Review: Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Greek mythology revisited in an enjoyable start to a new trilogy from the author of Anna Dressed In Blood, Kendare Blake. 

Summary

He was Apollo, the sun, and he’d burn down anything that tried to hurt her…

Cassandra and Aidan are just your average high-school couple. Blissfully unaware of her own power, Cassandra doesn’t even know that gods exist. Until now.

Because the gods are dying – and Cassandra could hold the answer to their survival. But Aidan has a secret, and he will do anything to protect the girl he loves from the danger that’s coming for her. Even if that means war against his immortal family…

My Thoughts

Based on the Greek myth of the Trojan War but set in the modern day, Antigoddess stars characters including Athena, Odysseus, Apollo, Hermes, and Cassandra. I was vaguely familiar with the myth prior to reading the book, which I think helped with the reading experience, but even if you’re not clued-up on the Trojan War you should be able to follow the storyline without getting confused.

To begin with, I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy Antigoddess. While Greek mythology intrigues me, I do find some of the surreal elements a bit to much for my little brain to handle. There were some moments in Antigoddess that were just a tad too surreal for my tastes, making me feel distant from the characters and the story because I couldn’t bring myself to believe in what I was reading. That said, the rest of the story far outweighed this surreality for me and I found myself getting absorbed into the entangled lives of the characters.

The book is written in third person, but Kendare Blake switches between characters regularly. We follow Cassandra and Aidan or Athena and Hermes, until eventually their paths cross. I quite enjoyed the moment when the two finally merged, though up until that point I did find myself getting a little frustrated with the regular to-ing and fro-ing.

Overall, the story is entertaining and kept me hooked, but if I’m being critical there were some moments I thought were a bit silly. For example, Henry, Andie and Cassandra believed Aiden so quickly when he revealed that he was a god. If someone told me they were a god I’d be extremely concerned about their mental health. Also, I thought that the swearing was unnecessary at times, and the switching between the names Aidan and Apollo got a bit confusing. I did like the fact that Cassandra and Aidan were a couple from the get-go, though. And the gruesome bits were awesome too.

I’m undecided as to whether I’d recommend Antigoddess. I think it really depends on your tastes. If you enjoy Greek mythology and aren’t bothered by surreality, you’ll enjoy the storyline despite it’s little hiccups. But for those that don’t have much of an interest in the Trojan War or the characters involved, I’m not sure that the story is strong enough to stand up for itself. I’ll still read the second in the series, and I have a feeling it’ll be an improvement as Antigoddess is a little prequel-like, perhaps.

A better series, but still inspired by Greek mythology, is Josephine Angelini’s Starcrossed trilogy.

My Rating:

*** 3/5 stars

If you liked Antigoddess, you’ll enjoy:

Angelfall by Susan Ee