The Goddess Test, my review

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter (Goddess Test Book 1)
Publishing date: 19th April 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 297


Summary (taken from 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:


Firstly, I was ridiculously excited about reading and reviewing this book for several reasons. Number one, I've been coveting it since I saw Aimee's post about it on one of the #yalitchats on twitter, and amazon.co.uk's ominous messages made me worry it wouldn't be released over here, which it NEEDS to be. Secondly, I love Aimee Carter, I follow her on twitter and she seems so young and happy and enthusiastic, I really want her to do well. And finally, this was the first ever book I got to read and review before it was published, so I'd really like to thank Harlequin Teen and NetGalley for giving me that opportunity. I can't tell you how happy I was when I got the email! I actually got around 8 books to review, but this was the one I really, really wanted. 


Now before you worry the above points have made me horrendously biased, they haven't, never fear. I'm as critical as usual (maybe I haven't been that critical so far as most of the books I've reviewed I've loved...if you don't believe me check out my Wondrous Strange Review)


Anyway, on to the book. At first it really reminded me of Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. All the other girls before Kate that failed, everyone's certainty that she'd pass, someone trying to sabotage her attempts, but I like Wicked Lovely, so I didn't really mind. Naturally I hated Ava at first, but I wasn't too sure about James. I felt for Kate, it must be hard to have to watch your mum deteriorate at that age for that many years, and I felt bad she'd never really gotten to have a life a a result of her mum's illness. I thought the story was a little predictable at first, but it was bound to be, so I didn't really find that an issue.


The majority of the novel seemed nice and easygoing, and I really enjoyed reading it. Kate was apparently subjected to 'tests' but these were never mentioned again...and a lot of the characters seemed really 2 dimensional, which disappointed me, because I love the way Aimee writes.


BUT then the ending happened, and OMG. You get totally lulled into a false sense of security with this nice, relaxing story then BAM! You get hit with  plot twist after plot twist, unexpected happenings, drama, heartbreak, revelations, you name it, it's in there.  It becomes blindingly obvious why Aimee made some of her characters seem so mundane-and you realise just how clever that is, just how clever she is. 


When I took my shower, I was going to give this book 3/5. It was an enjoyable read, but not much more than that. And then I read the last few chapters and wow, it really blew me away. It's not like Aimee thought "Oh no! I have to make something happen now" it's totally like she planned it, she got you all relaxed and comfortable then she whacked you round the head with her ending. So now I have no choice but to give the book 4.5/5. Yes really, 4.5/5. It's THAT good. 


You better all go out and buy it, because if I don't get to read this sequel, I'm gonna be SO mad. I want it already, and the first one isn't even published for another 6 weeks. So Aimee, if you'd like to send me an ARC of Goddess Interrupted any day now, that'd be sweet.