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A review by ajlawford
Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff
4.0
I have an powerful sense of relief at having finally finished this book. It has taken me most of the month and I have started and finished 9 other books in the same timeframe! This is not to say the book is bad, but it sure is dense! It’s only 430 pages, but there are no page breaks for chapters, with small font, big pages and small margins. I’d be interested to compare the word count as there is an awful lot of content. I had given myself a 20 page per day reading task just to force my way though but then I had to switch to the audio version throughout the middle as my attention kept wandering.
As with my main complaint of the first book, the pacing of this one is very slow to start and really doesn’t get going until halfway in. There are two timelines, which eventually merge and I found it really interrupted the flow switching between the two. I was glad when they joined up. Also one timeline was entirely in italics and it was very annoying to read. Things really pick up when she finally gets to the arena with things all leading up to the final battle which felt quite rushed.
There was a female female sex scene in this, that I thought maybe was a bit pornographic and not overly good representation considering the author is male. I happened to be listening to this scene on audiobook when I was walking into the hospital to go to an appointment. I felt super conspicuous in the elevator, nervously checking that my headphones were actually plugged in and I wasn’t on loud speaker haha
I was a little sad to give up the scenery of the assassin school. But I did find the arena to be a cool setting I’ve not read any fiction about before. We are introduced to a whole new set of characters, whom I didn’t relate to as much as book 1, and Ashlynn is still dead to me. Fuck that bitch, forever!
I’d heard that this book ends on a MASSIVE cliffhanger. So I’ve timed my read to be close to the release of the third book. I had an idea of what the cliffhanger would be, so I wasn’t not left shocked and angry as others seem to be. I actually thought the end was great. Resolved some things but left open some threads for the finale. And there was one final jaw dropping reveal that has left me begging to read the next book, even though my opinion of this series is mixed. I’d say that’s a very successful way to end a book!
Overall a challenging and complex read about a unique and interesting story of one kick ass protagonist.
As with my main complaint of the first book, the pacing of this one is very slow to start and really doesn’t get going until halfway in. There are two timelines, which eventually merge and I found it really interrupted the flow switching between the two. I was glad when they joined up. Also one timeline was entirely in italics and it was very annoying to read. Things really pick up when she finally gets to the arena with things all leading up to the final battle which felt quite rushed.
There was a female female sex scene in this, that I thought maybe was a bit pornographic and not overly good representation considering the author is male. I happened to be listening to this scene on audiobook when I was walking into the hospital to go to an appointment. I felt super conspicuous in the elevator, nervously checking that my headphones were actually plugged in and I wasn’t on loud speaker haha
I was a little sad to give up the scenery of the assassin school. But I did find the arena to be a cool setting I’ve not read any fiction about before. We are introduced to a whole new set of characters, whom I didn’t relate to as much as book 1, and Ashlynn is still dead to me. Fuck that bitch, forever!
I’d heard that this book ends on a MASSIVE cliffhanger. So I’ve timed my read to be close to the release of the third book. I had an idea of what the cliffhanger would be, so I wasn’t not left shocked and angry as others seem to be. I actually thought the end was great. Resolved some things but left open some threads for the finale. And there was one final jaw dropping reveal that has left me begging to read the next book, even though my opinion of this series is mixed. I’d say that’s a very successful way to end a book!
Overall a challenging and complex read about a unique and interesting story of one kick ass protagonist.