Book: Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Published September 2013 by Tor Teen|333 pages

Where I Got It: borrowed the hardcover from the library

Genre: YA Paranormal/Mythology- retelling

Series: The Goddess War #1

What It’s About: 

Old Gods never die…

Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.

Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god. 

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning. 

Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out. 

Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.

The Goddess War is about to begin.

What I Thought:

I was really intrigued by Antigoddess, but I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would.  If there’s something I really like (or maybe even love, either way, I can’t help but read anything Greek mythology related).  This one just didn’t really work for me, but it is a really interesting idea.

I really do like the idea of gods and goddesses, who are supposed to be immortal, flickering out or killing off rivals and becoming super-corrupted.

Something about it…I was a little bored, and I felt like I was reading a lot of set-up in order to understand everything that was coming.  Even though first books tend to have set-up, it actually felt like I was reading an extended prologue or even a prequel.  Something about it was really dry, which made the book less interesting than it should have been.

Another thing I thought was interesting was the fact that at least some of the gods and goddesses were reincarnated.  I wish we knew more about that, and how they figured it out, or if they always knew.  I know Cassandra didn’t remember, and had to be awakened or whatever, but I really wish we saw that.  I liked that they were young but also felt like they were gods and goddesses.

Antigoddess really made me wish that I knew more about the actual myths- I will say that it really felt like Blake knows and is super-familiar with Greek mythology, and I wonder if maybe that’s why I had a lot of trouble getting into it.

My Rating:

2 stars.  I do like the idea of a war between gods for their immortality, which is why it’s getting 2 stars (instead of the 1 I thought about giving it), but I was bored reading it.