Review- Goddess Interrupted

Title: Goddess Interrupted
Author: Aimee Carter
Series: Goddess Test #2
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of Harlequin and NetGalley

Kate Winters has won immortality. But if she wants a life with Henry in the Underworld, 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 whom she would really rather not meet. Henry's first wife, Persephone.

My thoughts: 

I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with this series. I thought The Goddess Test was just okay so I wasn’t anxiously awaiting the release of Goddess Interrupted. I knew that if it was available on NetGalley then I would probably read and of course, it was, so I did.

My attitude towards this book while reading it was annoyance. I was annoyed at Kate because she was too passive sometimes. I was annoyed at Henry because he was just a complete douche bag throughout most of the book and wouldn’t even touch her or look at her. It was like a flashback from the first book. And I was annoyed at the rest of the gods and goddesses because they wouldn’t tell her anything. They would just brush her off and she would sit in her room by herself. She’s a goddess now! NO MORE KEEPING SECRETS!! Don’t even get me started on Persephone. She was a bitch. Calliope is a bitch too!

I believe that most of my annoyance with the characters stems from their complete lack of communication. No one was telling Kate what was going on, not even her mother. Henry and Kate barley spoke to each other. Henry just assumed things about Kate because he wouldn’t tell her how he was feeling. When they finally did speak, everything got a lot better. Funny how sitting down and talking can fix a lot.

The only thing that really kept me reading was the action and the journey through the Underworld. Even though I liked the action, it was kind of confusing. Most of the fighting happened away from Kate and with Henry so it wasn’t something we always got to see. And then her visions confused me too. I thought they were visions of the future. So when they happened I didn’t realize that what she saw was going on in real time. I also think it’s interesting that Kate is finally realizing that she’s going to have to navigate through learning how to be fair and just when sentencing people in the Underworld.

All the confusion, annoyance and lack of communication was completely made up for in the end. OMG what a cliffhanger!!!! WOW…just wow! Now I really, really, really want to read the next one. But there better not be a three-peat of Henry and Kate’s relationship. I would have given this book 2 hearts but that ending was so out of the blue that I had to throw in another one! 3 hearts to Goddess Interrupted!!

Review- Everneath

Title: Everneath
Author: Brodi Ashton
Series: Everneath #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

My take: 

I am quite surprised that there have been so many modern re-tellings of the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone this year. So when I got this book for review, I was a little disappointed to discover that I would have to read yet another modern re-telling of Hades and Persephone. And with the way it started, I didn’t think I would be able to get through it. But then it turned out to be the most creative re-telling of Hades and Persephone that I have read this year! I definitely thought it was better than The Goddess Test and Abandoned.

The main concept behind this particular modern take on a Greek myth is these being called the Everlings. Every so often, they take unsuspecting females down into the Everneath and feed off their life source for their equivalent of 100 years (6 months normal time). They are ruled by their queen who seems to have been the only girl who has ever survived the feeding. Even though it is not really specified, I’m guessing that all the Everlings are male because if a female ever survived, she can threaten to take over the queen and her particular Everling would encourage her to do so.

So Nikki, who disappeared without a trace six months ago, has now survived the Feed and wants to go back to her family and her boyfriend but she will only have six more months before she has to leave the mortal world forever. Her soul was already claimed by the Everneath and it’s only a matter of time before they come looking for her. But she has no idea why she survived and all the other girls had not and her journey to figure it out is so good. At least the second half of the book is.

The other thing that made the book really good for me was the Daughter of Persephone. They are this cult of women who believe they are decedents of Persephone and they literally groom their daughters to be taken to the Everneath in the hopes that they will survive and overthrow the queen. I love mysterious subplots that are rooted in the past. I feel like I’ve already give away too many spoilers so I’m going to wrap this up.

Get through the first half of the book because the second half is really good and the ending, of course, leaves you with a crazy cliffhanger. It’s definitely not one of my favorite books, but it was enjoyable.

Dreamless Cover Reveal!

The cover of Dreamless by Josephine Angelini is here! I loved Starcrossed and I can't wait to find out what happens with Helen and Lucas!

Review- Abandon

Title: Abandon
Author: Meg Cabot
Publisher: Point (Scholastic)
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it.  Yet she's never alone...because someone is always watching her.  Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town.  Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh.  Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't.  Because even here, he finds her.  That's how desperately he wants her back.  She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heave, yet she can't stay away...especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

My thoughts:

I have been a long time fan of Meg Cabot's work.  From the Boy Next Door to her Queen of Babel series, she has always drawn me in hook, line and sinker.  Abandon was pretty good but there are noticeable differences between her young adult novels to her adult novels.

Greek mythology is really hot in the young adult world right now and I enjoy the different spins the authors put on the stories.  Abandon and The Goddess Test are both based on the same Greek myth (Hades and Persephone) but are completely different.  I like Meg Cabot's version better because the story is a lot darker than Aimee Carter's The Goddess Test.  When I think of Hades, who is the ruler of the underworld and seems to have a lot of bad luck, I think of someone dark and brooding, the way that Meg Cabot writes Hades.

I also liked the effect that Hades has on Pierce.  Even though she was not the perfect teenager with a clean while slate, she starts to become a different person after she is trapped by Hades.  It's almost like he's grooming her to be the person he needs her to be.  She becomes a lot more reckless and becomes a darker character than before she died.

I'm really looking forward to the next one and having read many of Meg's books, I know that there's a lot coming that we just have to wait for.  There was a lot of set up in Abandon so I'm excited to see where the story goes from here!

Josephine Angelini Book reading and Signing

I have never been to a book reading and signing, so when I saw on Twitter that Josephine Angelini, author of Starcrossed, was going to be at the Mission Viejo Library, I ran right out to get myself a copy of the book so that I could have my very own signed copy! If it wasn't for Allison of Reading Everywhere's tweet, I would never have known!

Josephine started off by telling us how she came up with her idea of the modern retelling of Paris and Helen as star-crossed lovers fated to start a war if they are together. She also read the first

couple pages of her book. It's so amazing to hear an author read their book because they know the characters in and out and they can use the tone the character was meant to use.

During her Q&A session, she really went into detail of how she writes and gave really good

pointers to those who wish to become published. She was so sweet. She signed everyone's book, took pictures with fans and gave all those that attended awesome swag bags! In the bag: a Starcrossed bookmark, bracelet, pen and chap stick. My sister on the left, me on the right and Josephine in the middle!

Authors seem so famous to me but she was so down to earth and was so excited to meet everyone. I was so nervous and felt so starstruck that I couldn't find any words. I just smiled and nodded to her when she signed my book! Hopefully, I won't be such a dork the next time I go to an author book reading and signing!

Review-The Goddess Test

Title: The Goddess Test

Author: Aimee Carter

Published: 26 April 2011

Pages: 297

Rating: 4/5

Received from NetGalley

Synopsis provided by GoodReads:

Every girl who has taken the test has died.

Now it's Kate's turn.

It's always been just Kate and her mom-and now 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 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...

My thoughts:

The Goddess Test is somewhat of a modern retelling of Greek mythology or a "what would happen if the Greek myths were real and all or most of the gods still existed". The basic gist is that Henry feel in love with Persephone thousands and thousands of years ago but has since died and Henry now needs someone to rule the underworld with him. In order to become a goddess, Kate must pass all seven tests to receive immortality if this is going to happen.

I really enjoyed reading this book partly because the story was awesome and partly because I haven't read many books based on Greek mythology. The story grabbed right from the beginning and I had a hard time putting it down, which is probably why I read it in one day! I have a hard time even dealing with the thought of family members dying so I was pretty much crying in the first few chapters of the book.

I love that there were twists and turns all throughout the book and it constantly kept me guessing. If I could give a theme to this book it would be: Nothing is as it seems! Carter writes with such flow and ease it was not hard to just fly through the book. And I loved the ending! It was definitely a good book and a series I would continue reading!

Review- Starcrossed

Title: Starcorssed

Author: Josephine Angelini

Published: 31 May 2011

Pages: 496

Rating: 4/5

ARC from NetGalley!

Synopsis provided by GoodReads:

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is-no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood...and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together-and trying to tear them apart.

My thoughts:

This is the first modern retelling of Greek mythology that I've read and I really liked it. It starts off with the main character, Helen, who seems to be this really shy girl who does not know her own strength and beauty. She thinks she too tall, too awkward, too ugly and pretty much a freak in her small town and high school. As soon as the Delos family moves to town, she starts having these nightmares of walking through a desert, looking for a river. The first time she sees Lucas Delos, all she wants to is kill him and she is even seeing these three women in the background who are crying blood and encouraging her to kill him. No matter how hard she tries to stay away from him, they're like magnets pulling toward each other.

After a few chapters, the book goes into the whole explanation of why they want to kill each other and what happened during the Trojan war to make all the houses of the gods want to see each other die. This part was kind of confusing and I felt like I needed to watch the movie Troy (you know, the one with Brad Pitt) because I recognized so many of the characters names from the movie in the book. I was able to understand enough to where I could understand the story line.

And then it just gets absolutely amazing after that. The discovery in the end was just so heartbreaking I still don't want to believe that it's true. Angleini did an amazing job of setting up the the scene for the next book. Which only makes the wait that much harder because this books hasn't even been released yet!

I definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy the supernatural genre. It's a good change of pace from reading all those vampire and werewolf novels!