The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Summary:
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 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 that 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 suceeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess.

IF SHE FAILS... (from GoodReads)

Review:
When I started The Goddess Test, I wasn't sure if I would like it. Unlike many other people, I'm not a big fan of mythology. But I was willing to give The Goddess Test a chance because if it's well-written I know I would like it. (Example: Troy by Adele Geras). However, I didn't like The Goddess Test at all.

My biggest problem is that the mythology was so confusing. All of the characters are supposed to be Greek gods but it was almost impossible for a person not well-versed in mythology to figure out who was who. There was a guide in the back of the book but couldn't the author make the names more similar so I didn't have to keep flipping pages? Henry is Hades but other characters don't have the same beginning letter: Calliope is Hera, Ella is Artemis, Theo is Apollo, etc. Even the things/traits that you associate with certain gods were missing. Phillip, who is supposed to be Poseidon, is the horse master. Couldn't he have something to do with water? He could be the boat master or something.

Other than being utterly confused throughout The Goddess Test, I was also bored. Kate is supposed to go through seven tests and if she passes (without dying first like all the other girls) she gets to become Henry/Hades's queen. She doesn't always know when the tests are coming and neither does the reader. I thought this part of the novel would be really epic, with interesting challenges to test Kate's strength, fortitude, intelligence and other characteristics like that. Nope. I won't give away what the tests were but they were super lame.

Overall, I was disappointed in The Goddess Test. It did a terrible job of translating the mythology into a modern context and the plot didn't hold my attention. I also didn't care for any of the characters including our protagonists Kate and Henry. Suffice to say, I will not be reading the sequel.

Rating: 3 out of 10.
FTC: received from publisher.

2011/Harlequin/298 pages.