Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Release Date: Available Now
320 Pages
Synopsis: When Nancy and her family arrive in Kona, Hawaii, they are desperate for a fresh start. Nancy’s husband has cheated on her; they sleep in separate bedrooms and their twin sons have been acting out, setting off illegal fireworks. But Hawaii is a paradise: they plant an orange tree in the yard; they share a bed once again and Nancy resolves to make a happy life for herself. She starts taking a yoga class and there she meets Ana, the charismatic teacher. Ana has short, black hair, a warm smile, and a hard-won wisdom that resonates with Nancy. They are soon spending all of their time together, sharing dinners, relaxing in Ana’s hot tub, driving around Kona in the cute little car Ana helps Nancy buy. As Nancy grows closer and closer to Ana, skipping family dinners and leaving the twins to their own devices, she knows that she will do anything Ana asks of her.
Given the rating above, it probably will come as no great surprise that The Goddesses just was not my cup of tea. When I first saw the publisher’s blurb saying it was a cross between The Descendants and Single White Female, I was so excited. But it wound up not being anything like I expected.
I know I tend to go on and on about being able to connect to characters, but honestly, this is one of the first things I look for in a story. Here, I disliked everyone, with the exception of Nancy’s seventeen-year-old twin sons, Jed and Cam. While they were troublemakers, this was in response to their parents self-absorption and neglect. Most of the time I found them sweet and funny, and kept thinking that Nancy and Chuck didn’t deserve to have them as children. Actually, disliked might be too strong a word for my feelings toward everyone else. They were all just so boring, with little to no personality. Nancy and her adulterous husband Chuck, are cardboard cutouts of a married couple. Nancy especially drove me crazy with her judgmental attitude and neglect of her sons. She completely ignores her own shortcomings which made it absolutely impossible for me to emphasize with her. The only thing I can give them kudos for was the way they handled their son Cam’s coming out to them. And Ana, who I was expecting all sorts of exciting villainy from, was equally banal. When the book finally got around to revealing her motivations, it was completely predictable and left me thinking “That’s it? I stuck with this book for this?!”
As for the plot, instead of being an exciting thriller, it was more like wading through quicksand. I kept reading. I kept waiting. But nothing happened. Okay, there’s a little twist near the end, but it’s nothing inspiring, and even worse, there’s no real climax, and there’s no realistic resolution.
The only reason why I’m giving The Goddesses 1 1/2 stars is because I did love Jed and Cam, and I liked the setting of Kona, Hawaii, but even the beautiful setting was spoiled for me due to the utter lack of diversity. As always, I recommend that you check out other reviews before making up your mind if you want to try this. As for me, I don’t think I’ll be trying anything else by Swan Huntley.
beetleypete said:
1.5 stars from you is one to miss, Kim. Good enough for me as a review.
Best wishes, Pete.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Pete. For me, this was a huge disappointment😒
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Felicia Denise said:
Connecting with characters is numero uno on my list. If you don’t what is the point?
They can’t all be five-star reads. Oh, well.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Exactly Felicia. There were the twins here, but as secondary characters they just weren’t enough to carry the story.😔
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vinnieh said:
Even though the book was a did for you, your review was excellent.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Vinnie. I tried to be as fair as I could.
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vinnieh said:
That’s why I like your writing.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
😊
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vinnieh said:
You’re a fine writer Kim.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thank you Vinnie!😊
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vinnieh said:
I mean it with every ounce of my being.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
😙
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vinnieh said:
You’re a superstar.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
As are you.😁
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vinnieh said:
Well I don’t know about that, but I’ll take it!
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Carrie said:
Sorry this one wasn’t better for you Kim. Is it sad that my first thought seeing your rating was “yay! I don’t have that one”? LOL
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Haha! Given that our tastes are so similar, I think you’d probably have the same issues as I did.
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Carrie said:
Exactly what I was thinking. Just a whew moment there because I remember debating that one.
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Sophie @ Blame Chocolate said:
Oh that’s a shame, Kim! I thought this one sounded really good. And that cover ❤️
But yeah, I need to connect with the characters too (at least to some extent), otherwise there’s no point.
Great review! 😊
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Sophie. Some reviews have been quite positive, but this is one of those rare instances where I think “Did we all read the same book?” 😒
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Lauren Busser said:
Yikes! I am sorry you didn’t like this, but I will say that I’ve been there. I did read Swan Huntley’s first book, “We Could Be Beautiful” and she seems to have a thing for shallow, unlikeable characters. I continued with We Could Be Beautiful because…well, I actually liked her writing and prose, even if I wanted to smack Catherine West in the face. I think I am still going to read The Goddesses, but I am prepared for the frustration!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I’d love to know what you think of this Lauren. This was the first book of hers that I read, and I don’t think I’ll be trying any others.
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Lauren Busser said:
I am hoping to read it next after I finish my current ARC (Yesterday by Felicia Yap). It’s part of my ARC August list.
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Em said:
I’ve seen so many reviews of this lately and nobody seems to like it!!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I was hoping for so much more.😞
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Em said:
Yeah, that definitely seems to be the genera verdict! I don’t think I’m going to read this one.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
😞😞😞
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thesarahdoughty said:
Yikes
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
*Sigh*😞
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thesarahdoughty said:
It sucks when you have high hopes and feel like you wasted so much time on something that just doesn’t hit the mark.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Exactly Sarah. I was so excited about a psychological thriller set in Hawaii, and then…Pftt.😠
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thesarahdoughty said:
Yeah. No fun.
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Stephanie said:
Great review! I’m so glad that I’m not the only one who didn’t like this book although I’m sorry that you had to read a book you disliked! It was just awful!! I kept waiting for it to get exciting, but it was one of the most boring, awful books I have ever read. I won’t read anything else by Huntley either.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Stephanie! I don’t think I would have finished it if it wasn’t an eARC.😒
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Stephanie said:
You’re welcome! No, neither would I. It’s frustrating when you waste time reading a bad book.😕
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theorangutanlibrarian said:
Ah this really does sound disappointing
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Just. Ugh.😒😒
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Sarah said:
Definitely going to trust your review on this one! You tend to be pretty spot on haha. This sounded like it could be a cool, darker Thelma and Louise type story but sounds like it wasn’t executed well at all. Bit of a shame!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Sarah! It definitely had elements of Thelma and Louise, especially near the end, but for me it was a pale imitation at best.😞
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KrystiYAandWine said:
I love that you take the time to post about books you don’t like as well. It’s so hard for me to put that much energy into them after I already feel like I’ve spent too much energy reading them. I’ll review on GR, but that’s usually it. I need to be better about doing it though!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Aww! Thanks Krysti!🤗 I usually try to with eARCS from NetGalley and publishers, just because since they sent them to me, I feel like I should. Does that make sense?🤷🏻♀️ To be honest, I think I would have given up on this before the halfway mark, if it hadn’t been an eARC.😒
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KrystiYAandWine said:
It definitely makes sense. Sometimes I’m glad when feeling a little obligated makes me push through a book. Sometimes it’s just painful. 😕
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James J. Cudney IV said:
Hi, Kim. You will be my “Recommended Blogger” to know on tomorrow’s 365 Daily Challenge. Just wanted to give you a heads up to be on the lookout. Thanks for being such a cool and fun online friend to chat with! 🙂
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Oh my gosh! Thank you so much James! I’m truly honored.😊
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James J. Cudney IV said:
You are welcome.
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mlbradford said:
Maybe this:
could b your cup of tea instead
Thank u for enjoying my blog! I love your book reviews – out of all book review blogs, byhookorbybook is by far th best!!
Cheers!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Oh My Gosh! You’ve completely made my day! Thank you so much for your kind words and for the link!😊
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Jen said:
Ugh, I’m sorry this book was such a huge letdown. And even mentioning Single White Female had me interested, especially since that movie stuck with me…..I watched it I think when I was 14 or 15 and it scared me out of my mind lol 😶😬🙈. But not connecting to the characters and other issued with how the story progressed definitely deters my interest in this story. I’m sorry it was such a huge bummer and here’s hoping your next book is much better!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Jen. I loved that movie!
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raistlin0903 said:
Well, seeing I have a to read list that is way too big anyway, it’s actually nice to see a book I can avoid. Still sorry for you to have to go through such a boring novel though. But great review as always 😊
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thank you Michael. I would definitely say you can skip this one!😊
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Lashaan (Bookidote) said:
Wading through quicksand.. Congratulations on coming out alive!! This does sound uneventful and boring… Sorry to hear your disappointment, Kim! It’s definitely important to be able to connect with the characters, or at least be able to see some authenticity for each and every one of them!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
This was a most aggravating read.😡
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