Kendare Blake : ANTIGODDESS

WARNING! You will find yourself googling and spending time on Wikipedia, re-searching Greek Mythology!!! Give your fingers some rest beforehand. 

ANTIGODDESS is a brand new book written by Kendare Blake. It's a first one in a planned trilogy THE GODDESS WAR. I am very excited about this trilogy as it combines history and YA genre. Hello?!?! "That is right up to my street!" (in the word of Cheryl Cole). 

You know how much love I feel for Kendare's writing. I have been blown away with Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl Of Nightmares. I loved her style of writing and her story-telling. And of course, I adored the fact that she didn't go with the obvious mystical creatures so many YA authors are going for. So as soon as I found out, that there is a new book out, I had to have it. I was so excited, but also worried at the same time. Will the story be as unique as her previous works? Will it even be able to compare?

But I didn't have to worry.... THANK GOD!!

Antigoddess takes us to the world of greek gods, heroes and heroines from their time. We are meeting famous faces from the history like - Odysseus, Cassandra of Troy, Hector of Troy and his wife. Their present and past lives are all linked forever and to the Gods themselves. 

The Gods are dying. They slowly losing their powers and dying horrible deaths. We are meeting two groups of gods standing on opposite sides. Athena, Hermes and Odysseus who are trying to find lost prophet and princess of Troy Cassandra, who can apparently save them all. On the other sides are the bad Gods - Athena (always bitter ex-wife of Zeus), Aphrodite and Poseidon who are eating the good Gods in order to stay alive (pretty gross if you ask me !) And then we have Aidan (aka Apollo) who is guarding the love of his life - who he finally found after so many thousands of years of waiting - Cassandra. All he wants is to protect her and their life, stay away from all the complicated God's business. But as we know, a life doesn't always go the right way, so of course his attempts to shield her away from all his family drama are unsuccessful and they are both throw straight in the middle of battle between good and bad!

Greek mythology, YA genre and the amazing author like Kendare Blake is a perfect combination for my liking. Not to mention, that the core of this story is a love so strong which survived thousands of years. And I am hooked. 

I love how Kendare portrayed the Greek Gods - selfish and only caring for their own survival. The fear of their own death is paralysing to them. But they are slowly becoming human.  The slow deaths they are suffering from  is bringing emotions and feelings on the surface. 

The story of Cassandra and Aidan is my favourite part. Aidan loved her, then betrayed her, hurt her, cursed her, but all this time she was his one true love and he is trying to make up for the time and things she lost thanks to him. But Cassandra is unaware of her past life at the moment and when she finds out , will she be able to forgive him? 

Antigoddess is thrilling. Exciting. Dark. It is full of twist and turns you do not expect. I have been addicted to it from the start and could not put it down. It is also a new view - original take - on the story told for thousands of years. I love how Blake brought figures and characters from the history which have been fascinating the human kind for years, and she threw them into the modern age. She isn't afraid to take risks for sure. 

I cannot forget to mention how much this book made me cry. The last three chapters were heart-breaking. And they definitely made sure I am completely in love with The Goddess War series. I am currently counting down the days until the second instalment is published. 

Now, I have recently contacted Kendare to find out when her book is coming out and if she could give us a preview of the name and she tweeted me her answer, which has been later on confirmed via her Facebook account. MORTAL GODS is coming our late September, early October. There is a possibility that the UK edition might be still called ARISTEIA.

To finish off this book review I just want say BIG HUGE THANK YOU to Kendare Blake for writing another brilliant book series :) 

Quotes from the book I liked: 

“This is what men risk so much for; this shiver, this acute heat and desire. This is what they think eternity feels like.”

“The blood inside her hands hurt and felt slushy, like if you tore them open it'd look like a red ICEE.” 

“For the record I don't believe in Fate. I believe that the pieces have been placed. The ending hasn't been written yet.”

“The urge to fall [in love] was utterly new and made her [Athena] dizzy. He [Odysseus] could catch her and hold her up. She knew he could.

If this is how Aphrodite feels every day, it's no wonder she's such an idiot.”