7.34k reviews for:

The Shadow of the Gods

John Gwynne

4.16 AVERAGE

mbookedroller's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

warriorcatsbiggestfan's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

rotten_beans02's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

anneiin's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-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

rahels_library's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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positives:
- Orka
- great fighting scenes
- interesting world
- last plot twist was a surprise

negatives:
- MCs besides Orka didn't really feel fleshed out
- all 3 POVs had a similar story so confusing at first
- a lot of fighting

ultimately,  I will be continuing this series but the whole time while reading it I felt like I wanted more. more diverse storylines, more in-depth character studies and more narrative differences. I wasn't automatically drawn back to the story and reading felt like a chore sometimes. However, the ending of book 1 is a great starting point for a more complex story moving forward. This almost felt like a backstory.

ananatonga's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

professoremdash's review against another edition

3.75

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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3.75 rounded up. I’m a bit mixed on this one. I liked the world/setting, general arcs, magic system, and the writing (mostly), but there were a few things I didn’t love. Way too much time spent describing violence, the pacing was uneven, and the character arcs (at least two of them) felt interchangeable. Not sure if I’ll continue the series.

josolo's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

flickering's review against another edition

4.5

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vikings fuck yeah

remery3's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated