Goddess Interrupted by Aimee CarterMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Mythological YA
Source: I purchased this one!
Description from Goodreads: KATE WINTERS HAS WON IMMORTALITY.
BUT IF SHE WANTS A LIFE WITH HENRY IN THE UNDERWORLD, SHE'LL HAVE TO FIGHT FOR IT.
Becoming immortal wasn't supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she's as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he's becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate's coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.
As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.
Henry's first wife, Persephone
My thoughts: Becoming an immortal and Henry's wife is not turning out to be the way Kate pictured it. Excitedly she came to the Underworld to live 6 months of the year with Henry. She finds that he has very little time for her and isn't affectionate.
Kate is very upset, she is in love with her husband. She spends a lot of time feeling sorry for herself and we understand the anguish that she is feeling. She is also very jealous of her sister, Persephone.
Cronus is attempting to break free from the gate where he has been since he was defeated by the Olympians. Henry and the other God's are captured trying to contain him.
Now it is up to Kate and two others to free them and save the world from Cronus. The book is about her journey to save the ones she loves and all of humanity. It is also about her emotional journey and the decisions she needs to make about her future.
I enjoyed the book. I am now anxiously awaiting the third book. This book left off on a major cliffhanger. I am excited to find out how things work out for Kate and Henry.
Content warning: swearing and allusions to sexual situations.
Colleen also reviewed this book on this blog. Click here to see her review.
Q&A With Aimée Carter, Author of the Goddess Test Series
How familiar were you with Greek myths and folklore before writing the Goddess Test series? Was a lot of research required?
I first fell in love with Greek mythology when I was a kid learning how to read, and my infatuation only grew from there. I’ve studied various kinds of mythology for years, sometimes for class and always for fun, but even then I put a great deal of research into the Goddess Test series. Mostly as a refresher to make sure I was getting my facts right, but I also researched the various myths looking for ways to tie the plots and characters together in unexpected ways.
Was Goddess Interrupted any easier or harder to write than the first book in the series, The Goddess Test?
It was both easier and harder, in a strange way. I rewrote The Goddess Test multiple times, and I’ve never edited a book more heavily in my life. Goddess Interrupted did require some editing, of course, but it was much easier.
However, the pressure to deliver a sequel worthy of the series made the writing process for Goddess Interrupted more difficult than I’d anticipated. There’s something called the “sophomore slump”, where sequels or second books generally don’t quite match up to the second, and I wanted to avoid that at all cost. So that added a lot of stress, but in the end, I was very happy with the results.
You give the gods and goddesses in the series “ordinary names” – Zeus is named Walter, Aphrodite goes by Ava, Hermes is named James. Why did you do that and do the more contemporary names have any significance?
This was something I went back and forth on multiple times. Initially the characters Kate encounters weren’t council members at all – I changed that very, very quickly though. By the second draft, I had a place for each of the Olympians, and I did some heavy rewriting to replace my first draft characters with the gods. I wanted to find a way to keep their names the same, but since they’re supposed to live among us in secret in the modern world, it didn’t really make sense. How many men named Zeus do you know, or women called Aphrodite? On top of that, keeping the council’s identities secret was incredibly important to the plot. So eventually I decided they would have changed their names when Western civilization stopped worshipping them as gods, allowing them to live freely among us.
I did choose each name for what it means, some more than others – Walter, for instance, means “army leader”, while James means “supplanter”. The exception is Calliope, which in the story was chosen by her counterpart for its Greek roots. The reason the gods changed their names – and why Artemis didn’t wind up with the name Diana – is explained throughout the series, but you get to actually see this happen in The Goddess Legacy (July 31).
Goddess Interrupted begins with the main character Kate Winters adjusting to her new life as an immortal. Given Kate’s innate strength and stubbornness, was it difficult to switch gears to portray her as a bit more vulnerable and unsure of herself in her new role as goddess AND wife?
Kate finds herself trying to work through her rather complicated relationship with James, as well as her relationship with her new husband, Henry (Hades). Neither seems to be black and white, but rather varying shades of gray. Were any of Kate’s feelings or situations based on any relationship struggles you’ve been through?
Not personally, no, but I did try to make Kate’s relationships with the people in her life as realistic as possible. She isn’t perfect, and neither are they, and that’s something they all have to work through at varying points in the series. None of the relationships in the books are based off of specific experiences I’ve been through though.
What is your favorite part of the writing process? Least favorite?
Outlining is by far my favorite part of the process. I love the idea stage, where anything’s possible, and it’s such a shiny place. All of that comes crashing down when I write the first draft though, which is the hardest part for me. I tend to get mentally exhausted about two thirds to three quarters of the way into the manuscript, and it’s always a struggle for me to push through it, especially if I’m on a deadline. And inevitably there are a ton of problems I didn’t notice in the outline stage that have to be fixed for the story to work. I’m a perfectionist, so in order for me to continue writing the story, everything I’ve already written has to make sense.
Do you have a favorite quote or line from a poem or book?
I love so many quotes that I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite.
How did you get your first publishing deal and how did that feel?
+ My agent, Rosemary Stimola, sent the manuscript out to various publishers, and after a long submission process, Harlequin TEEN offered to publish it! I was stunned at first, but that quickly gave way to giddiness. It was an incredible feeling to know I’d be published, and to this day, I still can’t quite believe it.
When is the next book in the series due out? Any hints on what will happen in book 3?
Goddess Interrupted, the sequel to The Goddess Test, came out in late March. The next book in the series, The Goddess Legacy, will be out July 31. It’s a collection of five novellas told in the perspectives of Calliope, Ava, Persephone, James, and Henry, and together they form one story.
The third book in the series, The Goddess Inheritance, is currently scheduled to be released in March 2013. Unfortunately I can’t say too much about it, but the challenges that Kate will face are pretty clear by the end of the sequel!
After the huge success of The Goddess Test, Goddess Interrupted is on many, many TBR lists for this summer. What’s on your TBR list?
I’m so excited for a slew of books coming out – The Girl in the Clockwork Collar, Grave Mercy, The Selection, The Serpent’s Shadow, Philippa Gregory’s YA novel, and a ton of others. I never have as much time to read as I want, but I’m definitely making time for all of those and more!
Yearbook Superlatives! If you went to high school with the Greek gods and goddesses, who would you vote for?
Most likely to succeed? - Hera
Class clown? - Hermes
Nicest? – Demeter or Hephaestus
Best dressed? - Aphrodite
Best dancer? - Apollo
Most school spirit? - Iris
Most likely to attend summer school? - Ares
Teachers pet? - Athena
Giveaway!
Bookworm Lisa is fortunate to be able to offer one copy of "Goddess Interrupted" to one winner. This is a US/Can address contest. Sorry all of my wonderful International friends. I promise to have some International giveaways. In fact there is one right now. Check my sidebar for links to the contests currently running.
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Great review and interview! I just got the first one from the library and can't wait to dig into it :) Oh, and thanks for the giveaway!
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