Review--Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

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.

Kendare Blake's Antigoddess has been a hit amongst the blogging world! After her bloody awesome Anna books, I was beyond excited for Antigoddess! As a fan of Greek mythology, I was up for a new twist. And we that's exactly what we get in this first installment of Kendare's new series.

Told in third person point of view from both Athena and Cassandra we get glimpses of what each girl is going through. The gods are dying, Athena has been coughing up feathers for awhile now and Hermes, her companion has been getting ill. Cassandra is psychic and can see the future, always has. She's turned it into a game of sorts and pretty much always wins at betting. Her friend and boyfriend, Aidan has always believed in her and her gift and always has her back.

Then Athena learns that she needs Cassandra on her side if she wants to survive the war. The war between the gods and goddess. Hera, Aphrodite and Poseidon have taken to killing their godly sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews...however the familial connection goes. Athena and Hermes do not want to die either, but their family has other notions they don't support either, like the killing of humans.

Odysseus eventually walks into the picture, he's definitely team Athena in this war. But that's also because he's kind of in love with her. Athena knows this and she might even have feelings for him too, but she's still a goddess and he's still a mortal...who happens to be Odysseus several years later.

I think what I struggled with the most is one inconsequential detail and that is wondering why all these gods and goddess are in the forms of teenagers. True, Athena and Hermes have IDs that say they're twenty-one, but can still easily pass as teens. Cassandra, Aidan, Henry--Cassandra's brother, and Andie--Cassandra's best friend are all teenagers in high school So, it was just a bit weird that they chose or destiny, Fate, whatever led them to be in the bodies of teens. Of course, this is a YA book, as I told myself, so I just rolled with it!

For awhile, I didn't exactly grasp what was going on, besides the obvious, the gods are dying, must find Cassandra...basically the details from the book description. Then things become a little more clear as we learn a little more about what's going on in this war. Things like what Odysseus can bring to the war. Why Hera and her "crew" want Cassandra. All those lovely details! That's when things really get interesting. The action--the hardcore, oh-my-god-we're-gonna-die action doesn't really take place until the last 1/4 or so of the book when the characters are on the run from pretty much all the gods and goddesses and not knowing who to trust.

The ending was a whopper of a shock! I wasn't expecting this at all and I guess in a sense I should have since Kendare is known to have fabulously, shocking endings! Ones you can love or hate until the next book comes out!

I have to admit that I LOVED a lot of the 90s or perhaps earlier and some later references that popped up throughout the book! As you might have noticed from my tweets yesterday, from The Neverending Story to Garfield and of course the movie Troy, Kendare really knows how to get the laughs without necessarily trying to!

Definitely can't wait to see where this series goes, I was almost thinking it was a standalone until I remembered Odysseus' role didn't take a part in the story yet and what he knows...what he can bring to this war is definitely something that has to be seen! Cannot wait for book 2! It was overall a fabulous and yet different kind of Greek mythology read and it's one series that I will definitely be keeping up with!


Overall Rating 4/5 stars