Review Detail

My 5-word review: I expected to be amazed…

This was my first book from Harlequin Teen Panel and I was so excited to get it, with its beautiful cover and all the hype. But I was sorely disappointed. I had expected to read something filled with mythological references and enough action to satisfy a bored, carsick teenager. Instead I found a dull romance with weak and depressing characters and a senseless plot.

I read the first few pages of The Goddess Test as soon as I received the book, and since there was also a chat with the author at the Teen Panel, most of us (me included) said we loved it. And I did. In the beginning. First off was the extremely suspenseful prologue, and then you were introduced to the protag with the dying mother and then there’s the guy in the middle of the road who disappeared(!). All very intriguing. I loved the indescribable affection Kate has for her mom, and when she goes to school, all the characters seemed so vivid: the bubbly but jealous Ava, the mysterious jock Dylan, and of course, the unpopular nice guy James. Kate herself seemed highly relatable. I saw myself in her: the way she put up a wall and was disinclined to make friends (she was going to move back soon anyway), her quietly strong personality (I know that sounds like a compliment to myself LOL), and how she never really did learn how to swim. The scene where Ava tries to leave Kate by the river, but hits her head on a rock and dies, and is brought back to life by the hot and mysterious Henry (in exchange for her reading about Persephone and “being ready”) is both scary and gripping. Unfortunately, that was the book’s high point and it just went down from there.
The Goddess Test (Goddess Test, #1)
Awesome alternate cover

Now I hate trashing books and I also hate spoilers, so without going into too much detail, I can say that
compared to the beginning, the rest was very slow-paced and romance was the main element, which bothered me. It might just be my dislike of romance novels in general. It’s possible that it’s my own taste and not the author’s sudden change of writing style, but you know what? I enjoyed Virtuosity. I adored Geek Girl. Heck, Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite classics ever. So why not The Goddess Test?
• The slow pace. For most of the book, you’re just slogging through each of her insignificant little problems where I could have been spending time on Henry’s job as Hades, or more of the backgrounds of other characters (I know virtually nothing about Ella) or even a little more action in there somewhere.
• It just flew through the tests. I do like how she quietly inserted them in during every day life, but quickly narrating them in order to hide that they are tests also makes them seem really easy.
• Henry. I’m sorry but Henry just seemed like a watered-down version of Edward from Twilight – the same dark, pessimistic mood, the same extreme protectiveness, the quiet, fierce, inexplicable love.
• Speaking of which, the love. Inexplicable is exactly the right word for it. Just like Edward/Bella, Kate and Henry are just suddenly attracted to each other for some unexplained reason and before you know it, they’re deeply in love. Why? How? *shrug*
• The end. The way the gods’ identities and the judgement and the explanation of the tests was hurried, you’d think there was a tornado coming through when Carter wrote it. Could’ve at least told us why these gods were these specific people.

Overall, I’m very disappointed with how this book turned out. I’ll want to read Book 2 (or rather Book 1.5) just to see what happens, but I’ve kinda lost interest. Sadface.