*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

This book started out somewhat confusing. Once I (kind of) got the hang of it, I found it more interesting. Then it just kind of fizzled out. But, of course, it ended with a cliffhanger. I’m pretty irritated about that because I have no intention of reading any sequels, if any happen to be published; I would have appreciated an ending, closure.

I’ve just got to get this out of the way. Our protagonist’s name is Saran. I’m sure your mind went to the same place mine did: Saran Wrap. Although I forced myself to pronounce it like Sarah but with an n at the end, I couldn’t help thinking of plastic wrap. And why name a city/country/whatever it was Tomorro? I mean, it’s one letter short of the day after today. Just saying.

The characters were okay. I didn’t grow particularly attached to anyone. I always pictured Lord Denethor when Yarin was on the page.

The story was kind of all over the place, and the world building was only so-so. Many things were left unexplained or never made complete sense. Saran’s time magic was inconsistent. (Can she choose which people and parts of the environment to manipulate?)

Many characters that appeared good ended up being villains. Too many of those twists felt like overkill. One in particular outed herself in an unprovoked monologue that came out of nowhere. Another was downright horrible (attempted to blackmail Saran into a secret physical relationship, beat her, almost raped her), and then he became an unwilling accomplice to her—never good, but helpful.

Huh, now I’m wondering why I gave this two stars instead of one. We’ll call it 1.5. I’ve suffered through worse books.

Note: Some swearing, including several f words. Violence. One brief sex scene (one paragraph). A stupid cliffhanger.

This book sounded super exciting and I was pumped for it, but it didn’t fulfill my wishes. Don’t get me wrong! It started out strong and had me excited for the story as a whole, but then it slowly got more boring and boring. This book had a lot of potential, but it just didn’t deliver for me. I think if it would have focused on the time magic, I would have absolutely devoured the book, especially since I loved the writing. But sadly I didn’t like the flow of the dialogue or the other elements of the story.

I wanted to love this one. I really did. But it was sooooo..... slooooooowww. I couldn't get into it enough to enjoy it.

Strong premise but weak execution, in my humble opinion. Very interesting magic system but the characters didn't live up to my expectations.

This started out really well but it went downhill later on. I really liked Kaytalin Platt's writing which was so descriptive and flowy however I didn't like her dialogue which was a big no no for me. Dialogue usually makes the book for me so this was a disappointment.

The synopsis made this sound so amazing, and it does have A LOT of potential, however... the writing was.... cringey and I really could not get into it, so I DNF'd it at 60%.

The living god is beautifully written. It starts in the middle of an interesting scene full of action. So it immediately got my full attention. However, it was a bit confusing in the beginning, because I didn’t know anything about the world and the characters of the story.

This book broke me, and I finished reading this book over a couple of months ago and was trying to figure out how to write a coherent review on this book, but after posting to my blog, it proved impossible. The characters murdered me because deep down, it was all done with good intentions (I hope).
I highly recommend this book.
5 out of 5 stars.

If you are interested in reading my attempt at a coherent review, it is on my blog at https://bookgirlreviewsbooks.blogspot.com

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Mindblown is the first word comes to mind.
Kaytalin created such a vivid world and complexed emotional characters that I could not help being absorb into her story. I don't want to go in depth and spoil anything but the growth that the characters go through is so realistic and cinematic that I cannot wait till the next book comes out! This is truly a series and another to look out for.

This was such a struggle to read. There were too many different magical elements and the dialogue drove me insane. There was so much of it. I will not be reading any sequels.

This was almost physically painful to read. The first few chapters of my e-arc are covered in highlights and notes marking awkward, stilted writing, info-dumping, weird phrasing, and cringe-inducing dialogue. In the end, I had to give up.

I mean... In the opening pages, Saran has to be reminded that a man she's been friends with for years - whose brother is her lover - has a different surname to said brother. Because the brother is inhabited by a demon. And everyone with demons in them is given a special surname to mark them out. So - she simultaneously forgot this huge, fundamental aspect of her culture, *and* her friend's name?

Info-dumps like this - poorly handled and making no sense in context - are all over the place. Besides the fact that everyone speaks as if they're in a low-budget fantasy romance movie, the way the characters talk is genuinely odd; they'll use contractions in one sentence, but not in the next, for no apparent reason and resulting in very jarring speech that mixes formal and informal like oil and water. It didn't help that the text gave me no reason to particularly like, never mind empathise with, any of the characters - Saran herself feels oddly unreal, like a prop, which is a shame because her Time magic could have been really interesting. Keleir is probably supposed to be brooding and sexy, but instead comes across as whiny and moodswingy, who goes from telling Saran she should get as far away from him as possible, to declaring them soulmates a few sentences of dialogue later. Rowe felt like he was supposed to be the comic relief, a little? Except for being Secretly Serious with a Heart of Gold? Except that like Saran, he just seems bland. And Darshan, who is meant to be the person Saran is willing to abdicate in favour for - the man they all believe should be the next king - he's a fundamentalist, conservative twit.

While the premise is good, the execution leaves much to be desired, and in a genre as densely populated as Fantasy YA, there are just too many well-written alternatives for Living God to be worth the investment of time needed to read it.

Whilst the initial impression the novel gave was one of eloquence and uniqueness, it dissolved slowly into confusion and messy plot-lines. Overall the novel remained a pleasant read, but I struggled to the end line. It was a shame, as the novel itself was enticing, and I was eager to read a new premise such as this.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

World Building: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 3/5
Overall: 4.5/5

Whenever I read work from an author new to me, I like to keep an open mind and not hold them to the standards of my auto-buy authors. I may be jumping the gun here, but I need to make room in my bookshelves for this series and this author, Kaytalin Platt.

First off, the world building is fantastic. There are three worlds involved in this story: First, Second, and Third. The majority of the story takes place in First, while Second is our world, and Third is a planet on the brink of death from exploiting its natural resources. Movement between the worlds is possible through magic, but most magic is found on First. The magic system is well done. Those who wield magic on First are called Mages and they control elements such as fire, lightning, earth, ice, and even time. The history and cultures are well placed throughout the story to help the plot. I never felt bogged down in exposition, which is always nice. I loved visiting different parts of First and seeing how the world’s shared history, religions, and magic affected different cultures. I am absolutely enthralled in this world building.

The characters already have my heart. Saran, our Time Mage and Princess of Adrid, is a warrior who wants nothing more than to live peacefully with her lover, Keleir and her best friend, Rowe. But fighting her father’s wars, secretly being a leader in the rebellion against him, and the threat of Keleir losing control of the demon inside him keep that dream from becoming real. Keleir is a Fire Mage born with a demon inside him. For much of his life, he had no control of his body when the demon controlled him and he became the Lifesbain of the kingdom, killing thousands for his king. Having been saved by Saran 5 years ago, he aims to never allow the demon to control him again with Saran helping keep the demon at bay. He just can’t dodge his past and his reputation as the kingdom’s most fearsome warrior. Rowe is my favorite. The most tortured of the three for the sins of his past, he desires for redemption at any cost. Gifted by visions and haunted by his bloodthirsty choices as well as a complicated past with Saran and Keleir, he’s got a lot going on. The many characters throughout the story already have long and complicated relationships with each other, but the explanations are short and natural.

The plot, I have to say, was the weakest point. The story starts out with a bang. We begin in the middle of a battle and we see Saran in full use of her power to control time to save a village. All the main characters are established as hardened warriors in their mid to late twenties, possibly even early thirties for Keleir. The first third of the book is great, lots of movement, Court intrigue, and many great moments. It’s the middle part that lags, even though so much happens and our characters are spread apart, if just drags for some reason. The final third of the story really kicks off with twists and turns, with an excellent end.

Overall, I’m sold on this series. It’s a solid debut and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Started with a bang, went downhill until the end.

CHARACTERS:
The characters are pretty flat, almost stereotypical:
-the main protagonist is strong willed and yet she doesn’t have any remarkable traits that made me think “oh, she’s such a badass”.
-her lover is the trash version of Edward Cullen (like, 90% of his personality can be found in this character) and Prince Zuko (but without the amazing character development)...I honestly want him to get axed.
-the brother of the lover...I still don’t understand what his character’s purpose is...his whole mission involves him protecting his brother and making sure he doesn’t lose it? I don’t know.
The romance was “nice” because it wasn’t instant (since the two lovers have been secretly together for years), but I honestly didn’t care about them or their drama.

THE WORLD-BUILDING AND PLOT:
The plot is a deliberately slow build and while I’m usually fine with that, I think the author focused too much on the plot of the series rather than the plot of the single book. It all resulted in a story that felt like a 200 pages long prologue and a 100 pages worth of plot development.
The world is what kept me going: I loved the magical system and the idea of parallel realities but there were still too many problems for me to fully be immersed between the too shallow world building and the too many fantasy elements thrown together. It just felt too busy.

WRITING:
The writing was very flowery and immersive, but it felt very filler-like: the author would spend paragraphs describing the environment and having the characters go on full rants of inner monologues but in the end I constantly felt like I learned very little about the characters, the world, the “rules” of the story...it was a constant merry go around that led nowhere.
The dialogues also brought little exposure, they felt repetitive and flat pretty quick.
I really think things could’ve been immensely better with the input of a good editor.

FINAL NOTE:while this book is rated as YA, it has some pretty dark themes and adult content that I would classify as Adult material. Please be aware that there are also some scenes that could be triggering.

YIKES, I have not been having the best luck with ARCs this year. With magic, a warrior princess, romance, vessels, and gods, this book has so many of my reading buzzwords! But the actually story? It was a complete disappointment and I’m sad to say that I regret requesting this ARC.

The Living God follows three mages, Saran, Keleir, and Rowe as they try to overthrow their corrupt king, Saran’s father, and prevent the Oruke from taking over Keleir’s body and destroying their world.

First off, the pacing was hella bizarre in this book. The opening chapter is super intriguing and epic, but everything declines afterwards. The story continues into a slow middle where one of the characters stays stationary for the rest of the story (which is out of her control, but I still think she could have been more active). And then WAY TOO MANY things were jam-packed into the ending. My head hurts trying to remember what exactly happened.

Another thing that I struggled with in this book were the heavy subjects. There is a ton of torture, physical and mental abuse, hints of past sexual assaults, and an attempted suicide. But while these things are mentioned a lot, I felt as though the depths of these traumas aren’t properly explored with the characters (especially with the attempted suicide). I wanted to see how these things affected the characters, instead of just being continuously told about them.

And then there was the romance. When the book opens, Saran and Keleir have already secretly been together for a while now. While I liked them together, I lacked an understanding of why they were together. I wish the characters had been fleshed out more to make them memorable. Even a week later, as I sit down to write this review, I struggle to remember them outside of their most basic descriptions: Saran, a rebellious girl who doesn’t want the responsibilities of being a princess; Keleir, a vessel struggling to maintain his humanity; and Rowe, a supportive brother who wants to make amends for the past. And these sound like stereotypical fantasy characters, don’t they? They could literally be characters in almost any high fantasy book. They weren’t special.

And then there’s the worldbuilding. I felt like I caught glimpses of a lot of great elements, but I didn’t understand how they all fit together. I’m assuming everything will be expanded on in the later books, but I still can’t help but wonder if there’s too much going on in this book? Readers never see Saran’s kingdom outside of the castle, and there was three different worlds (Saran’s fantasy world, our world, and what’s essentially a destitute and futuristic, screwed up version of our world) mages could travel between?!? And a lot of the plot revolves around trying to prevent the Oruke (an immortal, evil demon/spirit) from taking over Keleir’s body and becoming The Living God, yet this seemed to only be a problem for Saran’s world? Ultimately, I couldn’t grasp the bigger picture here.

Honestly, I’ve already forgotten a lot about The Living God, other than that it wasn’t for me. This book had a lot of great ideas, but the execution wasn’t fulfilling. I would also like to address that while it seems like this book is labelled as YA, I’m pretty sure it’s New Adult (I’m like 90% sure the characters are in their young twenties). There are probably readers out there who will enjoy this book, but I can confidently state that I will not be continuing on with this series in the future.

Trigger Warnings: torture, physical and mental abuse, hints of past sexual assaults, attempted suicide, imprisonment, manipulation

The premise of this book intrigued me, so I picked it up. I am glad I did. While I was not always a fan of the characters, or thought that their feelings were delved into as much as I would like, I did like the world and the set up of the Three. I liked the idea of the Core and the almost religious significance it had, and how the core (or lack there of) affect the Three.

I do find myself waiting for the second book that I hope is to come.

STARTED OUT SO STRONG, WENT WAY SOUTH AFTER THAT

DNF at 75%

At the beginning of this book I was thinking 'wow, the writing is so beautiful and the idea is so original'. Sadly, the optimism I felt in the beginning could not carry me through the confusion and the boredom to follow...

THE THINGS I LIKED

Writing: The writing was so incredibly beautiful, so descriptive and flowery it really caught my attention. And, as opposed to most other novels, the writing did not falter throughout.

"Today the earth bent to time's will as limber as a young sapling."

Time magic: The first thing we learn about the world, that this book is set in, is the concept of time magic. Being able to turn back time. I thought that was such an interesting and original take on the fantasy genre. I was so excited to learn more about but sadly, the magic only figured on the very first page. Granted, I didn't finish the book so I can't say if it came back in the last 25%, but that still leaves 75% of the book that is without the most interesting thing it had going for it.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

Dialogue: Usually I like dialogue, even sometimes prefer it. And the dialogue itself was okay. There was just way too much of it. All talk, no bite so to speak. That makes for a boring story really fast.

Too many elements: Fantasy is great because you can push the boundaries and try new things. But you still have to draw the line somewhere and stop piling on. Here, there was no end to the fantasy elements. There were magic, parallel worlds, unexplained dead zones, prophecies, gods and goddesses, otherworldly spirits - you name it! It got really confusing.

Time magic: Should have been the focus of the story because it was, without a doubt, the most interesting part of this story. Sadly, it disappeared before it even had a chance to shine.

Well I can safely say I was not expecting to end up in the United States. It wasn't a bad twist though, just unexpected (although as some reviewers have pointed out, this makes it almost seem dystopian). Even with the dystopia elements (a genre I don't care for at all), it didn't harm my enjoyment of it.

This book was absolutely what I would call a page turner, and I finished it pretty quickly.

The Living God is a frustrating novel. Not because it is terrible or poorly written, it is neither of those things. It has an incredible opening and a great ending, but there is this massive chunk in between that makes the novel so incredibly dull. Moreover, the reason it is dreary is that there is a big problem with the pace here.
After an effective fast-paced beginning, the novel dives. The reader’s eye is pulled into multiple directions as it follows Saran and Kelier, and other characters as they set out to help the rebellion. This should be fast paced, the momentum to keep up with the opening and the ending, but it does not. It is appealing but drags, which is such a huge problem here because there are interesting bits in the novel. Some of those fascinating bits also serve as a disservice to this story. Platt devotes much time to history in this novel, and that history is far more interesting than the current story. It is so compelling that it makes this novel feel more like a sequel than the start of a series. The history between the characters, whom they were before meeting each other, would have made a more exciting novel because then that would have been the focus and then this story probably would have been allowed to flow better. Instead, this novel feels like Platt is trying to world build all at once, get the history in, and set off the series all in one go. It is not like that has not been done before, but here, it just did not work.

Another hindrance of the story is the science fiction aspects of the novel. This is an opinion but when one has set off a story or labeled it as an epic high fantasy, stay in that niche, do not go bringing in parallel universes and science fiction into the mix, at least not without the proper establishment. Another reason this novel feels more like a sequel. Platt is trying to incorporate science fiction here, but it is not working. It breaks the already slow pace of the novel and takes the reader out of the story. Once she begins to do that, furthering the world building, it twists the story up and no longer feels like the high fantasy story it is supposed to be. The reader cannot suspend their disbelief and lose themselves once Platt does this, or at the very least, she makes it challenging for the reader to be able to do that.

This novel would have worked out so much better had it been split into two. Then book one could have been character establishment and world building and then this novel wouldn’t have to focus so much on that and could just move along at that tension-driven pace because the ending is so good, it’s riveting in fact, but that vast chunk in the middle, it’s a strong deterrent because the pace is as slow as a snail crossing the road.