Book Review: Interim Goddess of Love by Mina Esguerra

I admit that I don’t know a lot of Filipino authors. Prior to my discovery of Mina Esguerra, I had only read books from two authors: Bo Sanchez and Bob Ong. If Chico, Delamar and Gino are counted, then that makes it five authors.

Most of you probably know that I dream of having my own book. But since I am a graduate of an Engineering course and I don’t have any formal trainings in writing, I didn’t know where to start. I came to know Mina while I was looking for Filipino authors who have already published books. I started reading her blog. I then stalked followed her on Twitter. Imagine my kilig when she followed me back. Unfortunately, my husband sort of banned me from buying more books because I still have a lot of unread ones on my shelf. Plus, storage is starting to become our problem since we are still staying with my parents. I’m still the old-fashioned bookworm so I still prefer reading traditional books more than ebooks. So when Mina launched a contest, I joined! I never win in contests and raffles. But my fairy godmother probably heard the deepest desire of my heart. I won and I got myself a signed copy of Interim Goddess of Love!

Hannah is a college sophomore. Not having any experiences in having a boyfriend, it surprises her why a lot of people choose her to listen to their love problems. Unknowingly, one of the hottest guys in school approached and asked her to temporarily take the place of the Goddess of Love.

Being a fan of the Percy Jackson series, stories of gods and goddesses are no longer new to me. I love that Mina was able to infuse Filipino folklore in IGoL. I also like that everything in IGoL is very relatable to Filipino readers. Aside from familiar names and places, IGoL talks a lot about the Filipino culture.

As soon as I finished reading this novel, I tweeted Mina and told her that I almost died of kilig! My husband can attest to how I kept on rolling around our bed while I was reading it, not to mention my occasional squealing. Hihi. I seriously wish that I read this book when I was 16. Ang lakas maka-teenager, promise! =)) I think I was smiling for hours after reading IGoL.

Read this book and I promise you that you’ll be torn. I still can’t decide whether I’m Team Quin, Team Diego or Team Robbie. I thought I would be a Team Quin forever. But by the end of the novel, I switched to Team Robbie. I am pretty sure that this will eventually change as I read Queen of the Clueless and Icon of the Indecisive. Girls, Team Jacob and Team Edward are soooo ten years ago! :p

Since my husband saw how happy I was while reading the book, he temporarily lifted my book-shopping ban and let me buy Queen of the Clueless and Icon of the Indecisive! The books were delivered to me last Monday. ^_^


Mina Esguerra
Blog: http://minavesguerra.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/minavesguerra
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/minave/