Book Review: Aphrodite the Beauty

Title: Aphrodite the Beauty by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

Release Date: August 3, 2010
Publisher: Aladdin
Pages: 224 pages
Genre: Middle Grade, Mythology
Source: Library

Goodreads Summary: Well-researched and true to the original myths, each volume in the Goddess Girls series addresses contemporary issues like friendships and relationships from a classically accurate—and entertaining—persepective.

In Aphrodite the Beauty, Aphrodite, goddessgirl of love, must deal with jealousy after giving Athena a makeover. It doesn’t seem fair that the godboys pay more attention to her friend when Aphrodite is supposed to be destined for love! She also copes with a crush from an unlikely source—the nerdy Hephaestus (god of the smith)—and learns that love comes in many forms.

I’m a fan of this Goddess Girls series and although I liked Aphrodite the Beauty a lot, I didn’t love it as much I did the first two books in the series. I feel like pre-teen girls are bombarded with love relationship issues and expectations at such a young age that I appreciate books that don’t focus on them but I know I’m not being realistic. Crushes happen and Aphrodite the Beauty actually deals with it in a very sweet and responsible way. Additionally, this book is about Aphrodite, after all, so of course it deals with crushes, angst and love.

Aphrodite is bored with all the attention she gets from the boys so to entertain herself, she gives her friend, Athena, a makeover. No one is prepared for the amount of attention Athena gets, especially from Ares, Aphrodite’s crush. 

As in mythology, Athena is a bit shallow. She becomes jealous of the Athena and is not always very nice to the one boy who actually likes her for who she is inside and not just how she looks. Aphrodite the Beauty is about jealously, friendship and most importantly, appreciating inner beauty. As with the other books in the series, the mythological aspects of the book are fun and well written.

So far, this series is an all around hit. I highly recommend it for pre-teen girls.

Content: Clean read. 

My Rating: Really Good!