READING : The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Publication date: April 26th, 2011
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Source: NetGalley
Genre: YA Paranormal
Rating: 2,5/5

Eligible for Debut Author Challenge 2011

Every girl who has taken the test has died.

Now it's Kate's turn.

It's always been just Kate and her mom--and now 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.

If she fails...

The Goddess Test is yet another book with great potential that unfortunately didn't live up to my expectations.
What drew me to this book in the first place, was its story and the whole greek mythology stick. You'd think me being greek I'd be sick of those. Nah, not really. Besides, they are the next big thing in YA fiction, right? So, who wouldn't wanna read a book about Gods, Underworld, trials and of course romance? While the Goddess Test was all that, I still felt unsatisfied by the end of the book. And I think the reason I struggled so much with GT was not the story, but its characters. 
Let me get something out of the way first: I have no problem whatsoever with different versions of greek myths. I have read some reviews which expressed a slight dislike in changing them. Me? I don't really care. It's a myth, a story, fiction. Its sole purpose is exactly that, to be altered and retold in many different ways throughout history. So I think story-wise, I was pretty much OK with GT.
However good a story may be though, if the characters in it are weak, the story eventually sinks along with them.I was never a fan of the two-minute love or friendship, and this book had both. Kate trusted with her life, people who tried to hurt her or people she didn't know anything about out, reaching a point where she actually gave up her freedom to save the life of one of them, who, haven been given a chance, would have hurt her. While that's all good and noble, it's so unbelievable for me, I can't even justified it by saying "it's fiction, it's OK".
I think I may be the only one who found the fact that Kate fell in love with the guy that held her prisoner a little bit disturbing. And not because of her choice, but because I doubt she had the slightest idea of what was happening around her half the time. She agreed to be taken by a stranger to go and live at his manor for 6 months under lock and key and then witnessed a resurrection. You'd think she'd eventually get it, right? That something supernatural or at least something remotely weird was going on. Personally, I didn't see it. I saw a weak, ignorant teenage girl, totally broken by her mother's imminent death, falling prey to a guy who was, surprisingly, equally weak! If maybe Henry was a bit more "manly" and a stronger figure, then Kate's weaknesses could be somehow explained and even justified. But having your two protagonists, one of them being a God!,  practically being passive and never taking initiative or a single decision throughout the whole book, kind of makes the whole story all the more unconvincing, even beyond the "unconvincing" factor that comes with every myth.
As for the revelation in the end, I guess it was surprising, although by then, I was so disappointed by the way things were going that I couldn't bring myself to care, I guess. I won't even dwell on the love-triangle thing, which was totally unnecessary, in my opinion.
I don't think I have to recommend The Goddess Test to readers, because I already know so many people loved it and I am sure there will be more. I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea.
This book has been given to me by NetGalley, free of charge.