Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Pages: 333
Intended Audience: Teens
Genre: Mythology / Thriller
Notes for Parents: Fairly graphic scenes of gore and violence, coarse language, some under-aged drinking.

The Back Cover

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 others of the ancient Olympians who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these antigods 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.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

The cover description is unnecessarily long! This is the first book in the Goddess War series.

What’s good?

The gods are dying…and it’s kind of interesting to watch. The story is twisted and, at times, dark, but still manages to maintain a fairly light, contemporary feel through most of it. The tension builds slowly until desperation is the name of the game. A critical battle at the end sets the stage for the bigger war. The characters are good, especially Athena, a once invincible warrior goddess, who refuses to go quietly, and the weakening Hermes who is wasting away but never loses his sense of humour. The premise, while not entirely original, is nonetheless engaging.
Best Part: The battle at the end!

What isn’t good?

Despite several strong female characters, there’s an air of misogyny that’s a little hard to ignore. A slow pace and some awkward, unnecessarily crass dialogue bog down the story at times. The different genres represented in the story – horror, adventure, romance, mythology – don’t always meld smoothly. The excellent tone set at the beginning waned quickly and didn’t pick up again until the end.
Worst part: Some of the dialogue between the gods was…stupid.

Recommendation þþþoo

For fans of Greek mythology, this is a pretty good bet. For everyone else, going into the story with a little knowledge of the Trojan War wouldn’t hurt (but isn’t wholly necessary). I enjoyed the book, but I’m not sure the feel of it was really to my liking. I’m sure this will be a big hit for many. Recommended.

Blake, Kendare. Antigoddess. New York: Tor Teen, 2013.