Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Godkiller

This was a fun read with lots of rich world-building. The system of gods and humans felt both wondrous and intuitive, often making me curious about just what other gods there are out there and how much their power stretches (which I suppose I should simply read the next book sooner rather than later, then). I also enjoyed the characters in the story, from the lovable side characters to our main cast of heroes. Their voices all felt starkly unique to each other and I appreciated how their bonds grew over time.

That being said, I did have some critiques of the narrative and style.

First, I felt that Skediceth’s point of view—while it shed light on a god’s perspective—did take away from the pain of his betrayal to Inara. Instead of feeling surprised by his takeover of her mind and body, I saw it coming a mile away and therefore didn’t feel as stunned or hurt by it as I think I could have, had his POV chapters not foreshadowed it so heavily.

In that regard, I do wish she had perhaps limited her use of POVs to just Inara, Elo, and Kissen to maintain more suspense. Secondly, the big reveal of

Arren’s betrayal also felt a bit lacking due to how intensely evil he was upon Elo sacrificing himself. I would have liked to see him struggle a little more when faced with the reality of his selfish power grab in front of someone who I do believe he must have loved at some point.

That came across a bit superficial or disingenuous if only because it leaned more towards a place of “aha! the mask is off, muahahah!” as opposed to a hard hitting betrayal.

I do feel that Kaner really brought the story together for a very engaging end, however, and it certainly kept me wanting to see what happens next! Despite the few things I was a bit dissatisfied with, I felt that there were many more things to be excited about. Kissen, for one, is a breath of fresh air. I’ve read quite a few “angry women” protagonists now at this point, but I really loved Kissen’s flavor of it. She’s both down to earth and wildly spontaneous, and that combination made her an extremely fun character to follow. I also adored Inara, and think that she was a cool spin on the “naive girl discovering the world” trope. Her power and individuality made it easy to root for her and exciting to imagine what she will become.

I’m looking forward to reading Sunbringer, even if I’m nervous about the fates of our favorite found family!

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missgarceau's review against another edition

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adventurous funny reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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blacksphinx's review against another edition

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medium-paced

2.0

I think there's some good ideas in here, but I can feel that this is a debut. It was difficult to distinguish between three of the four PoVs because they sounded so similar. The characters became a found family willing to self-sacrifice to protect the others too quickly. There's a dumb romance and sex shoehorned in. I don't think I'll be continuing this series, especially because I've heard the next book is pure setup/"middle book syndrome".

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beckyremillard's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.0

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mazomazli's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.5

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barbarella85's review against another edition

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3.5

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little_miss_book_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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charley0796's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I enjoyed the unique world building to this book. It was a strange novel in that no one knew what was going on at any point, as opposed to having one narrator with at least more understanding of the bigger picture. This made for a strange albeit intriguing read.
I did feel the romance was thrown in there and the sex unecessary - that could have waited until the third book.

I also loved how sexism didn’t exist in this book and the way diversity was incorporated into the text - including disability! It was done in a sensitive and clear way throughout. Often sexism features so heavily in fantasy, so this was really refreshing.

I usually really struggle with picking up names when reading, but this was so well done I didn’t have any problems for once!

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