Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Isles of the Gods

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The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman

7 reviews

ctara2123's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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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haley49's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoyed the world building and the three main characters. I think there were way too many povs which took away some of the impact of plot developments and distracted from certain main moments. Most of the povs outside of the mmc and fmc were uneccessary. Nonetheless I enjoyed my read and am excited for book 2.

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betweentheshelves'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

3.5

This was pretty good! The magic system was really interesting and intricate, with pretty strong core cast of characters. It's bit like a pirate adventure, with magic. The plot did seem a little YA cookie cutter, but that's not always a bad thing. Of course, we end on a cliffhanger, so be warned if you do pick this one up!

There was a lot of detail put into the magic system, but I wish there was a little more detail put into the actual world building. At times, it was difficult to really place where all the countries were and what was happening with them. Maybe a map would have been helpful! Perhaps a hazard of listening to the audiobook.

Anyway, despite that, still such a fun read overall!

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guessgreenleaf's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

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vivivi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is really good! For one, I love the world here. It's some kind of mixture of 18th century technology/architecture, guns and ships, pirates, modern speech, magic, and gods. The notion that you have to please the spirits and charm them into doing what you want is beautiful and complicated.

I listened to the audiobook version, which has several voice actors, one for each POV. They were all great!

I was pulled in from the start. You don't have to wait long for something interesting to happen. You get attached to the characters, which is both a blessing and a curse, as always.

I did NOT expect this ending. Well. Part of me did, but I thought something different was going to happen lol. Now I need to know what happens next. I'm looking forward to book 2!

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natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

Gorgeously detailed and thoroughly enchanting, the first book in Amie Kaufman’s new epic fantasy series is a masterfully immersive, high stakes adventure story that I can guarantee will have you on the edge of your seats.

Ten years in the making, Kaufman’s character driven solo title follows the seafaring Selly and fun loving Prince, Leander who Selly is duty bound to escort (secretly) to the sacred Isles of The Gods, in order to complete a ritual that will strengthen their realm’s goddess and protect them from a slumbering (and war mongering) enemy God who seeks to destroy them all.

With magic, warring gods and a high octane, life or death adventure for three unlikely (and incredibly reluctant) heroes, The Isles of The Gods is a masterfully written and unforgettable read with lush world building that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I loved the merging of magic with a 1920s style world on the precipice of technological advancement also made for an intriguing exploration into social class and economic tensions and how they (much like the tensions that preceded WW1) can lead to something as destructive as war with only slightest of nudges.

The prose too, was absolutely stunning and I loved how free flowing and easy to read it was, making for some really smooth transitions between each of the alternating POVs (there were five in total) and really conveyed the complexities and nuances of the world without becoming info dumpy.

Selly, Leander and Keegan, our rag-tag trio were all really well written, relatable characters that I felt were full to bursting with nuance and emotional depth that I really enjoyed. We also really get to delve into each character’s insecurities and explore the motivations behind their decisions—which really helped me to understand them a little more, especially when it came to Selly, Leander and Laskia.

Speaking of Laskia (the younger sister of a crime Lord determined to bring back her country’s slumbering god), despite being quite an obvious antagonist I really loved the glimpse into her relationship with her sister and the power imbalance that stops her sister from taking her seriously.

It’s not often I despise and sympathise with a character in equal measure so kudos to Kaufman for making me question my own morals when it came to Laskia and her very poor decision making skills.

The pacing was a little slow to start (particularly in the first 100 pages) but once the action starts, it takes on a fairly swift speed that didn’t let up. And the action was utterly phenomenal, I honestly hadn’t expected it to hit soo hard or be quite as shockingly brutal as it was (though it’s definitely the kind of action you don’t want to tear yourself away from.) I’d also suggest looking up the TWs beforehand just to be on the safe side.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable,YA fantasy that fans of Lynette Noni, swashbuckling adventure and swoon-worthy romances are going to adore.

And Amie, if you’re reading this… it was definitely worth the wait—I absolutely loved it!

Also, a huge thank you to Nina Douglas and Rock The Boat/ Oneworld Publications for the finished copy.

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sol_journal's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

4.4 (rounded down to 4) out of 5 stars.

*mild spoilers behind tag in characters bit, nothing storyline heavy though*

This is my first Amie Kaufman book so I had no idea what to expect beyond its summary. I was relative pleased with the story though! It was based heavily on the seas which is a setting I’ve really come to love and enjoy. The world-building alongside it was spectacular too. It was amazingly done down to the very sights of the other ships and the places they travel through. It helped to truly get immersed in with the characters and what they went through also as if blending in alongside them while they traveled the Port Naranda and voyaged to the Isles of the Gods.

On to the characters though. I think I have a strong unpopular opinion here when I say that I enjoyed every character- even Laskia. Leander had to grow on me though. He was about every inch full of himself and arrogant, and I definitely had to see more of his backstory before coming around to eventually liking him.

Laskia was an underdog of sorts, trying desperately to climb the ranks to be noticed by her sister who seems to be all that she has. She has that need to prove herself to Ruby- which I think was where my soft spot for her grew. She wanted nothing more than a sort of acceptance and belonging that she was denied.

Jude ties in along this same ideal as he also was rejected after falling from that higher status he technically never had. Jude was a bit of that in-between character that helped further tie in each side and almost made it difficult to choose who you’d rather see prevail- especially with similar goals in mind and each stake and sacrifice given to reach that end goal.

On the side of sacrifices though, what Selly and Keegan went through and gave up easily made them on the higher side of my favorites list. Especially for Keegan who just unfortunately was on the wrong ship at the wrong time, getting himself roped into something larger than he could’ve imagined. Selly also lost a lot, yet continuously moved forward and forward- displaying the strength she had and yet also showing her flaws from that constant self-push.

The characters were pretty well done and I loved seeing their changes, their growth and declines with how they chose to handle what was thrown to them.

This book has a few typical tropes of it, and the romance arc was all sweet and cute- I personally just felt it was pushed a bit suddenly from a gradual warming up to each other to suddenly relying on one another. Still though, it was a sweet thing to see unravel.

There are a lot of places in the book like this, however. For the most part, it has a slow moving pace considering everything happens in the span of some days. The beginning was especially slow as it was the introduction to the magic system, to the divinity system, and to the characters. Even then, I liked the pace as it didn’t throw everything to you at once. You get snippets throughout and in ways that doesn’t seem like information dumps.

‘The Isles of the Gods’ was a book to win me over when I wasn’t expecting it to. From its maritime descriptions to its slumbering gods who still demand prayers and gifts, Amie Kaufman’s latest release has me excited for what’s next! I can’t wait to see the aftermath of what’s happened in book one and see how it goes for the characters in book two!

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