| Goddess Interrupted Posted: 3.5/5 but rounding down due to things I just couldn't ignore.
I'm going to preface this review by stating that I had some major quibbles with The Goddess Test, mostly because of the author's use of the mythology. Those same quibbles were present for this book as well. Instead of harping on about how I don't like her versions of the gods/goddesses, I'm simply going to give anyone reading this a heads-up that it definitely played a factor in my rating of this book. If you're a diehard fan of Greek Mythology and want your gods/goddesses to look like those in the myths, you're not going to get a lot of that here. Just an fyi.
Okay, so: In The Goddess Test, we met Kate, who won immortality and became Henry's (or Hades') wife. In Goddess Interrupted, Kate has returned from her six months away from the Underworld, only to be met with a distant Henry and a huge threat to her and her loved ones' wellbeing: Cronus is awake and threatening to escape from his prison in Tartarus. When Henry and his brothers are taken captive by Cronus, Kate sets out to rescue them. There's only one problem: Kate doesn't actually know her way around the Underworld, and neither do James or Ava, who are accompanying her. So Kate ends up going to the one person she never wanted to meet for help: Persephone.
Funnily enough, that synopsis only took up the first half+ of the book. We meet Persephone, who wasn't exactly like I was expecting, and then have to deal with Kate having these dramatic private conversations with herself about how Henry will never love her like he loved Persephone, and she can never compare, etc.,etc.,etc. Seriously, this goes on almost the entire book, and by the end I was thoroughly fed up with Kate and her whining. It wasn't helped by the fact that this is one of those things where, if she and Henry had just talked to each other, it would have been cleared up ages before. I also had a problem with the way Kate was viewing Persephone as not being as good as her because she would "never do that [cheat on Henry]" to Henry but Persephone did, over and over. Persephone lasted thousands of years as Henry's wife even though the job and marriage made her miserable, and I don't think it's fair for Kate to cast stones when she's only been in the Underworld for a few weeks.
All of that being said, I did like this book more than the first one. I felt like we got to see more of each of the characters, particularly the gods and goddesses, and I especially liked Ingrid and the foresight and intelligence she brings to Kate. I wouldn't mind seeing more of her for sure. I also felt like the story itself was a bit tighter, and that more HAPPENED. It had a middle book feel, but didn't suffer from middle book syndrome. Yes, we're definitely set up for the third one, but I felt like we managed to take steps forward and fix some of the problems that occurred in this book, too, especially regarding Henry and Kate's relationship. (And BOY did a lot need to be fixed with that.) I also love the impending threat of Cronus and Calliope, and it was really nice to see Calliope as the vengeful Hera that's so prevalent in the myths.
And the ENDING! Goodness! I am not particularly emotionally invested in these books, although I am interested enough to read them and enjoy them and look forward to how they're going to resolve the problems the characters are facing, so the ending didn't hit me with quite the punch that it seems to have hit others with. But if you ARE invested in the characters, be prepared for a shocker that's going to leave you wanting the third book RIGHT NOW.
Basically, if you liked the first book, you'll want to read this one. But be ready for a roller coaster of a ride!
An ARC was provided by the publisher for review. |
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