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amybraunauthor's review against another edition
4.0
Very intense ending to one of the most melodramatic books I've ever read. I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the characters after the cliffhanger from the previous book (well, mostly, but we'll get to that later), and could scarcely believe how it was going to turn out. While there wasn't what I would call a massive battle at the end, it was certainly a nail-biter to the very last word. Two new characters were introduced and I would have loved to spend more time getting to know them. I loved how the the story split into three plot lines for the first part of the book, as I can never get enough Hermes and I love Athena. There were a lot of surprises and twists, especially at the end, though I have to say that Cassandra continued to be too angsty for my taste throughout the novel. Blake's trademark body horror was evident throughout, giving this urban fantasy a distinctive alteration to most interpretations of the Greek mythology trope. Finally, how did the ending make me feel? Honestly, I'm not sure I'm sold on it. Yes, the more I think about it the more in makes sense, but I feel like certain character actions left me with too many questions, and the epilogue was a rapid-fire wrap up. So how was the series over all? Great! I definitely recommend it to people who love Greek mythology books, can handle some truly disturbing gore, and want to read a unique take on the twilight of the gods. Blake is a great author and this is a series you won't want to miss!
scarletpaul's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
verypeculiarpages's review against another edition
5.0
AHH! Well, I really enjoyed this series! Few quick things:
Hooooooly crap, I did NOT know how much I NEEDED the Athena-Ares team up until it started happening, and I spent a majority of the book waiting for him to crush my heart and betray them but I’m SO HAPPY he didn’t! He ended up being one of my fave people in this book and the moments between Athena, Hermes & Ares were highlights.
I still didn’t like Cassandra at all, but she gained a little respect from me at the end. That was a badass move.
The epilogue was MUCH too short and doesn’t give much info about where the gods are going, but all my faves survived and everyone’s healing so I’m cool.
I also really enjoyed Hades’ small bit in the beginning.
Overall, I’m happy with how the series ended and I’m excited to try out some other Kendare Blake books in the future!
Hooooooly crap, I did NOT know how much I NEEDED the Athena-Ares team up until it started happening, and I spent a majority of the book waiting for him to crush my heart and betray them but I’m SO HAPPY he didn’t! He ended up being one of my fave people in this book and the moments between Athena, Hermes & Ares were highlights.
I still didn’t like Cassandra at all, but she gained a little respect from me at the end. That was a badass move.
The epilogue was MUCH too short and doesn’t give much info about where the gods are going, but all my faves survived and everyone’s healing so I’m cool.
I also really enjoyed Hades’ small bit in the beginning.
Overall, I’m happy with how the series ended and I’m excited to try out some other Kendare Blake books in the future!
shespeakslyrics's review against another edition
4.0
Fell in love with this series, was super sad to reach its conclusion. Loved the entire book but the end did feel rushed so I docked a star because of that. Would still love you know where these characters are now!
foiltheplot's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
SPOILERS, FYI.
YES! Finally the action I wanted! This book was by far the best in the series, never a dull moment to boot. And I do have to say, I'm pretty pleased that they didn't bring Aidan/Apollo back. I feel like that would've been a huge cop-out. Although, I do think Blake could've amped it up a notch by killing off more than just that *one* particular person/god. With so much at stake, it was kind of too happy an ending. I was also disappointed to see that neither one of the girls fulfilled their fated role (if you know what I mean). I liked that there was more action in this book than the previous two, but I think Blake really could've pushed it and taken some chances in the end. Also, I'm left with a lot of unanswered questions, namely, where was Zeus in all this? And what happened to Hephaestus?
All in all, I'm glad I read the series, but I guess I just expected something a bit more gritty than what I got. It wasn't bad but it didn't quite meet my expectations either.
SPOILERS, FYI.
YES! Finally the action I wanted! This book was by far the best in the series, never a dull moment to boot. And I do have to say, I'm pretty pleased that they didn't bring Aidan/Apollo back. I feel like that would've been a huge cop-out. Although, I do think Blake could've amped it up a notch by killing off more than just that *one* particular person/god. With so much at stake, it was kind of too happy an ending. I was also disappointed to see that neither one of the girls fulfilled their fated role (if you know what I mean). I liked that there was more action in this book than the previous two, but I think Blake really could've pushed it and taken some chances in the end. Also, I'm left with a lot of unanswered questions, namely, where was Zeus in all this? And what happened to Hephaestus?
All in all, I'm glad I read the series, but I guess I just expected something a bit more gritty than what I got. It wasn't bad but it didn't quite meet my expectations either.
fairywine's review against another edition
4.0
Here we are at the final book of the Goddess War trilogy. I won’t deny I’ve had some pretty extreme highs and lows with this series, but now that we’re at the end I can say I have zero regrets. They aren’t perfect, but the good aspects of the Goddess War novels are just so fantastic they override even the worst of the bad.
After the disastrous failed attack on Mount Olympus, Athena and her allies are left scattered. The prophetess Cassandra and the nymph Calypso end up west, seeking out the god of death himself, Thanatos, in an effort to track down the god of the underworld Hades. Athena is there herself, trying desperately to save the hero Odysseus with some unexpected aid. And Hermes along with Cassandra’s brother Henry and best friend Andie track down the smith-god Hephaestus for a weapon that can turn the tide of the war in their favor. Here is where it all ends, where secrets come out and what Fate has in store no one could expect…in the final Twilight of the Gods.
First of all, Ungodly was such a relief after reading Mortal Gods. I was so afraid the quality of the series was going to dip down even further with book three and sully my fondness for the trilogy as a whole. Thankfully, Ungodly managed to rebound things back to Antigoddess territory: flawed, but in the end still good. (Though the cover is awful. Look at that Blue Steel duckface on the Cassandra model and try not to crack up and quote Zoolander).
What makes Ungodly work as a whole (and work a lot better than Mortal Gods is that is seems to have woken up, looked around, and said “wait, what the hell are we doing?!” So Ungodly goes a long was to not only bring in great new elements, but also fix some problems too (especially the ones from Mortal Gods). There are still a few weak spots, but overall we still get the series ending on a high note.
Ungodly really finds its stride in the writing of the gods. (Also worthy of credit is one of the most nuanced versions of Ares you will see anywhere in fiction, which is really rare indeed). This series has always done a good job in the portrayal of its divine characters, especially considering how many of them there are. Yet they are all very relatable while still being unquestionably inhuman, have unique voices and motivations, and all add to the narrative rather than distract from it.
The god Thanatos deserves a special mention in that regard. The god of death itself, Cassandra and Calypso find him in Los Angeles in order to hunt down Hades. And he is a delight. Tall, dark, and snarky, but there’s a real depth to him as well as a sense of the sheer weight of being the embodiment of death. (To reiterate, Hades is technically god of the underworld and not the actual act of death). I enjoyed Thanatos immensely upon introduction and was thrilled when he ended up sticking around in the story instead of just being a one off appearance.
Most amazing of all? THANATOS MAKES CASSANDRA ACTUALLY LIKEABLE AS A CHARACTER. That, my friends, is a MIRACLE. Cassandra was easily the worst part of Mortal Gods, and yet their interactions and relationship in Ungodly managed to save a character I thought for sure was unsalvageable. Thanatos helps immensely here by simply not putting up with and/or enabling Cassandra’s bullshit, which does wonders to help her character growth.
Speaking of Cassandra-oh my gods, she is a million times more tolerable in Ungodly. Considering I thought she was a worse character than Bella Swan in Mortal Gods this speaks volumes to her improvement. For one thing, Cassandra actually does stuff now! Of her own initiative! Considering she more or less spent the first two books sitting around on her psychic ass, this turnaround helps a lot to live up the story. We also do finally get some genuine growth from Cassandra, and confrontation over her behavior (again, helped by my GEM of a death god Thanatos, who is not here for your bullshit, Cass). It’s so good to see Cassandra reflect, and to see how her total anger has consumed her, and actually evolve. She’s not going to make my top ten favorites list, but this is a much, much better character overall.
I also have to give Ungodly (as well as the Goddess War series overall) a lot of credit for subverting my expectations. As a passionate lifelong reader who has read more books than I could even say, I do have a certain sense of how a story will go once I’ve started reading it. I think I’m pretty good at guessing the path of the narrative and the tone, even more so for genre fiction and especially for Young Adult. Yet this series managed to surprise me multiple times, and most of all Ungodly because it’s the final book.
But the biggest surprise of all, one I had been bracing myself for since Antigoddess? AIDEN DOESN’T COME BACK TO LIFE. I was dead certain-like, bet-the-mortgage certain-that was coming and his death wouldn’t stick. It was a feeling that Cassandra’s underworld journey to seek his shade in Mortal Gods only intensified. When Thanatos shows up and started having some great (AND NON-CREEPY) chemistry with Cassandra in Ungodly (one that did wonders for her likability and I 100% supported), I was dreading the inevitable love triangle. Aiden would return and after the usual back-and-forth love triangle bullshit it would end with Cass throwing over the infinitely more awesome Thanatos for the creepy psycho stalker sun god.
So I waited…and waited…and yet…Aiden stayed dead. I can’t even described how totally stunned I was. And delighted that Ungodly was indeed as smart as the writing indicated and confident enough in itself to go against what would be the obvious route for a YA book. (Also, even though we got little of them as a couple, Cassandra and Thanatos are an infinitely superior pair to Cassandra and Aiden).
Add in a ton of great character development, drama, some thrilling action, creepy body horror and really surprising twists, and you have a great final novel in a truly dynamic series.
But even Ungodly has its weak spots, some of them pretty big. Not enough to drag the novel down, but not to be passed over either.
I’ll get the first out of the way: Persephone and Hades. I’ve already gone on at some considerable length about why I think the interpretation of these two in the Goddess War series is a travesty. My objections are pretty much the same as the ones I covered in my other two reviews, so I’m not going to repeat myself. Suffice to say, I’m dinging Ungodly for it and moving on.
Achilles was another fumble. Considering the book managed to do such a wonderful, rounded take on Ares, that the ball was dropped so hard on Achilles was a huge waste. There was so much opportunity here with him to make the story richer. He was just a generic, blood hungry psychopath in the end. Boring and unengaging.
All these are flaws, but not especially big ones. (Well, I think the Persephone and Hades one is big, but I am capable of recognizing that opinion comes from a personal place). If I had to say, Ungodly only has one big problem spot, and it is a pretty significant one. Not book ruining, but had it been better addressed the whole series overall would have been elevated.
Ungodly’s main problem as a book? There is a lot that isn’t tied up or just plain never explained.
A minor continuation of this are the other two Olympians who never appear, Dionysus and Hestia. I was disappointed but not surprised as far as Hestia, my underappreciated Olympian fav, was concerned. She usually gets the shaft in most works of fiction that deal with the Greek pantheon. But Dionysus was actually brought up in-story, yet that single mention of him-specifically that he might join Athena’s side if he’s still alive-is all we get. He never appears, and there’s no explanation of whether he’s dead or what he’s doing and where he is if he’s alive. Not quite as blatant as the Zeus example but these still stick out for me.
Why exactly the death of the gods is even happening is the other big non-explained one. Yes, we’re told it’s a trickle-down effect from the Moirae of Death, Atropos, dying herself. That part does make sense-all the gods and spirits root in the Fates, so the contagion aspect I could accept. But what caused Atropos to start dying to begin with? We’re never told. There’s also the implication Clotho and Lachesis saw this coming and thus had Cassandra prepped to be Atropos’ replacement in a millennia-spanning gambit. But again, we aren’t told the cause, or how they kept Atropos of their plan to kill and replace her.
There’s a handful of other ‘this should have been addressed but wasn’t” issues. Hephaestus is attacked by the Moirae, but we never learn what happens to him in the end. Likewise, the Achilles and Henry fight ends with Achilles wounded and running off. We never find out what happens to him either. (Alive? Dead? Does his invulnerability still work with the Fates gone?)
Some of these problems likely would have been better handled with a longer epilogue or a little bit clearer writing. Cassandra loses portions of two fingers in the final fight, and it’s not obvious whether they get magically healed and regenerated, or the stumps are just healing normally. (You’d think after all she’s been through that’d be the least the gods could do, especially when Ares healed Odysseus from the brink of freaking death with water from Mount Olympus).
There’s also the strong implication Athena/Odysseus and Thanatos/Cassandra are in relationships together, and I wished that had been set out a little more clearly, especially with the mortal/immortal aspect. At least knowing if they were planning on pulling a Psyche with either one of these two would have wrapped things up a little more cohesively.
So yes, that is a quite a lot to leave up in the air, and if even half of the above had been properly addressed, Ungodly and the Goddess War series as a whole would have been much tighter story wise.
I can’t say this all doesn’t matter, because it does. But in the end I really adore this series, complaints and all. Would it have been better without all the problem spots? Absolutely. However, I still found the Goddess War series a great, enjoyable, and fresh read. I’m so glad my dear friend recommended this series to me. There’s so much greatness in this trilogy, and a wonderful read to be had. When all is said and done that’s what matters when it comes to books. If someone asked me about Antigoddess and its brethren, I’d give my approval without hesitation-and tell them to enjoy the read.
After the disastrous failed attack on Mount Olympus, Athena and her allies are left scattered. The prophetess Cassandra and the nymph Calypso end up west, seeking out the god of death himself, Thanatos, in an effort to track down the god of the underworld Hades. Athena is there herself, trying desperately to save the hero Odysseus with some unexpected aid. And Hermes along with Cassandra’s brother Henry and best friend Andie track down the smith-god Hephaestus for a weapon that can turn the tide of the war in their favor. Here is where it all ends, where secrets come out and what Fate has in store no one could expect…in the final Twilight of the Gods.
First of all, Ungodly was such a relief after reading Mortal Gods. I was so afraid the quality of the series was going to dip down even further with book three and sully my fondness for the trilogy as a whole. Thankfully, Ungodly managed to rebound things back to Antigoddess territory: flawed, but in the end still good. (Though the cover is awful. Look at that Blue Steel duckface on the Cassandra model and try not to crack up and quote Zoolander).
What makes Ungodly work as a whole (and work a lot better than Mortal Gods is that is seems to have woken up, looked around, and said “wait, what the hell are we doing?!” So Ungodly goes a long was to not only bring in great new elements, but also fix some problems too (especially the ones from Mortal Gods). There are still a few weak spots, but overall we still get the series ending on a high note.
Ungodly really finds its stride in the writing of the gods. (Also worthy of credit is one of the most nuanced versions of Ares you will see anywhere in fiction, which is really rare indeed). This series has always done a good job in the portrayal of its divine characters, especially considering how many of them there are. Yet they are all very relatable while still being unquestionably inhuman, have unique voices and motivations, and all add to the narrative rather than distract from it.
The god Thanatos deserves a special mention in that regard. The god of death itself, Cassandra and Calypso find him in Los Angeles in order to hunt down Hades. And he is a delight. Tall, dark, and snarky, but there’s a real depth to him as well as a sense of the sheer weight of being the embodiment of death. (To reiterate, Hades is technically god of the underworld and not the actual act of death). I enjoyed Thanatos immensely upon introduction and was thrilled when he ended up sticking around in the story instead of just being a one off appearance.
Most amazing of all? THANATOS MAKES CASSANDRA ACTUALLY LIKEABLE AS A CHARACTER. That, my friends, is a MIRACLE. Cassandra was easily the worst part of Mortal Gods, and yet their interactions and relationship in Ungodly managed to save a character I thought for sure was unsalvageable. Thanatos helps immensely here by simply not putting up with and/or enabling Cassandra’s bullshit, which does wonders to help her character growth.
Speaking of Cassandra-oh my gods, she is a million times more tolerable in Ungodly. Considering I thought she was a worse character than Bella Swan in Mortal Gods this speaks volumes to her improvement. For one thing, Cassandra actually does stuff now! Of her own initiative! Considering she more or less spent the first two books sitting around on her psychic ass, this turnaround helps a lot to live up the story. We also do finally get some genuine growth from Cassandra, and confrontation over her behavior (again, helped by my GEM of a death god Thanatos, who is not here for your bullshit, Cass). It’s so good to see Cassandra reflect, and to see how her total anger has consumed her, and actually evolve. She’s not going to make my top ten favorites list, but this is a much, much better character overall.
I also have to give Ungodly (as well as the Goddess War series overall) a lot of credit for subverting my expectations. As a passionate lifelong reader who has read more books than I could even say, I do have a certain sense of how a story will go once I’ve started reading it. I think I’m pretty good at guessing the path of the narrative and the tone, even more so for genre fiction and especially for Young Adult. Yet this series managed to surprise me multiple times, and most of all Ungodly because it’s the final book.
Spoiler
For a start, I was not expecting Athena and Ares’ sides to join up and take the Moirae out. I was also sure Cassandra wouldn’t be able to let go of her vendetta against Ares and Aphrodite. But she does, with true forgiveness in a remarkable showing of character evolution.But the biggest surprise of all, one I had been bracing myself for since Antigoddess? AIDEN DOESN’T COME BACK TO LIFE. I was dead certain-like, bet-the-mortgage certain-that was coming and his death wouldn’t stick. It was a feeling that Cassandra’s underworld journey to seek his shade in Mortal Gods only intensified. When Thanatos shows up and started having some great (AND NON-CREEPY) chemistry with Cassandra in Ungodly (one that did wonders for her likability and I 100% supported), I was dreading the inevitable love triangle. Aiden would return and after the usual back-and-forth love triangle bullshit it would end with Cass throwing over the infinitely more awesome Thanatos for the creepy psycho stalker sun god.
So I waited…and waited…and yet…Aiden stayed dead. I can’t even described how totally stunned I was. And delighted that Ungodly was indeed as smart as the writing indicated and confident enough in itself to go against what would be the obvious route for a YA book. (Also, even though we got little of them as a couple, Cassandra and Thanatos are an infinitely superior pair to Cassandra and Aiden).
Add in a ton of great character development, drama, some thrilling action, creepy body horror and really surprising twists, and you have a great final novel in a truly dynamic series.
But even Ungodly has its weak spots, some of them pretty big. Not enough to drag the novel down, but not to be passed over either.
I’ll get the first out of the way: Persephone and Hades. I’ve already gone on at some considerable length about why I think the interpretation of these two in the Goddess War series is a travesty. My objections are pretty much the same as the ones I covered in my other two reviews, so I’m not going to repeat myself. Suffice to say, I’m dinging Ungodly for it and moving on.
Achilles was another fumble. Considering the book managed to do such a wonderful, rounded take on Ares, that the ball was dropped so hard on Achilles was a huge waste. There was so much opportunity here with him to make the story richer. He was just a generic, blood hungry psychopath in the end. Boring and unengaging.
Spoiler
The off screen death of Demeter, while not a huge flaw, I also thought of as a waste of the character. And pointless to boot. Her death didn’t add to the narrative or the characters so why include it? This is how I felt about Artemis’ off screen demise in Antigoddess too.All these are flaws, but not especially big ones. (Well, I think the Persephone and Hades one is big, but I am capable of recognizing that opinion comes from a personal place). If I had to say, Ungodly only has one big problem spot, and it is a pretty significant one. Not book ruining, but had it been better addressed the whole series overall would have been elevated.
Ungodly’s main problem as a book? There is a lot that isn’t tied up or just plain never explained.
Spoiler
The biggest being Zeus’ absence is barely addressed and not answered at all. Yes, he is just one god, but still the king of the Greek gods and the most powerful one to boot. Where the hell is he? It’s discussed that he’s so strong his death would have been noticed if it had happened, so he is probably alive. But that’s all. Is he ill like Poseidon was? Apparently fine like Hades is? Why isn’t he taking sides? Even if Zeus was meant to be a neutral party, he still could have (and should) made an appearance. Overall the lack of Zeus is pretty glaring. It’s like making a documentary about the Beatles and not including John Lennon. The void is really obvious.A minor continuation of this are the other two Olympians who never appear, Dionysus and Hestia. I was disappointed but not surprised as far as Hestia, my underappreciated Olympian fav, was concerned. She usually gets the shaft in most works of fiction that deal with the Greek pantheon. But Dionysus was actually brought up in-story, yet that single mention of him-specifically that he might join Athena’s side if he’s still alive-is all we get. He never appears, and there’s no explanation of whether he’s dead or what he’s doing and where he is if he’s alive. Not quite as blatant as the Zeus example but these still stick out for me.
Why exactly the death of the gods is even happening is the other big non-explained one. Yes, we’re told it’s a trickle-down effect from the Moirae of Death, Atropos, dying herself. That part does make sense-all the gods and spirits root in the Fates, so the contagion aspect I could accept. But what caused Atropos to start dying to begin with? We’re never told. There’s also the implication Clotho and Lachesis saw this coming and thus had Cassandra prepped to be Atropos’ replacement in a millennia-spanning gambit. But again, we aren’t told the cause, or how they kept Atropos of their plan to kill and replace her.
There’s a handful of other ‘this should have been addressed but wasn’t” issues. Hephaestus is attacked by the Moirae, but we never learn what happens to him in the end. Likewise, the Achilles and Henry fight ends with Achilles wounded and running off. We never find out what happens to him either. (Alive? Dead? Does his invulnerability still work with the Fates gone?)
Some of these problems likely would have been better handled with a longer epilogue or a little bit clearer writing. Cassandra loses portions of two fingers in the final fight, and it’s not obvious whether they get magically healed and regenerated, or the stumps are just healing normally. (You’d think after all she’s been through that’d be the least the gods could do, especially when Ares healed Odysseus from the brink of freaking death with water from Mount Olympus).
There’s also the strong implication Athena/Odysseus and Thanatos/Cassandra are in relationships together, and I wished that had been set out a little more clearly, especially with the mortal/immortal aspect. At least knowing if they were planning on pulling a Psyche with either one of these two would have wrapped things up a little more cohesively.
So yes, that is a quite a lot to leave up in the air, and if even half of the above had been properly addressed, Ungodly and the Goddess War series as a whole would have been much tighter story wise.
I can’t say this all doesn’t matter, because it does. But in the end I really adore this series, complaints and all. Would it have been better without all the problem spots? Absolutely. However, I still found the Goddess War series a great, enjoyable, and fresh read. I’m so glad my dear friend recommended this series to me. There’s so much greatness in this trilogy, and a wonderful read to be had. When all is said and done that’s what matters when it comes to books. If someone asked me about Antigoddess and its brethren, I’d give my approval without hesitation-and tell them to enjoy the read.
tacochelle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Started and finished a series in the same year, I don't even recognize myself anymore. It's a lot of the same as the previous two books, though the plot here was fairly straightforward. The other two had some interesting twists near the end. This one, while I liked the ending, kinda didn't take me by surprise. The combat and the horror-influenced stuff is still the highlight of the series, Kendare Blake really nails the descriptions on those. I liked the pov of Athena, Hermes, Andie and Henry. I was kinda annoyed by Cassandra at this point in the series, kinda sped through her sections.
alexperc_92's review against another edition
5.0
A stunning conclusion! I liked how the action was matched with the feelings of all the heroes but still in some cases I wondered what would happen or how they were going to solve everything.