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A review by dododenise
Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon
Did not finish book. Stopped at 55%.
Sadly I have to make the decision to not finish reading this book at about the halfway point. This book has started to feel like a chore to read and I never want my reading to be something tiresome. It somehow even started a depressive/anxious episode for me. I really wanted to love this book, but I don't. Perhaps this is more other people's taste, it just wasn't mine.
There are two main issues with this book: Pacing and likability of the characters.
Even halfway into this book, I do not feel like we got beyond the introductory part of the story. Throughout the book Gem, the main character, slowly gets their memory back. Because of this it feels like we are still missing crucial information to understand this story and truly get started. The pacing of the story supports this perception.
The main character Gem is a morally grey character. This can be interesting and is full of potential especially, in my opinion, in a fantasy setting. This potential was not utilised well. While it creates some mystery around the character, especially concerning their history, in the present it really just makes them irritating and unlikeable. This probably was the intention, but I as a reader do not like that. Motivation and more of an understanding of where the character's behaviours stem from is missing. I feel like the book hides behind the fact that Gem is a god and that is enough of an explanation. Maybe that will become clearer in the rest of the book, but for now it makes my reading experience pretty miserable. The most likeable character, Enzo, is treated unreasonably bad by Gem and it's just so frustrating. The other characters either do not have enough depth yet, or the ones that we do somewhat know are not characters that I particularly enjoy reading about.
I'm really sad that this book didn't do it for me. I really wanted to like it. The premise sounded perfect. I liked Edgmon's other books. But in the end it this was not an enjoyable read.
There are two main issues with this book: Pacing and likability of the characters.
Even halfway into this book, I do not feel like we got beyond the introductory part of the story. Throughout the book Gem, the main character, slowly gets their memory back. Because of this it feels like we are still missing crucial information to understand this story and truly get started. The pacing of the story supports this perception.
The main character Gem is a morally grey character. This can be interesting and is full of potential especially, in my opinion, in a fantasy setting. This potential was not utilised well. While it creates some mystery around the character, especially concerning their history, in the present it really just makes them irritating and unlikeable. This probably was the intention, but I as a reader do not like that. Motivation and more of an understanding of where the character's behaviours stem from is missing. I feel like the book hides behind the fact that Gem is a god and that is enough of an explanation. Maybe that will become clearer in the rest of the book, but for now it makes my reading experience pretty miserable. The most likeable character, Enzo, is treated unreasonably bad by Gem and it's just so frustrating. The other characters either do not have enough depth yet, or the ones that we do somewhat know are not characters that I particularly enjoy reading about.
I'm really sad that this book didn't do it for me. I really wanted to like it. The premise sounded perfect. I liked Edgmon's other books. But in the end it this was not an enjoyable read.