Reading Review - Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

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.

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Today I have yet another review for you all. This is about one of the books I read in the 24 Hour Readathon. Antigoddess is the first book in a new series called the Goddess Wars. I picked this book up after the synopsis and loving Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake. This book is really great, and I ended up rating it 4 out of 5 stars. The book has a wonderful mix of Greek mythology, lore, history, and the modern world. There's a lot of great qualities in this book, and it's a great start to a series I can't wait to continue.

This book is different from other Greek mythology meets modern day type series. A factor that really set this book apart is that it combines more than typical Olympus and the Greek gods. While those elements do feature in the book, it also combines Ancient Greek lore and history, such as the war of Troy and the Odyssey. I really appreciated that after reading and enjoying the Odyssey, and always being interested in Troy. The combination with the Greek mythology was really well done- the story came together nicely. This retelling was really unique because it brought more to the retelling than basic mythology.

The characters are also unique to this book. There are two main story lines, and you all have seen how I love multiple POVs and story lines. The first follows Athena and Hermes. Honestly, this was probably one of my favorite versions of Athena that I've read. Her character is so much grittier and real in this book. Athena is typically portrayed as perfect, almost marble-like in her remoteness. This Athena was strong, willing to go to great lengths for survival, and sarcastic and witty. This added so much to her story, and made me like her character a lot more. Hermes is normally portrayed as more relatable and comical, so his character was more akin to the other versions of him I'd read, but still very well written regardless. The other story line followed more modern characters, with Cassandra and Aidan. These two had a great story; it developed so well over the course of the novel. These two were characters I connected to really quickly, and I loved reading about them as well.
Now, to the reason this book lost a star. The plot and its pacing were the only problem I had with the book. This book was good, and easy to read, however it wasn't very fast paced or action packed. It is understandable, because it's a first book and it's necessary to introduce the main conflict and characters as well as some world building, but there's a lot of exposition here. There are a few action scenes, and those are fast paced and a lot happens, but the majority of the book is just development. However, by the end I was really engaged in this book and I could not wait to read more of this series, world, and characters.

Overall, this is a great start. It does have a little bit of the typical first book problem- it has more exposition and general development- but this is an incredible beginning. The characters are so unique and fresh, reading about them is enjoyable and interesting. The world is made with more than just typical Greek mythology, including references to lore, Homer's works, and the Greek gods and legends. This is a series I would definitely recommend starting, and I've added the sequel Aristeia to my 'can't wait books of 2014'.
If you've read this book, let me know what you think!

From the paper world,
V