Aphrodite the Fair

Goddess Girls #15

by Joan Holub, Suzanne Williams

Aphrodite has her hands full with Eris, who loves to stir up mischief, in this Goddess Girls adventure.

Eris is a goddess girl who has a penchant for causing trouble. So when her brother, Ares, is celebrating his thirteenth birthday, she can’t let the occasion go by without a little mischief. After all, she is the goddess of discord and strife! Aphrodite is determined to make sure Ares gets the attention he deserves, but can she handle what Eris has planned?

Genres: Mythology, Middle Grade, Fantasy, Greek Mythology, Childrens, Fiction, Retellings

272 pages, Hardcover

First published December 2, 2014

About the author

NY Times bestselling children's book author:
GODDESS GIRLS series + HEROES IN TRAINING series (w Suzanne Williams); THIS LITTLE TRAILBLAZER a Girl Power Primer; ZERO THE HERO; I AM THE SHARK. Lucky to be doing what I love!

Reviews

[✧ hayley (the sugar bowl) ✧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

➳ 4 ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

this book was so much fun! i missed aphrodite as a main character and i enjoyed spending time with her and ares this book—who’s relationship i am living for currently even though the writing is so simple.

anyway, this book was cute just like the rest of them and i liked seeing a new character introduced even if she did cause some trouble. this one just felt like a cute sleepover for some reason and i loved it.

it was a quick and easy read as these books always are and i had fun. this book served its purpose, and i can’t wait to read the rest 🎀🩰


୧ ‧₊˚ 🍓 ⋅ ☆

[~Bellegirl91~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually adorable and a cute version of the Golden Apple story where Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite appear to Paris in the Illiad and tell him to give the golden apple to the fairest. And of course he picks Aphrodite since she promised him the most beautiful woman in the world and we know the rest.

Anyway, for a little kids version of this story and with it being incorporated with Ares' sister who's the goddess of discord and chaos (something like that) was a nice touch. Overall, great story and twist on the golden apple story mainly having my be between Athena and Aphrodite which you'll just have to read to find out how this one went down. Cute, fun, and great moral of a story.

Also, it took me a bit longer to actually get through this cause I kept getting distracted by other books and kinda forgot about it and couldn't find it for a bit even though it was a library book 😬🙈 I'm just glad to be able to finish it at least 😅

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though this book is a bit too easy for my reading level (tee hee hee), I still love the mythology and charming characters.

[Cathyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book full of evil and good. It all started during Are's birthday party when her sister, Eris, goddess of strife and discord, who comes along to start some trouble for MOA. Eris has a golden apple trophy that both Aphrodite and Athena can't resist. They want it for their own. Soon, a competition starts for the highest academic grades, which leads to food fights, arguments, and even cheating! Who will win, Aphrodite or Athena? Who would finally get the golden trophy? Ares tries to warn Aphrodite that his sister is going to make everything troubling without giving away anything about his childhood, in case of embarrassment. Finally, Ares talks some sense into Aphrodite. Aphrodite and Athena start to understand that the golden trophy is enchanted by touch, but probably not for boys. Athena and Aphrodite start to understand that nothing, I mean nothing, could stop them from being friends, and their friendship is even stronger than that golden trophy. The competition ends with Eris getting the golden trophy. She admits that she prefers going back to Earth. Aphrodite thinks it's because Eris has a secret admirer. Pretty much, life turns happily ever after.

[Ashley-Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok, maybe it was just my copy, but there were a lot of mistakes in this book. Not just little grammar issues, but even Aphrodite's two truths and a lie didn't make sense, and the ending was kind of off as well. I wonder if, because the authors are attempting to churn out so many books to keep up with the demand, the quality is slipping a little? I hope not, but this was the first time I found myself disappointed in a GG book.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book because it has true friendship at the end

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aphrodite is only fair in one sense in this novel. This Goddess Girl book tries to adapt the myth of the Apple of Discord, even though the Judgement of Paris caused the Trojan war, which already happened in the series timeline. It doesn’t work very well. Eris is portrayed more like she was in the original myth, which doesn’t work in a middle school AU. I would actually prefer her being a mischievous prankster than a genuinely villainous juvenile delinquent with bad scene hair. This is a lesser Goddess Girl book than some others.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Goddess Girls novel has me feeling a bit torn. I understand the value in teaching kids the importance of empathizing and forgiving others, but I personally think that Eris got off way too easily. The story was entertaining, but I don’t think that it would be such a bad idea to teach kids to stand up for themselves rather than forgiving and forgetting.

[Amina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how out of the blue Ares sister just showed up and i get shes all mischevous and stuff but i felt kind of bad for her i mean no one liked her and the cats reaction broke my heart. Oh and the secret crush that was kind of unexpected but overall i really liked this book it was intresting to see all the diffrent points of views.

[Sting Key · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book enough to read it in two sittings! A really good series for 8-12 year olds.

[Birdie]

After reading Pheme's book I just can't look at the main squad (Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, and Persephone) the same. This was a quick read but Aphrodite isn't my favourite protagonist so far.

[Lilliana Schmidt]

I like it but it is not quite as good as the other books.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

as a younger brother with a ''problematic/weird'' eldest brother i could feel it. i literally suffered all the book like Ares did

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are so cute.

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goddess Girls is back! After what I felt was a slight lapse in the previous book in this series (Iris the Colorful), this one certainly rekindled the fire! In my opinion, it may be one of the best plots so far; it just felt like exactly what Goddess Girls stories should be. It revolved around the main characters of the series, and their friendship, whilst also involving a broad range of the many other students at MOA and a little bit of romance mixed in here and there.

It was really interesting to be exploring the family of a side character (Ares) in this book, although at first I was sceptical about him having a point-of-view. It felt like a little bit of a cop-out way for the authors to more easily tell the story. Nevertheless, I later warmed to it and ended up enjoying Ares's POV chapters (although the 'Ares and Aphrodite' chapter at the end was sort of lame!). His perspective did mean we got to see more of the godboys, who never fail to make me laugh, and more of Ares as a person, which was nice. I do think his arrogance seemed rather toned down in this book though, to the point where he showed little at all, which didn't seem much like Ares to me.

The ending of this book actually took me by surprise, because I was expecting it to be a simple (and predictable) 'everyone made up and it was all okay' resolution, when actually it was more complex than that. The way that Paris's decision was done was so so clever and inventive! Just another reminder of how good Holub and Williams are at adapting the original myths.

This book was everything I had hoped it would be, and a very strong addition to this series. I love that even after fifteen books, the characters haven't lost their charm and still feel like the same people. I seriously cannot wait for the next one!

[Linda Jaejoong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ares Schwester Eris kommt zu Besuch und sie bringt eine Menge Zwietracht und Chaos mit sich. Ares hat Geburtstag und Aphrodite hat eine große Party für ihn organisiert, als plötzlich seine große Schwester auftaucht. Ab da geht es drunter und drüber in der Schule. Ein Wettkampf bricht aus und plötzlich stehen sich alle als Feinde gegenüber. Nun liegt es an Aphrodite, Athene, Persephone und Artemis wieder in Ordnung ins Chaos zu bringen.

Eigentlich mag ich Aphrodite nicht besonders, aber das Buch hat mir überraschender weise sehr gut gefallen. Die Handlung wird abwechselnd aus ihrer und Ares Sicht erzählt. Vorher war Ares ja nicht mehr als eine Nebenfigur und ich freue mich das wir nun auch endlich etwas mehr über ihn erfahren.

Aphrodite war nervig wie eh und je, deswegen war Ares Perspektive eine willkommene Abwechslung. Er ist sehr sympathisch und ein wenig aufbrausend. Ich finde die Beiden passen nicht zusammen. Er ist der Gott des Krieges und sie die Göttin der Liebe, die zwanzig tausendmal am Tag ihr Kleid wechselt.

Ares Schwester fand ich drollig. Sie hat eine leicht bösartige Seite, aber sie ist nun mal sie Göttin der Zwietracht und des Wettstreites, dafür kann sie nichts. Ich hätte gern ein paar mehr Szenen mit ihr und Ares gehabt, sie sind ja immerhin Geschwister und ich bin der Meinung das sie ihn sehr lieb hat, auch wenn sie das nicht immer zeigen kann.

Fazit: Das Buch war sehr spannend, voller Action und hat sich sehr flüssig lesen lassen. Ich und Aphrodite werden zwar keine Freunde mehr, aber sie ist nicht mehr ganz so nervig wie zu Beginn der Serie. Das Cover ist wieder mal super schick und spiegelt perfekt die Grundstimmung im Buch wieder. Der nächste Band kann kommen!!

[my name is nonya: none ya buissness · Rating 5 out of 5]

The name of the book is Goddess Girls: Aphrodite the Fair, it has 260 pages and is written by Holub and Suzanne Williams.
Aphrodite is throwing her crush Ares a party! But then his sister Eris shows up, no one knows but she is the goddess of strife and discord and used to beat up on Ares when they were growing up. Eris brings a trophy with her, that has an enchantment on it for any girl who touches it will want it at any cost. Eris comes up with a competition to help grades and cause trouble, there are two teams, each competes to see who can get the best grades throughout two weeks.
Eris makes Athena and Aphrodite (two bffs) the team leaders. She lets each of them hold the trophy so that way they each want it terribly, the competition causes fights and the more discord she causes the more powerful she is. Eventually the girls and Ares and Hercules realize the enchantment and talk to Zeus, in the end Eris goes home and everything goes back to normal.
I liked the book because it was very interesting to watch how two best friends almost become enemies over an enchanted trophy. I liked that the book makes Greek mythology into something kids can understand better. Athena and Aphrodite are my favorite, because they are best friends and even though the trophy made them turn against each other eventually their friendship overcame it.
I would definitely recommend the book to others because its a good read, its interesting, and it makes Greek mythology more fun to read.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book in this adorable series! We get to meet Eris: Ares' older and discord-causing sister. She has a trophy that both Aphrodite and Athena will do almost anything to win. But will their struggle for the prize destroy their friendship? And their relationships with their crushes?

This was fun and we even got to see a slightly soft side of Eris towards the end. There were even a few chapters from Ares' point of view and that rounded out the story nicely. A good addition to the series!

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was a very good book and it had a very good message: never let anything get in-between friendships. Usually the goddess girl books only have the opinion of the goddess girls but this book had the opinions of the god boy Ares as well. This was one of my favourite goddess girl book and it was very enjoyable

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really sweet little book, and I loved the characters and events and dialogue and everything. Creative! I liked the introduction of Eris, and what they did to the original myth. There's always that theme of friendship and happiness running through this book, which is awesome.

[Narariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be neither really good nor really bad. It did have some enjoyable connections to the "Judgement of Paris" myth but I felt a bit like the story didn't use the characters to their full potential. There were some interesting twists but the ending was a bit predictable.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the dual chapters/voices of Aphrodite and Ares. That made this a quick and interesting read.

2015 PopSugar Reading Challenge - A book you can finish in a day

[Aiko · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love the whole series!! ares and aphrodite

[Shevaun Yip · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book was quite good since it relates to our daily lives and gives us some brief information about greek mythology.

[Kaytee · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was amazing and the book was really good and i like ares sister because i like how she causes trouble but in a good way not in a bad way but the book was fabulous. kaytee

[Kk]

How do you read this?

[Nishka K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been so long since I read this... eris is annoying

[Rachelle Macas]

it has a great story..