Title: The Goddess Inheritance (Goddess Test #3)
Author: Aimee Carter
Release Date: February 26th, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Page Count: 384
Source: ARC won from author on Twitter
Rating: ★★★★☆
Love or life.
Henry or their child.
The end of her family or the end of the world.
Kate must choose.
During nine months of captivity, Kate Winters has survived a jealous goddess, a vengeful Titan and a pregnancy she never asked for. Now the Queen of the Gods wants her unborn child, and Kate can't stop her--until Cronus offers a deal.
In exchange for her loyalty and devotion, the King of the Titans will spare humanity and let Kate keep her child. Yet even if Kate agrees, he'll destroy Henry, her mother and the rest of the council. And if she refuses, Cronus will tear the world apart until every last god and mortal is dead.
With the fate of everyone she loves resting on her shoulders, Kate must do the impossible: find a way to defeat the most powerful being in existence, even if it costs her everything.
Even if it costs her eternity.
[Summary Source: Goodreads]
THE REVIEW
I'm a BIG fan of all of these real/modern world + Greek mythology stories. But my love for Greek mythology aside, this book was actually a pretty satisfactory end to a trilogy. I had all the requisite conclusion-y feelings at the end of it all (seriously, read that last chapter and try not to feel fulfilled. I can't even imagine). But I will say some of the plot annoyed me. A little. Not a lot, but a little.
Let's break this down:
The book picks up 9 months after the end of the last one: AKA with Kate giving birth. Way to bring the feels early, Aimee Carter. Way. Kate spend a little more time Cronus (who really becomes more dimensional in this book), Calliope (who, after a phenom short story, kind of regresses, which was annoying) and Ava (oh Ava), and then gets the hell out of dodge.
There are tons o' probs, of course, and the war continues, good(ish) vs. evil (crazytown). I think my favorite part about this series is that no one is truly good. Except MAYBE Kate. And the baby, clearly. But all of the gods had eons to mess everything up, so obvs they did.
What I didn't love was how said war kind of goes around in circles for a while, especially in regards to Kate. She tries to do this one thing, fails and then goes back and tries again. LIKE THREE TIMES. This repeating cycle drove me absolutely bananas to anxiously work my way through time and time again. The character development, as well as the growth in the relationships between the characters (especially Henry and Kate), did a whole lot to keep me interested in the story, but there were times when I wanted to smack Kate and tell her to FIND A NEW ANGLE. She gets there eventually - otherwise the ending of this series would be REALLY bleak - but it's kind of annoying.
But that's just what bugged me about this story. HERE'S WHAT I LOVED:
First of all, the Henry/Kate dynamic is ah-freaking-mazing. It's like they FINALLY get their acts together, which is WONDERFUL because, as heartbreaking as I found their relationship in the first two books, I was so ready for the love. And it was there. It was so there it basically knocked me over. I loved every second.
Additionally, now that Kate is sure of Henry's love, we can move on from the "he loves me, he loves me not" plot point, to the "Kate does stuff to help" plot point. It takes a little while for her to figure out how to help - ie: the beating of the dead horse mentioned above - but she tries. She does stuff. And she begins to wrap her head around what it means to be a god - the responsibilities, the consequences, so on and so forth. It's like, in the middle of the last book, Kate found her footing with the council and now she's ready to try and make a go of it (even though she can't really fight in the traditional sense).
I think, ultimately, this book is about Kate internalizing this new life of hers - immortality and all of its consequences (a lesson Walter never learned, CLEARLY), the importance of family and the weight those relations really carry, the meaning of death and so on and so forth. We also get a clearer understanding of the philosophy and virtues of the gods. Which, even though maybe traditional Greek mythology isn't heavy on morals, makes sense and goes a long way to explain how a ruling council might be able to be philandering and duplicitous while still deserving of ruling humanity.
The long and short of it?
Plot: A little circular at first but other stuff happens too and all in all: I like.
World Building: Some people have issues with the tests Kate is put through because none of the Greek gods are even a little virtuous. Well, I think this book goes a long way to show that the gods aren't SUPPOSED to be totally virtuous and neither is Kate, really, although she does try rather hard.
Character Development: Kate, Henry, Ava, Walter and Cronus all flourish in this book. Although, Calliope kind of returns to her one-dimensional-crazy-town self.
Prose: Straight to the point. Although, the scenes between Henry and Kate are particularly lovely. ESPECIALLY WITH BABY MILO.
Would I Recommend This Book?: It's more of a "Would I Recommend This Series?" question at this point. And I would. If you're into Greek mythology like I am, it's definitely worth it. Just be patient with Kate, would you? Immortality's a tough concept to wrap your head around, even if you've kind of been groomed for said concept your entire life.
I'm a BIG fan of all of these real/modern world + Greek mythology stories. But my love for Greek mythology aside, this book was actually a pretty satisfactory end to a trilogy. I had all the requisite conclusion-y feelings at the end of it all (seriously, read that last chapter and try not to feel fulfilled. I can't even imagine). But I will say some of the plot annoyed me. A little. Not a lot, but a little.
Let's break this down:
The book picks up 9 months after the end of the last one: AKA with Kate giving birth. Way to bring the feels early, Aimee Carter. Way. Kate spend a little more time Cronus (who really becomes more dimensional in this book), Calliope (who, after a phenom short story, kind of regresses, which was annoying) and Ava (oh Ava), and then gets the hell out of dodge.
There are tons o' probs, of course, and the war continues, good(ish) vs. evil (crazytown). I think my favorite part about this series is that no one is truly good. Except MAYBE Kate. And the baby, clearly. But all of the gods had eons to mess everything up, so obvs they did.
What I didn't love was how said war kind of goes around in circles for a while, especially in regards to Kate. She tries to do this one thing, fails and then goes back and tries again. LIKE THREE TIMES. This repeating cycle drove me absolutely bananas to anxiously work my way through time and time again. The character development, as well as the growth in the relationships between the characters (especially Henry and Kate), did a whole lot to keep me interested in the story, but there were times when I wanted to smack Kate and tell her to FIND A NEW ANGLE. She gets there eventually - otherwise the ending of this series would be REALLY bleak - but it's kind of annoying.
But that's just what bugged me about this story. HERE'S WHAT I LOVED:
First of all, the Henry/Kate dynamic is ah-freaking-mazing. It's like they FINALLY get their acts together, which is WONDERFUL because, as heartbreaking as I found their relationship in the first two books, I was so ready for the love. And it was there. It was so there it basically knocked me over. I loved every second.
Additionally, now that Kate is sure of Henry's love, we can move on from the "he loves me, he loves me not" plot point, to the "Kate does stuff to help" plot point. It takes a little while for her to figure out how to help - ie: the beating of the dead horse mentioned above - but she tries. She does stuff. And she begins to wrap her head around what it means to be a god - the responsibilities, the consequences, so on and so forth. It's like, in the middle of the last book, Kate found her footing with the council and now she's ready to try and make a go of it (even though she can't really fight in the traditional sense).
I think, ultimately, this book is about Kate internalizing this new life of hers - immortality and all of its consequences (a lesson Walter never learned, CLEARLY), the importance of family and the weight those relations really carry, the meaning of death and so on and so forth. We also get a clearer understanding of the philosophy and virtues of the gods. Which, even though maybe traditional Greek mythology isn't heavy on morals, makes sense and goes a long way to explain how a ruling council might be able to be philandering and duplicitous while still deserving of ruling humanity.
The long and short of it?
Plot: A little circular at first but other stuff happens too and all in all: I like.
World Building: Some people have issues with the tests Kate is put through because none of the Greek gods are even a little virtuous. Well, I think this book goes a long way to show that the gods aren't SUPPOSED to be totally virtuous and neither is Kate, really, although she does try rather hard.
Character Development: Kate, Henry, Ava, Walter and Cronus all flourish in this book. Although, Calliope kind of returns to her one-dimensional-crazy-town self.
Prose: Straight to the point. Although, the scenes between Henry and Kate are particularly lovely. ESPECIALLY WITH BABY MILO.
Would I Recommend This Book?: It's more of a "Would I Recommend This Series?" question at this point. And I would. If you're into Greek mythology like I am, it's definitely worth it. Just be patient with Kate, would you? Immortality's a tough concept to wrap your head around, even if you've kind of been groomed for said concept your entire life.
So tell me: Did you get your grabby hands on an ARC of this one? If not, how excited are you to finish off the series? Let me know in the comments below!
I haven't read this series yet, but my friend has and I know she is eagerly anticipating reading this one! I will be glad to tell her you liked The Goddess Inheritance. I, however, still need to get my hands on the first book! I don't know why i haven't bought it yet, I love greek mythology...
ReplyDelete-Emily from Counting in bookcases http://countinginbookcases.blogspot.com/
If you like Greek Mythology DEF go for it. The idea of the tests themselves can feel a little un-Greek-mythology-feeling at times, but I think it makes sense in the long run, so don't let it get you down!!
DeleteThanks for stopping by!! :)
Perfect review, Gaby! I felt the circular thing too and it drove me batty. Once I got past that, I was able to really enjoy the story. It's that satisfying, feel-good, "everybody lives" conclusion I wanted, only with a few bittersweet moments of course, that I can't go into but I will say I had some FEELINGS about redemption and such. And Kate/Henry were lovely in this one!
ReplyDeleteMolli | Once Upon a Prologue
THANKS MOLLI!!! I'm so glad you feel the same way as me. I'm always so afraid I'm the only person who sees a book the way I see it and then I'm like "WHAT IS THE POINT". BUt you get me, so it's all good :)
DeleteHonestly, this series has been one of those series that was on the fence for me. While I did enjoy it, I feel like the second book (despite all the angst) is still my favorite! I do agree about Kate/Henry though - it was great to see them finally, truly in love with each other :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it, on the fence or not. AND I'm glad you love the love. =D
DeleteI really have no reason for giving The Goddess Inheritance two stars instead of one, other than because I didn't hate it. I was disappointed by the direction it took, disappointed by the focus of the plot, and disappointed by a much too convenient ending. But at the same time, it was a conclusive ending to a series that, up until now, I had enjoyed.
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