Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Title:  The Goddess Test

Author:  Aimee Carter

Ratings Explanation

Language:  Frequent uses of hell, damn and expressions of Deity.  One use of the “B” word.  Some crude language is used like screwed, piss, whore and slut.

Violence:  There is a dead body and two individuals discuss whether it is an accident, suicide or murder.  Kate swerves to barely miss an animal in the road and almost crashes.  A girl jumps into the river and hits her head on the rocks.  Her head is crushed and she is bleeding.  Ava dies when Kate refuses to go with Henry.  There is a sword fight and Xander dies.  There is lots of blood.  Kate washes the blood out of Ava’s hair.

Sexual Content:  Kate says, “I am not going to sleep with you.”  There are several instances of people talking about sex by referring to it as “doing that”.  Ava says, “You think I’m a slut, don’t you?”  Ava is found being intimate with Xander by another boy and a fight ensues.  Someone calls Ava a heinous, selfish whore.  Kate contemplates sleeping with Henry.  There are some kisses.  Kate and Henry kiss and “this time we didn’t stop.”  They wake up the next morning in bed together.  A drug was put in their drinks to make them more sexually aggressive.

Adult Themes:  Kate’s mother is dying and Kate has spent years taking care of her.  Gods and Goddesses from Greek myths are portrayed as ruling the world.  A drug is put into a drink that alters the way people act.

Synopsis

Kate’s mother is dying.  For years now, Kate has taken care of her mother and watched as she has deteriorated.  Now, her mother’s dying wish is to return to her home.  Kate is not excited in the least about the dilapidated house they will be living in or the new school she will be going to.  When Ava approaches her about attending a party to meet all the kids, Kate hesitantly agrees.  This sets off a chain of events that Kate never dreamed could be possible.  Greek Gods are real?  The God of the Underworld wants to marry her?  If she survives the next 6 months?  If she passes the tests?

I have to say that I usually enjoy books that have some sort of mythological base to them.  This was really no exception.  I was pulled into the book right away and there I stayed.  I polished it off in one day.  This was easy reading with a predictable plot.  Kate has a generous heart that forgives easily.  I think that is an admirable trait.  I really wished that Henry’s voice was as clear to me.  I finished the book wishing I knew more about him, how he felt and why.  I wanted to know more about his history dealing with others.  I liked him, I just wanted more.

I also really liked the idea that any little decision may be a test.   Someone is always watching to see how act and react, and just maybe proving our worth isn’t so much in the big, earth-shattering things, but in the everyday ways that we treat other people and handle ourselves.  This book is labeled YA, (ages 15-25).  I would recommend the upper ages of that group.  I received this book courtesy of NetGalley for my honest review.  This book will be released in April of 2011.