Freya is really something--funny, gorgeous, smart. She also happens to be the Norse goddess of love and war. Centuries of diminishing belief have left her in a weakened state, so she bides her time in a Florida mental hospital, passing herself off as a delusional high school student. As she says, it's "the only place where they'll believe in me." When the evil Finemdi corporation comes calling, resolved to add her to its stable of useful deities, Freya bolts, causing a bit of mayhem in the process. She gets work as a Disney World princess, gaining strength from the adoration of small children, and then decides to destroy Finemdi from the inside, pretending to work for the company while devising a plan of attack.
This raucous debut young adult novel by Matthew Laurence celebrates a strong-willed female out to establish herself as a "world-changing goddess on the rise." She's not above using her sexual charms to get humans and gods to do her bidding, but she's also dabbling in something new for a goddess of her vintage, self-control. As she resists the urge toward chaos, she gains control over her life, a lesson any non-divine teenager might find helpful. In Finemdi, Laurence nicely satirizes the earnestness of corporate life. One droll scene shows Freya and her nemesis, Dionysus, enduring a PowerPoint presentation entitled "Divine Calibration: Setting you up for success!" Freya's refusal to cede her divinity to her corporate overlords, and her determination to fight back when the moment is right, make her a goddess worth worshipping. --Ann Shaffer, freelance writer and editor