A review by little_red_dragon
The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan
3.0
“Now, we turn to the gods – not for guidance or protection, but as experimental subjects. Deities, demons and other supernatural entities can be considered as self-perpetuating structures in the elemental chaos. They might be naturally accreting structures, or perhaps they were unconsciously shaped over many generations by blind faith. These self-perpetuating structures can channel elemental energy through congruent souls – or, to put it another way, saints manifest the sacred blessings of the gods.”
With a thief's guild and a good sprinkling of fantasy mixed in, I was really hoping for a solid heist, maybe some pulse-pounding moments? Some really cool magic? Sadly, a lot of that was lacking in The Gutter Prayer--at least for the first 60% or so.
Don't get me wrong, there is definitely some great world building in the first part and the conclusion is absolutely impossible to put down. But it just took so long to get there that I hard a hard time pushing through. It's also quite dark, so you've been warned.
If lush world-building is something you love and you're willing to push through the first half of the book, I promise that the finale is worth it. But I needed a bit more in the beginning of the book to make this any higher than a 3-star read.
With a thief's guild and a good sprinkling of fantasy mixed in, I was really hoping for a solid heist, maybe some pulse-pounding moments? Some really cool magic? Sadly, a lot of that was lacking in The Gutter Prayer--at least for the first 60% or so.
Don't get me wrong, there is definitely some great world building in the first part and the conclusion is absolutely impossible to put down. But it just took so long to get there that I hard a hard time pushing through. It's also quite dark, so you've been warned.
If lush world-building is something you love and you're willing to push through the first half of the book, I promise that the finale is worth it. But I needed a bit more in the beginning of the book to make this any higher than a 3-star read.