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A review by queentheirin
Strange Gods by Alison Kimble
4.0
ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
I was erring between a 3.75/4 for this one, but with a little bit of puff-chested pride of the main character having my name - a rare occurrence - I couldn't resist giving it that 4.
I will admit I'm probably slightly too old to enjoy this to the full extent at which it can be enjoyed, but I definitely see it being perfect for its target market. Just enough spooky (hehe), enough action and enough humour, from the humans and immortal, Lovecraftian gods alike to make this an enjoyable and easy read. The closest comparison I can make to how it felt to read is Grady Hendrix's Horrorstor for a slightly older audience, but in all honesty I enjoyed this more!
The concept of the levels of the pantheon in this world was certainly interesting, and unique to my knowledge. This book manages to balance the weirdness of these gods and their worlds without making so outlandish or high concept that it gets lost or just doesn't land. Personally, I can switch off when there's too many strange 'sci-fi' names or funny creatures, but here I didn't feel that; what I would do to tell Carcass a story!
I also enjoyed the fact that it wasn't the case of Spooky being 'the chosen one', it's emphatically stated the opposite; she's in a camp for troubled teens just trying to keep her head down. While I wouldn't say there was much growth for her character, I certainly saw all her actions as believable, she isn't a bad kid in all honesty, just in a bad personal situation, and this book lets her flourish and show as much when given the chance by a god with 18 fingers.
I did feel the ending was a little rushed, yeah it was a last minute gambit, but it did wrap up VERY fast. Still, I was along for the ride!
I was erring between a 3.75/4 for this one, but with a little bit of puff-chested pride of the main character having my name - a rare occurrence - I couldn't resist giving it that 4.
I will admit I'm probably slightly too old to enjoy this to the full extent at which it can be enjoyed, but I definitely see it being perfect for its target market. Just enough spooky (hehe), enough action and enough humour, from the humans and immortal, Lovecraftian gods alike to make this an enjoyable and easy read. The closest comparison I can make to how it felt to read is Grady Hendrix's Horrorstor for a slightly older audience, but in all honesty I enjoyed this more!
The concept of the levels of the pantheon in this world was certainly interesting, and unique to my knowledge. This book manages to balance the weirdness of these gods and their worlds without making so outlandish or high concept that it gets lost or just doesn't land. Personally, I can switch off when there's too many strange 'sci-fi' names or funny creatures, but here I didn't feel that; what I would do to tell Carcass a story!
I also enjoyed the fact that it wasn't the case of Spooky being 'the chosen one', it's emphatically stated the opposite; she's in a camp for troubled teens just trying to keep her head down. While I wouldn't say there was much growth for her character, I certainly saw all her actions as believable, she isn't a bad kid in all honesty, just in a bad personal situation, and this book lets her flourish and show as much when given the chance by a god with 18 fingers.
I did feel the ending was a little rushed, yeah it was a last minute gambit, but it did wrap up VERY fast. Still, I was along for the ride!