The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

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.

The Goddess Test is a modern take on Greek mythology, in which Kate Winters, barters her own future with Hades to save her mother's life. Its a very creative and unique twist to the classic mythological tale of Hades and Persephone, in which the god of the underworld kidnaps his wife every winter. In this case, Kate has become Henry's newest bride-to-be, but with a deadly twist.
 I really enjoyed this book. I respected the strength we see in Kate throughout the entire story. She is put through so many hardships and stressfull situations that I don't think I could ever handle. I mean, it seems that everyone around her is either dying or hiding the truth from her and she handles it all pretty well considering. Throughout it all too, she is so selfless and loving, admirable traits even in fictional characters.

I also was in love with her relationship with Henry. He's an old soul in a young (hot) body, so his mannerisms were hilarious and oh so charming. It was pretty easy for the reader to fall in love with him. It irked me a little bit how easily Kate falls in love with Henry though, especially since he's her captor, (umm hello Stockholm Syndrome). I get a little critical when relationship just sort of appear, but for this story it didn't bug me too much and now I'm just looking for some more romantic interactions between the two of them!

The plot for this story at times is a little predictable. I think I figured out who was trying to sabotage Kate really early on. However, there were some plot twists that I definitely didn't see coming, which made the ending of the book 100 times better than the beginning! Holy surprise! Even better though, there's a sequel! I'm so glad we get to continue on with this story, and it sounds like its only just getting started. This book is a big recommendation to everyone!