Scan barcode
rubybooks's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thank you to Titan Books for sending me a digital copy of this book for review. I am on the bookstagram tour for this book, so my mini-review will be posted on Instagram on the 18th, but here is my full review. Side note – I absolutely love the cover for this book, and the colours are so beautiful! Right now I have a digital copy, but I bet the physical copy is gorgeous. Also, in my digital copy there was a map and glossary at the end.
Hall of Smoke begins with Hessa seeking forgiveness from the goddess she serves after she failed to complete a mission. Hessa is not at the temple long, but while she is gone there is a raid, and many of her friends and family are murdered. In the aftermath, Hessa must try to redeem herself in Eang’s eyes or she will continue to be disgraced by her goddess. She soon realises that there has been a shift, and the Old Gods are returning and threatening everything Hessa thinks she knows. Hessa has served the goddess of war for a long time, so what will happen when she begins to question her committment?
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this book – the synopsis indicated to me that it would be a high fantasy with a focus on religion, mythology and war, which it definitely was! This book is full of gods and war, and I think the setting is Viking-inspired. This was right up my street, and just what I like to see in fantasy books! The gods in Hall of Smoke were so interesting, and I loved learning about the history of the world-building – it was very well-done and detailed, and I definitely felt immersed in the world.
I really enjoyed learning about the religion, especially because Hessa is a priestess and so caught up in her beliefs, so it is a shock when she realises that everything is not as it seems. Hessa’s whole life has been devoted to Eang, so I loved to see how her relationship with faith changed throughout the book. Hessa definitely isn’t perfect, and she also has to question what she knows about people devoted to other gods, who she had dismissed all her life because she was so devoted to her goddess.
I did struggle to get into this book at the very beginning – it took me a few chapters to get used to the world-building and get into the story. I found the pacing a bit off for a while, mainly before the action started, because most of this book is Hessa travelling on a journey to complete her mission. However, once I did get used to the terminology and plot I really enjoyed the story. There is a lot of information, so I’d recommend looking at the glossary if you need to, and there are pronunciation guides for some of the words. After reading the first few chapters, I was definitely sucked in and once I hit the 50% mark I found it hard to put down!
I liked the alternating timeline because this allowed us to learn more about Hessa and where she came from through some flashbacks. For me, Hessa stood out quite a lot and I really liked following her journey – she definitely had the most depth and character development, and I wanted to know what would happen to her. I really appreciated how she got her period at one point, because unfortunately periods aren’t often discussed in fantasy books. However, most of the other characters weren’t as memorable, so I didn’t feel fully connected to them. This did stop me from fully loving this book, but luckily the book mainly focused on Hessa.
I was a bit confused at the very end – some things were a left a bit vague, so I would have just liked more detail or a longer ending. I have this issue often with standalone books, especially fantasy standalones, because it’s much harder to wrap up a story without it feeling rushed. However, I did really enjoy the climax of the book because I really didn’t know what would happen! There was a lot of action in the second half of the book, as well as revelations and twists and turns in the plot.
Once again, thank you to the publisher for providing me with a review copy. I really enjoyed the experience of reading this book, and I will definitely be looking out for more books by this author. Content warnings for death, murder, violence, some graphic descriptions of injuries.
Hall of Smoke begins with Hessa seeking forgiveness from the goddess she serves after she failed to complete a mission. Hessa is not at the temple long, but while she is gone there is a raid, and many of her friends and family are murdered. In the aftermath, Hessa must try to redeem herself in Eang’s eyes or she will continue to be disgraced by her goddess. She soon realises that there has been a shift, and the Old Gods are returning and threatening everything Hessa thinks she knows. Hessa has served the goddess of war for a long time, so what will happen when she begins to question her committment?
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this book – the synopsis indicated to me that it would be a high fantasy with a focus on religion, mythology and war, which it definitely was! This book is full of gods and war, and I think the setting is Viking-inspired. This was right up my street, and just what I like to see in fantasy books! The gods in Hall of Smoke were so interesting, and I loved learning about the history of the world-building – it was very well-done and detailed, and I definitely felt immersed in the world.
I really enjoyed learning about the religion, especially because Hessa is a priestess and so caught up in her beliefs, so it is a shock when she realises that everything is not as it seems. Hessa’s whole life has been devoted to Eang, so I loved to see how her relationship with faith changed throughout the book. Hessa definitely isn’t perfect, and she also has to question what she knows about people devoted to other gods, who she had dismissed all her life because she was so devoted to her goddess.
I did struggle to get into this book at the very beginning – it took me a few chapters to get used to the world-building and get into the story. I found the pacing a bit off for a while, mainly before the action started, because most of this book is Hessa travelling on a journey to complete her mission. However, once I did get used to the terminology and plot I really enjoyed the story. There is a lot of information, so I’d recommend looking at the glossary if you need to, and there are pronunciation guides for some of the words. After reading the first few chapters, I was definitely sucked in and once I hit the 50% mark I found it hard to put down!
I liked the alternating timeline because this allowed us to learn more about Hessa and where she came from through some flashbacks. For me, Hessa stood out quite a lot and I really liked following her journey – she definitely had the most depth and character development, and I wanted to know what would happen to her. I really appreciated how she got her period at one point, because unfortunately periods aren’t often discussed in fantasy books. However, most of the other characters weren’t as memorable, so I didn’t feel fully connected to them. This did stop me from fully loving this book, but luckily the book mainly focused on Hessa.
I was a bit confused at the very end – some things were a left a bit vague, so I would have just liked more detail or a longer ending. I have this issue often with standalone books, especially fantasy standalones, because it’s much harder to wrap up a story without it feeling rushed. However, I did really enjoy the climax of the book because I really didn’t know what would happen! There was a lot of action in the second half of the book, as well as revelations and twists and turns in the plot.
Once again, thank you to the publisher for providing me with a review copy. I really enjoyed the experience of reading this book, and I will definitely be looking out for more books by this author. Content warnings for death, murder, violence, some graphic descriptions of injuries.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Grief
More...