Book Summary: 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.(Courtesy of the Publisher)
Shannon's Thoughts:
Sigh. I wanted to like this
series, I really did. I thought Aimee Carter offered an interesting and different take on the ubiquitous Persephone myth, even if I found a lot of it to be silly. But, I was able to look past the silliness of the
first book, The Goddess Test, and for the most part I enjoyed it. But something happened with this sequel and I found myself beating my head against a wall in frustration. I think the biggest problem is I really didn't like the protagonist, Kate. I thought she
was immature, insecure and self righteous. She definitely had those qualities in the first book, but in this book it got a little out of hand. Her constant whining really
got on my nerves and her constant need to be loved was borderline uncomfortable.
The other problem I had was that most of the book centers on Henry/Hades and
Persephone's past and Kate's insecurity/jealous that Henry/Hades doesn't
love her as much as he loved Persephone. It was tiring and distracted
from the more interesting parts of the book. Especially since a large chuck of the first book dealt with the same issue. I would have liked to see more fighting with the Titans and an a more in-depth look into the Underworld. I also would have liked to see more development between Kate and Henry. It seemed like their entire relationship consists of Henry sulking and Kate yelling. (Kate, sweetie, you can't MAKE someone love you just because you love them and screaming at them is not going to help your cause.) I know there are a ton of people who like this series and I can see why. But too much of it rubbed me the wrong way.
Books in the series in the order they should be read:
1. The Goddess Test
1.5 The Goddess Hunt
2. Goddess Interrupted
2.5 The Goddess Legacy
3 The Goddess Inheritance
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 whom she would
really rather not meet. Henry's first wife, Persephone.
How familiar were you with Greek myths and folklore before writing the
Goddess Test series?Was a lot of research required?
I first fell in love with Greek mythology when I was a kid learning how to read,
and my infatuation only grew from there. I’ve studied various kinds of mythology
for years, sometimes for class and always for fun, but even then I put a great deal
of research into the Goddess Test series. Mostly as a refresher to make sure I was
getting my facts right, but I also researched the various myths looking for ways to tie
the plots and characters together in unexpected ways.
Was Goddess Interrupted any easier or harder to write than the first book in
the series, The Goddess Test?
It was both easier and harder, in a strange way. I rewrote The Goddess Test
multiple times, and I’ve never edited a book more heavily in my life. Goddess
Interrupted did require some editing, of course, but it was much easier.
However, the pressure to deliver a sequel worthy of the series made the writing
process for Goddess Interrupted more difficult than I’d anticipated. There’s
something called the “sophomore slump”, where sequels or second books generally
don’t quite match up to the second, and I wanted to avoid that at all cost. So that
added a lot of stress, but in the end, I was very happy with the results.
You give the gods and goddesses in the series “ordinary names” – Zeus is
named Walter, Aphrodite goes by Ava, Hermes is named James. Why did you
do that and do the more contemporary names have any significance?
This was something I went back and forth on multiple times. Initially the
characters Kate encounters weren’t council members at all – I changed that very,
very quickly though. By the second draft, I had a place for each of the Olympians,
and I did some heavy rewriting to replace my first draft characters with the gods. I
wanted to find a way to keep their names the same, but since they’re supposed to
live among us in secret in the modern world, it didn’t really make sense. How many
men named Zeus do you know, or women called Aphrodite? On top of that, keeping
the council’s identities secret was incredibly important to the plot. So eventually I
decided they would have changed their names when Western civilization stopped
worshipping them as gods, allowing them to live freely among us.
I did choose each name for what it means, some more than others – Walter, for
instance, means “army leader”, while James means “supplanter”. The exception is
Calliope, which in the story was chosen by her counterpart for its Greek roots. The
reason the gods changed their names – and why Artemis didn’t wind up with the
name Diana – is explained throughout the series, but you get to actually see this
happen in The Goddess Legacy (July 31).
Goddess Interrupted begins with the main character Kate Winters adjusting to
her new life as an immortal.
Given Kate’s innate strength and stubbornness,
was it difficult to switch gears to portray her as a bit more vulnerable and
unsure of herself in her new role as goddess AND wife?
Not so much, to be honest – her progression felt natural to me. While Kate is
very tough in certain ways, she’s extremely vulnerable as well. She’s emotionally
dependent on the people around her (her mother in the first book, Henry in the
second), and that in and of itself carves the path she takes in the sequel. She’s spent
six months with Henry, falling in love with him and forming a relationship she
thinks is going to last for eternity. But Henry is battling his own demons and isn’t
ready to be the person she needs him to be, and because Kate is so stubborn, she has
a hard time coming to terms with that. In the sequel, Kate really is her own worst
enemy emotionally – her entire world has changed, after all, and that’s a lot for
anyone to take – but it’s all part of her development into a goddess and queen.
Kate finds herself trying to work through her rather complicated relationship
with James, as well as her relationship with her new husband, Henry (Hades).
Neither seems to be black and white, but rather varying shades of gray.
Were
any of Kate’s feelings or situations based on any relationship struggles you’ve
been through?
Not personally, no, but I did try to make Kate’s relationships with the people in
her life as realistic as possible. She isn’t perfect, and neither are they, and that’s
something they all have to work through at varying points in the series. None of the
relationships in the books are based off of specific experiences I’ve been through
though.
What is your favorite part of the writing process? Least favorite?
Outlining is by far my favorite part of the process. I love the idea stage, where
anything’s possible, and it’s such a shiny place. All of that comes crashing down
when I write the first draft though, which is the hardest part for me. I tend to
get mentally exhausted about two thirds to three quarters of the way into the
manuscript, and it’s always a struggle for me to push through it, especially if I’m on
a deadline. And inevitably there are a ton of problems I didn’t notice in the outline
stage that have to be fixed for the story to work. I’m a perfectionist, so in order for
me to continue writing the story, everything I’ve already written has to make sense.
Do you have a favorite quote or line from a poem or book?
I love so many quotes that I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite.
How did you get your first publishing deal and how did that feel?
My agent, Rosemary Stimola, sent the manuscript out to various publishers, and
after a long submission process, Harlequin TEEN offered to publish it! I was stunned
at first, but that quickly gave way to giddiness. It was an incredible feeling to know
I’d be published, and to this day, I still can’t quite believe it.
When is the next book in the series due out? Any hints on what will happen in
book 3?
Goddess Interrupted, the sequel to The Goddess Test, came out in late March. The
next book in the series, The Goddess Legacy, will be out July 31. It’s a collection of
five novellas told in the perspectives of Calliope, Ava, Persephone, James, and Henry,
and together they form one story.
The third book in the series, The Goddess Inheritance, is currently scheduled to
be released in March 2013. Unfortunately I can’t say too much about it, but the
challenges that Kate will face are pretty clear by the end of the sequel!
After the huge success of The Goddess Test, Goddess Interrupted is on many,
many TBR lists for this summer. What’s on your TBR list?
I’m so excited for a slew of books coming out – The Girl in the Clockwork Collar,
Grave Mercy, The Selection, The Serpent’s Shadow, Philippa Gregory’s YA novel,
and a ton of others. I never have as much time to read as I want, but I’m definitely
making time for all of those and more!
Yearbook Superlatives! If you went to high school with the Greek gods and
goddesses, who would you vote for?
• Most likely to succeed? - Hera
• Class clown? - Hermes
• Nicest? – Demeter or Hephaestus
• Best dressed? - Aphrodite
• Best dancer? - Apollo
• Most school spirit? - Iris
• Most likely to attend summer school? - Ares
•Teachers pet? - Athena
Giveaway! WINNER: D.MLAH86!
One lucky US/Can reader will win a copy of GODDESS INTERRUPTED.
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 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 succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.
For more information on this author and her books, visit her website HERE.
With her mom dying, Kate moves back to her mom's hometown in the middle of nowhere. She doesn't care about friends or parties, she just wants to spend what little time she has left with her mom. This doesn't seem to deter some of her classmates from approaching her though. A friendly guy named James, and a girl named Ava, who seems a bit snide and fake nice. When the "Mean girl" finds herself in mortal danger, Kate wants to help her, regardless of her feelings toward the girl. Henry, a mysterious stranger says he can save her life but that Kate must live in his manor. Kate agrees not truly realizing who and what he is.
Turns out Henry is Hades and he wants Kate to take Persephone's place as goddess to remain in his kingdom forever with the exception of summers. If she agrees to be tested for this immortal position, Henry will also help to keep her mother alive. Kate couldn't pass that up so she stays to take these "Goddess Tests." The tests aren't obvious. Actually, you don't even know they are happening until the end when Kate finds out the results. During her stay in Henry's abode, kate finds herself drawn to Henry and wanting to pass these tests, not just for her mother but for Henry. Her feelings for him grow and if she doesn't become a goddess, she will have to leave. There is definitely someone trying to make her leave too. Some one has been killing the previous would-be goddess' so Kate has to stay on her toes or she'll be next.
As a character, Kate seems very selfless and goody goody. I would be lying if I said I didn't prefer a more rule breaking bad ass kind of heroine but as an MC I felt like Kate had a good voice for the story. It definitely wouldn't be the same story if she were anything but the kind of caring girl she is. I definitely sympathized with Henry and his situation, although the whole "needing a bride" thing kind of threw me off because of how young Kate is. But Henry isn't some evil guy. You'll be wanting to know more about Henry as much as Kate does. Ava and James were great side characters and I was happy that they both reappear in the novel following Kate's agreement.
The story itself was really interesting. I liked the new take on an old mythological story. It's like the next chapter to the greek stories. I thought the ending was a bit predictable and I couldn't help but feel that Kate was totally played at the end but where I would have had a problem with it, Kate seemed accepting. Maybe I'm just not as gracious.
It was written in a way that was easy to read and I thought this book was really entertaining. That being said, I don't think I loved this novel as much as everyone else. It was cute but it wasn't a mind blowingly amazing, epic romance. Cute seems to be the only word I can think of for this book. I'm not telling you to skip this book, it's actually perfect if you are looking for a short, light read. I will definitely be interested in reading more of this series. Aimee Carter has written a smooth debut novel that readers will enjoy with The Goddess Test and you can be sure to expect good things from her in the future. This book is available now.
2.5 out of 5 Robots!
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