A review by yorkshirepud
The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

The Gutter Prayer offers immense world building and a heavy plot that, for me, carried the book. So if you are into books where you are immersed from the offset into a world full of interesting candle creatures, stone men and ghouls, this book is perfect. I loved that the creatures and plagues were relatively unseen in fantasy books, unlike elves and vampires and sirens. It was refreshing, however...
I found that the characters, especially for the first part of the book, were very two dimensional. It was obvious that each of the main trio were coded to a certain stereotype and I felt that it took a long portion of the book for the characters to get fleshed out. This could have been that the main trio were going through similar plot lines, but the main characters just felt like the saying "same character, different font". There were even chapters written from Rat's POV where it mistakenly referenced Rat as Spar. I've read a few other reviews saying they loved Aleena and I feel the same but that's because she had a distinct voice. She was relatable and a breath of fresh air in the book. I even found myself preferring Eladora because at least she got a character arc and acted consistently. But Aleena definitely carried the characters aspect of the book for me which is a shame and I really hope that the next book explores characters a bit more.

I had high hopes for this book and am glad that the plot made up for the lack of character development in my opinion. The ending was a little rushed so am looking forward to see how it affects everything in the sequel 🤞🤞 
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