Title/Author: Antigoddess by Kendare Blake. (ARC)
Genre: YA.
Publisher: Tor Teen.
Source: BEA.
Favorite Quote: "Two thousand years ago, the three of them had made theworldburn. Now it seemed they would do it again." ~Athena.
Synopsis: 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. ~Goodreads.
My Thoughts: When I was little I played Barbies with my best friend quite often. One of the games we liked to play was Greek Gods and Goddesses. Her Barbie was always Artemis. Mine was Athena. I loved her power, her wisdom, and her generosity. I loooved that she had an owl. I'm not sure if that was the beginning of my small obsession with them.
The apple. That little fruit has caused so much mayhem. (Remember Eve? Snow White?) When Athena reflects on her behavior in this time of her life she is not so proud. Aphrodite won the beauty contest and as the Goddess of Love and Beauty, what were the other's thinking? There is no competing with love. And Paris, as judge, chose to have Helen of Troy and a war started. Politics and jealousy - in humans and deities alike - drove this chapter in history. Now, the chaos has started again. It is Gods against Gods with humans caught in the crossfire.
Antigoddess features a modern day Athena who is trying to survive her demise. All the ancient Gods and Goddesses it seems, are dying. She and her brother Hermes are on a quest to stop it before it's too late. Athena does not want to die gracefully. She is fighting it tooth and nail. To make matters worse, certain members of her family are in direct conflict with her, working on their own immortality at the cost of hers. Also featured is Cassandra, the doomed princess of Troy who had second sight that no one believed. In this lifetime she also has second sight and is the key to helping the Gods and Goddesses recover their health.
I just love the insighfulness of Athena. As a Goddess she is proud and arrogant. Being in the human realm, she starts to experience regret, guilt, fear and even romantic feelings for her favorite hero the reincarnated Odyssyus. The main players in Antigoddess work well and pop off the page moving the story forward and creating twists and turns.
Told in multiple character's perspective, I didn't always want to hear from everyone. I did enjoy Athena and Cassandra the most. Also the last few chapters weren't as strong in my eyes. The back and forth of one group trying to skip town and then go back and then perhaps leave again was a bit counterproductive. However, this was an ARC so I don't know how the final product played out.
To wrap it up: This is a book that I liked reading and didn't want to put down. The characters are fresh and fun and the story moves at a pretty good pace with some surprises thrown in. The ending broke my heart a little bit, but I'm hoping for a happy ending as this trilogy continues.
