The Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pages: 384pgs

The Story

Love or life.

Henry or their child.

The end of her family or the end of the world.

Kate must choose.

During nine months of captivity, Kate Winters has survived a jealous goddess, a vengeful Titan and a pregnancy she never asked for. Now the Queen of the Gods wants her unborn child, and Kate can't stop her--until Cronus offers a deal.

In exchange for her loyalty and devotion, the King of the Titans will spare humanity and let Kate keep her child. Yet even if Kate agrees, he'll destroy Henry, her mother and the rest of the council. And if she refuses, Cronus will tear the world apart until every last god and mortal is dead.

With the fate of everyone she loves resting on her shoulders, Kate must do the impossible: find a way to defeat the most powerful being in existence, even if it costs her everything.

Even if it costs her eternity.

The Review

A big thanks to the publisher on netGalley for accepting my request in reading this book early!

FINALLY readers! My love for this series is back and better than ever before! After loving Aimee Carter's The Goddess Test but not so much loving its sequel Goddess Interrupted, which had disappointed me entirely and on so many levels too, I'm really happy to say that the third and final installment, THE GODDESS INHERITANCE, has finally got the storyline back on track . . . bringing back all of the tension, the romance, the mythology, and the action into its rightful place like the first book of the series had done!

Kate as a main character had been one of those characters you totally love and then she ends up disappointing you all over again. But in this third and final book she had really outdone herself and proved what a great character she can be in terms of courage and fighting for her loved others despite the threats of harm that may come to tehm . . . and now for her newborn baby! She really impressed me. What had become her weaknesses from the sequel then turned them into her strengths, so I'm quite glad about that! Even when I thought Kate was going to give up . . . which she never did! Ever.

As for her Henry, a character who has never let me down (accept for when he's always being way too over-protective with Kate), he too impressed me and this final book had really made him shine beyond the rest of the books in the series! I mean, the more I read about him, the more he puts a smile to my face. And the more he grows as a character, the more I applaud him and his sexiness! Seriously though, he was so sweet with Kate in this book and was always there for her . . . about time he saw her strength and not needing him to always protect her! And, as for the supporting characters, the good and the bad, they were all so great and frustrating in their own special ways . . . especially the bad characters . . . I just wanted to poke a stick in them for being so bad! Hehe.

Overall, THE GODDESS INHERITANCE is a fabulous and a bittersweet conclusion for this YA trilogy. Entirely action-packed and entwined with all sorts of romance, twist-turns, and frustrating villains with their not-so-clever schemes, I think this book really changed my feelings on the series (more so the sequel that didn't impress me) and I'm looking forward to seeing what else Aimee Carter comes up with next! Hopefully something just as great as this series!

The Rating

4 1/2 / 5 stars

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

Note: I received an Australian ARC copy of this book (so the cover is different).

Release Date: April, 2012

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Pages: 304pgs

The Story

Kate Winters has won immortality.

But if she wants a life in the Underworld with Henry, she'll have to fight for it.

Becoming immortal wasn't supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she's as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he's becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate's coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.

Henry's first wife, Persephone.

The Review

A big thanks to Gabby from HarlequinTeen Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!

Honestly . . . where do I start with this review? There was so much love and high praises for Aimee Carter's wonderful debut novel, The Goddess Test, and I was really really looking forward to its highly-anticipated sequel as did everyone else who was craving for an ARC copy like I did! For those who've read my book review, you will understand my excitement. Unfortunately for the author, unfortunately for this book, and unfortunately for myself, I've never been so disappointed in a book in my life, especially a sequel to the first book that I loved so, so much. I hate saying it right now . . . I really do . . . but that's what happened to me and I wished I could turn back the clock and pretend I did love it, and that I never said the above things. *infinite cries* But I guess it just happens at the most unexpected times for a reader. And I think it happens to all of us at one point or another.

While the interesting mythology of GODDESS INTERRUPTED remained much the same as did in The Goddess Test and while I loved the direction the story was heading towards, however I had three major problems which had a greater effect on my overall book rating. The first would have to be Kate herself, the main heroine. Now in the first book I absolutely loved Kate and the young woman she had become, but I kind of felt in this book she lost way somehow. Both in strength, confidence and independence. All of this was caused by her constant whining. Where has my dear Kate gone? I get where Kate's insecurities were coming from, what with Henry being the cause of almost everything going haywire for her, but Kate needed to realize that Henry is the King of the Underworld and he too had a lot on his plate. He needs time to adjust to things as does she. I mean, after all, he's been alone for a very long time and had lost the person he loved the most. And still loves. Through my eyes, Kate needed to not put so much pressure onto him and allow him to go through the several steps in order to get used to things between the two of them if you know what I mean . . . but like I said before, the whining was one of those problems I had with Kate and made me feel . . . sad for her character.

The second major problem for me was Henry. Oh Henry . . . I really stuck up for you when people said they didn't like you and called you an Edwardian 'creeper'. Which you are not by the way. Much like with Kate's character, I absolutely, positively adored Henry from start to finish in The Goddess Test and I had very high hopes for him to get readers to fall back in love with his character in the second book. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of Henry. One moment he's there and I'm all giddy, then the next he's off trotting somewhere that left poor Kate jumping over large hurdles and leaving me crying and saying things like, "Where are you, you selfish hottie God?! You're wife is being hassled and almost-killed by stupid trolls . . . some husband you are!" Yes. I did yell those things. And no. There's no trolls in this book whatsoever . . . it's just a metaphor for meanie characters. Needless to say, Henry fell flat on his face in this book and I wanted so, so much more from him in his character development. I wanted scream. I wanted to smack. I wanted to cry. All because of him. But I still love you Henry . . . Hades . . . Henry . . . whatever you preferred to be called. Even though you were still in love with Persphone (I really loved Persphone I really did) and you were to blind to see what was right in front you . . . but I do forgive you Henry! For now at least.

And finally, there was a problem number three which was the actual events that occured in GODDESS INTERRUPTED and that so-called ending it delivered to me. Story-wise - it was fun, entertaining, edgy, and thrilling for all the right reasons, but everything happened so quickly. Literally. There was so little time for a small breather. Don't get me wrong here, I love a good old fast-paced story but I also like to have some events that leave me calm for a few minutes of reading, just so I can prepare myself for more action sequences that come later rather than hitting me with scenes of BOOM BOOM BOOM. There's only so much I can take of it. Then there's that ending . . . I must say the ending was one of the few things that did surprise me through the novel. Part of me thought this 'ending' was coming our way, but I didn't actually think it would happen. I mean whoa. Really? Really? I won't say too much but I was a bit on the fence about the ending . . . but it'll sure make an interesting turnpoint - that's for sure - and it will make me wonder what the bad guys - or rather the bad girl - has planned for the final installment.

Overall, despite my disappointment with this book it doesn't mean I didn't like it. The fact is . . . I did enjoy some parts and seeing some issues being resolved in this sequel and I'm glad for that. However there's still a lot of things that need answering . . . so I'll definitely be looking forward to reading the third book which I'm sure contains quite a lot of surprises and twists along the way for us readers. If you're a fan of Greek mythology or a fan of The Goddess Test, then I definitely recommend this book in a heartbeat. Just be aware it has a different feel - at least for me - compared to the first book in the series!

The Rating

2 1/2 / 5 stars

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Release Date: August, 2011

Publisher: Mira

Pages: 293pgs

The Story

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. And 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 the 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.

The Review

THE GODDESS TEST is based around Greek Mythology, where our heroine, Kate, makes a deal with Henry (Hades) in return for saving her friend's life, and to spend more time with her mother before she dies. But Kate will need to pass seven tests of the council to become Henry's wife, otherwise her memory is wiped, and Henry will fade into nothingness.

Clearly there is an outpour of Greek-Mythology-based books in the young adult fictional world and that's not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to being caught up into a 'trend'. Because I'm all for it. Apart from Josephine Angelini's Starcrossed book that was released earlier this year, this book right here has also become one of my favourites too. So to all those who are dissing this novel on Goodreads, while I understand your frustrations when it comes to Kate's actions and the quick-romance shared between her and Henry, but to those who didn't fully read and be engaged in this book, I seriously recommend giving this book another go. I hardly saw any faults in the book and since I'm a lover and interested in the Greek myths, I found this book was very entertaining and I wanted more!

One of the things I liked about THE GODDESS TEST was our heroine, Kate, herself. To me it was easy, as a reader, to empathize with her situation and all the crazy things that kept happening to her. I think anyone with a dying parent or a dying friend would want to do anything they could to hold onto them a little longer, so I admired her choices when it came to that and even with Henry and the seven tests. As clueless as Kate was, she did make some mistakes in trusting the wrong people, but she was still a loveable character whom you wanted to get to know more and I guess without her in the story this story would not work. And after all, mistakes come with being a teenager. We all make them from time-time. Also, when it comes to Henry, I absolutely loved his character. Who wouldn't love him? Some say he's creepy but I say he's someone who needs a person to understand him for the way he is. Sure, he didn't have much personality (who does nowadays), but what did you expect for a God stuck in a hot boy's body? Plus that added a mystery to him, which I also liked. As for the supporting cast of many characters, they were needed for the storyline but I couldn't say I loved them all because I didn't trust them, much like the way Kate couldn't either. But all-in-all, I loved all of the characters - the good, the bad and the crazy ones.

Another element I liked most about this book was how the external plot was surrounded with gods and there were plenty of surprises thrown my way, ones I didn't expect either. Which was good. So for those looking for a great young adult story to keep you entertained throughout the day and night, then be sure to pick up a copy of THE GODDESS TEST! Aimee Carter has a delightful debut novel here that has an unique spin on the Hades and Persephone myth, with a storyline of her own. Original. Intriguing. Surprising. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel of this trilogy and I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next!

The Rating

4 1/2 / 5 stars