Book Review: Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

Book reviews

12 Apr

Aimee Carter- Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test #2) Format- Paperback Source- Review copy Publisher- Harlequin Teen Publication date- April, 2012 Synopsis- Kate Winters has won immortality. But if she wants a life with Henry in the Underworld, she'll have to fight for it.Becoming immortal wasn't supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she's as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he's becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate's coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.Henry's first wife, Persephone.Review- Goddess Interrupted is the second book in The Goddess Test series that is inspired by the Greek mythology surrounding Persephone and Hades. Kate was the first in a long line of young women to pass the tests of a goddess and survive, so she became Henry’s (a.k.a Hades) wife and will serve as the Queen of the underworld. She spends six months with Henry and six months out in the world, and after returning from half a year travelling in Greece with her friend James, Kate returns to take up her role as Queen. Only, Henry remains aloof and distant from her and she begins to question whether he wants her as a true wife or just as a partner to rule the underworld.When Henry is kidnapped by Calliope who Kate banished to the underworld for trying to kill her, Kate and the rest of the guardian council have to find a way to save him. They decide that their best bet is to enlist Persephone, Henry’s ex-wife and first love to help them rescue Henry and save the world from destruction. Much of the story is a quest of sifting through the underworld to find Henry.Kate is in a difficult position; she is married to Henry who appears indifferent to her. Although I could understand her conflict, I found it particularly tiresome to read about her insecurities for almost 200 pages. It seems the whole time they are searching for Henry, Kate is having an internal battle about whether Henry loves her or not and will ask anyone and everyone what they think.I had reservations about reading Goddess Interrupted after being a bit disappointed with The Goddess Test. The series has an interesting premise but doesn’t seem to live up to its potential, despite Carter’s fluent writing style. I’ve never understood Kate’s feelings for Henry as he seems almost non-existent both emotionally and physically in much of this book. There isn’t even the mysterious brooding that one might expect, instead it is almost like he has no personality or is completely detached because of his bad experience with Persephone and I’m not sure why Kate is drawn to him, other than to torture herself. I thought James was a much more likeable and relatable character.Anyway, I can’t say I enjoyed Goddess Interrupted and it is unlikely that I will continue to read on in this series despite the cliff hanger in the end which was the only time I actually felt drawn into the story. I have seen some really positive reviews for this book, but I’m afraid it just wasn’t a good fit for me.Read my review for The Goddess Test (#1)