Fast page turner. Interesting read but honestly the ending threw me for a loop and was disappointing.

Just… something of a book. Didn’t hate it but also a long way to enjoying it. The ending wrapped up interestingly but also had me actually shaking my fist at this book.

Reminiscent of Single White Female , this was a twisty & nauseating story of a woman, who when relocating to Hawaii with her family for a fresh start finds a new friend. Searching to re-invent herself Nancy decided to try yoga where she met her instant bestie Anna. We follow the adventures of the two insta-friends when slowly the secrets begin to unravel until it's too late to break this friendship.
I enjoyed this book much more than I had expected to. I will definitely look for other books by Swan Huntley.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

The Goddesses by Swan Huntley

304 Pages
Publisher: Doubleday Books, Doubleday
Release Date: July 25, 2017

Fiction (Adult), General Fiction (Adult), Family Dynamics, Relationships, Friendships, Betrayal, Affairs, Psychological, Manipulation, Alcoholism

For a new start, Nancy and her husband Chuck move their twin teenage boys from San Diego California to Kona Hawaii after Chuck’s affair with Shelly. Nancy loves Hawaii but feels like she is in still in the same old rut. She ventures out of her comfort zone and finds a yoga in the park event. Unsure about attending, a knock on her van window by Ana gets her moving. She is intrigued by Ana. She is so serene and everything Nancy is not. Nancy wants to be friends with her so bad and suggests they do something outside of yoga. I’m sure if Nancy could change one thing, it would have been this.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in first person point of view. This book is full of love and betrayal, personal growth and lying, friendships and enemies, doing good but then doing bad. I am not sure how the title applies. All the characters were flawed but hard to like. Nancy learns to stand on her own but is it personal growth or manipulation. What I learned from the book is the grass is always greener on the other side and happiness is where you make it. I could not decide if I liked it or not but was so interested in what would happen next, I could not put it down. This is a book for anyone who likes psychological books. It is definitely a twisted tale.

Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. This book wasn't horrible but it wasn't great. I don't find much about it to recommend it to anyone. It just didn't grab me and I really didn't like the characters that much.

I enjoyed the premise behind the Goddesses and especially the exploration of female friendships. The writing was engaging too and I liked the author's style. The book just had a hard time sucking me in and took a long time to get going. The plot picked up thankfully in the middle, but I expected a little more from the twists. I did love the Hawaiian setting too since I haven't read too many books that take place on the islands. Characterizations were also done well, even though I didn't feel a particular connection to Nan as much as I hoped. Overall, a breezy 3 star read.

I was provided this copy free for review from Netgalley.

I have sat on my review of this one for awhile. I found the characters frustrating and lacking personality. Everyone was unlikable which I believe was the point but by the end of the story I didn't feel like anything was gained. The family moves to Hawaii which they are all really happy with at first, aside from the reason that they moved there. Our main characters husband had cheated on her so he got a transfer at work to start over. (I'm not so sure that could ever work). She then starts going to yoga to make different types of friends, who she then starts hanging out with everyday. Nancy then proceeds to just spend time with her wierd friend rather then paying her family any attention even though her children are only teenagers. Her family practically implodes and the friendship majorly backfires on her. All in all is this a rant? possibly...I just found it difficult to finish this story and the more I read the more annoyed I kept getting. I don't even know who I could recommend this one to.

This book was hard for me. Ultimately, it ended in my DNF pile. I hate leaving books unread, but the book kept getting more and more insane. I expected this book to be about friendship and bonding and it was anything but. How Nancy could practically abandon her family and form such an intense relationship with a crazy manipulative stranger were a bit above what I thought plausible.

I found this book a quick read, which is normally indicative of a good book for me, but I find myself conflicted. You see, though I breezed through it, it wasn't a "I want more, more, more" drive that had me flipping pages and scanning the words at an abnormal quickness. Oh no, it was more of "where is the moment I start to like this book?" The more pages I turned and found myself still feeling the drag of disconnection, the more I forced myself to go, go, go until I ended up at the conclusion.
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What was supposed to be an exhilarating, albeit dangerous, female relationship between Nancy and Ana fell somewhat flat. What was supposed to be a family falling apart at the seams and moving to Hawaii as a means to come together, only for Nancy to realize--surprisingly (go figure)--that her family is as dysfunctional and falling apart as ever also didn't seem to come together (pun intended) as the author attempted to make it.
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But I will say this: there was this somewhat dreamy quality to the writing where the secondary characters fell to the background and Nancy and Ana are at the forefront, accentuating the suffocating quality of their relationship. Though I felt that relationship felt flat in the end (darn overhyping got to me), I admire how Huntley's writing worked to bring that aspect alive.
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Do I recommend this book? Not really, but simply because it was meh. If someone brought the book up, would I encourage them to read it? Well, I would explain what I liked and didn't like, but I would encourage them to read it for themselves and form their own judgment. Taste is subjective; what I dislike may be the next person's treasured read.

Well, I was intrigued by this, that’s for sure. I read it pretty quickly, but I kind of thought that Ana was going to like murder Nancy or something and take over her life. It wasn’t as extreme as that, but she was still a psycho!

Wow, this book just didn't work for me. It was slow, and the main characters were all just awful. Overall, it just wasn't my favorite read.

This book wasn't about the ending so much as the journey to get there. I like it more than I thought I would, even though I found it a bit predictable. The relationship that unfolds is fascinating.

Wow, these were some unpleasant people who I could not fully get behind. I like literary fiction only some of the time and when I really like it, it comes down to it being mostly escapism and not TOO believable with snot people. This had too many snot people and just served to make me depressed.

First I want to thank the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read The Goddesses. With that said, it took me a long time to read it. I'm actually surprised I stuck it out until the end. Maybe it's the total disregard for marriage? Maybe it's the fact that I hated Nancy? I did not like this story at all.

I found this to be a very interesting story. It almost had the “Single White Female” feel to it the entire time. I enjoyed the realness of he characters and the descriptions of Hawaii. Beautifully written prose. I would highly recommended for anyone who loves a good mystery/suspense.

This was a amazing book with great characters and a awesome plot. I read it in like two days, I couldn't put it down.

I previously read Swan Huntley's first novel, We Could Be Beautiful and I loved it so much that I was excited to read this next novel . Huntley's first novel wasn't predictable and I loved that. This one, on the other hand, didn't really capture my interest. I was underwhelmed when it came to twists and overall plot. The ending was just not interesting and thrilling like I had originally expected and it left me feeling unsatisfied.

Great book and I really liked it. I would definitely say that this would make a great book club read because there is a lot to discuss.

Sorry for the inconvenience but I have lost interest in the concept. Thank you for providing the copy though. I look forward to reading some more titles of yours. Thanks!

This was an amazing book...well written and deeply heartfelt story.