Review: Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

Title: Goddess Interrupted

Series: The Goddess Chronicles #2

Author: Aimee Carter

Publisher: Mira Ink

Publication Date: 6 April 2012

Source: Netgalley

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis 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.

REVIEW

The only reason this book didn't get the full 5/5 is that I still have some niggles about Kate's doormat tendencies, she is still needy and insecure, understandable in the face of Persephone. However, I honestly still cant get this story out of my head even week after reading it. The character development, insight and background details provided by this installment just blew me away. Who would have thought that Hades/Henry could be viewed as hot. 

The story picks up 6 months after the end of The Goddess Test following Kate's Summer abroad with her friend James, not realizing that there is a complicated and tense history between Henry and James. She is therefore unsure and insecure when she returns to find Henry even more aloof than when she left. I felt my heart breaking along with hers, wondering if it had all been a cruel mistake. 

I honestly never imagined that in my life I would sympathize with Hades, but OMG I really, really felt for him. As the complicated relationships of the gods is revealed it is easy to understand just why Hades/Henry is afraid to get to close to Kate. He has been hurt so badly by Persephone, then caring for and losing the other girls that didn't survive the tests. It is easy to understand his reasons for keeping his distance and protecting his feelings. Although this doesn't make it any easier for Kate to cope with not knowing exactly how he feels about her. I love, love, loved the progression of their relationship. The ups and downs of their relationship caused swooning and giggling alongside tears creating compulsive page turning.  

The weaving of the Titans into the story created a fabulous addition expanding the use of Greek mythology within the narrative. The history of the creation of the Gods broadened the plot creating a three dimensional world.

The introduction of Persephone alongside the twist to her story and personality was a stroke of sheer brilliance, I have to be honest I literally detested Persephone with a passion. Amazing that the writing can make me feel like that about a fictional character.  

Although Kate is still very needy in this story, her doormat tendencies are lessening, as the plot progresses she does start to stand up for herself *cheers* making her a much, much, much better character and the makings of a true Queen.

The way in which the afterlife was portrayed came as something of a shock. The idea that as an individual you decide the way in which you spend your afterlife was uncomfortable for me to visualize. Imagine your own personal hell even if you hadn't done anything to deserve an eternity of torture but felt that you did OR  imagine someone that deserves to be tortured for eternity for the things they have done in life but gets a paradise. Perhaps this is where Henry and Kate would step in, the dynamics of their roles as King and Queen of the Underworld were not fully expanded within the narrative. I would be interested to find out more. 

There is a really unexpected and utterly amazing twist at the end that has left me SCREAMING for the next book. It is utter torture to wait an entire year to find out what happens. I NEED it NOW.