hoytreads 's review for:

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless

5.0

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Great way to wrap up the year, with a five-star read! This was a highly entertaining book, and I think might be my first historical fantasy novel. It's basically a story of two different women with magical abilities, trying to get their way in the extremely male-dominated world of 10th century Ireland without being sussed out as non-human. Themes of motherhood dominate the story, with one character still dealing with the loss of a child while caring for her sister's son, and the other a widowed queen trying to ensure the success of her own royal son (while giving off a very Cersei from Game of Thrones vibe).  The world building is superb, characters are deep, and it was definitely a page-turner. Great action scenes, too. Highly recommended for anyone who played through the Ireland part of Assasin's Creed: Valhalla, since that game took place about a hundred years before this book. I was definitely visualizing the Dublin from that game while reading! I'll definitely be reading the next one to see how the story continues....