The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Over the past year, since I've been able to afford my own books, I've always had new books and have subsequently neglected one of my favourite past times: re-reading. So recently I've decided that I need to get around to re-reading some of my favourites and while this one is a recent favourite I really loved re-reading it in preparation for the sequel Goddess Interrupted!

 It's always been just Kate and her mom—and 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.

(Taken from Harlequin website)

So I loved this book the first time I read it and I loved it even more the second. The intriguing plot and awesome characters make this book particularly hard to put down and I read it both times in one sitting completely ignoring the biological necessity of food until I was finished.

I love all the Greek myths and this book is a fantastically new take on a story as old as time. One of the aspects I enjoyed about The Goddess Test is that despite not having more than a rudimentary understanding of a lot of the mythology, it was still great fun trying to work out which of the characters was who.

The novel starts strong and keeps it going and despite there not being a huge amount of action through it, there is always something going on.

Kate, the protagonist, is an amazingly strong lead who you can't help but becoming fond of almost immediately. She has looked after her mother for so long that she's never really had a chance to make her own friends and watching her become more of her own person as the novel progresses and she experiences new things is amazing. Not to mention watching the romance between her and Henry!

A fantastic read that I couldn't recommend more highly and that everyone should pick up before the March 23rd release of one of my most awaited books of the year, Goddess Interrupted!

4.5/5 for this book I couldn't put down even while reading it a second time and knowing exactly what was going to happen. That is one of the true signs of an amazing book!

Laura H

Some of the reasons I love YA

After the polarising effect of the Twilight books, YA was both brought more to the forefront of peoples attention and also labelled in what is not always a positive way. When people have asked me what I like to read I have proudly announced  “A lot of different things though I love reading YA!” After explaining to them what YA means, I am greeted with a range of cringes, flinches and reluctant fake smiles.

This is a reaction I have never been able to understand. There seems to be this popular belief that young adult fiction is simplified for teenagers and not really respectable as a genre. I kind of want to hit my head against a brick wall every time I come across this kind of belief and reaction. If I did that however my head would possibly be permanently dented by now.

That assumption also relies upon the idea that teenagers are stupid. As a sixteen-year-old girl, I disagree with this. I don’t know everything, there is still plenty to learn, and I love to learn but just because we teenagers have less life experience doesn’t mean we’re stupid.

So based on this, I would like to explain the reasons I love YA. It’s not just the fact that with teenagers as protagonists I can relate easier, though that is a major part of it. The issues and topics discussed in most of these books, even those that like my favourites have aspects of the supernatural and fantastical, are ones that everyone can connect with no matter what your age. Whether you’re experiencing these things now, or it’s a matter of reminiscing, these books have something for everyone.

And they cover all genres. There’s sci-fi, romance, fantasy, paranormal, contemporary, comedy, historical, action—need I go on? It can be light and cheerful and funny or dark and confronting and harsh. Both in the same book sometimes. They have both boys and girls as the leads. And the authors are awesomely indiscriminate for the most part not hesitating to write about boys who like boys or girls who like girls or either who like both. Authors who also don’t hesitate with talking with their fans online! –I can’t believe how addicted to twitter all the authors and YA fans have got me!

There is also so this awesome community. I have made soooo many online friends through twitter and blogs and going to signings and book events. The topic that brought us together? Young Adult books! Friends who I can obsess over the latest cover release with. Who understand it when I start screaming about how much I loved the latest release.

  So while not everything is here, this is just a short—yes I classify this as short!—explanation for some of my love of YA!

What do you think? Why do you love YA? I would love to hear what other people think!

Laura H