The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter

Title: The Goddess Test (Goddess Test #1)

Author: Aimée Carter

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Release Date: April 19, 2011

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

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

I'm not going to lie, I have had a copy of The Goddess Test sitting on my shelf for a year before I finally decided to finally read it. I don't know why I waited so long because I love Greek mythology. At any rate, I am happy to have finally read it because I was seriously missing out.

For the past four years, Kate Winters has been preparing for her mother's death. Now that the day is nearing, Kate takes her mother back to her hometown of Eden. There Kate meets Henry, a mysterious stranger who seems to be able to do things that should be impossible. So when Kate is offered a way to extend her mother's life, she takes it. Even if it meant leaving everything and everyone she knows behind. But before Kate can help her mother, she has to pass seven tests. And those are no ordinary tests. Kate will have to be careful because failing the tests could mean more than just one death.

I have always been very interested in mythology, especially Greek mythology, so I'm always on the lookout for books that have to do with mythology. Because of that, I'm surprised it took me so long to pick up The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter. And when I started reading I realized I had been stupid to put off reading it for so long. The story itself is a retelling of the Persephone myth, but it's done in a way that's different from the other retellings that I've read. The way it was done was interesting and captivated me pretty much from start to finish. And while the story wasn't exactly action packed, it never dragged and there was always something happening. And I loved that despite this being the first in a series, there was a full story with a clear ending in the book.

Kate was an interesting character. I liked that she didn't just accept everything henry told her about who he was. there is nothing that annoys me more than characters that just accept everything paranormal thrown at them, but Kate wasn't like that. I also loved about her how selfless she was, always sacrificing herself for others not always thinking about the consequences. And she was more than willing to sacrificing herself for Henry, despite not knowing anything about him. And Henry was an intriguing character. I never really knew what was going on with him and that somehow made him more appealing and more attractive. As for the other characters, they often cracked me up, especially Ava and James. I was very happy to see more of them in the following book.

In The Goddess Test, Aimée Carter wrote an interesting new take on the myth of Persephone and other aspects of Greek mythology. The book captivated me from start to finish and I was happy to be able to read the second book right away.