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megghonk's review
3.0
This book was insane and not necessarily in a good way.....but also not awful?
I really didn't even know how to rate it. Nancy moves to Hawaii with her unfaithful husband and twin sons. She's unhappy with her marriage, routine, and life essentially. So, she tries new things and ends up at a yoga class where she meets Ana and becomes best friends. I thought the book was heading in a certain direction and it completely surprised me and didn't venture into the realm I was anticipating.
Long story short, the climax of the book was completely unexpected which is nice but it felt rushed and happened in a really..... odd way. I don't want to give spoilers which is why I'm speaking very vaguely, haha. Not a total waste of time but definitely an odd read!
I really didn't even know how to rate it. Nancy moves to Hawaii with her unfaithful husband and twin sons. She's unhappy with her marriage, routine, and life essentially. So, she tries new things and ends up at a yoga class where she meets Ana and becomes best friends. I thought the book was heading in a certain direction and it completely surprised me and didn't venture into the realm I was anticipating.
Long story short, the climax of the book was completely unexpected which is nice but it felt rushed and happened in a really..... odd way. I don't want to give spoilers which is why I'm speaking very vaguely, haha. Not a total waste of time but definitely an odd read!
marceelf's review against another edition
3.0
http://www.anurseandabook.com/2017/11/the-goddesses-by-swan-huntley.html
Nancy and her family have moved to Hawaii, in an effort to save a marriage and to get her twin boys on the right path. They are little fire starters, but Nancy is steadfastly minimizing their behavior. Because if she didn't, she might have to do something about it. Same for her husband.
It's easier to go to a yoga class and focus on yourself. After meeting her yoga teacher, Ana, Nancy become caught up in Ana's world - which is a superstitious one, one where if you give away peanut butter sandwiches to the homeless, it will provide protection for you from the universe.
All of the signs are there that Ana is a liar and manipulating Nancy, but she is an expert at ignoring and excusing things she doesn't want to see.
But all that ignoring builds up to an emotional explosion, for everyone. Can Nancy's family survive?
Nancy and her family have moved to Hawaii, in an effort to save a marriage and to get her twin boys on the right path. They are little fire starters, but Nancy is steadfastly minimizing their behavior. Because if she didn't, she might have to do something about it. Same for her husband.
It's easier to go to a yoga class and focus on yourself. After meeting her yoga teacher, Ana, Nancy become caught up in Ana's world - which is a superstitious one, one where if you give away peanut butter sandwiches to the homeless, it will provide protection for you from the universe.
All of the signs are there that Ana is a liar and manipulating Nancy, but she is an expert at ignoring and excusing things she doesn't want to see.
But all that ignoring builds up to an emotional explosion, for everyone. Can Nancy's family survive?
smaravetz's review against another edition
1.0
Not sure why I stayed with this till the end, but I did. Predictable and simplistic.
allykhat328's review
3.0
I picked this one up purely because storygraph suggested it for me and I can definitely understand why storygraph suggested it. Although I didn't really rate it high, it did have been intrigued from the get go and mostly throughout.
This book follows Nancy and her family as they move to hawaii. Its like a last ditch attempt to save their marriage. Nancy befriends Anna, things happen, drama ensues. It gets tied up nicely at the end.
I liked the twist end. I didn't see it coming because I dont think it's something you really even think of for the ending but it was good. I couldn't stand Anna which is guess is the point. I like the whole is it isn't greener on the other side look at things and the characters learning that the hard way. I like that self love was a strong plot in this for both Nancy and Chuck. None of the characters really stood out to me. Its not a book I will probably remember in a few months time.
This book follows Nancy and her family as they move to hawaii. Its like a last ditch attempt to save their marriage. Nancy befriends Anna, things happen, drama ensues. It gets tied up nicely at the end.
I liked the twist end. I didn't see it coming because I dont think it's something you really even think of for the ending but it was good. I couldn't stand Anna which is guess is the point. I like the whole is it isn't greener on the other side look at things and the characters learning that the hard way. I like that self love was a strong plot in this for both Nancy and Chuck. None of the characters really stood out to me. Its not a book I will probably remember in a few months time.
poopsie35's review against another edition
2.0
it was just very confusing and i didn’t like the cheating. the other girl was insane and it was kinda hard to get into. boring beginning, kinda interesting/crazy ending, boring/confusing end
ladylore's review
1.0
DNF @ 15%
When I receive advanced copies of books, I normally try extremely hard to finish it and give the book the benefit of the doubt even if it is losing me. However, in this case, I just could not go on anymore.
I had a difficult time relating to Nancy, Chuck, Jed, Cam... pretty much anyone in this novel. I couldn't find it in myself to feel bad for Nancy or even care about what was going on.
As for the writing style, I do not think it is for me. The sentences were extremely short and choppy. There were times when the sentences could have been combined with an oxford comma but weren't.
I just lost interest extremely quickly in this story and I'm disappointed by that. Despite my initial interest, the book just couldn't hold it for an extended period of time.
When I receive advanced copies of books, I normally try extremely hard to finish it and give the book the benefit of the doubt even if it is losing me. However, in this case, I just could not go on anymore.
I had a difficult time relating to Nancy, Chuck, Jed, Cam... pretty much anyone in this novel. I couldn't find it in myself to feel bad for Nancy or even care about what was going on.
As for the writing style, I do not think it is for me. The sentences were extremely short and choppy. There were times when the sentences could have been combined with an oxford comma but weren't.
I just lost interest extremely quickly in this story and I'm disappointed by that. Despite my initial interest, the book just couldn't hold it for an extended period of time.
madamedefarge's review
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
libraryvee's review
3.0
3.5 stars for a pretty good suburban thriller. I liked that this one revolved around a menacing friendship instead of inside a marriage. (I'm getting a little bit sick of the "Gone Girl" copycats.)
After her husband has an affair, Nancy and her family move to Hawaii - a change of scene, she and her husband theorize, will help fix broken things. Nancy becomes more and more comfortable with doing things outside of her comfort zone, and she eventually makes a new friend, Ana.
Ana is friendly, generous, outgoing, and a bit of a free spirit - seemingly the polar opposite of Nancy. Their friendship grows, but of course, things start to get darker, and Ana is not quite what she seems.
I liked the plot, and it's a page-turner for sure. I found the ending/reveal to be a bit rushed, though, and strangely anticlimactic. I also lost patience with both Ana and Nancy quite awhile before you're supposed to, I think. Still, it was an enjoyable read, especially if you like this type of thing.
After her husband has an affair, Nancy and her family move to Hawaii - a change of scene, she and her husband theorize, will help fix broken things. Nancy becomes more and more comfortable with doing things outside of her comfort zone, and she eventually makes a new friend, Ana.
Ana is friendly, generous, outgoing, and a bit of a free spirit - seemingly the polar opposite of Nancy. Their friendship grows, but of course, things start to get darker, and Ana is not quite what she seems.
I liked the plot, and it's a page-turner for sure. I found the ending/reveal to be a bit rushed, though, and strangely anticlimactic. I also lost patience with both Ana and Nancy quite awhile before you're supposed to, I think. Still, it was an enjoyable read, especially if you like this type of thing.
readingactually's review
2.0
I wasn’t a fan of the plot and really could not connect with either of the lead female characters. I could not get into this story line and almost didn’t finish this book.
jenabrownwrites's review
3.0
“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.”
Nancy wants nothing more than to forget her life in San Diego. Even more, she wants to forget why her and her family had to move to Hawaii in the first place. Meeting Ana, pronounced On-a, gives her a chance to reinvent herself into the fearless and bold woman she always wanted to be.
Ana is a free spirit, deep and living a life full of meaning. Nancy wants her freedom. She wants her spiritualism. She wants space from the demands of her twin teenage boys and her unfaithful husband. Nancy finds herself drawn to Ana, drawn to her irresistible nature.
“Habitual momentum,” she said, “dictates of our lives. It’s hard to change our patterns. And it’s easy to get stuck.”
When Ana asks Nancy for help, righting the wrongs of her past to help force good karma in her life, Nancy says yes without hesitation. Every task completed makes Nancy feel powerful and alive.
“Delivering the karma could be hard sometimes, but afterwards you really did feel like a goddess.”
The Goddesses is an exploration of friendship. How the line between friends can easily become blurred. We often see these types of novels use the similarity of passion and obsession between couples. To use this concept between friends is a twist I was excited to read about.
I can see how the novel is psychological; however, it missed the mark for being suspenseful or thrilling for me. Ana felt very predictable to me. Nothing she did was shocking, and honestly, Nancy was way too gullible to be believable. The details meant to be confusing or climatic, fell flat for me. By the end, even the dramatic twists weren’t that impactful.
The aspect of friendship and how we use people to escape our own lives was interesting, and I did like that aspect of the book. Nancy was an interesting character. Her desperation to be someone else, for this new personality to erase all the pain in her past should have been compelling. I felt for her.
Life throws some fairly cruel curveballs sometimes. They can be difficult, and I think most people have wished for a redo at one point or another. The problem with Nancy for me, though, is that she isn’t very sympathetic. I can understand her struggles with her husband, and even her lack of ability to understand her sons should have made her sympathetic.
“Terrible that sometimes, as a parent, the easiest thing to do is to ignore the problem.”
These struggles though aren’t as difficult as her reactions to them are. She wants to shed the trappings of her life, but she also wants to relish in her life. As the old saying goes, she can’t have her cake and eat it too. But even wanting this, doesn’t make Nancy a bad character. What was the most disappointing were the hints we got to a darker side of Nancy. The desire to be Ana and the willingness she jumped into the friendship hinted at this darkness. If Huntley had explored this own inner darkness, Nancy would have been fascinating. Instead, she ended up feeling whiny and a bit naive.
Ana also had the potential to be compelling. But again, her motives were very see-through and predictable. Not just that her motives or actions were transparent, but she just wasn’t that shocking. Nothing she did was surprising. And the plot twist, wasn’t that twisted. I guessed what was happening within the first few interactions between the two women. It was disappointing that I was right.
While I didn’t hate reading The Goddesses, it just wasn’t as gripping or compelling as I would have liked. I wish it had more suspense to it, more shock, more creepiness. I turned every page waiting for more, but it never came. There was a lot of potential to really dive deep into the dark side of a twisted mind. Sadly, that potential was never reached for me.
Thank you BookSparks and Doubleday for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
Nancy wants nothing more than to forget her life in San Diego. Even more, she wants to forget why her and her family had to move to Hawaii in the first place. Meeting Ana, pronounced On-a, gives her a chance to reinvent herself into the fearless and bold woman she always wanted to be.
Ana is a free spirit, deep and living a life full of meaning. Nancy wants her freedom. She wants her spiritualism. She wants space from the demands of her twin teenage boys and her unfaithful husband. Nancy finds herself drawn to Ana, drawn to her irresistible nature.
“Habitual momentum,” she said, “dictates of our lives. It’s hard to change our patterns. And it’s easy to get stuck.”
When Ana asks Nancy for help, righting the wrongs of her past to help force good karma in her life, Nancy says yes without hesitation. Every task completed makes Nancy feel powerful and alive.
“Delivering the karma could be hard sometimes, but afterwards you really did feel like a goddess.”
The Goddesses is an exploration of friendship. How the line between friends can easily become blurred. We often see these types of novels use the similarity of passion and obsession between couples. To use this concept between friends is a twist I was excited to read about.
I can see how the novel is psychological; however, it missed the mark for being suspenseful or thrilling for me. Ana felt very predictable to me. Nothing she did was shocking, and honestly, Nancy was way too gullible to be believable. The details meant to be confusing or climatic, fell flat for me. By the end, even the dramatic twists weren’t that impactful.
The aspect of friendship and how we use people to escape our own lives was interesting, and I did like that aspect of the book. Nancy was an interesting character. Her desperation to be someone else, for this new personality to erase all the pain in her past should have been compelling. I felt for her.
Life throws some fairly cruel curveballs sometimes. They can be difficult, and I think most people have wished for a redo at one point or another. The problem with Nancy for me, though, is that she isn’t very sympathetic. I can understand her struggles with her husband, and even her lack of ability to understand her sons should have made her sympathetic.
“Terrible that sometimes, as a parent, the easiest thing to do is to ignore the problem.”
These struggles though aren’t as difficult as her reactions to them are. She wants to shed the trappings of her life, but she also wants to relish in her life. As the old saying goes, she can’t have her cake and eat it too. But even wanting this, doesn’t make Nancy a bad character. What was the most disappointing were the hints we got to a darker side of Nancy. The desire to be Ana and the willingness she jumped into the friendship hinted at this darkness. If Huntley had explored this own inner darkness, Nancy would have been fascinating. Instead, she ended up feeling whiny and a bit naive.
Ana also had the potential to be compelling. But again, her motives were very see-through and predictable. Not just that her motives or actions were transparent, but she just wasn’t that shocking. Nothing she did was surprising. And the plot twist, wasn’t that twisted. I guessed what was happening within the first few interactions between the two women. It was disappointing that I was right.
While I didn’t hate reading The Goddesses, it just wasn’t as gripping or compelling as I would have liked. I wish it had more suspense to it, more shock, more creepiness. I turned every page waiting for more, but it never came. There was a lot of potential to really dive deep into the dark side of a twisted mind. Sadly, that potential was never reached for me.
Thank you BookSparks and Doubleday for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.