Book Review:The Goddess Legacy (Goddess Test #2.5)

Release Date: July 31. 2012
Author: Aimée Carter
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Length: 400 pages

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher

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....

Five original novellas of love, loss and longing and the will to survive throughout the ages.

Review:


Note: Since this is an anthology I had debated whether I should have had five mini reviews or one big one. I decided to make on big one, comment and tell me if I made the right choice or not.


Characters: This anthology focuses on the lives of five distinct characters in the "Goddess Test" series, Calliope/Hera, Ava/Aphrodite, Persephone, James/Hermes, and Henry/Hades. each one of these stories takes place before the start of the first novel, The Goddess Test, and each story gives the characters new depth and gives the reader an understanding of what the characters went through at pivotal points in their immortality. With Hera we learn about how she had to deal with her husband's infidelity when she chose to represent marriage. With Aphrodite we learn of her own trial and tribulations with love. With Persephone we learn of her loveless marriage to Hades and how she did all she could to try and fall in love with him. With Hermes we learn of his search to find a way to stop the gods and goddesses from fading. Finally, with Hades we learn of his decision to fade and the lengths his family wen through to stop that from happening. Each story shows another side to even the most dark characters. I do not think that you would in anyway start to root for the antagonists, but you will see and understand why they did what they did.


Romance: Even though there was romance and love throughout each of the stories, not all ended in happily ever after. The ones that hadn't ended happily did have a grain of hope in them, however twisted that hope might be. The ones I loved however, were the ones that ended right. These were the ones that may have been riddled with misfortune, but in the end everything fell right into place. Love may not conquer all, but it sure will put up a hell of a fight.

Chronology: Even though each story was told by a separate narrator, and about a different event in the narrator's immortality, the events were in chronological order from the fall of the Titans up to when Kate enters Eden. I found this interesting because it gives a clear time line of events for fans of the series to follow.


Greek Mythology: When I first started reading this series I would read reviews where the reviewers thought that this was a horrible bastardization of the Greek Myths that they grew up learning. In some ways it could be, but who's to say what is the right version of a Greek Myth, do to mythology being an oral tradition there are various versions of the Greek Myths out in the universe. This is only another reinterpretation. Just a thought to ponder.


Predictability: Due to the fact that I have read all the other published books in this series, in addition to knowing a great deal about Greek Mythology, it was pretty easy to piece together what will happen throughout the stories. However this never ruined them. Even though I knew the outcome of most of the stories, I didn't know how the author would reinterpret the myths or what she would make the characters go through specifically to get to where they are. Because of this each and every story was as enjoyable, if not more, than the previous story.

Ending: While the first four stories are told from a first-person perspective, the last, which centers around Henry/Hades, is told from the third person. I'm not sure why the author decided to write it like this, since we were never shown anything other than what Henry was experiencing. However, my theory is that we can't see inside of Hades mind. That his mind be too tortured to be entertaining, or to complex to write from. I'm not sure, but the ending itself was sweet and gave me a new appreciation for Henry as a character.


Rating:

Not only is it a brilliant reinterpretation of some of my favorite Greek Myths, but it is also an intriguing insight into some of the great characters in one of my new favorite series.