ARC - Aimee Carter - The Goddess Test

Title : The Goddess Test
Series : Goddess Test # 1
Release date : April 26, 2011
Publisher : Harlequin Teen
Genre : Young Adult

Katherine “Kate” Winters has been taking care of her dying mother since her freshman year in high school. Now her mother has one last wish before she dies, to return to her childhood home Eden. So Kate leaves New York and her school behind and moves with her mother to Eden, to give her these last few moments.

Kate’s arrival in this small town doesn’t go unnoticed and already on her first day at Eden High she meets some other unusual students. First there is James who becomes her new best friend, Dylan & Ava the football player and cheerleader couple, even Irene the office lady seems nice by asking about her mother.

Then one night Ava decides to play a trick on Kate and invites her to a party, only there isn’t a real party and she intends to leave Kate behind, but everything goes wrong. Ava dies and Kate finds herself in a roller coaster, when this mysterious good-looking Henry appears and brings Ava back to life, but he wants something in return from Kate.

Kate cannot believe her eyes and hopes that if she agrees to Henry’s wishes she might save her dying mother too. The only thing she has to do is live with Henry for six months of the year and pass seven tests.

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter is the first novel in her Goddess Test Series and an excellent debut novel. This book is a modern story mixed with the Greek Mythical story of Persephone. We all know that she was kidnapped by her uncle Hades and taken to live in the Underworld, then rescued after agreeing to spend six months of the year as Queen of the Underworld. In this modern version Henry (aka Hades) agreed to let Persephone go, after she fell in love with a mortal and died with the love of her life. Now he needs a willing and worthy replacement and Kate is his last chance, otherwise his nephew will take over and he will be lost forever.

Kate’s sadness about losing her dying mother is immense and you can feel her hurt from the pages, her determination to succeed the seven tests the Gods will throw at her. As her agreement to Henry she will live with him 6 months of the year and in return he will keep her mother alive during that time so she can say her goodbye when she is ready. In her dreams she will have time to spend with her mother and build more memories.

What I like about this book is the mystery about the seven tests; nobody seems to know what the tests are or when they will be taken. The people around Kate are a mystery too, because not everyone is who they say they are and Kate is about to find out what is really the deal. Lets just hope the outcome will be what Henry and the Gods are hoping for.

This debut novel is well written and I loved the modern twist of Green Mythology. I know the die-hard Green Mythology fans will have a hard time dealing with this twist, but for someone like me it’s great. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next novel, where I can find out more about Kate, Henry, James and all the others.