ARC Review: The Goddess Legacy by Aimee Carter

Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Publication Date: July 31st, 2012

For millennia we've caught only glimpses of the lives and loves of the gods and goddesses on Olympus. Now Aime e 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. 

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

I am a big fan of retellings.  I adore a good Fairy Tale Retelling, and lately retellings of Greek myths have really grown on me.  I never paid much attention when we studied Greek mythology in school, and I think that had a lot to do with the fact that my teachers kind of glossed over, or skipped altogether, the more entertaining parts of the lore- the affairs, the debauchery, the betrayals, the sex...  Through my reading of these retellings, I have found a renewed interest, and I look at the original stories in an entirely different light now.  Aimee Carter's series, beginning with The Goddess Test, is one of the ones that sparked this renewed interest.  The Goddess Legacy is the third (actually, it's titled as number 2.5) book in the series, and thus far, is my favorite.  The Goddess Test begins with the story of Henry/Hades and Kate, and her quest to pass the tests set forth by the Olympians so that she may become one of them, Henry's bride, and Queen of the Underworld.  Goddess Interrupted picks up where The Goddess Test leaves off, and ends with one of those horrible cliffhangers that makes the reader ponder and pine for more (read my review HERE).  Both are centered around Kate and Henry's relationship, and while many of the other gods and goddesses have roles, their stories and motivations are not stated.  The Goddess Legacy gives those stories an opportunity to be told.  It consists of five novellas, each telling the story of a god or goddess who had an integral role in the first two books.  Each is told from the POV of the god or goddess in question, and while not all of their stories evoked my sympathy, they did earn my understanding of their motivations and behaviors.

In the first two books Hera/Calliope is painted in a rather negative light.  Her negative traits include bitterness, selfishness, and a manipulative nature, and that is only to name a few of many.  She is cast as the total villain, and rightly so.  In The Goddess Legacy, as her life story and motivations are revealed, it becomes glaringly obvious why she has become the goddess she has become.  Did I ever grow to like her or excuse her actions because of it?  No.  But I can better understand how she came to be the goddess she is in the first books.  She has experienced much pain and suffering at the hands of others, over the course of her eternity.  Because of her pride and principles, she made some very deplorable and misguided decisions, of which there seems to be no end in sight. I still don't like her, but I now feel some pity for her.

Next was Aphrodite/Ava's story, and my opinion of her actually changed, after getting the skinny on who she actually is.  In the first two books, I felt sorry for her.  She showed some selfish tendencies, and she often made some questionable choices, but I honestly thought that those things were mainly a result of her lack of intelligence.  Wrong!  She is one manipulative, cunning girl.  Obviously she is her daddy's (Zeus) favorite, and she milks it for all it's worth.  She is spoiled and self-absorbed, and almost always gets what she wants, come hell or high water.  One scene that sticks out in my mind is when she argues with Persephone over Adonis; she isn't getting her way, and she shouts, "Daddy!", and Zeus immediately arrives to sort things out.  She is like a mythological Veruca Salt (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, for those of you who have been living under rocks).  She is entertaining, but she is a brat.  Her only redeeming quality is the tenderness she shows toward Hephaestus and Eros, but in my mind, it isn't nearly enough.

After Aphrodite, we "meet" Persephone.  Compared to Persephone, Aphrodite's selfishness looks like martyrdom.  That said, I still felt more sympathetic toward her because she was truly a victim of the poor choices that others made on her behalf.  Zeus and her mother, Demeter, arranged the marriage she did not want, Hades allowed it to happen, and Hera clearly cursed the possibility of their union to ever working.  I'm glad Persephone found her happiness in the end, even as badly as I feel for Hades.

Next up is the story of Hermes/James...  In the first two books I didn't care much for him.  It wasn't that I disliked him, I just kind of felt indifferent.  Now, after reading his story, I really like him to the point that he is one of my favorite characters.  I enjoyed his story the most, and I really loved learning how each of the gods/goddesses got their "modern" names and why.  I felt like he had the most depth and humanity.

Finally, we learn more about Hades/Henry, and the circumstances leading up to his story in the first two books.  Having more of his background really helped me to understand him as it pertains to his cautious nature as far as Kate was concerned.  All of the gods/goddesses suffered to some degree, but he had it the worst.  At least they had one another to comfort them in their moments of pain, but he was alone in the Underworld.  Still, he almost always make selfless choices, even ones that the others didn't understand or hated him for.  I like the path Aimee Carter took when telling his story, and it makes me look forward to The Goddess Inheritance all the more.

Overall, this compilation of novellas really added to my enjoyment of this series.  If you've read and enjoyed Aimee's books to this point, make this one a priority on your TBR.  If you haven't read the first two books, that's okay, you can still read this one and fully understand what is going on.  The stories stand alone, but I will warn you, once you get a taste of Aimee's take on these characters, you will want to read more!

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

Grade Level Recommendation:  There is definitely some sex (Aphrodite is the goddess of it, after all) and a few of the characters definitely have some issues with morality, but otherwise this book is clean.  I stand by my grade level recommendation for the first two books.  Grades 6 and up (ages 11+).

**Don't forget to check out my giveaway for a chance to win a hardcover cop of Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry!  Click HERE to enter!  Ends at 12:00am, August 14th, 2012**

Review: Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins

Publication Date: September 6th, 2011

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they’re triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful Gorgon maligned in myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

Even though I am somewhat behind in my reviews (although much closer to caught up than I was a few weeks ago!), I wanted to get my review of this book up.  Why? Because it's AWESOME!  I love Tera Lynn Childs's books.  I really do.  They aren't especially deep or message-driven, but sometimes the message-driven stuff can get to be too much, and I need something fun.  Tera's books are are light, fun, and always feature a reluctant, relateable, kick-ass heroine; this book has three of them!  I have been anxiously awaiting this book since I heard about it months and months ago.  I am a fan and I had high expectations, and I was not at all disappointed!

The chapters alternate between three POV's: Grace, Gretchen, and Greer.  Each girl was adopted at birth and they were each brought up by their respective families in very different ways.  Unseen forces reunite the three girls when they are 16 and they are forced to decide whether or not they will fulfill their legacy as descendants of the legendary Medusa.  It was interesting being inside the head of each girl as she sorted out the feelings these new revelations brought on.  Grace was my favorite character.  She was sweet and determined.  They jury is still out one the other two... Aside from the three girls, there were also some boys- all swoon-worthy- but thankfully no love triangles.  The romantic element was sweet and I liked that the story didn't revolve around it.  There is also some mystery on that end, and I can't wait to see how that plays out in the next book.

As far as the story is concerned, it is my favorite of Tera's yet.  I loved her other books, but I really think she has outdone herself here; SO original.  Obviously, it is Greek Mythology based, but it's not a re-telling per se, but rather, a rewriting of history.  Medusa is portrayed as anything but the monster she is said to have been.  The monsters in the book were great; minotaurs, sphinxes, griffins, manticores, and my favorites- the hybrids!  Tera does a great job describing them in a way that makes them easy to picture and you can almost smell them.  I loved the action and suspense, and the pace was fast but no overwhelming.  This was a quick read and I am left wanting more.  The cliffhanger ending was one of the most frustrating (in a good way) for me since Catching Fire, so I will no doubt be practically offering my soul for an advance copy of book number two, Sweet Shadows, which is expected sometime in the Fall of 2012.

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

Grade Level Recommendation:  This book is pretty clean.  There's some mild violence and pretty innocent romance (no sex).  I would say that this appropriate for ages 11 and up (5th/6th grade+).

**Don't forget to enter my AWESOME giveaway of an audio copy of the AMAZING All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin HERE!**

Review: Abandon by Meg Cabot

Publisher: Point

Publication Date: April 26th, 2011

New from #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, a dark, fantastical story about this world . . . and the underworld.

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

This book got some pretty scathing reviews on Goodreads, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why. I was absolutely riveted by this book! I thought it was a great, modern take on the whole Hades/Persephone story. It was a quick (probably because I couldn't put it down) and easy read, filled with suspense and intrigue. The story was perfectly paced so that I wanted to keep turning the pages until the end, and then immediately go to Goodreads to find out when book #2, Underworld, is coming out (sometime in 2012).

Sometimes with re-tellings I get nervous. I wonder how the author can possibly do justice to the original while making the story her own. Meg Cabot managed to do this with ease (although I can't really say how without a major spoiler). This story was truly different from the one it is based on, and I felt like it parts of it were actually an improvement. I was kept wondering until the very end, and while Cabot answered a good number of my questions neatly, she still left enough for me to eagerly anticipate book #2. I hate it when too much is left to the sequel. I like at least some resolution, but not too much.

As far as the characters were concerned, I felt like the character development was good. I would have liked to know a bit more about Uncle Chris and Alex, as well as a bit more about Pierce's parents, but as far as Pierce and John are concerned, I felt like the amount of information we are given (albeit slowly, throughout the book), is sufficient. My favorite character, funny enough, was the cemetery sexton, Richard Smith. At first, I really didn't like him, but he grew on me.

The biggest gripe most of the haters of this book had was that they didn't like Cabot's writing style. Her style is what it is. I like it enough. I think she is a master at drawing you into the story by giving information, a tidbit at a time, through the entire book. Yes, sometimes you go through half the book not really knowing what's happening, but she always pulls everything together nicely. I'll admit that I get frustrated sometimes by the lack of understanding at first, because I'm an impatient person by nature, but I always feel like Cabot redeemed herself (and then some) in the end. This book was no different than her others in that respect.

One of the tings I loved the most was the chapter headers. Each was a stanza from Dante's Inferno, which happened to be one of my favorite reads in college literature. Most of the books I read in the many lit classes I took in college were painfully boring to me. The entire Divine Comedy had me enthralled, but Inferno was, by far and away, my favorite. Reading Abandon made me want to go back 15 years later and read it again, so "Bravo" to Meg Cabot for reminding me of how much I loved Dante! After all, has there ever been a better description of the Underworld than his?

Overall, I really, REALLY enjoyed this book. It left me wanting for more, which is always a good thing. I was invested in the characters, and really want to know more about them and their stories. I will definitely be on the lookout for Underworld in 2012!

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½

Grade Level Recommendation: I would say late Middle School and up because of a teen suicide due to an affair with a teacher. Otherwise, this book is fairly benign. Grade 7+ (ages 12+).