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Saturday, February 9, 2013

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


Title: Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test #2)
Author: Aimee Carter
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "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."

My Opinion: Kate won her immortality at the end of The Goddess Test and then left to go spend her 6 months away from the Underworld, which she spent traveling with James. In Goddess Interrupted she returns home, excited to begin her new life with Henry, only to find him once again acting distant towards her. She does her best to reassure him that being the Queen of the Underworld is what she truly wants, but when Henry is kidnapped by Cronus, the King of the Titans, during her coronation, her world is turned upside down all over again. She goes on a quest to rescue Henry, but the only person who can really help her is the last person she wants to turn to - her sister, Persephone, Henry's first wife and the woman he has pined away for for an eternity. 

One of the reasons I loved this book is because we get to spend a lot of time in the Underworld with Kate, and the descriptions of the Underworld are amazing!! It's not a vast, empty, dreary space as you might imagine, but since each person gets to pick the afterlife that they feel they deserve, it's full of beauty and love as well as hopelessness and despair. 

I wish we could have seen more of Henry in this book, because, although he might have been present, he was so distant and vacant during this time that he might as well have been absent. There's a good reason for his apathy, and of course, there is a war to prepare for and all of the gods and goddesses are preoccupied by this, but I missed his playfulness. I feel like Kate really grew a lot in this book as she has to go WAY out of her comfort zone to help Henry, and the pacing of the book was excellent! There always seemed to be a lot of action going on, which made for a really quick read. I love this series so much and I'm really excited to read the Goddess Inheritance, especially after the huge cliffhanger at the end of this book!! :D

Review: The Goddess Legacy (Goddess Test #2.5), by Aimee Carter


Title: The Goddess Legacy (Goddess Test #2.5)
Author: Aimee Carter
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "For millennia we've caught only glimpses of the lives and loves of the gods and goddesses on Olympus. Now Aimée Carter pulls back the curtain on how they became the powerful, petty, loving and dangerous immortals that Kate Winters knows.

Calliope/Hera represented constancy and yet had a husband who never matched her faithfulness….

Ava/Aphrodite was the goddess of love and yet commitment was a totally different deal….

Persephone was urged to marry one man, yet longed for another….

James/Hermes loved to make trouble for others;but never knew true loss before….

Henry/Hades's solitary existence had grown too wearisome to continue. But meeting Kate Winters gave him a new hope.

Contents:
The Goddess Queen 
The Lovestruck Goddess 
Goddess of the Underworld 
God of Thieves 
God of Darkness"

My Opinion: I don't usually read anthologies because I feel like I need more time than a short story to sink my teeth into a character and really get to know them and find out what makes them tick, but in this case I already knew the characters well from reading the previous books in the series and decided to give it a try. Boy am I glad that I did!! This wasn't just a short bit of fluff written to keep us invested in the characters until the next book comes out - it gave us the chance to look back and find out how our favorite gods and goddesses became the people that they are today. In other words, we got the chance to see how and why they act like they do, to go back in time and gain major insight into their motivations and to gain a much better understanding of them, to fall more in love with the characters that we love (Henry and James, and sometimes Ava), and to maybe soften a little bit towards those that we don't (Calliope and Persephone). I was blown away by how much I learned about all of the gods and goddesses involved, and how that information made me feel like I had peeked inside their very souls and come away with a deeper understanding of just how much they have experienced in their long lives. I now wouldn't wish immortality on my worst enemy! To have to go on after such deep disappointments and know that you are forever tied to the people who hurt you the most - it depresses me just to think about it! 

I wish I had a favorite story to tell you about, but all five were amazingly written and heartfelt, so I can't pick just one. I think the two stories that broke my heart the most were Calliope/Hera's and James/Hermes'. If you never thought you would feel sorry for Calliope, I want you to read her story and then tell me you don't just a little bit. And poor James! Just because he always acts like not much bothers him, and he tells jokes to keep everyone else's spirits up , doesn't mean he hasn't suffered deep losses. 

I don't want to give anything away (being short stories, any bit of info might do that), but suffice it to say, this book is a must read for anyone reading the Goddess Test series!! You'll go into book 3 with a whole new appreciation for all of the characters, and that's not something that you want to miss :D

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Review: Covet (The Clann #2), by Melissa Darnell


Title: Covet (The Clann #2)
Author: Melissa Darnell
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "Dangerous to be together. Painful to be apart. 

Savannah Colbert knows she broke up with Tristan Coleman for the right reasons. Most of all, to keep from killing him with her new vampire abilities. But try telling her heart. Now, lost in a sea of hostile Clann faces, Sav tries to come to terms with what she's becoming and what that means for her future. And that someone is doing their best to bully her into making a terrible mistake. 

Tristan can't believe Sav won't even talk to him. If being apart is her decision, fine. Just don't expect him to honor it. But even as he prepares to fight for the girl he loves, forces beyond their control take them both in directions neither could have foreseen or prepared for. 


A reckoning is coming...and not everyone will survive."


My Opinion: Things just never seem to go easy for Savannah Colbert and Tristan Coleman. Just when Savannah manages to prove to the Vampire Council that she can be around Tristan without giving into the siren's call of his Clann blood, they give her an ultimatum and force her to break things off with him. She doesn't have the heart to tell him right away,  instead waiting until their plane lands back home so she can enjoy the last few hours they have together, but things go from bad to worse when they get a phone call letting them know that the Clann thinks Sav and her father have kidnapped Tristan and done God knows what to him. In retaliation, they kidnap Sav's grandmother and when tragedy strikes, Savannah finally realizes that a relationship between herself and Tristan can only ever bring heartache to all of their loved ones, not to mention the two of them, and she keeps her word to stay away from him. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done because Tristan refuses to accept her decision, and goes to great lengths to be with her again.

I love the relationship between these two star crossed lovers just as much in this book as in the first! There's just something about them that makes you pull for them to get their happy ending, despite incredible hurdles placed in their way by both the Vampire Council and the witch Clann, with particular emphasis on Tristan's parents. There's real character growth here and the pacing of the story makes for a very quick read.  I enjoyed this book very much and am looking forward to reading the third installment in this series, Consume! :D