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A review by lillist
Goddess of the North by Georgina Kamsika
5.0
I have received a digital copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you!
4.5 stars - Can I have some more, please?
If you are a fan of crime investigation with a touch of the supernatural, this one is for you!
Sara Nayar investigates crimes with the Sheffield police, but she also is an ancient Indian goddess of order. Just one that is almost forgotten and therefore not very powerful. All she can do is manipulate time the tiniest bit.
We follow her as she investigate murders in which clearly some other gods were involved and tries to find out just what exactly is going on in Sheffield. Why are all sorts of Gods showing up and apparently preparing for war or the apocalypse? And how is she going to solve this while pretending to solve a perfectly normal case? And then there is her mother, a powerful trickster goddess, who keeps meddling and bringing up an incident in the distant past that led Sara to choosing a life among the mortals.
Now, crime is not usually my genre so I don't really know the usual suspects here. I have read a couple of the Rivers of London novels though and would put this one into the same genre. But, like, without the machismo, misogyny and cultural appropriation. In short, this one is SO MUCH BETTER!
Sara is Indian which (from what I gather) is also part of Georgina Kamsikas cultural heritage. Everything she mentions about India, the weather, the food, the atmosphere, feels authentic. Same with the descriptions of Sheffield and Great Britain. I had the distinct feeling that the author is equally at home in both cultures and also loves them equally deeply - which helps me as the reader to truly connect with the story.
I also cannot say enough good things about the fact that the love interest is a good guy. He has a beautiful soul and this is what makes him attractive to Sara - thank you for refusing the sexy bad guy trope! Also, thanks for including a trans character and not making a big deal of it. See, representation can be so easy!
This story is just a lot of fun with plenty of on-screen-time for gods from all sorts of mythologies and the shenanigans they come up with. We have the Norse with Loki, his daughter Hel, Odin, Thor and some Valkyries thrown in for good measure. We have the Greek, with the Titan Mnemosyne being Sara's best friend, but also plenty of other gods make their appearance. In some cases it is even the original ancient Greek aspects versus their modern Hollywood equivalents. Because movies create belief - and this book is full of reflections on the power of believing. It is also full of references to pop culture and how belief in supernatural beings has changed in modern times. (There's even a cameo of a human turned god just by power of believers in his character in a universally known Sci-Fi franchise.)
I enjoyed this read immensely and would love to read more. Can this become a series, please?
(There was just one caveat for me: very early on in the book Sara missed something that was so obviously relevant for her case. She just dismissed that bit of information, which felt like it should not have happened to someone with her experience.)
4.5 stars - Can I have some more, please?
If you are a fan of crime investigation with a touch of the supernatural, this one is for you!
Sara Nayar investigates crimes with the Sheffield police, but she also is an ancient Indian goddess of order. Just one that is almost forgotten and therefore not very powerful. All she can do is manipulate time the tiniest bit.
We follow her as she investigate murders in which clearly some other gods were involved and tries to find out just what exactly is going on in Sheffield. Why are all sorts of Gods showing up and apparently preparing for war or the apocalypse? And how is she going to solve this while pretending to solve a perfectly normal case? And then there is her mother, a powerful trickster goddess, who keeps meddling and bringing up an incident in the distant past that led Sara to choosing a life among the mortals.
Now, crime is not usually my genre so I don't really know the usual suspects here. I have read a couple of the Rivers of London novels though and would put this one into the same genre. But, like, without the machismo, misogyny and cultural appropriation. In short, this one is SO MUCH BETTER!
Sara is Indian which (from what I gather) is also part of Georgina Kamsikas cultural heritage. Everything she mentions about India, the weather, the food, the atmosphere, feels authentic. Same with the descriptions of Sheffield and Great Britain. I had the distinct feeling that the author is equally at home in both cultures and also loves them equally deeply - which helps me as the reader to truly connect with the story.
I also cannot say enough good things about the fact that the love interest is a good guy. He has a beautiful soul and this is what makes him attractive to Sara - thank you for refusing the sexy bad guy trope! Also, thanks for including a trans character and not making a big deal of it. See, representation can be so easy!
This story is just a lot of fun with plenty of on-screen-time for gods from all sorts of mythologies and the shenanigans they come up with. We have the Norse with Loki, his daughter Hel, Odin, Thor and some Valkyries thrown in for good measure. We have the Greek, with the Titan Mnemosyne being Sara's best friend, but also plenty of other gods make their appearance. In some cases it is even the original ancient Greek aspects versus their modern Hollywood equivalents. Because movies create belief - and this book is full of reflections on the power of believing. It is also full of references to pop culture and how belief in supernatural beings has changed in modern times. (There's even a cameo of a human turned god just by power of believers in his character in a universally known Sci-Fi franchise.)
I enjoyed this read immensely and would love to read more. Can this become a series, please?
(There was just one caveat for me: very early on in the book Sara missed something that was so obviously relevant for her case. She just dismissed that bit of information, which felt like it should not have happened to someone with her experience.)