearted, confused, and a miserable bastard. He still has feelings for Persephone. And Kate. Both. M’kay. I get it. But then he has to go make Kate feel so hopeful – as if he doesn’t have any feelings for Persephone anymore. That whole touching scene towards the end was something that should’ve been done at the beginning. The very, very beginning, in which it was clear to anyone that Kate was feeling hurt.

I’m not saying that it’s entirely Henry’s fault and that Kate’s not acting way too co-dependent and whiny for her own good, but when she was looking for reassurance, he should’ve gave her some reassurance that his feelings were still there instead of running away and wallowing in his own self-pity. Because that made it seem like he was pushing her away – as if he didn’t care for her at all. Then he continues pushing her away, then pulling her back to his side only to push her away again.

And Kate lets him.

WHY? Kate is a co-dependent, clingy, and whiny goody-two-shoes. Henry’s a cold-hearted, miserable bastard. Their whole relationship has ‘doomed’ stamped all over it in large, bright red letters.

But despite all my raging and ranting, I did enjoy Goddess Interrupted. It’s fast paced, and there’s never a dull moment. I’ll admit, the wannabe cliffhanger ending was a total letdown for me, as I was expecting something a bit… more. I was expecting it to end in a bit more of a bang, and not the whimper it actually ended with. But it was okay. The action scenes were my favorite, and much better than the little-to-no action from The Goddess Test. We got to see a bit more of the other gods, though there’s much less of James and much more of Kate’s mom. There’s also some more of Pogo, too (he’ll always be my favorite character); curve-balls; semi-answers.

I’m more on the rant and rage side, but the bottom line is, some people are going to rant and rage at Kate and Henry. Others aren’t going to notice, and are going to love Goddess Interrupted. It all depends on the reader.

I love, love, LOVED The Goddess Test. It was one of the very first ARC's I received, and I raced right out and bought myself a copy soon as it came out in stores. It took me a little longer to get to the second one, because I just don't keep up on series the way I wish I could. (Jamie has a post over at The Perpetual Page-Turner that pretty much sums up my entire problem.)

Once I did though, I flew straight through it in a matter of hours. These books are such nice vacation reads because they're lightweight paperbacks and aren't too difficult - but they still have a lot of issues that make you think. Right at first I was a little lost getting back into it, probably because of my issues with series, and I kinda skipped Goddess Hunt (the short story released between the two). But once I got into it, the action was fast paced, and the twists and turns kept me intrigued through the end.

I have to say, I had some issues early on with representation of the characters. Hera is the goddess of fidelity after all. She shouldn't be getting her panties in a wad over Henry! Not that I blame her, and all, but being faithful is kinda her thing. But then, once it was explained, I started kicking myself. Carter makes even the parts that make the least sense make the MOST sense by the end, and I absolutely love that!

Add to that the teaser at the very end and I'm just itching to get my hands on the next book!

First of all, I should let you all know that I skipped The Goddess Hunt, one of those short stories that has proliferated since the advent of e-readers. From reading reviews on other blogs (like this one), I gather that it's from Henry's perspective, which would be cool, since he definitely lacked evident personality a bit in the first book, although I did enjoy The Goddess Test. However, $1.29 seems a bit steep for a story that I don't need to understand the plot of the other books.

Kate continues to search for more information about Henry, now her husband and soon-to-be co-ruler. He continues to play Mr. Mysterious and to not trust her with any information about himself or the life of an immortal. Her response is to act like a child. Despite her power, she doesn't seem to be able to do anything but throw tantrums; she could make people tell her what's going on, but she simply pouts and whines, rather than putting her feet down.

Her relationship with Henry is so awkward. I mean, they didn't know each other that well, but she's convinced she loves him. This does actually make some amount of sense, both because he's handsome, powerful and mysterious, and because if she didn't choose to stay with him he would have faded, which is pretty much the god equivalent of dying. Kate, being way too nice for her own good (ex. forgives her mom for lying to her all her life, forgives Ava for lying to her and being a jerk in the human world) would never let him fade, so the best solution is to convince herself that she loves him, even though he comes with crazy baggage.

I am not a patient person. At all. And even I think that Kate is absurdly impatient. She comes back and expects Henry to be magically different in like 2 days, all the while complaining about how long she's waited for him to love her like she loves him. Slow down, girl. You barely even know him; you don't know what love is. He and his ex were together for a thousand years. Sheesh!

Worse, she may be immortal, but I think she's weaker than she was in The Goddess Test. Aside from mooning over Henry, she wants to save everyone from Cronos, but, mostly, she really doesn't accomplish anything; at best, she delayed things for a while. At worst, she does something dumb, having been told otherwise (like how people never stay in the car in crime shows) and makes the situation even more difficult.

All of that said, I did really enjoy reading Goddess Interrupted, although maybe not as much as the first book. While I did want to shake some sense into Kate, a lot of sense, the story remains interesting and the writing enjoyable. Still, I hope that in the next book, Kate actually learns how to use her powers and focuses on improving herself and less on Henry, like everyone's been telling her.

That ending, though...yikes. Definitely a surprise, but also not one of my favorite plot lines. Oh well, I'll be reading the next book, that's for sure.