Book Review - The Goddess Test

The Goddess Test
Author: Aimee Carter
Series: Goddess Test #1
Genres: Mythology, Urban Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 19th April 2011
Publishers: Harlequin Teen
No. Pages: 293
Source: Gifted
Rating:
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Every girl who had taken the test has died. Now it's Kate's turn.

It's always been just Kate and her mom - and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. Mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld - and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy - until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess.

If she fails..

Now I'll be honest, first of all I didn't know what to make of this book. I've been dying to read the series for some times now and I got it for Christmas so I thought I would finally get around to it, it took me a lot longer than it normal would not because the book was bad, but because at the start of March my little girl turned 4, so with her birthday and the business in the weeks that fallowed, I was left without much time to read. Or motivation for that matter.

It started of rather slow for my liking, which is ironic because the story was moving forward way too quick, and I think that's why it dragged for me. Kate moves to Eden, the birthplace of her dying mother, so that Kate can experience the place that she once called home. Her mum is dying from cancer, has been for years, and wanting to spend as much time with her before it happens Kate agrees to move, that and she doesn't want to turn down what could be her mothers dying wish.

From the start Kate notices little things out of place, and when a prank goes wrong, Kate is thrown into the world of Henry aka Hades, and is forced to live with him as part of a deal. But that's not all, not only does she have to stay with him for 6 months, she also has partake in 7 tests to see if she's worthy or not of becoming his wife. And for Henry its his last time, countless girls have tried before but with him time is nearly up, Kate is his last hope.

This is maybe the 2nd series I've started about Greek Mythology, first being Starcrossed series by Josephine Angelini, and even though it doesn't live up to the story between Helen and Lucas, it was still an ok story. I'm trying not to judge it too harshly as there are more books yet to come but even though I've given it 4 stars, it wasn't without faults. Kate's friendship felt fake, her relationship with Henry moved to quickly and I found a lot of the storyline and plot twists highly predictable. (not the authors fault as such, I just know what's coming half the time) but even that being said I found my self really liking it once I pushed myself back into reading. I loved Henry, really loved him, and sometimes felt rather fondly of James too. Kate did however get on my nerves, I don't know why, but she did.

Like I said, it started of slow but picked up and became a book I was happy to read. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and just hope that it picks up a bit more :)