The Goddess Legacy by Aimee Carter

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

The Goddess Legacy contains five short stories about different character from the Goddess Test series. I reviewed each of them separately and gave all of them an individual rating.

The Goddess Queen

Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia have just defeated the Titans after a long, grueling, ten year battle and realms must be determined. Poseidon gladly accepts the sea; Hades wisely takes the Underworld; but Hera wants the sky, and not to just be someone’s queen, but to be the only Queen. When this is overruled, she grudgingly takes Zeus’s hand in marriage, although her love lies with Hades. However, Zeus’s constant infidelity causes her to break away. However, when Demeter comes to her and tells her Zeus’s plan to overtake the council, Hera knows she must do something now before it is too late.

For a woman who is the goddess of marriage, birth, and fidelity, she really sucks at two of those things. She definitely chose poorly in the marriage category, despite Demeter and Hades telling her to think about it and the little voice in the back of her head telling her to rethink it. When they came up with the say “pride cometh before fall,” I wouldn’t be surprised if they were talking about Hera. She really needs to check herself. But even in fidelity, she fails. Despite never sexually straying from her marriage, she strays emotionally and physically. Not that is any excuse for Zeus’s actions, but what she would have put her children through by doing that and having them watch that, it’s not healthy. This story really makes me rethink naming my car Hera.

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Also, if the council couldn’t figure out that it was Hera (Calliope) killing off the girls for Hades after she openly declares her love for him, they are blind as bats. And she is extremely vindictive. She sent a serpent after Leto to kill her and the twins, Artemis and Apollo. If she is capable of putting a hit out on babies just because they have this misfortune of being her husbands bastard children (as she so lovingly refers to all of his offspring), then why wouldn’t they think she is capable of killing innocent girls who just want to marry the man she loves? Seriously, the Greek gods may not be the smartest people.

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Despite all that, the story is really good. It gives you a lot of background information on how Hera/Calliope becomes who she is in the main books of the Goddess Test series. Although I find it odd that she bases the test on immortality on the seven deadly sins when she clearly doesn’t exhibit pride, greed, lust, wrath, and envy. Hell, she’s probably the reason the saying “do as I say not as I do” came about.

Rating: 8/10

The Lovestruck Goddess

Aphrodite has been promised to Hephaestus but she loves Ares, and no one, not even Zeus will stop her from being with him. The two run off to the island where Aphrodite was born, and they live there peacefully for years, blissfully in love and even having a child, Eros. However, the god of war can no longer neglect his duties, and when Eros is just three days old, he leaves them on the island. Even more years pass and there is no word from Ares, when suddenly, a badly injured man washes up on the beach. Aphrodite cares for him and brings him back to good health when Ares returns and reveals the man is no other than his brother, Hephaestus. Aphrodite must pick between the two: a strong, burning passion, or steady warm love. How is the goddess of love suppose to know which is right?

Two things kept running through my head during this story: who is Zeus to say what person is right for Aphrodite to marry when his marriage with Hera just royally blew up in his face; and, why is there yet another young adult story about some hot girl who has to pick between two hot guys?

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Right in the very beginning, Zeus goes on this long tirade about how he knows who is best for Aphrodite to be with. But then, in the end, he tells her that he knows that she will never be the type of person who settles down with just one person because it’s not in her nature just like it’s not in his nature. Granted, he has had time to think about this since she has been gone for an indeterminate amount of time, but he’s just so wishy-washy with what he says, there’s no consistency.

And I really am just tired of the troupe of someone having to pick between two people. I know it’s in adult fiction books too, but it is really common in young adult books, and it’s old and overdone. You’re basically teaching kids that you’re either the person who has two people pining over you, or you’re one of the two competing for someone else. Being with someone isn’t supposed to be a competition, and if you have to constantly prove yourself to someone, it’s not a healthy relationship. What makes this troupe even more frustrating is that it always ends with the person learning they have to accept themselves as they are, and then they still pick one of the two people, usually the one who loved them as they “truly are” to begin with. Yes, you have to love yourself to be in a healthy relationship, but you shouldn’t have to tear through two peoples emotions to figure yourself out.

While this story does give some good background information on Aphrodite/Ava, the fact that Ares and Hephaestus aren’t huge parts of the main series makes it seem a little pointless. It doesn’t give me anything to help understand the characters more. I do get kind of mixed signal on whether Carter thinks Aphrodite is slutty or not though, and it’s frustrating. In both the main part of the series and here, many characters attack Aphrodite for loving/being with multiple people, despite Aphrodite saying it is completely normal. I’m on Aphrodite’s side. Being with multiple people doesn’t devalue you, make you a slut, or any of the other horrible things that are said. But the amount of times her character is attacked because of this, I can’t tell if Carter is trying to tell people it’s okay or not. The way I see it, you do you.

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Rating: 6/10

Goddess of the Underworld

Persephone is not ready to marry Hades, and her mother’s promise that she will grow to love him do not help her feel any better. No matter how much time passes and how hard he tries to give her space, her feelings only grow more negative. When he finally grants her six months on the surface, she finally feels some relief; however, it only results in more hurt for everyone she cares about, and more hurt for her. When Persephone meets Adonis, she is captivated by his beauty, but also by soul she sees in him and that he sees in her. The only problem is, Aphrodite had him first, and she doesn’t like to share. When Adonis is killed by Ares in a fit of jealousy, Persephone is willing to give up her immortality for a life in the Underworld with him. But will Hades and Aphrodite allow it?

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In the main part of the series, I feel like the story was told a little differently, although we hear it from Henry and Diana, not from Persephone herself. But it makes it sound that Persephone wasn’t exactly dreading marriage and that she thought she would grow to love him. Here though, she is the definition of cold feet. She doesn’t want to marry him and doesn’t believe her feelings towards him will change at all. It’s slightly confusing to the reader.

Another thing that I don’t understand is Demeter’s anger towards her daughter when she strays from the marriage. For one, Demeter and Zeus set up the marriage, knowing full well that Persephone was only 16 when they got married and didn’t know herself yet. And, it’s not like fidelity is high on the gods and goddesses list of priorities. Hell, Demeter conceived Persephone with Zeus while he was still married to Hera. And if you see your daughter is really that unhappy after eons of a marriage full of unrequited love, how can you blame them when they are sacrificing their immortality for only a chance at happiness, something that isn’t even a guarantee? It was extremely frustrating to read about Demeter’s constant disapproval when she is the reason Persephone is in this position, and when you know that in the series, she gives Kate the decision to walk away from Henry at any point and will accept her decision.

It is also frustrating watching Persephone not really try at all. Henry tries very hard to build a friendship and trust with her, but she does nothing for him in return. Yes, she eventually builds a friendship with him, but she runs home after the first night. Hades would not have made her consummate the marriage that night, but she insisted on it, and since he already loved her, he wasn’t going to say no. But instead of talking to him, she runs. Seriously, he has a habit of picking people who don’t talk when they have problems.

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All that aside, it’s a really interesting story and I enjoyed it. Yeah, the characters are annoying, but I think that’s just because they’re gods and goddesses who have all of eternity to figure things out and so they let petty things stop them from figuring out the correct way sooner. The plot and story are still captivating and I enjoyed it much more than Aphrodite’s story.

Rating: 8/10

God of Thieves

Hermès hasn’t been anyone’s favorite since the role he played in Persephone’s choice to fade, and he’s sick of it. But when some of the lesser known gods and goddesses mysteriously disappear, even Hermès can’t hide the fact that he is worried about his family fading. Going against Zeus’s wishes, he travels to the surface where he meets a troupe of abandoned children. He can tell the groups leader, a young girl named Tuck, holds the answer he is looking for. But he finds something more, a family that accepts him as he is. But when his actions lead to Tucks capture, he knows he needs to do something to save her and her friends, even though it goes against Zeus’s rule. But will he be able to get back to her in time?

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I really loved this story, not only because it was good, but because it gives me the background information I love. Finally, we find out how the gods and goddesses got their modern names. It is explained in one of the earlier books that they changed their names to keep up with the times, but this is the story of how they figured that out. When Hermès is spending time with Tuck and her friends, he learns that they have no clue who Hermès, or even Mercury, is. We have reached the point in humanity where monotheism is more common than polytheism, meaning that the majority of the gods no longer serve a purpose to humanity. And sadly, when humanity stops believing in something, the god or goddess that represents that part of life fades.

There is kind of a big hole in the plot here though. They change their names and agree to spend more time on the Earth, but I don’t see how that is going to help humanity remember them. Presently, when you learn about Greek mythology, you don’t learn about Walter, Philip, and Henry; you learn about Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Depending on what you’re reading, you might also learn the Roman names, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. But it doesn’t really make sense them changing their names to something modern. But that’s just me being nit-picky and I can admit that, because the story is still really good.

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You finally get to see and side of Hermès that isn’t him playing devils advocate and wanting to be with whoever Hades/Henry is with. You see him fall for Tuck and really care for the boys that are in her group. You see him respond to the tyrannical Earl who kills his own daughter. You see him hurt when Hades refuses to let him visit Tuck in the Underworld. I do wish he had gotten to see her though. I hate that in this story, Hades, and really the whole council, is putting the blame on Hermès. There’s a whole slew of people who can share the blame. Demeter and Zeus for making their sixteen year old daughter marry someone she doesn’t love; Demeter again for cutting her daughter off when she was extremely unhappy in her life; Aphrodite for not abiding by Zeus’s rule that Adonis would spend four months alone; and even Ares for killing Adonis, giving Persephone the final push for wanting to fade. I get that Zeus loves Aphrodite and she’s his favorite child, but there are still plenty of other people who can get the blame. Hermès and Persephone hadn’t been together in eons by the time she fades; Persephone was barely even speaking to him at that point.

Even with these oversights, the story and characters are still really good, and I feel like the information it gives is useful for the main series.Definitely the best of the novellas so far.

Rating: 9/10

God of Darkness

It has been 500 years since Persephone faded and Henry is beginning to get worn down; the amount of souls he has to see is much more than it use to be, and it is too much work for one person alone. But more than that, he is lonely; he wants to fade. But the council won’t let him. He agrees to give them 100 years to find someone to help him rule the Underworld, not a wife in the traditional sense, but someone to help with the work and potentially be a friend. When Diana finds Ingrid, who is just a child in New York, Henry feels hope for the first time in a long time; that is, until she is found dead in her room. Over the course of 80 years, eleven more young women are found dead; some obviously murder, but others, the cause is less obvious. Henry is adamantly against Diana having another child solely for his purpose, but even he cannot give up that easily. But what if what happened to the others happens to this new child? Or worse, what if he does to her what he did to Persephone?

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This story was wonderful. It really could have been much longer, and I wish it had been. I wish I could have spent time learning about each of the eleven girls that came before Kate. Ingrid we had previously met in the last book, so we knew some of her story. Here we get to know a little more, and she really does sound like a lovely person. You get a few names of the other girls, but that is it. I want more. Especially since Henry is one of the main characters of the series. This would have been the perfect time for Carter to show us the ins and outs of Henry’s mind. If anything, I wish maybe it had gone into a little bit of the time after Kate arrived in Eden so you would get some sort of idea where his mind was at during that time.

But speaking of his time with Kate. When Henry and Kate spend their first Christmas together, Henry gives Kate a memory of her and her mother on her seventh birthday in Central Park. In God of Darkness, you learn that Henry was the man who took the initial picture that Kate had kept, and that Cerberus was the dog who accidentally destroyed the picnic. In this little snippet, you learn that although Henry thinks Kate looks like Persephone, he can sense there is something different about her that her sister doesn’t possess. It makes you feel a little bit better, knowing the history between Hades and Persephone, that Kate really isn’t a replacement for her, she stands on her own in Henry’s mind. He will always love Persephone, but the love he has for Kate is a real love.

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Rating: 9/10

Overall, the novellas were pretty good and I enjoyed them. There are little things here and there that are references to the books, which is nice. But I am so ready to get back to the main books and see (remember) how this story ends, especially since the last book ended on such a cliffhanger.

Overall Rating: 8
Author: Aimee Carter
Series: Goddess Test (Book 2.5 of 3)
Genres: Young Adult, Mythology, Fantasy
Dates Read: April 22-24, 2020