The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter- 5 *

      Title: The Goddess Test

Author: Aimée Carter

Genre: YA Fantasy Romsnce

Rating: * * * * *

Publishers Date: April 19, 2011

Paperback: 304 pages

ISBN: 0373210264

FTC Disclosure: Net Galley

“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...”


OMG, I started this just last night and finished by lunch today. Awesome, simply awesome fantasy romance. I so loved the mythology sprinkled throughout the story and the mystery suspense kept me flipping the pages to see what happened next. The final mystery, I did figure out before the author told me but the rest, wow, not a clue. She kept me guessing right up till the final pages.
I really loved the main character Kate. In the beginning, I felt a bit sorry for her as she had basically given up her teenage years to care for her mother who was dying of cancer. Despite spending her whole life in NYC, she agrees to move to a small town, Eden, because her mom wants to die in the town she was born in. She starts her senior year at a new school amongst kids that she has nothing in common with just to make her mom happy. She is way more mature than most 18 year olds are but her unselfishness was a lot of what made me enjoy this book. I heartily get tired of the typical whiny teen depicted in a lot of the YA fiction.
Kate basically agrees to sacrifice her happiness and freedom so that others may live. She must pass 7 tests to show the council that she is worthy of taking her place beside  Henry and ruling the Underworld. While Kate is determined to learn as much about Henry’s world, she must be vigilant as the last dozen girls before her died only months into their time in Henry’s world.
This is by far the best of the YA books I’ve read this year and I imagine that even 8 more months down the road, it will come out on top. I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series, “Goddess Interrupted” and up to now have only occasionally read fantasy. The romance, mystery, and suspense has upped my enjoyment to the level that I won’t hesitate to pick up the next fantasy I come upon.