Select Praise forAimée CarterâsThe Goddess Test series
âThe narrative is well executed, and Kate is a heroine better equipped than most to confront and cope with the inexplicable.â
âPublishers Weekly on The Goddess Test
âCarterâs writing is a delight to readâsuccinct, clean, descriptive. Goddess Interrupted is definitely a page-turner, one full of suspense, heartbreak, confusion, frustration and yes, romance.â âYA Reads on Goddess Interrupted
I like secrets. Daddyâs a walking cliché and says that the eyes are the windows to the soul, but I think the secrets people keep are the real way to see who they are.
See, secrets mean someone wants to keep something hidden, and the things people keep hidden are usually the most interesting parts of who they are. Afraid of the ocean? Totally telling. Six toes? All kinds of brilliant. Lusting after your niece? Majorly creepy.
Hereâs a secretâI failed my test.
Iâve never told anyone. Daddy knowsâheâs the one who caught me in a compromising position with a shepherdâs sonâbut heâs never said a word about it, either. Technically all the members of the council who arenât the original six siblings have to pass this ridiculous trial that tests our virtues, else we canât be a member of the council, but I think thatâs crap. Who wants to be ruled over by a bunch of self-important gods who think theyâre better than everyone just because they could bottle up their natural impulses for a little while?
And why are virtues so important anyway? I mean, I get not being greedy or selfish or too proud, but practically every member of the councilâs like that anyway, especially the six siblings. And Iâve never seen a more envious group of people in my life. Someone gets something, and suddenly they all hate that person because they got lucky or worked hard or whatever. Why canât everyone just love everyone else? Thatâs what a ruler should do. Rule with love, not fear or intimidation. I love Daddy, but heâd have a lot easier time of it if he bothered to care about other people every once in a while.
He loves me though, so I canât complain too much.
Speaking of love and virtues, why is lust such a bad thing? Everyone acts like doing what our bodies are designed to do is such a horrible thing. Well, no, not everyone. Mostly just Hera. And sheâs the root of everything, reallyâsheâs the reason everyoneâs so miserable all the time, sheâs the reason we keep secrets and sheâs the reason I failed my test. Most important, sheâs the one who made up these ridiculous virtues weâre all tested on in the first place, as if sheâs followed every single one of them herself (hello, pride), and sheâs the reason Daddy had to lie to get me a seat on the council.
That takes me to my second secret. My biggest secret. Who is currently trying to force-feed me grapes.
âNo!â I bat Aresâs hand away and giggle. Weâre curled up in a nest of silk pillows on my bedroom floor, and the sunlight that pours in from the balcony gives everything a golden glow. I love the way the sunset swirls around my feet, but I love the way Ares traces invisible patterns on my back even more.
âYou need to keep your energy up,â he says. I brush a lock of dark hair from his eyes. Heâs beautiful, muscles rippling underneath every square inch of skin, and he looks at me with such intensity that I think his fire will burn me. Iâm not so sure I would mind.
âMmm, but we donât have much longer, and I donât want to waste any more time eating,â I murmur. Every place he touches me seems to sizzle, as if just being near each other is enough to spark a blaze. Iâve never loved someone so much in my life.
No, love isnât the right word. I mean, it is, but itâs more than that. He consumes me. Iâm constantly aware of him when heâs nearby, even when Iâm trying to focus on something else, and he has no problem exploiting it. Thatâs how we wound up in my bedroom in the middle of the day, minutes before Daddyâs supposed to come home.