Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Goddess of Nothing At All by Cat Rector

6 reviews

dcnireads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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nelldiaz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I couldn't put this book down. It was very good however,  I will be sending my therapist bill to the author lol. This book is very dark. I would check trigger warnings,  but its so good! Can't wait to read more in this series 

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bookishfaye's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Boy oh boy has this book ever given me ✨ feelings ✨ (I dnf’d with 50 pages left, but I’m counting it as read because I read the majority of it)

🍂 Positives:

- Loki’s gender-fluidity is straight up the best representation of being gender-fluid that I have come across thus far. It deserves a full star in itself for that & was amazing. Same with the queerness in this book, I adored how gay it was.
- the writing style was super fast paced and easily accessible & the romance writing I found to be quite fun at times. This book does a good job getting you invested.
- the physical copy of the book is so stunning 

🍂 negatives:

-This one might just be a personal opinion; I don’t really get triggered by much, but some of the things Loki had to go through felt unnecessarily traumatic, & by the end of the book so many things I just couldn’t stomach & had to put it down.
- how Loki absolutely lied to Sigyn to basically trick her into having a family with him?? & then how he gaslighted the fuck out of Sigyn throughout that 3rd quarter of the book was actually so unbearable to read. Also the fact that he had the audacity to go off and create a whole other FAMILY while occasionally taking Sigyn to bed & thought she didn’t have a right to know???? Like I’m sorry???? 
- also really hated how Angrboda was being written in here versus the witches heart 


I was really trying to push through because I adored The Witches Heart, & I did actually thoroughly enjoy the first chunk & definitely got invested, but I can’t handle the rage this book makes me feel & I have to say enough is enough.

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loonieslibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5/5
My jaw hurts from it dropping every two seconds while reading this book. 

Before going into this, I barely knew anything about Norse Mythology. Sure, I picked up some knowledge about the characters and stories through my numerous Marvel movie nights or other pieces of media, but I didn’t know enough to be able to predict nearly anything happening in this book. It’s filled with plot twists, drama, and gore as you can expect from any sort of book based on any mythology. But Cat Rector also manages to add hilarious and flirty banter and loveable yet complex and morally grey characters, while making the mythology very understandable for the reader.

Sigyn is such a wonderful main character. She is powerful, while still remaining feminine. I loved how she wasn’t just a “good girl” trying to change Loki’s trickster ways. Now Loki…God(s). I just can’t help but love him despite him being the most aggravating person ever. I can’t blame Sigyn for falling in love. I also love how nearly all the side characters are three-dimensional as well and not just there for the plot.

I absolutely loved the character of Idunn but I was sad that she completely disappeared during the second half. Of course, I knew why, but it would have been nice to read a bit more about her life after what happened to her.


Lastly, I want to mention that I’m the official captain of the Hreidulfr protection squad. Don’t you dare touch him, Cat. I won’t hesitate to take a plane to Canada. Yes, that is a threat.


It follows the stories in Norse Mythology very closely (now we just see it happening through the eyes of Sigyn) so the shock factor lasts throughout the whole book basically. Don’t expect it to follow the classic structure of a story. I absolutely loved how different it was from any book I had ever read before, but it may throw you off your pace from time to time. 

HOWEVER, I would like to thank the author for making the chapters this short. Longer chapters may have become a bit overwhelming considering the heavy themes and frequent twists, but the short chapters were a great way to either keep me going in the book or provide me with a little break.

Cat handled the queerness of all the characters (especially Loki being genderfluid) in such a careful and heart-warming way. The MC is bisexual, Loki is pansexual and regularly shifts into different bodies, and many other characters are queer as well. I would have loved to see Loki in her female-presenting body a bit more during the emotional moments as well as she is just as much a part of their identity as Loki’s male-presenting body.

But if it’s still not clear by now, I absolutely loved this book. The ending had me sobbing so much, I could feel my heartbeat pounding in my skull, but it also left me incredibly intrigued for the sequel. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Sigyn, although considering the first book, I don’t think we can expect book 2 to just be Sigyn on a nice and calm vacation through the nine realms (although she really deserves one!).

Thank you so much to Cat for sending me an arc of this wonderful book. I had such a wonderful time reading it together with everyone who participated in my buddy read. 

TWs, tropes, and list of all the rep in GoNaa: https://www.catrector.com/blog/categories/gonaa-warnings

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soswiin's review

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adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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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tinyelfarcanist's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An outstanding debut novel from master story weaver Cat Rector.

From Grace Zhu's awesome cover art to the intriguing synopsis, I knew this book was meant for me.

As someone already acquainted with most of the myths included, this heart-rendering retelling of Sygin's life in the likeness of Circe surpassed my expectations.

The Goddess of Nothing At All has one of the best romances I've read. It includes my favorite depiction of Loki: he's complex, dreamy, and flawed. Sygin, while being a goddess, is still relatable. I loved the portrayal of gods as humane and spiteful, the display of the hardships of partnership and parenthood, and the queer representation.

I was fortunate to be an ARC reader and I want to thank the author for the opportunity to read such an amazing tale. This is a dark novel not suited for the faint of heart.

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