Antigoddess: Review

Synopsis:

The Goddess War begins in Antigoddess, the first installment of the new series by acclaimed author of Anna Dressed in Blood, 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.


At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

***

Antigoddess is new to me in many ways. One of the protagonists is Athena. This alone is beyond weird and interesting and funny in a way. I mean, she's a freaking goddess. Zeus's daughter. And she's the goddess of wisdom (among a bunch of other things). It's kind of unimaginable to read about a god/goddess's point of view. We often view them as all-knowing, powerful and terrible and merciless in their own way. But this changes things.

Oh, and the whole thing about gods and goddesses dying? Yeah, I never saw that coming. In our knowledge they're supposed to be immortal and cannot be put down (or at least, not put down by some sort of weird diseases). That's a unique background for the story. And the story is linked by a legend in Troy. That. Is. Mad. Cool. Who would've thought?

This book is mostly in dual point of view (actually there are three perspectives, but oh well). Athena's and Cassandra's. The dual point of view surprises me a little. I've seen crazier point-of-view switchings before (like The 5th Wave, which is so confusing I don't even know who's who.). But I really don't expect Cassandra's point of view, which is a nice surprise. I mean, she's Cassandra (you will know what I mean if you know a little about Greek mythology). 

The story itself is entertaining enough. Like I said, the story links with legends in Trojan War. And knowing that deities makes it hard to put down the book (new stuff to me, remember?). It's fast-paced and occasionally action-packed. There's nearly no crap in this book. The sort-of villains are really annoying and dangerous. And trust me it's kind of a brutal book to start with on one level. 

But I also have some little problems with the book. Athena is too emotional. She's a goddess for crying out loud. I know that by the time in Antigoddess she's lived with mortals/humans for God knows how long. But damn, her emotions is so strong that sometimes I wonder if she's really a goddess. Not that I don't like it, but those emotions doesn't fit her status as a goddess. Cassandra is mostly cool. Except when (SPOILER! DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK) she remembers the whole thing in Trojan War she's bitter and bitchy to everyone around her. (End of Spoiler) Oh and (ANOTHER SPOILER!!!) there's a certain god that annoys the living hell out of me because he's being such a miserable lover boy! Damn it, sometimes gods are really overgrown children (quoting from Deity by JLA :D) (End of Spoiler) But they're minor problems. No big deal.

It's one of the few new releases that I think is worth reading. But maybe you want to check out some Greek mythologies first before you start reading it.

Rating: 7/10

P.S. And I don't understand what's with the whole sequel thing. I mean, what could possibly happen after that ending in Antigoddess?