Review: Goddess of Troy by P.C. Cast

Goddess of Troy, P.C. Cast

Release date: 26th July 2011

Publisher: Piatkus Books

Genre:Romance, Adult, Historical, Paranormal

Pages: 356

Series: Goddess Summoning

1. Goddess of the Seas

2. Goddess of Spring

3. Goddess of Light

4. Goddess of the Rose

5. Goddess of Love

6. Goddess of Troy (published as Warrior Rising  in the US)

7. Goddess of Legend

Goddesses Hera, Athena and Venus have had it up to here with the Trojan War. So much devastation -- all because of male egos. The worst of the bunch is Achilles, the Greek champion whose powers have made him practically invincible. To stop him would be to end the war. But the only way to stop a man like Achilles is to distract him - with something far more pleasurable than combat...

The three goddesses seize their chance when a twenty-first-century beauty named Kat and her best friend perish in a car crash in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In no time, they shift the friends' souls into the bodies of a Trojan princess and her handmaiden, having no doubt that Kat will catch Achilles's attention. But can her independent, fiery spirit match the unquenchable fire of his epic rage?

There is a problem with P.C. Cast's novels: the heroines are close to perfect. They are all smart, witty, funny, courageous and have the perfect careers and friends. There are seriously no flaws. I find this annoying because no woman is perfect and I find it hard to like her heroines because of how flawless they are. This is one factor that affects  my judgment of these books.

So Kat and her 'caramel-skinned' friend Jacky are in a car accident and die, and the goddesses bring them back to when the Trojan War is on. Since their bodies were destroyed in the car accident, Venus and the crew put them in the bodies of two women who had died at the same time. Jacky is in the body of a white woman. I found that really freaky. I mean, if I woke up in a black woman's body I would freak out a lot more than Jacky did.

With romance books, it seems like only a week has passed and then the heroine is in love with the lead male. I don't like that. I find that unrealistic. Oh, and hypnotising the lead and having sex with him whilst he's in the trance and thinks he's dreaming? Ms Cast, that is unethical and creepy.

What I liked was the goddesses. They're funny and smart and I really respect that. I also liked how the people in Troy believed in them and stuff like that. It's fascinating how prevalent religion was back then and how many people believed in the supernatural. (Of course it helped that the goddesses revealed themselves and there WERE supernatural things going on.)

My verdict: I found myself a bit bored halfway through and was kind of creeped out at a few of the things Kat did, but it was an interesting read overall. Plus, the cover is so pretty!