A review by mizorae
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless

3.0

It always saddens me when I pick up a book only to discover it was absolutely not for me. I wanted very much to like it. It sounded like it would be right up my alley between the Norse and Celtic mythology and the adult main characters. Though I did finish it in 2 sittings, I found myself bored or annoyed and rushing to get through it. The plot primarily follows 2 women; one a queen who schemes and manipulates her way through life, the other a naive, sheltered minor semi-goddess. The queen’s machinations are at least somewhat entertaining to follow but the demi-god annoyed me to the very end. One woman lying and manipulating to get her son into a position of power, the other constantly fretting over blatant propaganda despite constantly being shown her beliefs are false. I’m also not terribly fond of political intrigue so that made even the queen’s chapters not work for me. Didn’t help that the plot moved very slowly and very little of much interest happened.

The writing was lovely, this just was not a book for me. I doubt I’ll pick up the sequel but I’ll not say never. If you’re a fan of political intrigue and slow, character driven stories based on folklore, this could be absolutely great for you.