The Goddess Legacy - Aimee Carter
See this review and more on The Moonlight Library!The Goddess Legacy is a collection of five novellas about several of the more important Olympus deities in the Goddess Test series. They were originally released as five separate short stories/novellas in ebook format but bundled together as a paperback release. Clever marketing there.Hera’s story was awesome. It really showcased a lot mroe of her character and led her to being quite sympathetic in my eyes. I’m not falling for Carter’s vilifying of her in the novels, especially not after this novella. It was all about how she was the strongest of the gods yet she was basically pushed back into the kitchen where women belong because Zeus is a treacherous selfish man whore. Also, Hades doesn’t love her and that’s her problem, not his. Aphrodite’s story was incredibly sweet, and showed how she could be married to one man and still have her flings. It was a nice story for the free love concept and I think she’s a lovely little character, even if all the other characters slut shame her all the time. HELLO, GODDESS OF SEXUAL LOVE. Commitment has nothing to do with it, and anyway, she was committed to her husband. She always came back to him. More importantly, he entered into the arrangement fully aware of her situation. Persephone’s story was also really good. It detailed her life of misery with Hades and her happiness with Adonis. Of course there’s a heap of slut shaming towards Aphrodite who even though she is married can’t keep her hands to herself. And Persephone not being in love with Hades is her fault, not Hades’, and Persephone’s a giant slut for cheating on him and then leaving him miserable in the Underworld because apparently Persephone’s happiness comes second to what the other gods want – namely someone to hurt Hera by marrying Hades. Also, Demeter is a bitch. Hermes’ story sucked. It was the story of why the gods change their names. And it has something to do with having the people still recognise the gods because now they’re all modern. BUT IF THEY CHANGE THEIR NAMES HOW DOES ANYONE KNOW WHO THEY ARE? The old names are the ones still used. Hell, they’re the ones I use when I discuss this book. This was a waste of time and basically showcased Hermes crying a lot because the other gods blamed him for having an affair with Persephone which led to her leaving Hades because Adonis totally had nothing to do with it /sarcasm. Hades’ story is so forgettable. I think it had some pedo-stalking in it. It was so blah and boring and utterly pointless. Just remember, Hades is the good guy, so the only myth in the whole world that was ever a great big fat lie is the myth that he kidnapped Persephone. How it got so distorted, no one knows. In the original myth, winter comes about because while Persephone is away Demeter refuses to fertilise the earth and help the people grow their crops. With Persephone never being kidnapped, Demeter never had the gods come begging to her to please keep their humans alive. She just eagerly pushes Persephone into this marriage she never wanted. Overall this novella was entertaining – except for the boys’ stories. The subtext, however, is completely abhorrent. Women are evil sluts who obsess over men and have absolutely no power of their own. It’s pretty disgusting to think about it that way, but that’s what the three goddess stories are basically about.