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So what’s a girl goddess to do when everything she wants is just a race away? Phoebe is back and has a new challenge of Olympic proportions to master. The question isn’t whether she’ll win the race, the question–can she win it and control her powers so she doesn’t get smote? Between learning to control herself, preparing for a race that’s older then the Olympics and holding onto her love life, Phoebe has a lot on her plate and Childs manages to retain that witty narrative tone in this sequel to Oh. My. Gods.

Whereas Phoebe spent the majority of Oh. My. Gods. in the dark about her parentage and feeling like a fish out of water amongst her peers, she spends a lot of this book struggling to do what most teenagers have to accomplish. Her development felt more natural here, as she learns (often the hard way) how to control her powers so she doesn’t get the ultimate smack down from the Gods for being reckless.

The romance between she and Griffin moves at a good speed as well. Now that they’re both on even ground, more or less, it was fun watching their competitiveness both drive them to be better at their running, but also support each other without reserve. There was never a moment when I felt as if either one would rather the other was less so they could be more.

The race, and the end result, was tense. I could feel how badly Phoebe wanted to win and felt my heart go out to her after everything she went through to get to that point. I never thought she’d use her powers (consciously or otherwise) to win the Pythian Games, but there was that nugget of doubt in my mind that maybe the ultimate lesson for Phoebe would be learning that losing would be okay.

Goddess Boot Camp was as engaging and lively as its predecessor promised it would be. A lot of the character flaws I found in the first book were fixed and a new layer was added to Phoebe’s emotional development that I appreciated. Enjoy this second helping of Phoebe’s life and join me in rooting for a third book.

Rating: 4 / 5

In this sequel to Oh My Gods, the gods have become concerned over Phoebe’s lack of control over her powers and decide she must attend goddess boot camp and then pass a test or else. To add to the stress it turns out two of her counselors are her step-sister Stella and her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend. To top it all off Phoebe begins to suspect her boyfriend, Griffin, may be rekindling something with his ex-girlfriend.

Oh My Gods tied up so nicely that I was not sure what to expect from this sequel but it was just as much fun as the first book. It was hilarious seeing the results of Phoebe’s attempts to use her powers. Can you imagine if you even subconsciously wished for something and it came true with disastrous results? That is basically what Phoebe is encountering which is unusual when most of the other descendants of the gods have trouble even initially accessing their powers.

Stella was a major surprise in this book. We saw a hint that maybe she was not a total evil step-sister in book 1 but we get to see much more of her human side as she attempts to help Phoebe gain control over her powers. The only disappointment for me was that everything ties up nicely in the end other than what happened to Phoebe’s father. Still another great book to add to the series. If you haven’t read Oh My Gods you should pick it up and then follow up right away with this sequel.
Rating: 4 / 5

This is a great book for 11-15 year olds its cute and fun and it even throws in a little greek history. It is the follow up in a series and is a good fun read. I have no problem letting my 12 year old read it.Those who like the Princess series by Meg Cabot or the Super 16 series by Jax Abbot will like these.
Rating: 4 / 5