I had a lot of problems with this book. The author’s writing itself isn’t that bad, but it’s not very good either. She has the tendency to use YA clichés, over-complicates her story to the extreme, and sets up her characters like Edward and Bella from Twilight. Except worse. Right off the bat, the first chapter was pretty cheesy. Over-dramatic Henry acts like this the entire book. “It’s all my fault,” “My life sucks,” “I didn’t protect her” blah blah blah. Plus, just because a character is a god, doesn’t mean they can’t have personality. Every single character was shallow, under-developed, and lacked depth. Believability When we are introduced to Kate, I kind of liked her. She was a little whiny, but I thought she was alright. Then everything went off the deep end. First, the most popular girl in school (who is immediately a terrible person, what a surprise!) Ava, pranks Kate in the worst possible way and ends up dying. Only it’s okay, because Henry can bring Ava back to life, for a price. So yeah, this is the part where Kate should be kind of questioning this guy on how he raised her friend from the dead. Nope, instead she looks up the story of Hades and Persephone like Henry told her to, and doesn’t even clue into the fact that he’s Hades. Like, legit Hades, not symbolically, allegorically, metaphorically, whatever. That piece of information goes right over her head, even when Ava is walking around, alive, without her brain bashed in like it was before. Now, all this stuff happens really fast, right at the beginning. When Kate moves in with Henry, all of a sudden everything is at a standstill. Things move at a snail pace. Most of it is Kate figuring out whether or not she likes Henry, and then she ends up loving him (shocker), which I didn’t understand because the build up to their romance was non-existent. The author told her audience about Kate’s feelings, rather than showing them. Gender Stereotypes Kate has servants, and when one of them asks her to wear a dress (when she doesn’t want to), instead of putting up a fuss, she just gives in. She even has a to wear a corset. Umm, so much for feminism. Let’s subjugate our character to physiologically altering lingerie for the purpose of being pretty and skinny. This isn’t the end to the gender stereotypes that permeate this book, either. Henry is so over-protective, and Kate constantly reacting to him. He’s active, she’s passive. He’s in a bad mood, it makes her sad (but she barely knows him). She agrees to all these tests to prove herself capable of being his queen. Ugh. The whole thing is setting this girl up to the be the perfect ideal of a woman by passing these tests, which are the seven deadly sins. Um, I don’t remember Henry/Hades having a perfect track records, or for that matter, any of the Greek gods. They mess up each other’s lives throughout Greek mythology. But by subjugating Kate to these tests, it’s only promoting this concept of an “ideal” woman, that nobody can actually be. Another thing was her skinny-ness. At one point she says, “I didn’t gain weight, and that only gave me an excuse to eat as much as I wanted.” (page 135). You should always be able to eat as much as you want, and not have to constantly worry about weight loss or gain. If you’re a healthy person, with an active lifestyle and good food choices, then that shouldn’t matter! Whenever I eat, I want to have a full meal. That’s how much I want to eat. I shouldn’t need an excuse to do that! Plot So the whole idea is for Kate to stay alive, and all the girls that have gone before her have died terrible deaths, and no one knows who is behind them, and for some inexplicable reason, Kate is the last girl before Henry “fades.” Why he’s suddenly fading is beyond me. It doesn’t sound like he has it that bad. Lots of friends, some nice family members, but he’s severely depressed because Persephone left him thousands of years ago. Okay… Anyways, so no girl has stayed alive past Christmas. Kate gets past it with barely a hitch. And then she’s in the clear. She makes clear, moral decisions that anyone would have probably made in her place, but she’s exalted for it in the end because apparently they were so hard to pass. Later on some serious stuff happens, but the whole time I’m screaming mentally at Kate, are you blind?? The whole story just did not make sense in my brain. In the end… This book really fell short of my expectations. The plot was so over-complicated with characters making decisions that really made no sense whatsoever. Henry and Kate are Edward and Bella cookie cutters, except Kate is really desperate for Henry’s love for some reason, and Henry is a depressed robot. Kate is subjected to age old gender assumptions and just lets it all slide. Apparently feminism doesn’t apply to Greek mythological retellings. I know some people really enjoyed these books, but I would personally not recommend them.

I have a huge passion for Greek mythology, so was excited to read this book, though I put it off for a long time. Now having read it, I'm torn. Kate and her fatally ill mother move to Eden where Kate meets Henry, a mysterious, dark stranger - and who says that he is Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. She makes a deal with him, to live with him and try to pass some mysterious tests, and he will keep her mother alive. I loved the mythological aspect of this book. Carter does a great job combining the traditional myths with a modern story - she plays with it in a fun way. This was, by far, my favorite part of the story. The story of Kate and her tests left me wanting. I liked Kate well enough and felt for her, but her time on Henry's estate felt flat. She spent a lot of time whining about her cloths and I couldn't understand how the future queen of the underworld didn't have any say in what she wore. Then there were the tests - Kate was told at one point that she had passed one, but wasn't even curious what it was. Then the other tests all kind of occurred in an obscure way. I actually felt cheated because there was a loss of conflict. The anticipation was set up, but not fulfilled. I did like Henry. He is sad and brooding, dark and mysterious, but also powerful and kind. All in all, it was a book I was able to tear through quickly and I am curious enough to wonder what will happen next, so will definitely look up the next in the series.

*May contain spoilers* When I read the blurb for this book, I got really excited for several reasons: 1) Greek mythology is possibly one of my favourite things to read about, and modern takes of them always pique my interest. 2) The myth of Hades and Persephone is one of my favorites in particular. 3) The whole "seven tests" idea is original and made for some serious potential. I haven't seen many YA novels about Greek mythology, so this got instant points for it solely being the first one of its kind to catch my attention. I found Kate insufferable in the beginning, but she grew on me slightly by the end of it. I couldn't get into her as much as the minor characters, though. I liked James and Ava, and even Calliope had more likeability than the main characters even though she was pretty spiteful and the reasonings behind her actions were kind of... ehh. The relationship between Kate and her mother was really sweet and I was rooting for Kate to pull through with the entire thing to save her. There were some weak spots in the book. The accuracy in terms of mythology is kind of (I'm being nice, here) off, and the tests I felt were pretty underwhelming. Doing little tasks in exchange for immortality just isn't enough. It's immortality. I was expecting some Hercules-like stuff, which might have been a bit presumptuous of me because it's pretty obvious that this is a romance novel above all else. When it comes to YA, I usually find myself more in favour of the male lead, and the heroine is the one that gets on my nerves. But in this case, the character of Henry was someone that I just couldn't find appealing; did he love her? Did he not? Was he confused? Or just very angsty? He wasn't very likeable to me. The story was quite rushed, and Kate was swayed pretty easily when it came to forgiveness and believing that the gods existed. The concept itself is fantastic. But when I was reading, I kept waiting for something. It just felt like something was missing under all that potential. I found myself looking forward to the reveals of who was who, and that's what motivated me to finish the book. I have to say, the pay-off was pretty awesome in therms of that. Plus, the cover is pretty. I really love the text, the whole ethereal and greenery feel, and the dress that the model is wearing is just gorgeous. If you're looking for a quick, light read about fantasy mixed with romance, then consider this book. If you're looking for some complexity, hard-driven character development, mythological accuracy and a male lead who doesn't give you Edward Cullen vibes, then maybe skip out on it. You shouldn't go into this book expecting a lot of the original myth to be incorporated. For me personally, I liked it enough to buy the second book, Goddess Interrupted. But if I'm being honest, I haven't read it yet.

This book was a joy to read, I felt very connected with the characters and fell in love with hades. It felt original even though the story is so old. I bought the goddess hunt and goddess interupted and will read them within the week. Such a quick, but enjoyable book. I recommend reading it.

** spoiler alert ** The story starts with Kate and her mother driving to Eden, moving back to her childhood home to spend her last few months before she dies. Kate has no plans to stay in Eden after her mom passes but when she goes to school, a few students are drawn to her. James, a fun-loving goofy flirt, Dylan, one of the more popular boys in school, and Ava, Dylan's jealous girlfriend. Kate's trouble starts when he agrees to attend a party with Ava, which turns out to be a set-up but instead of Ava ditching Kate in the middle of nowhere, Kate ends up facing her fear of water to try to save Ava when Ava hits her head on a rock in the river. Henry appears to save Ava but only after Kate promises him something that she doesn't understand at the time. Kate is to spend half the year with Henry at his home and six months in the real world and she has to pass the seven tests by the council, something that no other girl has been able to do and it's cost them their lives. I can sum up my feelings on this book with two words: 'enough' and 'more'. I always felt like there was enough, enough to keep me reading, enough to understand what was happening, enough to like the characters, but I always wanted more. I wanted more complications and twists to the plot, more about the lesser characters(but I have hope there will be more of them in the coming books), and more surprise. It's a very different re-telling of the Greek myths. Hades isn't evil, the Gods are humanized. Since Kate doesn't really have a lot of knowledge about the Gods and everything is through her point of view, it's hard to determine which person is which God, as they don't use their Greek names, but it's fun trying to figure it out and figure out what her tests are.

At least once a week I go shopping in the city. Living in the country means that things aren’t as available as living in the city. Sure, it’s not a long drive to get to the big shopping malls and grocery stores, but enough that I’d rather get it all over and done with in one day. One place I tend to avoid — at least now that I’ve decided to ban any book buying for a while — is Wal Mart. I don’t usually go to Wal Mart to begin with, but when I do, it’s usually to raid the book section. I know where all the books are located: there’s the big book shelf to the left where I usually enter, then down the aisle past the birthday cards there’s usually a big table of bestsellers and paperback books, and then way at the back of the place there’s a small shelving unit with magazines and more paperbacks. Suffice to say, it’s hard for me to go in and come out empty-handed. This is how I came to acquire Aimee Carter’s fabulous debut novel, The Goddess Test. I have a bit of a love affair going on with Harlequin Teen books and this book was no exception, though I will admit that I bought it in the Fall of last year and just finished it at the end of February. A fast reader, I am not. Though, once I started reading, I wondered why I hadn’t read it sooner because The Goddess Test was a fabulous book, a wonderful debut, and a great start to the series. The story is about Kate Winter, an 18-year-old girl who just moved to the town of Eden with her mother. She’s going into high school for her final year, but doesn’t have the same teenage life as her peers because her mother is very sick. In her new town, Kate meets Henry, a mysterious boy who claims to be Hades, the God of the Underworld. I don’t want to give too much away because this is a book that will suck you in right from the beginning and I hate reading a new book equipped with spoilers. I will say that I fell in love with Kate immediately, especially when it came to her dedication to her mother. Aside from Kate, I adored all of the other characters and felt all the love that Kate felt, and harboured the same suspicions she felt. Aimee Carter wrote a book that makes readers feel so connected to the characters that I found it hard to put it down. I felt so invested with the characters that I didn’t want anything bad to happen to any of them. Of course, there was romance, too. Oh, how I loved the romance! I also really liked how it was a gradual climb to two people falling in love, rather than immediate love between two people who hardly know each other. It was such an honest love, too. Very real. I also appreciated the emotion that the characters had, despite the fact that most of them were Greek Gods who had been around for years and years. Their emotion added so much humanity to them that it was hard to see them (sometimes) as such powerful beings. Aside from the innards of the book, I also have to mention that one of the main things that grabbed me when I bought it was the gorgeous cover. I love the deep green leaves contrasted with the white of the girl’s dress. Gorgeous! Also, the chapter headings were pretty, too, with lovely swirls and leaves. I really like it when the pages not only house a beautiful story but also have beautiful art on them as well. I can’t say enough good things about this book. I had read most of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and The Olympians books and enjoyed the Greek God aspect of them, but found this one was so much more grown up. While I loved the adventures of Percy Jackson, I can’t wait to continue reading the adventures of Kate Winter. The next book, Goddess Interrupted, is due out in March. I know I can’t wait that far, can you?

I am not a reader who would read a book about Greek mythology but Aimee Carter has taken something old and put a modern twist on it, this book kept me wanting to read to the last page and kept me guessing about what happen next. When I finished the book I loved it so much I read it again it is one of my favorite books I could talk about it and remember a lot of it off by heart, and when I finished I had one word and that was wow!

Wow, this book quickly became one of my favourites! I didn't realize it had been 7 months since I first read it but it still sticks in my mind like i read it yesterday. Just one of those books you can't put down. I love everything greek mythology as it is part of my minor so I thoroughly enjoy reading a spin on an old story!

This book was great! The story is captivating and interesting and it pulls you in and doesn't let you go until the very end. The main character Kate makes for a relatable heroine and the romance in the story feels real and not forced. It's an interesting take on the myth of Persephone, even if you don't know a lot about Greek mythology (or if you do, like me, you will enjoy it even more). Just a great overall read, I was so sad to put it down but am excited for the seque coming out in March!

I absolutely loved this book! After finishing it, I went and searched if the author had written anything else. I was disappointed that she hasn't but found out she is writing a sequel to this! I can live with that. Lol The characters were fun and love was not an instant connection, which makes it more intriguing in my books.