The Goddess Test VS Abandon


New from #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, a dark, fantastical story about this world . . . and the underworld.

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld



It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.



Both of these books were published in 2011 just months apart. They also are both retellings of the story of Hades and Persephone. They both have different qualities to the story and have different writing styles.

Abandon: We start the story off getting to know Pierce. We are told she had 2 years previously drown in her pool and because of the accident (among other things) the parents have divorced. She now lives with her mother. As the story progresses Pierce tells her story to the reader with several flashbacks. And only bits and pieces about the current day.

Goddess Test: We start off the story moving to a new town, current day with Kate and her ailing mother. She is beginning her life at a new school and gets talked into going to a party in which turns out to be a trick. But an accident happens and she is given a choice to help save the girls life who tricked her or to let her die and live with the guilt.

Abandon: "Hades" characters is played by John. John does make several appearences throughout the story. He seems very dangerous and threatening. We do not know what he is going to do each time they meet. We also see John in several of the flashbacks from the time after she drowned and events after she survived.

Goddess Test: "Hades" character is played by Henry. Henry is a constant in the story, as Kate moves into his home he is around all the time. He is not to help her with any decisions on the test she is put through but is there through many of the tests and is sometimes part of the test. He is very sad and brooding character, he has a constant defeated attitude and I personally kept wanting to see him man up a little more.

Abandon: Minor characters. Besides Pierce's direct family there are not other minor characters in the story. As Pierce tells her story through flashbacks we see reoccuring characters but as she has moved away they are not a constant in her life anymore and no daily influence on her life except for her memories of them and what she has been through with them.

Goddess Test: Minor Characters. There are several in this story. Kate has friends as well as servants in the house. Constantly surrounded by people and things going on. We get the story as the story is happening and not by flashbacks at all. Very interesting and entertaining characters that help fill in and round out the story. I would love to see more of her mother in the future books and hope some of the shyness Pierce has goes away.

Abandon: Overall thoughts. I honestly was sometimes confused on the flashbacks, they focus mainly on one girl and the guilt that Pierce feels over a very bad situation. In the end I could see why Pierce would feel sad or guilty but I did not see why the majority of the book focused on this girl's story and what happened to her. When the book just focused on Pierce, her family, the graveyard keeper and John: those were my favorite parts. I feel I would have appreciated the story of the girl more if I were living it day to day along with Pierce instead of the flashbacks.

Goddess Test: Overall thoughts. I felt that Henry was so depressing, as the lord of the underworld I think I went into it expecting a little more Umph from him. We are told why he is depressed and has given up on his situation from the beginning, but yet the heavyness of depression overwhelmed the story. Kate was a fantastic character, as well as the girl she had to decide to save. They were my favorites, brought great excitement and drive to the story as a whole. The tests that Kate are put through are smart in the way that they pretty much cover all humane topics, but I went into the story thinking there was going to be a lot more drama. But the drama that was in the book was much appreciated and enjoyable.

What are your thoughts?
Have you read either of these books and agree or disagree?
I personally rated them both 3 stars and they kept me interested enough to want to continue with each series to see what happens next.

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