Summary: He was Apollo, the sun, and he'd burn down anything that tried to hurt her... Cassandra and Aidan are just your average high-school couple. Or so Cassandra believes. Blissfully unaware that she was once a powerful prophetess, Cassandra doesn't even know that god exist... Until now.
Because the gods are dying - and Cassandra could hold the answer to their survival. But Aidan has a secret of his own. He is really Apollo, god of the sun, and he will do anything to protect the girl he loves from the danger that's coming for her. Even if it means war against his immortal family...
BE AWARE: The discussion contains small spoilers for people who haven't read the book, but they don't ruin anything for you plot-wise. It is generally only about the characters, the set up and such things. There is a single spoiler, but I have marked it with <SPOILER> for those of you who haven't read it. Now on to the discussion;
Jayd: I really liked the prologue, and the vision scenes. They were so well written, and they seemed really dreamlike. The images were really clear in my mind of what was happening.
AmandaEmma: I agree with you on the vision scenes, they were really interesting, and whilst I was reading some of the longer ones, I totally zoomed out. The only thing that mattered was the vision.
Jayd: I know! I thought that with the fight scenes as well. I think that Kendare Blake writes action/fighting scenes really well. But some of the other more ’specifically’ YA stuff was fairly uninteresting… I wanted to quit reading with the Halloween party.
AmandaEmma: Yes! She really does, I prefer the ones in Anna Dressed in Blood though. I could not understand why the costumes mattered that much. They did not do anything for the story….
Jayd: Yeah, I agree. I liked Athena’s parts of the story, but i think Kendare Blake is better at writing male characters as a whole.Oh my gosh, I know. I kept cringing every time the costumes were mentioned. I mean, there a thousand other ways they could have been described, but it seemed like every single one had to be slutty with a capital S. It did nothing for the story, and only annoyed me as a reader.Not only that but the behaviour of Cassandra and Aiden at that time just really didn’t seem like them. Would ancient Apollo really want to go to the basement to make out at a teenage party?
AmandaEmma: Definetely! Maybe she should just write another Anna book... I totally agree with you on that! Also, I cannot even picture Cassandra wearing a costume like that…
But on the other hand, something I really liked was the fact that we for once read about a heroine that doesn't do stupid things to save others, because I was getting sick of that.
Jayd: I still need to read the sequel to Anna, haha! Me neither…I agree! it was a nice refreshing change. I think that Antigoddess was a very mixed book, that had its good points and its bad points. Like, I thought Aphrodite’s madness was well portrayed, but it also did seem like she did a lot of waiting/watching on the sidelines, most prominently right at the end, somewhere around Aiden’s death. Hopefully she’ll become a much more prominent character later on in the series.
AmandaEmma: I hated Aphrodite… She has always been one of my favorites, but in every book I read about greek mythology, I seriously cannot stand her… It's weird. But yes, she was standing on the sidelines a lot! I really liked Circe’s Coven, no idea why, but when they choose to help Athena and Hermes they totally got on my good side. Especially when the leader (can’t remember her name) told Athena that she was happy she got to them in time, so that they could help… And then Cassandra’s vision happened and I was devestated
Jayd: I really liked Circe’s Coven too! I had a wonderful image of all these beautiful women in deep friendships together,and it was wonderful.
<SPOILER>I was very sad whenHera obliterated them as well, and I felt so awful for those who were left</SPOILER>
I also liked the fact that I can see the story being a trilogy. The over arching plot was developing at a nice pace, and it didn’t seem like there was loads of ’filler’ to stretch it into a series.
AmandaEmma: Completely agree with you on that! I hated that they were escourts, but I love how Blake managed to portait them as something beautiful and connected.It would be nice, but I don’t know whether I will read the next one.. I just feel like it had so much potential and it did not live up to my expectations.
Jayd: I didn’t particularly like the fact that they were escorts either.I’m not sure if I’ll read the next one either, but I know I’m much more likely to get it from the library rather than buy my own copy.I did have quite high expectations for the book as well, and though it wasnt awful, there was something missing, and the fact that I know Kendare Blake can do much better is dissapointing.
AmandaEmma: I understand why she made them escorts because of the mythology… I just hate that she actually took that step..You are completely right, I know some people are head over heels for this book, but she can do so much better!
Jayd: I think that Antigoddess was enjoyable, but it wasn’t the kind of book where I literally couldn’t put it down.
I really liked the cover though! I had no idea what any of it meant until I was about half way through the book when I realised, but I think it was good how it tied in with the novel so well. It’s rare that you get to say that about book in current YA.
AmandaEmma: It was totallly putdownable! Except from the vision parts! Yes! I really liked the cover before I read the book, and now I love it because it fits the story so well! It definetely is rare.
So we both agree that it was a great book, but not really one we would want to buy the sequel to. We actually both gave it 3 stars before we even started the discussion, so we are definetely on the same page when it comes to this book.
