Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I’d like this book as much as I did! I’m looking forward to the second. If you’re looking for a good sci-fi book, this is one right here.

1.5 / 5 stars

*Thank you Penguin Young Readers Group for the eARC from Netgalley.

-Dnfed a little over halfway through.

Goddess in the Machine Andra and Zhade who must work together to ensure the safety of themselves and the people of Eerensed. Andra went to sleep a girl and woke up a goddess. When Andra discovers that her journey went wrong, she realizes that the world she is in now is nothing like the one promised to her. Andra is part of a group journeying to a new settlement. Put into cryogenic sleep, Andra is abruptly awakened to discover that she is not where she is supposed to be. Amongst strangers in a new world who call her goddess, Andra’s goal is to try to figure out what went wrong with her journey.

Zhade is an exiled prince of Eerensed who wishes to be back with his people. Zhade manages to find the once-stolen “goddess” for his people. Zhade is determined to pass Andra off as a goddess to meet the approval of his people.

Overall, the idea for this story is very well presented in my opinion. The plot set up was well-presented and intriguing. However, the language of this book was just too confusing. I like how the author takes a spin on linguistics and changes the language to better show how language can change over time. I really appreciate this idea. However, the way the author did this made me struggle to find comprehension for what was being said. I think that it was overused overall and too complex for teens. I can see a lot of teens not being able to get through this because of the language used. It is honestly hard to understand what Zhade is saying during his POV shifts.

I think this purpose could have been better accomplished if we would have not gotten Zhade’s perspective. I honestly do not even understand why we did. I feel like his POV interrupted the main plot too much and was ultimately unsuccessful.

The plot idea presented is great, but things also moved very slowly. This story suddenly became pretty slow and political. It just was not something I expected.

Overall, I struggled to get through this because of the language and slow story. It just was not for me.

First off, hell yes to realistic fat characters! We NEED more of this type of body positivity in stories.

This story is a fast-paced dystopian sci-book that I was absolutely here. Yes, there are your typical tropes that you see, but they were in a way that I felt was still refreshing and shook up the norms. We get several twists and turns, which I loved.

Both of the main characters are fantastic. They are fully developed, and it was easy for me to fall in love with them right away.

After the ending this one had though, I need book two...STAT.

I really enjoyed the writing in Goddess in the Machine. The author’s style had me hooked right from the start.

The entire story was clever and captivating, and boy oh boy, that ending left me NEEDING more. I can’t wait for book 2.

Thank you @penguinteen for the gifted e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Okay Imma start off by saying that I loved this. I don't often read sci-fi but this one intrigued me so much. And oh boy I was not disappointed.

The relationship between Andra and Zhade was on FIRE. My gosh the tension between them was SO good. I loved their banters. It was just *muah*.

Andra was such a QUEEN. I love how she fought for what she believed in. She didn't take crap from anyone. And honestly? We stan that.

Zhade was like really hot. I ain't gonna lie. Like DAMN. Talk about a spicy jalapeno!

I cannot wait to jump into the sequel of this once I get a copy! I have NO idea where it's going to go, and that has me thrilled.

Im giving this book a 4 stars. The weird English really needed a dictionary in the back since most of these words were made up and I had no idea what they were supposed to mean. Like Meteor? I had no clue. I also didn't really enjoy the back and forth between the enemy to friend to enemy. It got quite repetitive after a while.
I am interested slightly in the second book but not enouigh that I will actively buy it.,

4.5/5

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for review.

I LOVED this book. Something about it really drew me in right from the beginning. I love language and learning new ones so I thought the whole idea of an altered English was awesome (even though I’ve seen lots of people complain about it). I like Andra and her chubby awkwardness that really brought me back to my teenage years. I thought Zhade was a classic bad boy ya heartthrob but I still loved him anyway—he has the arrogance of Jace from TMI but with all this burgeoning potential. He takes tons of risks for the chance at huge rewards and those traits that make up his personality in this way make him an interesting character. Maret ended up reminding me of the Red Queen series and the dynamic between mothers and ruling sons and then brothers. It was all a dysfunctional mess of a family drama that had political repercussions because of the monarchy and further complicated by the technological advances. The tech in fact was treated in such a way that this book really blurred the lines between fantasy and sci-fi (and reminded me a bit of Thor, when Chris Hemsworth says science and magic are basically the same thing).

I loved how so many parts of the story foreshadowed what I felt were really obvious things but had so many additional twists that those foreshadowing moments seemed to mask. It was intense to read the ending because there were so many aspects that just shocked and surprised me. I suspected a few of them but with less certainty than others, and all together it made the story surprising, delightful and fresh—even within a book that followed a lot of YA tropes and storylines. I was riveted until the very end and now I want book two!!!

Also I want to add that there was a surprise disability rep that I just really liked. I won’t give spoilers but it was very empowering in the moment—and it’s literally just a tiny scene but it stood out for me.

Content warnings: there is a bit of wanton violence and killing in this book that may be unsuitable for young readers and those sensitive to violence. No sexual violence. There was one bit of animal killing near the beginning that was a bit unexpected but it was not animal torture nor gratuitous. No sex but some kissing. I’d say this book was PG like movies in 1995. Some swear words from current times were used and it’s obvious the book’s later English also featured swears.

I really struggled with Goddess in the Machine. This is a book I’ve tried several times to read and I wanted to love it. The language (as spoken about in most reviews I’ve read) is the biggest issue here for me. I am fairly new to sci fi but this was one of the hardest books to get through. I couldn’t connect with the characters but appreciated the world building.

Thanks to Penguin Teen for giving me this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review! This YA sci-fi novel was definitely a letdown for me. The editor's note hyped this up to have an amazing language system written by a linguist, and there was clearly some consideration given to the futuristic language that was used for Zhade's chapters, but I didn't think it added anything to the book. The English language wasn't significantly changed enough to be immersive; it was distracting throughout.

There was also a big reveal about 60% of the way through the book that should have been done earlier, in my opinion. I don't want to spoil too much, but as a reader, my focus had been in one direction throughout the book and this was too big of a shift. I did enjoy the sci-fi aspects, and the world-building was solid and convincing. It also read like a standalone, so I'm surprised to see that there's another book in this series! I think it can be read alone, and I won't be looking for the sequel or companion novel, whichever it may be.

When Andra went into cryogenic sleep, she was supposed to wake up in 100 years on a safe planet. Instead, she has woken up 1,000 years later in a hostile land. The native inhabitants believe her to be a goddess who can save their world, but all Andra wants to do is find a way off their planet and home to earth. This YA Sci-fi has a strong female main character who is very determined to get things done. The author created a whole slang language that adds to the authenticity of a world 1,000 years in the future. The plot is filled with twists and turns that will keep readers on their toes!

I absolutely enjoyed this novel! There were so many good things about it and one thing that really didn't sit well with me.
What didn't sit well with me was the "slang" the author chose to create for this time period in which Andra now lives. If this is what human language is to become then the future needs to be carried out in ASL. I would not want to hear anyone talking like an Erensedian. I ultimately skipped the words like "certz' and the words that ended in -tish to save myself the headache of having to process them. In my opinion, that added nothing to the story.
Now that that is out of the way, on to what I liked! I really liked Andra as a character and her journey from start to finish. I think Johnson did a great job of weaving a tale of how a teenager in Andra's position would respond to her situation based on what she knew what supposed to happen and what she was actually experiencing. I thought that there were a lot of respectful touches on themes from science fiction works of the past like Frankenstein and even Terminator (I may be stretching...but I felt it!).
There are also characters who are not what has become the status quo for some YA stories and there is a brief but powerful statement of "fixing" disabilities that made me cheer when I read it. Quite a few characters in this story made an impression, but of the 3 main characters, the one who I thought was going to be most affecting, was not....and I'm not mad about it at all!
I am giving this a 3 star rating because, while I enjoyed the story, the slang annoyed me from start to finish. It really wasn't needed and didn't add anything to the world building or the characters. Also, I have SO MANY QUESTIONS!!! I will keep this spoiler free, but I will say that I need more answers than I thought I would need at the start of this story.
I am looking forward to more from Johnson, hopefully there will be more to the story of the world created here. I will include a link to my Youtube review when it has been completed.

This book wasn’t for me. I like sci fi but I’m a little particular on it and this was all around a strange read for me.

Firstly, the language really bothered me. I get it was another century and it was an attempt to be original, but I was mostly just confused. It was hard to follow and it wasn’t fleshed out enough.

I thought the idea and main character were well done and intriguing. I liked the main character, Andromeda, a lot and found her journey to be one easy to follow. I also thought the plot was interesting and left you in suspense much of the time.

I had high expectations for this book but it failed to meet them. I didn't understand the context or the structure of the plot very well, it made me confused and it was strange. In the end, I could understand something about the world, but I didn't get to connect with the characters or anything, I feel like I've been left with a big plot hole. I think I need to read the book again because this was no the right time to read it.

I had to DNF this book sadly. The vocabulary used to show that it was futuristic just didn’t work for me. I couldn’t read it properly with words being just a bit different than regular words.
I loved the premise of the book just could t get past the -ish and -ly’s

Lora Beth Johnson's Goddess in the Machine will outdo many of the sci-fi and fantasy novels you will read this year. Its secret? It never stops surprising you.
When it comes to book reviews, I am extremely particular with my stars.

I've never given a book one star. Two to only several. Three and four to many.

But five stars? That's a rating reserved for a very special kind of book.

To give a book five stars doesn't mean you loved every moment, that you resonated with every page or that every protagonist feels like your new best friend; every antagonist your latest worst enemy.

A book worthy of five stars isn't uncommon. But when you typically read over 100 books a year, you discover that being too generous with the highest praise makes it feel less earned, somehow. If I gave every book a full set of stars, those stars would come to mean nothing.

To explain exactly what qualifies a book for a five-star review, I must use Goddess in the Machine as an example. Because up until the last 20 pages or so, I thought I knew what my rating would be. I thought I knew a four-star book by heart, and that this was one of them.

And I was absolutely wrong.

Lora Beth Johnson isn't one to settle for just one plot twist. Oh, no. I actually lost count of how many times I thought I knew exactly who these characters were and where they were headed only to discover -- nope -- I am the oblivious reader. I know nothing. I will never guess how this ends.

(I did not. Not even close.)

Some stories put a lot of effort into saving all their Big Twist Energy for that one end reveal -- there's that often exciting but still slow build through the first two acts, the foreshadowing, the "something big is coming" hints.

But Johnson somehow manages to guide readers through small twist after small twist and still gets you with that one final "WHAT??!"

That's not an easy feat to pull off. Which is just one of many things that makes the book a truly amazing accomplishment. Should I mention that it's also subtly but masterfully body-positive? That it could have been yet another human-falls-in-love-with-an-android romance but ... wasn't?

No major spoilers here. That would ruin the fun.

What was the twist that bumped Goddess of the Machine from four stars to five? You'll have to figure that one out for yourself.

The linguistics fanatic in me can't leave out the brilliant use of spoken language in this narrative. Admittedly, 80 percent of my sci-fi/fantasy expertise comes from Star Wars. But here's a question I never considered: In books, why do people from the future almost always speak clear 21st-century English?

Johnson apparently had the same question (gripe?), because she took the time to consider how language changes over time and created an amazing imaginary model of what English might sound like in the 3000s. (Spoiler alert: It's fantastic.)

Not only do the characters speak with this slightly altered dialect -- it also serves as a plot device, where several miscommunications between Andra and her newfound companions lead to mind-blowing discoveries of the truth.

If you're looking for a page-turning science-fiction adventure with a female protagonist who's a terrible dancer and is as nerdy as they come (relatable), Goddess in the Machine is bound to be your new favorite book.

A book that more than earns its five stars -- and one you do not want to skip.



Goddess in the Machine is available now wherever books are sold.

2.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book. I had heard wonderful things about it so I decided to give it a shot.

However, I have very mixed feelings about the book. On one hand, I loved the story. The book takes place a thousand years in the future, in a time where for some reason technology has broken down and people have lost the understanding of how technology works. So now technology and all associated are revered as magic, angels, and goddesses. I found this a very unique and interesting concept, although I never understood what caused people to suddenly forget technology. I felt this was not explained and seems to be a strange gap in the story.

The second thing I had an issue with was the language. Supposedly speech has evolved into a whole new language complete with new slang. Although I can appreciate the intent behind this, the execution fell short for me. A lot of times it simply seemed that current slang was being shortened or "slanged-up" in a cringey way. I found the entire "language" to be cringe inducing- it often read like an older person trying to be "hip with the kids these days." I seriously considered DNFing the book multiple times due to the language.

However, I kept reading because I did find the story itself interesting and intriguing. I would rate this book as a 2.5. I've rounded up to a 3 on Goodreads. This easily could have been a 3.5-4 if the "new language" had been omitted. I don't think it added anything to the book, and instead it detracted from a cool story.

I really enjoyed this book. I struggled a bit in the beginning with the not-English, but I got into the groove eventually.

Andra is a great character, she knows what she's about and she knows how to stay alive. Never once did I think she made a mistake, things just kept happening. Zhade is such a "bad boy" but not. He's charming and I loved that I got a perspective from him but that it didn't ruin the surprise in the end.

Pacing could use some work, there was a bit of slowness and (I can't believe I'm saying this) but it could really use a montage. Like, she goes to Goddess Lessons but never uses them? And how long were they doing these lessons because at some point it felt like she'd been awake 3 weeks and others 3 months.

Either way, I still loved this story and I can't wait to get to the next one.

An engaging read with vibrant characters. The story leads you to believe you're headed in one direction, and then you discover it's not at all what you thought was happening - but it makes sense, in so many ways. Deals with issues of identity, responsibility and the fight for hope. I enjoyed the fact that the characters weren't all white, and even more that the story/author took the reader in new directions. Like Sci Fi fantasy? Grab it!

I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book for a few months now, and I swear every time I saw it pop up on my Twitter or IG feed, I would become more and more excited! So huzzah! I’m thrilled to be able to share my review with you. (I know it’s late but alas!)

First off, this book is incredibly unique. It reminded me a bit of Red Rising in terms of some of the sci-fi elements and terminology, and I absolutely loved how it tied in this fantasy element. I found so much about this book incredibly enticing with wonderful world-building and questionable characters (in a good and bad way, lol).

There are some interesting twists in this book as well that keeps on you on the tips of your toes as you try to figure out what exactly is going on. I wasn’t 100% on board with the (maybe?) budding romance between Andra and Zhade, and I think that’s mainly due to me not being sure about Zhade ever. Each character has their own agenda, and I think Andra ends up losing some of her own as the story progresses and we’re brought deeper into the world. (Also, can we say hooray for a plus-sized main character?) Zhade seemed to be fueled purely by instincts and secrets, some of which even the reader doesn’t know until closer to the ending. Because of this, I still don’t know what to make of Zhade. However, the plot that evolves around Andra is something I did not see coming at all. I was telling myself a completely different thing, so when the reveal/realization happened I was thrown for a loop.

I will admit that it took me a while to get used to the language of this new world. I almost felt like I was Andra herself, trying to navigate the dialect and learn on the fly. Fortunately, I did eventually find the dialect spoken by Zhade and others around Andra easy enough to follow and I would substitute “modern” words in for their words. It was made plain that not everyone speaks this “dialect” and there are citizens who speak in a language not even Andra can name or comprehend. I’d be interested to see if this is something that will come into play in the later books.

Overall I found this book engrossing and was eager to return to it. At times it felt a bit like Aurora Rising. I’m glad I enjoyed this book as well, and felt like I could fully immerse myself in this book and its world.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following unbiased and impartial review:
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3*
Pros: Interesting, immersive sci-fi read, full of twists. Great world-building and description. Biracial lead. Features awesome technology and scientific progress. Loved the introduction of new dialects and cultural markers. Deals with loneliness and finding your place in the world.
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Cons: Slow-going and with plenty of inane scenes. Lacking representation. Lackluster romance.