Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test #2)

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter
ARC received from Harlequin via Netgalley
Release Date: 3-27-2012
Reviewed by: Jennifer McCoy
The Sisters Say: Enchanting, Enthralling, Entertaining

I started reading The Goddess Test yesterday and the moment I was done, I went straight for my ARC of Goddess Interrupted. I was excited to see how Kate and Henry’s romance was going to continue to unfold. While the action in the novel was great, and I loved getting to see deeper into the psyche of the Gods, I was somewhat disappointed in the romance between Henry and Kate. There was so much angst that at times I wanted to jump straight into the book (if only I had magical powers) and slap them both in the face and scream, “Come on! Get it together and kiss already! Quit wallowing in self-pity!” However, no matter how many times I wished for Harry Potter powers, I found none, so I just continued to grumble to myself.

That doesn’t mean that I did not enjoy the book. On the contrary, I cannot wait until the next book comes out; I just hope that Aimee Carter will give my heart a break and inundate me with some great kissy romance scenes.

So what did I like?

Even though the romance aspect was very tense, I still liked Henry. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a broken, broody guy whose eyes flash with love every so often. No matter how cold and distant he gets, I’d still rule the Underworld with him!

The evil in this book is so extreme that I am still reeling. Calliope—grrrr! That’s all I can come up with! She’s beyond evil—full of hatred and misery and determined to take everyone down with her. That’s what makes the action so overwhelmingly great…I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see when she was going to attack again. (There are no spoilers here…you see Calliope’s plan in the first 2 pages).

But Calliope is not the only evil that Kate must face—even worse…she has to face Persephone. Not that Persephone is evil, but let’s face it; having to enlist the help of the woman your husband is still in love with would make anyone a little furious. I really enjoyed the insight into Persephone and Henry’s relationship. It made me understand (somewhat) why Henry acts the way he does—cold and distant. Though I still wish that Aimee Carter would have given the angst a break, I did enjoy seeing how Henry’s past relationship starts to define his present one.

What did I dislike?

Again…the angst. We see very little emotion from Henry (I know, he’s Hades, he has to be cold). I would have liked to see him cave to his emotion, even once to give another layer to his character.

Not that I disliked the ending…it’s more that I dislike having to wait to find out what happens! This cliffhanger ending will make you want to scream even louder than the infamous Soprano ending! To me, there is nothing worse than not knowing! But I guess in the world of young adult, I must get used to the cliffhanger-break-my-heart-and-stomp-on-it endings. I’ll just say this—ARC of the next one, please!!!!!!

So….

I did fall in love with Aimee Carter’s world. She gives us and entirely new idea of heaven and hell. She creates a world where lies, betrayal, hatred, and envy are overwhelming and can only be combated by truth, loyalty, and love—things so few are willing to give. Take a trip to Aimee Carter’s Underworld, and like me, you might not want to return.

I can honestly say that I enjoyed the first book over this one by far. Aimee Carter still had me on edge, though. Kate's story continues when she returns to Eden Manor in the fall only to discover that an angry Titan is out to kill them all. So, ofcourse, Kate wants to be the heroine and save the day. As all of us readers know from previous experience with books, that's not always the smartest decision. She gets herself into deep shit, along with making herself insecure and jealous of her sister. Throughout this book, I honestly made a connection between Henry and Edward (from New Moon). Most of us readers loved Edward in Twilight, but when he left Bella in New Moon, we were like "Nooooo, don't go!"

You'll have pretty much the same reaction to Henry in this, except more like "What. The. Hell."

So, if you've read the first book, this is a must-read. It's kinda-sorta fantastic. :)

Needy, Needy Kate.
"Henry doesn't love me" "Henry is still in love with Persephone" it goes on and on and on and on.
Why is Kate being so needy, so suddenly? I mean, she doesn't need anyone-she never had-(well except maybe her mum). She just went from "i don't date" to "why don't you love me?". I get the feeling of being second best- i really get it- but that doesn't mean she should mope around asking everyone if Henry loves her and lets him do whatever he likes with her whenever he feels like it.

I loved the action and tension in the book and i loved the how it ended - in suspense BUT.......
BEWARE! READERS WHO LOVE TOTALLY INDEPENDENT KATE. SHE HAS TURNED INTO A NEEDY, CLINGY AND MOPEY CHARACTER. (Just thought to give you a warning)
Can't wait to see what happens next in the Goddess Legacy and the Goddess Inheritance!

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.

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!