Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test, #2) in Sequel Reading Challenge

Feb 21, 2012 Andrea at Reading Lark rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, read-in-2012, 5-stars, young-adult, arc, netgalley, greek-mythology

Review Posted on Reading Lark 2/27/12: http://readinglark.blogspot.com/2012/...

Aimee Carter has outdone herself with this one. I was so impressed with how much more solid her writing was this time and how she totally stepped up the suspense. I did enjoy The Goddess Test - don't get me wrong - but I have to say that I enjoyed Goddess Interrupted more. The pacing and sense of urgency kept my heart racing until the very end. Carter has taken the traditional Greek myths and added her own spin to the Review Posted on Reading Lark 2/27/12: http://readinglark.blogspot.com/2012/...

Aimee Carter has outdone herself with this one. I was so impressed with how much more solid her writing was this time and how she totally stepped up the suspense. I did enjoy The Goddess Test - don't get me wrong - but I have to say that I enjoyed Goddess Interrupted more. The pacing and sense of urgency kept my heart racing until the very end. Carter has taken the traditional Greek myths and added her own spin to them that makes them delicious and addictive. I am already craving book three.

Goddess Interrupted picks up the summer after The Goddess Test. Kate has spent her summer traveling through Greece with James, but she's looking forward to heading into the Underworld to spend some time with her husband, Henry. For those who haven't read this series, its closely related to the Persephone and Hades myth. Persephone, is in fact, Kate's older sister. However, when Kate arrives she finds that Henry is distant and the Underworld is in chaos. Calliope is bent on revenge and Kate is most certainly the target. To make matters worse, Calliope has allied herself with Cronus, the trapped Titan. Titans are the only beings that can kill an immortal. A battle is brewing and humanity hangs in the balance.

I enjoyed the plot of this one. I couldn't put the book down for long. The anxiety over what was going to happen to Kate and Henry kept me wanting to read. I loved losing myself in this world and this story. After a really stressful week, it was the perfect medicine. Carter has created characters that I love in spite of their flaws. Furthermore, I really liked that Kate's apprehension concerning Persephone come to the forefront in this one. Kate has always seen herself as a consolation prize living in the shadow of her long dead sister who still owns a portion of Henry's heart. It is apparent that Kate and Henry can never truly move forward in their relationship until the past is resolved. The conflict between Kate, Henry, and Persephone made for some pretty intense moments. I also don't feel like this book is a bashing of Persephone at all. Each one of these characters makes mistakes concerning relationships and seeks to work through those issues.

In addition, I also liked the change of setting for this one. In book one, the reader becomes familiar with life on the surface at Eden Manor. However, in this book, everything happens in the Underworld. I found it fascinating to learn how Henry's Underworld works in comparison to the traditional version from the original mythology. The segments of the book in which Kate is outside of the palace and interacting with her environment were some of my favorite.

One issue I had with this book was Kate's attitude about herself. I understand that she feels she can never live up to Persephone for Henry or her mother, but I hated when she would put her self down. She constantly did this through the first half of the book. I always find myself getting frustrated with main characters who can't see their own true worth. I could understand her second guessing Henry's intentions and emotions, but she should be able to have some faith in herself. She seemed to be very whiny and self absorbed during this one. While I understood where she was coming from, I wish that there had been a little less of this happening. I was pleased to see Kate start to change in this respect by the end of the book; she started to show some of the old spark that made her so appealing in The Goddess Test.

Overall, I loved this one. I do have to say that Carter is just cruel - the cliffhanger in this one will have your mouth hanging open and tears threatening to spill over. I wasn't sure how to feel or respond. If the ending doesn't leaving you wanting book three immediately then there is something wrong.

One Last Gripe: It was very confusing to remember which God and Goddess went with each modern name. I had to keep my copy of The Goddess Test nearby to use as a reference.

My Favorite Thing About This Book: The plot

First Sentence: Calliope trudged through the sunny field as she ignored the babble of the redhead trailing behind her.

Favorite Character: Henry

Least Favorite Character: Calliope ...more

Like · see review

May 14, 2011 Nicole rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, mythology

I thought this series was going to be average, but after finishing Goddess Interrupted, I fell in love!

To be honest, I thought The Goddess Test (the first in this series) was alright. My biggest issue with it was that I didn’t feel very connected to Kate. She almost seemed emotionless to me, and I didn’t actually like her as the heroine of the story until the very end. I liked the idea of the novel itself, but it was hard connecting with the main character. Luckily, Carter changed all that in Go ...more

Like · see review