Review: Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test #2) Aimee Carter

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. ~ Goodreads

Note: No spoilers for Goddess Interrupted but there may be a few for book one The Goddess Test. Also – this review probably won’t make much sense to those who haven’t read book 1. lol

Review:Consider me flabbergasted by how much I enjoyed this book! I didn't really like The Goddess Test all that much for reasons you can read here. Any-hoo I pulled Goddess Interrupted off my shelf with the intention of giving it away. I decided to take a quick peek first.

One hour later…I'm curled up in a ball in my computer desk chair glued to the pages. I relocate to comfy couch. Three hours later…I'm done reading and all happy happy!

One thing I really disliked in The Goddess Test was all the manipulation and lying. I felt like every conversation or friendship was based on a lie. Goddess Interrupted had a raw intensity & honesty to it that left the characters stripped bare.

Kate is still trying to come to terms with Henry's/Hades distance in their marriage and the fact that he is still in love with his ex-wife Persephone. I knew Persephone was going to be a major player in this book and I was pretty sure I was going to hate that but I was wrong. Adding Persephone allows us to see Kate and Henry in an entirely different way.

Kate has always felt second to Persephone and here we find out just how much. Her whole life is playing runner up and second best to her sister. We also find out the depth of Henry's pain after Persephone left him and why some of the actions Kate has taken have made Henry react how he does now. We even learn what it's like for Persephone. She's selfish and a little haughty and while I don’t exactly love her, I see that she is impacted by Kate's existence as well and the two form an uneasy alliance to save Henry.

Although this installment delves a little deeper into Greek Mythology than The Goddess Test did, it's still not enough to my liking. This is not so much about the myths as unraveling the personalities behind the God's and their fights with each other. One thing I really enjoyed is the contrast of Kate's humanity against the God's immortality. They've lived thousands of years. Relationships, hook-ups, lies and deaths are a mere blip on their radar because time doesn't hold the same meaning for them as it does for Kate. She is shocked (as was I) learning about the past of her new family. On the other hand, pain and suffering can be excruciating when you feel a loss for what feels like eternity. Hence Henry's really bad attitude.

Which leads to the one weak link in this series. Henry. In the 1st book he was so passive and not at all what I was expecting from Hades the God of the Underworld. I guess I wanted him to be more bad ass than brooding. In this book he is SO distant and SO cold that I found myself embarrassed when Kate was throwing herself at him time & time again begging for a morsel of affection. If he had a few moments where he slipped up and offered her a smile or something it would have given me something to grab on to but he barely speaks a word to her most of the time.

The one thing I do like about Kate though is that she throws it all out there and tries to make it work with Henry. She tries to be that one person in his life that doesn't fail him. The extent of Persephone's betrayal was horrible & I started to understand Henry more. The scenes between him and Persephone made my stomach lurch for Kate but I appreciated how Cater let it all unravel in a realistic way. It made the payoff so much sweeter.

Rating: 3 out of 4 The relationship drama is sometimes incredibly frustrating but I felt that Goddess Interrupted was darker and more revealing than the previous installment. To my surprise I was totally sucked into all the angst, action and romance.

P. S. There's a big cliffhanger at the end. But instead of frustrating it got me excited for the next book. I think I'm finally going to see the Henry that I've been waiting for and the stakes could not be any higher.

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Source: BEA – Harlequin Teen
Buy the book! Goddess Interrupted (Harlequin Teen)