Publisher: Harlequin Teen, 395 pages
Publication Date: July 24, 2012
Format: ebook received from publisher on Net Galley
For millennia we've caught only glimpses of the lives and loves of the gods and goddesses on Olympus. Now Aime e 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
My Feelings:
This collection of short stories offer us insight into the why the gods and goddesses act the way they do now. For some, I still kept my opinion of them but for others this little bit of background information pushed me toward more understanding of them.
I love how Carter included other lesser gods/goddesses in some of the stories so we realize it isn't just about the big ones. I would really like to see another book about some of the interactions of the other gods/goddesses, especially Iris. I really like Iris.
The first short story is about Hera. Carter takes the original mythology of the gods and she twists it and spins it to create a something very new. Everyone knows Zeus became the "king of the gods" but in this story we learn Hera truly wanted to be the queen of the gods, mainly without Zeus.
I wanted to like Hera because of what she has to go through; but in the end I just couldn't. She came off as a proud snotty goddess who believed she was better than all of them.
I didn't agree with the way she handled things, especially blaming the children for Zeus' ways.
The second story is about Aphrodite. From all the ancient mythologies we assume that she is conceited, petty, and vain. And for the most part...she is. But we also see what a great mother Aphrodite became and how she discovered the love she has inside of herself. She, of course, is the Goddess of Love. Through this short story I got to see the other side of Aphrodite; a caring person who risked her privacy to save someone.
The next story is about Persephone and the misery she and Hades has to go through. This short story was probably the most important of them all so we can finally see what Hades went through to become the lost and empty husk of a man Kate falls in love with.
I tried to like Persephone, I really did! I promise! And there was parts where I finally understood why she thought the way she did. But in the end, I still found Persephone to be spoiled and plain bratty.
I thought Kate felt sorry for herself a lot in the first book, but Kate has nothing on Persephone at all! Which makes no sense because Persephone had it all... except what she believed was true love.
But I don't look at Persephone as the "whore" that everyone else seemed to think she was. She was feeling trapped and just didn't understand her part to play. I think if her mother and father would have given her the chance to actually have a say so in her life then she very well might have chose Hades... but I doubt it.
She was too into what Persephone wanted to care about Hades. Though she does to seem genuinely upset that she is hurting him it is almost like she doesn't care enough.
I did enjoy the fact that she was willing to give up everything, including her immortality, for a human. I think that showed us that she could redeem herself.
Then we have a story about Hermes. By far this is my most favorite of all the short stories which pretty much shocked me! I think this story shows us what he loses and gains to become who he is today.
I enjoyed reading from his perspective and it gave me more respect of him. He realizes the mistake he made with Persephone but he doesn't want the coldness that he gets from his family.
We also get introduced to another goddess, Iris, in this story and I have to say I LOVE Iris. I would be very happy to see more of her in upcoming releases of Aimee Carter. In fact I think we might see more of her and maybe something will creep up between her and Hermes??? I am keeping my fingers crossed...
Hermes takes it upon himself to go and find out why the older god and goddess, Helios and Selene, can't be found anywhere. This adventure takes him onto the surface and he meets a few mortals that make him realize what love and family really is.
From the sacrifices that Hermes makes, he inadvertently saves them all.
And the last story is ...can you guess? It is about Hades.
Growing up reading about the Greek myths, I always liked Hades. I know that was weird, huh? But it was just cool to think he ruled over the dead, in another world almost.
I actually like that these stories show us Hades as a gentler softer person and much less petty than the other gods and goddesses.
I mean think about it: he doesn't have to live with the others vying for power and affection because he has all the power in the Underworld. Why wouldn't he be more mature and more serious, as well as more faithful?
Hades' story is the only one that isn't written in first person point of view but it still feels like it. I guess in this way, Carter allows us to see Hades and the others' emotions objectively.
I did, however, feel like Hades seemed to be a little naive when it came to Hera's feelings for him. And for some reason, I just cannot look at Hades as naive. So that didn't go for me there.
Again, I think Hermes is so much more than what he seems and he deserves much more respect than the other gods give him. He plays a special part in Hades story as well as Kate's story too.
I find it very romantic that his favorite memory of Kate is also her favorite memory with her mother. That definitely makes things much more interesting!
All in all, I really enjoyed these collection of stories about the gods and goddesses and the background information we get on them. I cannot wait for the third book in the series, but I think this novella was a perfect companion to the Goddess Test books.
I had to give it four hearts!
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