mattiedancer's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Writing: 4⭐️/5
The writing in this novel is strong in some sections and adequate in others. I thought the descriptions were strong, the world-building strong, but portions of the book dedicated to emotions or the inner turmoil of characters could sometimes fall flat in comparison to everything else. Similarly, the dialogue, especially at the beginning, felt forced, attempting to craft a badass female MC, but it came off a little cringe-y.
Characters: 3.75⭐️/5
Listen. I love the badass female protagonist as much as the next gal, but I felt a bit forced by Kaner to accept our MC’s badassery. She was in your face, blunt, and sassy to the point of disinterest, seemingly cutting elements from the typical badass female character and pasting it onto the page. Similarly, Elo’s determination to be a pouty ex-soldier with a chip on his shoulder reads similarly. His broody demeanour felt broody for no reason other than to be broody, and I was happy when he started to develop into something more.
Now, that being said, nearly everyone else was so fascinating to read about. The gods and their desire to have gifts. The young King and his suspiciously timed mission. The young girl who is plagued with a god of white lies. That god of white lies and his desire to undo the hurt he causes. If the two main characters had hit a stronger stride earlier, this could have easily been a five.
Plot: 4.5⭐️/5
The plot – and the world it takes place in – are instantly fascinating. We have a world, once overcome with gods and their patrons, now devoid of them. We have a quest to find the lost gods, and an attempt to untie a small god from the girl it wound itself around. I loved the story and I was fascinated at nearly every turn to understand and read about the next exciting moment, the next beautiful description, the next intriguing turn.
Who Should Read This Book?
- Fans of older young adult fiction looking for a brilliant fantasy world
- Those who LOVE the badass female protagonist
- Fantasy readers looking for plot and world-building over writing
Content Warnings?
- Death, fire, fire injury, murder, stalking, gaslighting, confinement, toxic relationship, toxic friendship, violence, injury, blood, injury detail, death of parent, death of child, war, sexism, sexual content,
Post-Reading Rating: 4.5⭐️/5
Fascinating. If I had the second, I would have started reading immediately.
Final Rating: 4.25⭐️/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, War, Sexism, Death, Gaslighting, Confinement, and Sexual content
emmer_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
clarabooksit's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Child death, War, Death, Murder, Ableism, and Death of parent
Minor: Trafficking and Child abuse
calliopereads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Murder
rhiwind93's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, War, Body horror, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Violence
barda's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I couldn't choose between giving it 3.75 and 4 stars so rounded up to 4 stars.
This was a very enjoyable debut novel, with a very rich world. The ideas about gods and how they're created by thoughts and prayers of people was really well done.
I broadly enjoyed the characters, in particular Kissen and Skedi. Kissen I enjoyed just because I really like competent but flawed female main characters, and Skedi was a fascinating look into a god with a different morality compared to the humans around him. I mostly wasn't as keen on Elo and found him a bit one-note, so I hope he gets a bit more development in the second book.
The writing and use of language were excellent, especially for a debut novel; however, I found some parts to be over-described and thus dragged the story on too much. My main complaint about the novel was the pacing, with it being slightly too slow in parts. I'm also torn about the twist in the end of, it's a really cool idea but I feel it could have been foreshadowed in the text a bit more, as the reveal seemed to me to come out of nowhere.
Overall, however, I enjoyed this and will be picking up the next one when it comes out.
This was a very enjoyable debut novel, with a very rich world. The ideas about gods and how they're created by thoughts and prayers of people was really well done.
I broadly enjoyed the characters, in particular Kissen and Skedi. Kissen I enjoyed just because I really like competent but flawed female main characters, and Skedi was a fascinating look into a god with a different morality compared to the humans around him. I mostly wasn't as keen on Elo and found him a bit one-note, so I hope he gets a bit more development in the second book.
The writing and use of language were excellent, especially for a debut novel; however, I found some parts to be over-described and thus dragged the story on too much. My main complaint about the novel was the pacing, with it being slightly too slow in parts. I'm also torn about the twist in the end of
Spoiler
the king wanting to become a godOverall, however, I enjoyed this and will be picking up the next one when it comes out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Cursing
zarhara's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Child death, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Blood, Death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and War
dexkit10's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, War, Violence, Murder, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Sexual content
nicoles_reading_corner's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gore, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and War
hannahbailey's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Brilliantly narrated by Kit Griffiths, the audiobook was an engaging and pleasant listen. Kissen is by far the standout character with her sharp tongue and quick wit. I actually laughed a lot early on with Kissen’s unexpected swearing and general annoyance at everyone around her — that was refreshing!
There’s also great rep — Kissen is an amputee, her friend is deaf and a few characters communicate in sign language.
Whilst an enjoyable read with an interesting world being built as the characters trek through it, I found it lost momentum towards the last third. There was conflict but I found myself less invested than I thought I would be given how much I was enjoying the first 50% or so. I don’t feel like we really got anywhere and the characters didn’t really develop. I did love Kissen, but I was less interested in the other characters — more could’ve been done with them.
Having finished it I feel a bit ambivalent towards it which I suppose isn’t great when finishing a novel 🥲 I’ll be interested to see where the sequel takes these characters as this definitely felt like an intro to something much bigger!
TW: murder, violence, death (of parent), fire, coercion, injury detail, blood
There’s also great rep — Kissen is an amputee, her friend is deaf and a few characters communicate in sign language.
Whilst an enjoyable read with an interesting world being built as the characters trek through it, I found it lost momentum towards the last third. There was conflict but I found myself less invested than I thought I would be given how much I was enjoying the first 50% or so. I don’t feel like we really got anywhere and the characters didn’t really develop. I did love Kissen, but I was less interested in the other characters — more could’ve been done with them.
Having finished it I feel a bit ambivalent towards it which I suppose isn’t great when finishing a novel 🥲 I’ll be interested to see where the sequel takes these characters as this definitely felt like an intro to something much bigger!
TW: murder, violence, death (of parent), fire, coercion, injury detail, blood
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Violence