Excellent concept but lacking the conviction that could have made this an awesome read rather than an average one.
The Goddess Test Summary
Every girl who has taken the test has died. Now it’s Kate’s turn.
It’s always been just Kate and her mum – 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 her mother won’t live past the fall.
Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerising. 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 succeeds, she’ll become Henry’s future bride, and a goddess.
If she fails…
My Thoughts
Now, tell me that doesn’t sound like an AWESOME concept. Here I was, imagining an action-packed novel with Greek mythology and swoon-worthy characters spilling from its pages. And the tests? I imagined they’d be perhaps a little Goblet of Fire-like. Maybe some fighting and some seriously challenging tasks to accomplish.
Instead, I found The Goddess Test to be a rather fluffy novel with quite flat characters and a romance that I just couldn’t understand. I did enjoy reading it, but it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting and I’d have loved it to have been a bit more believable.
I mean, the tests were actually not really tests at all. I won’t spoil it for those of you who’d like to read it, but they certainly don’t involve fighting or tough challenges. I found them to be a bit silly, in fact.
And then there’s Henry, the love interest. So he makes her stay at Eden Manor for six months but the only incentive for her to agree to that is to keep her mother alive (but in a coma) until she leaves so that she can say goodbye. My first thought was that any daughter would realise that their mum would never want them to do that! They’d want their daughter to be free and happy and certainly not held somewhat captive by a total stranger.
Secondly, why oh why does Kate actually like Henry? Nothing about him really appealed to me, and if I were Kate I don’t think I’d ever be able to forgive him for taking away my freedom. Why would she WANT to pass all the tests and become his wife? I don’t know.
Another thing that irritated me is that all of the other girls died before Christmas yet Kate seemed to sail on through with hardly any attempts at her life. There needed to be so much more danger involved, because if it was that easy to protect the girl from the person trying to kill her this time, why on earth was it so hard all the times before?
Despite my ranting, I still did enjoy reading The Goddess Test. I just realised that I needed to stop asking questions and take it as it is, and in doing so I actually found the book to be a quick read that had some really good moments in amongst those irritations mentioned above. Just don’t expect action and seven tough tests like I did!
My Rating
*** 3/5 stars
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