This or That? (2)
Dear readers,
Once more I need your help in deciding which of these books to read next!
I received them both last week, and they both share a similar premise as they are both retellings/inspired of Persephone and Hades. Meg Cabot is an author I usually love, but the story for Aimée Carter’s book sounds original. I don’t plan on reading them back to back since I enjoy some variety, but which to read first?
This?
Abandon by Meg Cabot :
“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…”
Or That?
The Goddess Test by Aimée 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.”
Whether it’s because you’ve read and enjoyed a book or because you’re curious about it, help me pick which I’ll read next! I’ll start reading the one you pick in a couple of days, and you can follow my Twitter or my Goodreads account (see left sidebard) to know what I’ll be reading ! 🙂
I’ve read both and I actually read The Goddess Test before I read Abandon. Both are the first books in planned trilogies, so they share a sense of set-up and world-building.
I’d vote for reading The Goddess Test first – it’s more of a modern “inspired by” story than a direct update of the Persephone/Hades myth. I also think Cabot’s book is the stronger of the two, so reading it second means you’d give Carter’s book a fair chance first.
That’s my two cents!
Thank you so much for your input! I like the idea of reading the strongest book secondly to give the other book a chance. It’s also one of the reasons why I don’t want to read them back to back.
Both sound very good, both are on my wish list, I would say read the goddess test if I had the two to choose from I would be to curious about the goddess test to just let it sit there. Enjoy whatever you decide.
Goddess Test
I say Abandon, but either should be fun!
I’ll be totally honest with you as I have read both. And both suck. They are terrible. That is just my opinion – actually, it is an opinion shared by my many people. However, Abandon’s less terrible but very insubstantial. Goddess Test, on the other hand, has horrible writing/plotting/characterization but at least has a story, or some semblance of it.
Hehehe, thanks for your honesty! 😉 Let’s hope I’ll like them a little more than you did, then? I’ve been seriously disappointed recently with paranormal YA, so weirdly, despite the fact that I am excited by these books premises, I’m trying to keep my expectations as low as possible. I’ll go read your reviews of the books though, it sure sounds like you had a lot to say about them! 🙂
Oh I did. Hehe. I was very upset with both. And I know exactly what you mean by YA recently. Even their synopses are starting to sound identical.