Review #9: Goddess of the Legend

The book I'm talking about today is not my usual choice of genre and I have a lot to say about my impressions on it. I'm talking about Goddess of the Legend by P.C. Cast, part of the Goddess Summoning series. It follows the story of Isabel Cantelli, an exuberant, smart woman who after a near-death experience finds herself brought back in time and space to the Camelot of king Arthur. There, she is given a mission by the Water Goddess; seduce Lancelot away from queen Guinevere so as to save king Arthur's heart and, consequently, his kingdom. But things don't go according to plans and it is not for Lance that Isabel finds herself falling desperately in love with.

I am not usually one for romances but I found myself quite intrigued by the premises of this one. Isabel is an amusing, particular character; she is smart and funny, self-assured and strong, and follows passionately through with her beliefs. The chaos her modern talk causes in medieval Camelot makes for an entertaining read.

I don't think however that the story reached its full potential. The basic idea could have made for pretty towering stakes and unbearable tension but everything just seemed to go as smoothly as humanely possible. No one caused excessive problems, every obstacle Isabel found on her way always got solved by her Goddess or by her servant girl Mary and all the ( weak) plot lines tied themselves in a clean, perfect happy ending. Boring.

It's a very light read, perfect if you have little spare time and just want to relax with some cute banter, sweet fluff and a little smut. But even the love story had no real angst or build-up to it, it was all very simple and predictable. The other characters seemed little more than stick figures built around the two main ones, a mistake that is unfortunately quite common with romances.

Goddess of Legends is a fun little book but the story doesn't really leave you feeling much of anything. I would recommend it for a lazy quiet evening with nothing much going on, but it's definitely not a book that stays with you.

2/5