The Goddess Test by Aimee CarterMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I don't know why I waited so long to read this, but I'm glad I finally did. I really enjoyed yet another take on the after life, as well as the Greek gods, or Olympians. Basically Kate is our main character, and Kate has just moved to the town of Eden, where her mom grew up. The whole moving thing is s good starting point for a lot of stories it seems. Her mom is sick, dying really. Kate knows there is little time left, so even though she loves living in New York City, she agrees to go with her mom to Eden, to let her end her days in the town where she grew up. Now, of course, things seem to start happening, weird things, right away. One night she almost has a car accident, and sees a very handsome teenage boy at the scene. At school, this one guy, James, who is cute, but kind of eccentric, immediately comes up and starts talking to her, even though she doesn't give him any encouragement. Then, one of the more popular guys seems to take notice of her, and his girlfriend, Ava, doesn't seem very happy about it. She calls Kate and tells her if she'll come to this big party this once, so that the guys can all meet her, she'll leave her alone. Kate agrees, just to get this girl out of her hair, because she seems to be like a mean girl. The girl comes and picks her up, and takes her out by this big mysterious mansion, near where Kate had seen the mysterious guy. She gets her to a stream, then says Kate has to swim to get there, or basically just tells her it's a big setup. But, Ava hits her head when she jumps in the water, and even though Kate is scared of water, she jumps in to try and save her. Well, Ava is dead, can't be saved. But the mysterious guy, Henry, shows up, and offers to save Ava, bring her back from the dead, if only Kate will agree to come live with him in the estate/mansion, and to read up on the myth about Persephone. She agrees, not thinking it is real. So then the next day or so at school, all of a sudden Ava is back and wants to be best friends with Kate. Which seems weird.
But when Ava dies again, because Henry says if Kate doesn't come with him he won't be able to keep her saved, Kate goes to the mansion to beg for Ava's life. Not to mention that as this all happens, Kate's mom goes into a coma and is at the hospital. So of course, Kate also wants to save her mom. Henry says at this point it is too late to save Ava, but he can give her a chance to say goodbye to her mother instead of her passing away in a coma. So of course, Kate agrees again. James, the cute guy from school, warns her not to give in, but promises to keep an eye out for her mother while she is gone.
Once Kate is at the mansion, she learns about tests she must pass, and what she is expected to do with this deal. She also learns that Henry's "life" is on the line if this doesn't work,and that Henry is Hades, and that all the other girls before her, didn't even make it until Christmas time from the start of fall without dying or not passing.
I really liked the book. I liked the story, the way Kate dealt with all that happened, as well as how she came about her feelings for Henry. Kate had so many familiar faces show up as the Greek gods, within the actual story, before you or she knew they were, and then at the end, an even bigger surprise, which I kind of had figured out from the little "prequel" chapter at the beginning. Really, good, can't wait to read on, kind of sorry that I didn't bring the 2nd book with me to NYC this week to read now!
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