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atrailofpages's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVE this book! Such an unexpected adventure that had lots of twists and turns, many monsters, and never left you bored.
This story follows Laurel, or Spooky, which is how she introduces herself, who is just a plain girl that no one really notices, not even her own parents. She’s suffered from bullying in school, and even her own parents are disappointed in her, expecting her to be the same prodigy-like daughter her older sister Victoria is. She’s waiting for what she calls The Change, an event that will change her life for the better. The thing is, The Change that happens is not quite what she expects. Spooky is in a camp for delinquents where they are “reprogrammed”, as the camp leaders like to say, to become better and to change their delinquent ways. While here, she meets Carcass, a monster to her, but who says he is a god and wants to hear stories from a human. At this point, the story made me think of The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, at least at first. It’s not like that at all, just made me think of it.
Spooky enters into a bargain with a god(Carcass) to find a computer for him for his home to access stories on his own all the time and in exchange let’s her go free. She thinks that’s it, until she’s implicated for theft and decides to enter into another bargain with this god to clear her name, but the bargain does not go her way. It becomes a much larger bargain than she wanted or expected. So along with two other kidnapped humans, Spooky goes on an adventure of a lifetime to save the world.
This was a much more sarcastic and funny book than expected. Like a dark, horror comedy with adventure. Spooky is a great character! Very human and normal, very relatable. At first she’s terrified of Carcass(as she should be), but after how infuriating he can be, she actually sometimes snaps at him, and at first, I was like “ummmm...girl, what are you doing?”. Then when she leaves him, everything catches up to her and she wonders if any of it was real, and basically suffers from an anxiety attack all day. I really liked her. I mean for someone whose had to deal with bullying because of her looks and how quiet she is, and for having parents that are literally not there for her, she’s a very nice person and just keeps her head down. And yet, you see this tough, brave side of her when it comes to Carcass and dealing with his sassy, infuriating manners, as well as this adventure she goes on to fulfill the bargain she’s made with Carcass.
There’s many worlds Spooky travels to and meets many gods who she ends up making bargains to in order to fulfill her main bargain with Carcass. I loved the many different worlds she traveled to. Each unique with their own god and monsters. Despite how scary everything was, and despite how terrified Spooky was, she ventured on. She never allowed anything to stop her, because if she did, it wouldn’t end well for her or anyone, so she just held her head high and carried on. My heart went out to Spooky because I get the feeling thinking you’re not worthy of being noticed, and yet, she has every reason to be noticed. It’s everyone else’s loss for not noticing how amazing she is. And that ending, UGH that ending! So, so good!
If you love fantasy, especially with some horror elements to it, as well as some sass and humor, you will love this book! Thank you so much to the author for sending me a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
This story follows Laurel, or Spooky, which is how she introduces herself, who is just a plain girl that no one really notices, not even her own parents. She’s suffered from bullying in school, and even her own parents are disappointed in her, expecting her to be the same prodigy-like daughter her older sister Victoria is. She’s waiting for what she calls The Change, an event that will change her life for the better. The thing is, The Change that happens is not quite what she expects. Spooky is in a camp for delinquents where they are “reprogrammed”, as the camp leaders like to say, to become better and to change their delinquent ways. While here, she meets Carcass, a monster to her, but who says he is a god and wants to hear stories from a human. At this point, the story made me think of The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, at least at first. It’s not like that at all, just made me think of it.
Spooky enters into a bargain with a god(Carcass) to find a computer for him for his home to access stories on his own all the time and in exchange let’s her go free. She thinks that’s it, until she’s implicated for theft and decides to enter into another bargain with this god to clear her name, but the bargain does not go her way. It becomes a much larger bargain than she wanted or expected. So along with two other kidnapped humans, Spooky goes on an adventure of a lifetime to save the world.
This was a much more sarcastic and funny book than expected. Like a dark, horror comedy with adventure. Spooky is a great character! Very human and normal, very relatable. At first she’s terrified of Carcass(as she should be), but after how infuriating he can be, she actually sometimes snaps at him, and at first, I was like “ummmm...girl, what are you doing?”. Then when she leaves him, everything catches up to her and she wonders if any of it was real, and basically suffers from an anxiety attack all day. I really liked her. I mean for someone whose had to deal with bullying because of her looks and how quiet she is, and for having parents that are literally not there for her, she’s a very nice person and just keeps her head down. And yet, you see this tough, brave side of her when it comes to Carcass and dealing with his sassy, infuriating manners, as well as this adventure she goes on to fulfill the bargain she’s made with Carcass.
There’s many worlds Spooky travels to and meets many gods who she ends up making bargains to in order to fulfill her main bargain with Carcass. I loved the many different worlds she traveled to. Each unique with their own god and monsters. Despite how scary everything was, and despite how terrified Spooky was, she ventured on. She never allowed anything to stop her, because if she did, it wouldn’t end well for her or anyone, so she just held her head high and carried on. My heart went out to Spooky because I get the feeling thinking you’re not worthy of being noticed, and yet, she has every reason to be noticed. It’s everyone else’s loss for not noticing how amazing she is. And that ending, UGH that ending! So, so good!
If you love fantasy, especially with some horror elements to it, as well as some sass and humor, you will love this book! Thank you so much to the author for sending me a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
kricher13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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? No
4.0
larkspurlane's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
drewbmorgan's review against another edition
5.0
Of the books I’ve read in the last year or two, Strange Gods has to be the most unique. It carries the troubled-teen-summer-camp vibes of Percy Jackson and the powerful-and-erratic-beings energy of Howl’s Moving Castle, yet it relies on none of its predecessors to tell these stories. Kimble shows us a dark side of our own world, then opens the door to countless others and their truly original pantheon of, you guessed it, strange gods.
The story follows an 18 year old girl nicknamed Spooky who sneaks out to kiss a boy only to be abducted by a chaotic neutral toad god obsessed with the human gift for storytelling. From there Kimble raises the stakes to dramatic and unexpected heights, turning the story into something entirely new chapter by chapter until the next thing you know you’ve burned through the whole book. Each character has their own defining and compelling traits, which makes the perils they find themselves in all the more heart-wrenching and exhilarating - and their endings hard-earned and well-deserved.
I’ve already recommended this book to several friends and will continue to do so. It’s suitable for teens and adults alike. Content concerns include mild language, violence, and mention of the types of behaviors that could land you at a correctional camp for teens.
The story follows an 18 year old girl nicknamed Spooky who sneaks out to kiss a boy only to be abducted by a chaotic neutral toad god obsessed with the human gift for storytelling. From there Kimble raises the stakes to dramatic and unexpected heights, turning the story into something entirely new chapter by chapter until the next thing you know you’ve burned through the whole book. Each character has their own defining and compelling traits, which makes the perils they find themselves in all the more heart-wrenching and exhilarating - and their endings hard-earned and well-deserved.
I’ve already recommended this book to several friends and will continue to do so. It’s suitable for teens and adults alike. Content concerns include mild language, violence, and mention of the types of behaviors that could land you at a correctional camp for teens.
mariesbookworld's review against another edition
5.0
*I got an eARC in exchange for an honest review*
Okay I’m gonna jump right in: this was a wild ride and I loved every second of it!
The writing style was so easy to get into and simply so enjoyable I wouldn’t even notice how quickly the chapters flew by. At the same time this book was SO descriptive! I don’t know how you can make up so many creatures and beings and make them all come to life in my head because of the detailed descriptions so well and manage to NOT bore me either! There were so many details but it never felt overloaded or like an info-dump. I’m seriously impressed by that!
Then let’s get to the characters! I instantly loved Spooky. I think her voice as a teenager was so so authentic and just felt real. I connected with her within the first few chapters and never stopped loving her. I think her character arc and character development were amazing!
Elliot - oh god - where to start? I just love him! He was also seemed just so real and he was such a great character especially paired with Bree and Spooky.
And then Bree - just yes. I love me a prickly, defensive girl that can hold her own and she’s exactly that.
This dynamic trio really stole my heart!
The whole story itself was *chefs kiss*
I didn’t see any of the twists coming which I throughly enjoyed and the whole idea is so damn cool. The camp, the gods and how it all came together was really cool to read and I had such a good time!
All in all I really loved this book and gave it a solid 5 stars cause I just had so much fun and really enjoyed myself. I did NOT see the ending coming tho…
Can’t wait to read more from Kimble - I’m still shook that this is a debut!
I highly recommend this if you like teenagers thrown together to save the world, creepy gods and camps and dynamic trios!
Okay I’m gonna jump right in: this was a wild ride and I loved every second of it!
The writing style was so easy to get into and simply so enjoyable I wouldn’t even notice how quickly the chapters flew by. At the same time this book was SO descriptive! I don’t know how you can make up so many creatures and beings and make them all come to life in my head because of the detailed descriptions so well and manage to NOT bore me either! There were so many details but it never felt overloaded or like an info-dump. I’m seriously impressed by that!
Then let’s get to the characters! I instantly loved Spooky. I think her voice as a teenager was so so authentic and just felt real. I connected with her within the first few chapters and never stopped loving her. I think her character arc and character development were amazing!
Elliot - oh god - where to start? I just love him! He was also seemed just so real and he was such a great character especially paired with Bree and Spooky.
And then Bree - just yes. I love me a prickly, defensive girl that can hold her own and she’s exactly that.
This dynamic trio really stole my heart!
The whole story itself was *chefs kiss*
I didn’t see any of the twists coming which I throughly enjoyed and the whole idea is so damn cool. The camp, the gods and how it all came together was really cool to read and I had such a good time!
All in all I really loved this book and gave it a solid 5 stars cause I just had so much fun and really enjoyed myself. I did NOT see the ending coming tho…
Can’t wait to read more from Kimble - I’m still shook that this is a debut!
I highly recommend this if you like teenagers thrown together to save the world, creepy gods and camps and dynamic trios!
where_the_pages_bleed's review against another edition
4.0
What was that!! This book what not what I expected!!
So Spooky, two things I wanted to know: 1. Is that’s your name. 2. Why are you at Dodgeson?? (Ps both are answered, I was just not patient
So Spooky, two things I wanted to know: 1. Is that’s your name. 2. Why are you at Dodgeson?? (Ps both are answered, I was just not patient
sabrinaslivingliterature's review against another edition
4.0
This book took a few chapters to completely grasp my attention but once it did I flew through it! I loved the complexity of all the characters and the fact the author avoided the trope of only awful kids are ever sent to camps for delinquent teenagers. The world building and the introduction of the fantasy elements was done so well and I loved the adventure that the characters went on. Overall it was a great read and I will be looking out for more books by Alison Kimble in the future
allieharris's review against another edition
2.0
The dialogue was barely tolerable and the plot had so many lazy solutions my eyes rolled back into my head and i died
thestoriedmillennial's review against another edition
4.0
For fans of: traveling to different worlds, coming of age, troubled teens go on an adventure, alien worlds, sci-fi based mythology
I was given an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I’m not sure what I thought I was getting into when I received this book. It gave me some Percy Jackson-ish vibes on the outside, but that was kiboshed real quick with genre-twists into worlds that are a mix of sci-fi and fantasy. From the get-go, I love the MC. Spooky is very relatable is the girl who is just trying her best and made a mistake that landed her in a bad spot. I feel for kids like her and others that we meet along the way. The outcasts who don’t fit into society, the ones who do fit in but made decisions that don’t match their image, and the free spirits who just want to experience the world before it’s all gone. The gods took a while for me to get used to. Alison Kimble created a universe where gods seem to be more sci-fi based, but also with magical powers. It took some time to wrap my mind around their descriptions and make sense of their characters, they are just not something I have come across before. Overall, the plot was well-paced traveling different worlds in a race against time as gods from other worlds realize Earth may have been abandoned by its god. One thing I would have liked to see more was the POV of Carcass, the main god Spooky deals with. The majority of the time, I was suspicious of his motivations or if he was even telling the truth at all. The threats to Earth are not as evident to the reader or even to Spooky, as she takes Carcass’s word for it. Hopefully, we get more of his POV in the next installment. Fair warning, it ends in quite the cliffhanger and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
For more reviews, check out thestoriedblog.com
I was given an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I’m not sure what I thought I was getting into when I received this book. It gave me some Percy Jackson-ish vibes on the outside, but that was kiboshed real quick with genre-twists into worlds that are a mix of sci-fi and fantasy. From the get-go, I love the MC. Spooky is very relatable is the girl who is just trying her best and made a mistake that landed her in a bad spot. I feel for kids like her and others that we meet along the way. The outcasts who don’t fit into society, the ones who do fit in but made decisions that don’t match their image, and the free spirits who just want to experience the world before it’s all gone. The gods took a while for me to get used to. Alison Kimble created a universe where gods seem to be more sci-fi based, but also with magical powers. It took some time to wrap my mind around their descriptions and make sense of their characters, they are just not something I have come across before. Overall, the plot was well-paced traveling different worlds in a race against time as gods from other worlds realize Earth may have been abandoned by its god. One thing I would have liked to see more was the POV of Carcass, the main god Spooky deals with. The majority of the time, I was suspicious of his motivations or if he was even telling the truth at all. The threats to Earth are not as evident to the reader or even to Spooky, as she takes Carcass’s word for it. Hopefully, we get more of his POV in the next installment. Fair warning, it ends in quite the cliffhanger and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
For more reviews, check out thestoriedblog.com
mr_mouse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
I met Alison at a conference and knew I had to check out her book. Was a great, unconventional end that I loved, though I’m not sure how she’ll pick it up for the clearly hinted at sequel.