** spoiler alert **
I’m a little on the fence about Goddess and I’ve ummmed and ahhhed over how to rate it – I’ve hovered around 3.5* – 4* and will stick here.
I’ve obviously been sucked back in to Helen’s world and enjoyed it, as I read the book in two days and stayed up until 1am this morning to finish it. Perhaps, I’m a little disappointed in how the book has come together – a lot happens in this final instalment and I feel as if there could have been a fourth book in there, splitting out the events and giving a bit more time to spend with the characters and relate to the events affecting them.
There are a lot of characters, and with several long standing main characters going through significant changes in this book, I almost felt as if I didn’t get chance to spend enough time with them to get the full effect. Because of this, some of the key emotional scenes, reliving the battles and losses of the Trojan war lost some of their impact for me. (Maybe on a slower re-read, I’ll pick up more). I would have liked a bit more Ariadne and Jason – as they have been so involved earlier, but they felt a little sidelined. The one newbie that I really liked was Andy – she was a nice addition and I think fitted into the ‘cast’ of the play the most effectively.
The other part I’m not sure about, is whether I would have preferred not to know the truth behind Daphne’s lie so early in the series. Unless it was a completely sucky book, which gave no happy ending (which doesn’t happen often) you knew that Helen would find a way to be with Lucas. I was waiting for the reveal throughout, and I wonder if I would have felt their emotional turmoil more if I still believed they were related. It’s a small thing, and probably personal preference, as I like twists in the tale. I remember feeling so sad for Helen and Lucas, when they believed they couldn’t be together initially – once I knew it was a lie, I was waiting for the revelation that would allow them to be together.
Overall, it was a good read, there is a lot to taken in for the conclusion to come together. I enjoyed it – but would probably have enjoyed a four book series better 🙂
I really enjoyed the first book in this series when I read it earlier this year and in many ways Dreamless delivered just as well as Starcrossed did. I do like the way Angelini uses the traditional mythology: some very famous and obvious, such as Helen and Paris, the Oracle, etc. with others less common.
Mel Cusick-Jones 