GoodRead - Goddess of the Underworld

I just wanted something quick to read before I start my second installment of my Harry Potter 2015 #re3 Challenge (I really need to think of a catchy title!), so, after quickly flicking through my kindle for a short, fast read, I discovered this eNovella. Didn't seem that long plus I have the second book in Aimee Carter's The Blackcoat Rebellion series on my kindle (thank you NetGalley) so I thought I would get back into Aimee's writing style and read this.

Persephone's story isn't the one we know. Forced into a loveless marriage (for her) to Hades, Lord of the Underworld, against her will, she wonders if she will ever escape or find real happiness...

*intakes deep breath*

A few years ago, I think I would have liked this. A few years ago, when I read The Goddess Test and all the eNovellas I blitzed (The Goddess Hunt, The Lovestruck Goddess and God of Thieves), I think I would have liked this story a lot more than I did.

BUT! But, I didn't. I liked Aimee's writing style and it was kinda interesting to read her take on Greek mythology and why The Goddess Test happened the way it did.

But I had a strong negative reaction to this story. While I do like Aimee's writing, I felt it was too sugary sweet for this story. Plus, all the characters came out so negatively in my eyes, am surprised I finished this without throwing my kindle across the room. No one came out as likeable and it upset me because, while it was been a few years since I have read The Goddess Test, there were a few characters I did like but now... they seem tainted somehow.

Out of the three eNovellas (The Lovestruck Goddess, God of Thieves and Goddess of the Underworld), this is my least favourite. In what I have read from Aimee Carter, this is the same too.

But this is a my opinion, and like I said before, it has been a few years since I read The Goddess Test and the eNovellas that go with it. I have read reviews that disagree with my opinions so, if this appeals to you, go for it! I hope you like/love it!

GoodRead - Pawn

You will have to forgive me if my review on Pawn isn' up to my normal standards. I read this back at the start of October (thank you NetGalley) and the UK publishers, Mira Ink, asked if I could have it close to the UK publication date (January 2014) rather than the US release date (November 2013) so I decided to pop here - best of both worlds! And because I am writing this a few weeks after reading this, you will have to forgive me if I forget details so... yeah...

In this, the first book in the Blackcoat Rebellion series, we are thrown into a dystopian USA where, at the age of seventeen, you take a test and this defines your grade in life. For Kitty Doe, she gets the grade of III and she's plans to escape the life of misery that is thrown upon her. So when she gets the chance to become a VII, the highest grade you can become - the same as the Hart family, who rule the USA, Kitty takes it, not realising what would happen to her next.

Because of her eyes are the same as the Prime Minister's niece, Lila Hart, Kitty becomes Masked - surgically altered to looking like Lila who, unknown to the general public, died in mysterious circumstance. Now, looking like Lila, the Hart family want Kitty to stop a rebellion. A rebellion that Lila was a figurehead for. A rebellion that Kitty believes in.

But as a pawn in this twisted game of politics and family loyalty, Kitty must step carefully for her life isn't the only life on the line...

I really enjoyed reading this. This was one of the easiest dystopian novels I read in a while that I instantly sank into and read late into the night. It was very addictive. There were elements of The Selection by Kiera Cass to it (but Aimee Carter actually writes these elements MUCH BETTER than Kiera Cass) and there was something about it that remembered me of Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi, but I can't put my finger on what, though.

And this novel had twists! It's a very twisty novel. In the first, say, 50-60% of the book, you are understanding the world Kitty lives in and the world she is suddenly thrust into. But then, just when you begin to understand it, Aimee then pulls the rug from under her readers with the amount of twists. With every twists, you go "Whoa! I did not see that coming!" and she only gives you a few chapters to recover before the next twist is revealed.

I need to know what happens next. I need the sequel because of that ending. That last reveal...

So, dear readers, if you are a fan of The Selection and you want some darker or you're a fan of Under the Never Sky, may I suggest this read...

GoodRead - The Lovestruck Goddess

I'm not sure I want to explain the whole "Why is this in The Goddess Legacy in the USA while in the UK, it's released as a separate eNovella?". I tried to explain this on my review for God of Thieves, another eNovella from Aimee Carter, but not sure if I explained it well...

So, The Lovestruck Goddess follows Aphrodite, who finds herself falling for one god but might be forced to marry another by her Daddy, Zeus. So, Aphrodite runs away with the man she loves with a fiery passion, but when he leaves to fulfil his duties, where does this leave Aphrodite...? And, being the goddess of love, how much about love does she really know...?

Like with God of Thieves, I read this very quickly. And it was interesting to read Ava (as she's known in the Goddess Test [and I still haven't read Goddess Interrupted]) point of view so I sense this is more touched upon in Goddess Interrupted and The Goddess Inheritance. And she was one character I did want to know more about while I was reading The Goddess Test so this helped a bit in understanding her.

I have two problems. First, the love story. One of them happens very quickly and I wonder, now am writing this, if Aphrodite is actually in love or lust. Maybe this is me overthinking the story. My second problem is eNovella price but that isn't the author's fault so I will let this slide. This is, again, a fan read (and as I am a fan of the series, this is a good thing for me) so if you love the series and want more, this is perfect for you! If you're new to the series, then I would say read this at your peril as this want hint to the main story (which is a good thing for spoilers) but if you read The Goddess Test after this, you might be a little bit confused over how this is connected to the trilogy.

GoodRead - God of Thieves

Let's confuse you guys. If you're a fan of Aimee Carter's Goddess Test series, you're probably awaiting the collection of short stories, The Goddess Legacy, to fill the gap before the final book in the series, The Goddess Inheritance. Well, the UK publishers, Mira Ink, decided to split the five stories up and sell them individually on your eReader.

There are five stories in total to choose from. You have Calliope/Hera, Ava/Aphrodite, Persephone, James/Hermes & Hades/Henry. This is the order you're meant to read them in. But seeing as this is me, I won't do that. I have three on my kindle (Ava/Aphrodite, Persephone and James/Hermes - the other two didn't rock my world when I read the summaries on Amazon) and I decide to read them in a random order and before I read Goddess Interrupted (sorry Mira Ink!).

So, God of Thieves follows James/Hermes (I have no idea what to call him!). Now, he likes to cause a bit of trouble. But after what happened to Persephone, the family is mad at James/Hermes. But when two gods just fade, they turn to James/Hermes to find out what happened. Behind Zeus's back, Hermes/James goes down to earth to find out... But will he like what he finds?

I'm not going to lie, I read this while a space of an hour. I didn't expect to read it so fast but I enjoyed reading from James/Hermes's point of view (sorry for the dual names. BLAME AIMEE CARTER! Though... she does explain in this story why the Gods changed their names...) . I always liked him when I read The Goddess Test so I hope he's in Goddess Interrupted (and because I know Persephone features heavily in this, I will read that story quite close to or after I read Goddess Interrupted so I understand her story).

This is very much a fan's read. If you're the fan of the series, this and the other short stories will thrill you no end. I will review the other two stories on my kindle in the next few weeks (no rush!). If you're trying this out to see if you like the series, you might get a tad confused over what's going on...

GoodRead - The Goddess Hunt

Last week, I reviewed The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter and called it a candy floss read. So, after reading this, I jumped head first into this ebook novella, The Goddess Hunt, which takes place in the middle of Goddess Test and Goddess Interrupted.

A trip to Greece sounds the perfect way to past the time for Kate while she's away from the Underworld and Henry. Expect she finds herself in the middle of a feud that has lasted for millennia. Castor and Pollux has been running away from Zeus and Hades's wrath. And the last person they should trust is Kate, the new Queen of the Underworld. But she wants to help them. But will she succeed?

Before I go any further, I want to talk about the cover. When I first saw this on Amazon, I was kinda scared of it. Doesn't she look a bit like a zombie? This isn't the model's fault as this is the same model used on both The Goddess Test and Goddess Interrupted covers, and if you look at the pictures used in the Goddess Interrupted trailer (see below), there are other pictures that they could have used. Unless they are using one of them for the cover for the third book in the series...

This is a fast read. I read it within a few hours. And this is very much a filler story between book one and book two. With fans of the first book, we read some chapters from Henry's point of view, which is very useful for me as I didn't really relate to him while reading book 1. So, while I still don't get why Kate is in love with him (I mean, seriously?! Am I the only one who thinks that Kate is suffering from Stockholm syndrome?), I felt like I understood him better and could relate to him a bit more.

But I got the feeling that this was written after book 2 as, at the end of Goddess Hunt, there was a tiny extract of Goddess Interrupted, and it wasn't mentioned. All that was mentioned was "You got us lost that one time...". And I sense that Castor and Pollux won't be referenced in the books again.

But I did like this. And I attacked the UK publishers, Mira Ink, on when the third book in the series (and the next ebook novella, The Goddess Legacy) will be out. And they told me that the third book will be out in April 2013. 2013?! That might be hard as this could be most people's replacement for their Twilight Saga addiction...

GoodRead - The Goddess Test

When the lovely peeps at Mira Ink asked a while ago if I wanted to read the second book in the Goddess Test series, I was excited. But I had to admit to them that I hadn’t read the first book in the series, The Goddess Test. So, very kindly, they gave both books and told me to read them when I can as they had seen pictures on Twitter of my To Read pile...

Fast forward several months later and, while I am reading a heavily intense novel, I grabbed the Goddess Test, needing something extremely light and fluffy to break the tension...

Kate Winter’s mother is dying. Her dying wish is to return to her home town, Eden, and Kate is willing to do anything for her mother. So when she comes to Eden, she sees something impossible happen. She saw a young man, Henry, bring a dead girl back to life. Claiming to the be the Greek god, Hades, Henry offers Kate a deal. He’ll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests...

If she succeeds, she will become a goddess, immortality and become Henry’s wife. If she fails... her mother will die, and that frightens Kate more than she thought possible...

Now, before I go any further, I want to stress something really important. I like myths. I do, and I’m pretty sure most of us here know most Greek myths. Now, I want to say this: if you are expecting Aimee Carter to stick to the myths, then you are in for a nasty shock. She modified each myth to set the story which she is writing. If you’re expecting a heavily-laced book filled with Greek myths, then you better put it down and walk away. You have to accept that this book is a YA romance and... well... is a bit of a candy floss read.

I say this in the best way. Fans of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga and Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series will love this series. It’s one of those books they (and I) sat down with and lose you, making this book become addictive reading. It’s one of those summer books you can read on the beach. It’s perfect for this time of year!

Of course, there were a few things I had problems with. The main problem I had was Henry. He’s not your typical love interest – seeing as he is God of the Underworld – but he felt flat at times. No real emotion at times you expected them. But, you are writing a God so I will let it slide for now...

But I really liked this book. Perfect summer reading that will distract you from the sport. Will attack the sequel, Goddess Interrupted, soon me thinks...