Review: The Goddess Legacy by Aimée Carter

The Goddess Legacy

(The Goddess Test #2.5)

By: Aimée Carter

Pub. Date: July 24, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pages: 395

Source: Netgalley

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

I've read many Greek retellings, but The Goddess Test series is by far my favorite. From the very first page of the first book I was captivated by the characters and their stories. When I heard that Aimée Carter was going to be writing five stories in the POV of some of my favorite characters, I jumped at the chance to read it. I was not disappointed at all and I thought it was an excellent addition to a wonderful series.

The Goddess Legacy is split up into five different stories:

The Goddess Queen

The first story is in the POV of Hera, or Calliope as we have come to know her as. In the books we see her as vindictive, brutal and bitter, and it's very hard to even like her a little. But in The Goddess Queen, we see a sad, lonely and caring Goddess who just wants the best for the humans and her family.  Set right after the Olympian Gods won the war against the Titans, we see Hera's marriage to Zeus and we learn how her life starts to fall apart. I felt so bad for her, and I really enjoyed getting to know her better in her story.

The Lovestruck Goddess

Not much has changed from the Ava we are accustomed to and Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love we see in this story. One might think that Ava isn't a good person because she cheats, but we learn that she doesn't cheat to hurt anyone, she just has so much love to give. I've always been a fan of Ava and The Lovestruck Goddess just made me love her more. It was interesting to see her many loves and also be a mother.

Goddess of the Underworld

I never liked Persephone and her story made me like her even less. She's selfish and a hypocrite. She hurt Hades time and again and I think she could have handled herself completely differently. Her story takes us on a journey through her and Hades marriage, and all I saw was Hades giving her everything and Persephone cheating on him.  I did enjoy seeing their marriage play out, even though it was very sad to read.

God of Thieves

Every time I read a scene with James I get excited. He is so much fun and really brings life to others around him, but in God of Thieves we see a whole other side of him. We see him fall in love, first with Ava, and then with a human girl named Tuck. He was admiral  and honest. I loved seeing Hermes in this light.

God of Darkness

Oh Henry. His whole existence has been so lonely and sad and this story was particularly sad. In God of Darkness, Henry has made the choice to fade away. When he finally tells his brothers and sisters what he plans to do, they make a deal with him, which leads them to finding girls to complete the tests in order to become immortal. I enjoyed reading about the different girls who participated in the tests and I loved the ending. I thought it was absolutely perfect. 

Overall, I loved everything about The Goddess Legacy. Being a huge fan of the series, I loved getting an inside look at some of the characters. This really is a series that should not be missed! 

Other books in the series: