Cold Cold Heart - Norah Jones

Goddess Interrupted
The Goddess Test, Book 2

Author: Aimée Carter
Pages: 296
ARC Acquired from: HarlequinTeen via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:Kate Winters has won immortality. But if she wants a life with Henry in the Underworld, she'll have to fight for it. Becoming immortal wasn't supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she's as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he's becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate's coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future. Henry's first wife, Persephone.

First Sentence: "Calliope trudged through the sunny field as she ignored the babble of the redhead trailing behind her."

Review:
First of all, I should let you all know that I skipped The Goddess Hunt, one of those short stories that has proliferated since the advent of e-readers. From reading reviews on other blogs (like this one), I gather that it's from Henry's perspective, which would be cool, since he definitely lacked evident personality a bit in the first book, although I did enjoy The Goddess Test. However, $1.29 seems a bit steep for a story that I don't need to understand the plot of the other books.

Kate continues to search for more information about Henry, now her husband and soon-to-be co-ruler. He continues to play Mr. Mysterious and to not trust her with any information about himself or the life of an immortal. Her response is to act like a child. Despite her power, she doesn't seem to be able to do anything but throw tantrums; she could make people tell her what's going on, but she simply pouts and whines, rather than putting her feet down.

Her relationship with Henry is so awkward. I mean, they didn't know each other that well, but she's convinced she loves him. This does actually make some amount of sense, both because he's handsome, powerful and mysterious, and because if she didn't choose to stay with him he would have faded, which is pretty much the god equivalent of dying. Kate, being way too nice for her own good (ex. forgives her mom for lying to her all her life, forgives Ava for lying to her and being a jerk in the human world) would never let him fade, so the best solution is to convince herself that she loves him, even though he comes with crazy baggage.

I am not a patient person. At all. And even I think that Kate is absurdly impatient. She comes back and expects Henry to be magically different in like 2 days, all the while complaining about how long she's waited for him to love her like she loves him. Slow down, girl. You barely even know him; you don't know what love is. He and his ex were together for a thousand years. Sheesh!

Worse, she may be immortal, but I think she's weaker than she was in The Goddess Test. Aside from mooning over Henry, she wants to save everyone from Cronos, but, mostly, she really doesn't accomplish anything; at best, she delayed things for a while. At worst, she does something dumb, having been told otherwise (like how people never stay in the car in crime shows) and makes the situation even more difficult.

All of that said, I did really enjoy reading Goddess Interrupted, although maybe not as much as the first book. While I did want to shake some sense into Kate, a lot of sense, the story remains interesting and the writing enjoyable. Still, I hope that in the next book, Kate actually learns how to use her powers and focuses on improving herself and less on Henry, like everyone's been telling her.

That ending, though...yikes. Definitely a surprise, but also not one of my favorite plot lines. Oh well, I'll be reading the next book, that's for sure.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'Being with Henry doesn't mean you have to give up who you are. Henry doesn't define you, nor does the Underworld or immortality. You define you, and the more you act like yourself, the more Henry will love you.'"

"I've tried so hard my dear to show
That you're my every dream
Yet you're afraid each thing I do
Is just some evil scheme

A memory from your lonesome past
Keeps us so far apart
Why can't I free your doubtful mind
And melt your cold cold heart

Another love before my time
Made your heart sad an' blue
And so my heart is paying now
For things I didn't do

In anger unkind words are said
That make the teardrops start
Why can't I free your doubtful mind
And melt your cold cold heart

There was a time when I believed
That you belonged to me
But now I know your heart is shackled
To a memory

The more I learn to care for you
The more we drift apart
Why can't I free your doubtful mind
And melt your cold cold heart "