The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
Release Date: April 19th 2011
Publisher: Harlequin
Add it: Goodreads
Overall: ♥♥♥ 1/2

Okay, so this is going to be an incredibly difficult review to write, I had so many major issues with it, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it... So where to start?

Well, I like to end things off on a good note, so I guess I'll start with the bad stuff first :)

Kate is 18 years old and has moved to a dreary little town to grant her dying mother's last wish. Kate starts school and naturally doesn't make any friends so when the pretty and popular girl, Ava invites her to a party, she's pretty stunned. After a bizarre twist of events, Kate's life is turned around when she meets 'Henry', AKA Hades. So I wasn't all that impressed with Henry, I liked how Aimee Carter portrayed him in a sensitive, distraught sort of way, but he is freaking HADES. As in a Greek God. As in the hardcore, badass, I-Don't-Give-A-Shit-And-Have-No-Real-Morals kind of Greek God (and that's what the Greek Gods were, right?). I liked his sensitivity to an extent, but I would have liked him to be a little more Greek God like and a little less "I'm so lonely and boring". All Henry really does is scare the occassional staff member with his voice, wears a black coat and tends to enjoy apparating and disapparating (HAH! See what I did there ;D)... He doesn't really do any awesome God-like stuff at all! And he isn't scary, in fact, I don't really like him because he barely has a personality, for the majority of the novel, it was like he was just *there*, not really doing anything.. And that was disappointing.

As for the Olympians in general... Well, at the end of the book is a table which tells you which character was which God, and I felt like I was being made fun of. Really, I think that a table shouldn't be necessary, I think that the reader should be able to at least roughly figure out who was who throughout because of the character's personalities or attributes. I felt the same way about the rest of the Gods as I did with Henry, like they had no personality and were rather boring. *sad face*

Now, for the things I liked...
I thought Kate was annoying, whiny and judgemental at first, but the moment she told Ava straight, '"Oh, I don't know," I said. "Because he's a pig who probably only dates you because you're gorgeous and almost certainly a cheerleader"', I loved her! I loved how upfront she was and how she told it how it was. Kate also proved to be incredibly selfess. I'm assuming, from looking after her mother, she was simply used to putting others before her, and she was extremely empathetic and sympathetic. I loved that Kate was always thinking of the well being of others and I felt she was genuine.

And AVA! I LOVED AVA! She turned out to not be a bitch, but plain awesome. She was also one of the only characters I could see right through... I can see why Kate grew so fond of her (another thing I admire Kate for), Ava is bubbly, outgoing, sensitive and just an all-round nice person.

As for the plot, I was both impressed, and not. 'Her skull wasn't round on the top of her head - it was flat', Uhhh WHAT? I had to do a double take on this and I got the most vivid image and I could totally see that happening in a horror movie - I love horror movies. I also loved the twist at the end, I can't say I didn't see it coming or that I didn't at least have a feeling, but I still loved the way the ending was executed. I thought it was well done. Although, if I was Kate, I'd probably be majorly pissed, but that's why I like Kate - she is different :).
The thing I didn't really enjoy was the tests that Kate had to complete. When I imagine Greek Gods doing tests; monsters and epic adventures come to mind... Instead, Kate has to pass the 'Seven Deadly Sins' (Which, by the way, is CHRISTIAN mythology, NOT Greek - why would you mix those two up together?) as her tests. And rather than battling monsters and going on epic adventures, her tests are much more uh, "down to earth", with Kate having to go hungry for a while and unwittingly having to share her clothes. Can't say I was very impressed with that aspect...

Overall, I think the events that did actually occur definitely made up for what didn't (such as the tests) and I really, really loved Kate as a MC. I loved how selfless and caring she was and I loved how things turned out for her in the end. However, I really wish the Gods were just a smidgen more God-like and that they weren't so flat and boring. As an extremely modern take on Greek mythology, I thoroughly enjoyed this :)