A review by avstintyler
A Veil of Gods and Kings by Nicole Bailey

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wanted to absolutely love this book, but at best it kept my attention. I couldn’t get past how surface level each of the characters were and how despite three POVs, the dialogue could’ve alternated one way or the other because there were no distinguishing contrasts between them. Frankly, everyone in this novel (sans about two characters) was too agreeable.

I’ve read reviews saying it took too long to get to the romance of the book, but I couldn’t disagree more. I wanted more character development; I needed to understand why these characters didn’t like each other and why I as the reader should care about either of them. Every time an opportunity for backstory was presented, it was brushed over. I understand this novel is an introduction to larger series, but I don’t think it set the groundwork as well as it should have in terms of establishing the primary characters. It all just felt so rushed to me.

All that said - I will continue with the series… eventually. Just not at the pace I was hoping for.