This is the last day of my blog in the Interim Goddess of Love Blog Tour, but the tour is by no means finished yet! There are other blogs with reviews, excerpt reveal, and giveaways for you guys! If you haven't entered the contest already, Dia of Book Junkie Joint has posted a giveaway for paperback copies of the Interim Goddess of Love trilogy and it is open to international readers! Also check out today Iryn of Penchant4Charm who is also hosting a giveaway. Keep an eye out for other Interim Goddess of Love Blog Tour posts as there are a lot of other bloggers who will be posting interesting interviews, teasing excerpts, and hosting giveaways :) *Copy provided for the blog tour by organizer*
Title: Icon of the Indecisive [Interim Goddess of Love, book 3]
Author: Mina V. Esguerra
Rating: ★★★ 1/2
College student Hannah Maquiling, also temporarily working as the Goddess of Love, has had enough of everyone asking for her help when it comes to relationships. It's her turn to find romance! She deserves it, after serving as matchmaker and confidant to everyone else in Ford River College for the past year. She's had a crush on handsome senior (and God of the Sun) Quin forever, but he's destined to fall in love with an extraordinary mortal woman, so she's figured her chances with him have pretty much dropped to zero.
It's not like she doesn't have any options for a classic college romance though. There's Diego, God of the Sea and Quin's best friend/enemy. And regular guy Robbie is stepping up, making sure she knows how he feels about her. How hard can it be for a goddess to find someone to love, and be loved in return?
It's not like she doesn't have any options for a classic college romance though. There's Diego, God of the Sea and Quin's best friend/enemy. And regular guy Robbie is stepping up, making sure she knows how he feels about her. How hard can it be for a goddess to find someone to love, and be loved in return?
I thought all along that Vida was the main antagonist in the story. Well, partly, mostly in the third book, yes. But there is someone more secretive and has been involved in this whole complicated mess from the start whom I haven't been expecting. Or at least, I was expecting her as someone else, and not the "Original Goddess" of love. After all, it has been repeated several times that she's in hiding, yet Quin seems to know exactly who she is. The other mortals developing powers, and the "reasoning" behind it (for love) also didn't make sense.
The "dreams" that Hannah keeps having are supposedly not dreams but rather her future with Quin, but they seemed like they happened in the past. Also, the last "dream" sequence was like what happened in the past. See, Diego was barred from loving this mortal, but Quin was allowed to have a relationship. Diego waged war against Quin and for this war to not happen, the beloved of Quin supposedly went somewhere else until Diego felt that he has had his revenge. In Queen of the Clueless, Diego falling in love, the war between him and Quin, already happened, so how come Quin says it's "the future"?
The Quin-Hannah thing finally happens in the end, but how it came to be (or will come to be) is not what I expected. It felt like insta-love. Quin is supposed to be this guy who isn't feeling anything and searching for the one, but he lets Hannah be with Robbie. He also says that he knows how Hannah feels for him and it will feel like he's taking advantage of her. If he loves her too, then it wouldn't be taking advantage, right? Just reciprocity? I was expecting to be super thrilled when they finally get together, but I was just really disappointed.
In Icon of the Indecisive, it is mentioned that it has been nine months since she has been a goddess, which means about two semesters has already gone by, and Ms. Farrah talks to her for having 22 absences already. Hannah internally justifies it with all that has happened to her as the goddess in the first two books, which means the other things should have happened in the first semester, right? Okay I'm confused.
Lastly, poor Robbie. Seriously. That was a huge blow to him. And what kind of love is that, being with someone, an ordinary mortal, trying to love someone else while you're in love with Quin? Why couldn't Hannah and Quin just be together after that huge revelation moment between the two of them? It's like, okay let me try this thing out for now with Robbie while Quin just lets me be. It doesn't make sense, for me. She'll love Robbie while she's in love with Quin, and she knows Quin is just in the background, kind of like her fall-back guy but not really because he's the one she wants from the start. Robbie deserves more than that.
So why 3.5 stars? Because it was an easy read and I enjoyed the journey from point A to point B. Honestly, it was only the ending that I didn't really like, and I would have been happier if Hannah just told Quin, oh shove off, I gave you the chance, I'll just be with Robbie. I also enjoyed Sol and Hannah's friendship in Icon of the Indecisive. There were more times between them in this book, and I was glad to read more about their friendship and see why they're best friends.
But maybe all these confused thoughts are just me, and others can make more sense of it? At least Icon of the Indecisive shook me as it totally went against my expectations and sometimes, the books that upset me are the ones that make the most imprint on my memory anyway. Another thing I liked about the series is that now I'm totally curious about the whole Filipino mythological gods! I like books that engage me enough to make me curious and actually research on the topics in the book.
And you know what the funny thing is? I wish there was a last short novella so I'll know what really happened to Quin and Hannah. Man, Interim Goddess of Love has got me hooked despite my irritation. Also, Mina's got me rooting for three different guys throughout the series, which means they all have something to recommend them, even bad-ass Diego. But in this round, Robbie wins, hands down.
Burning with curiosity about the interesting Icon of the Indecisive? I made it easy for you to find :)
- Paperback: Directly order from Ms. Mina Esguerra.
- Ebook copies: Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Amazon.
- For all three books in the Interim Goddess of Love series: Book Depository.
About Mina V. Esguerra
Mina V. Esguerra writes contemporary romance, young adult, and new adult novellas. Her young adult/fantasy trilogy Interim Goddess of Love is a college love story featuring gods from Philippine mythology. Her contemporary romance novella Fairy Tale Fail won the 2012 Filipino Readers' Choice award for Chick Lit. Through her blog Publishing in Pajamas (minavesguerra.com), she documents her experiments in epublishing.
When not writing romance, she is president of communications firm Bronze Age Media, development communication consultant, indie publisher, professional editor, wife, and mother. She created the workshop series "Author at Once" and #romanceclass for writers and publishers.
