I absolutely loved this book – actually looked just now to Amazon and Goodreads to see when the second book is coming out, couldn’t find anything, so I went to the author’s website. Apparently it’s available as an audio fiction podcast which I’m excited about! Now I can reread the first season (I suppose I could call it that?) before I listen to the second one.

The story is filled with action and quite a bit of humour, which I very much enjoyed. There’s mythology in, and honestly anything mythology is always going to get my attention – I’m just glad that it was well-written too. Iris and Andy were two fun characters to read, especially Andy. I feel like they played off of each other well and that they paired well with each other too.

I was pleasantly surprised by this! I started it initially and read a few pages and didn’t think I’d be a fan so I set it down for a few months but ended up picking it up against and finishing it in 3 days.

It was a fun mystery, even if that may not be the right word, and I loved the world and pantheon building. I wish we had gotten more pantheon building or more background on them at least, especially the situation with Iris and the sun god!

The only issue I had was the set up I think as far as the whole Episode 1, 2, etc but I got used too it after a while. Other than that, such such a good book and cannot wait for “season 2.”!

I loved how fast-paced this was. The mythology was rich and I really enjoyed the way the characters interacted in this. I will say the multiple POV didn't hit the mark for me, but it wasn't anything that I disliked enough to hinder my reading experience.

I am interested to see how this story develops in any future installments

An interesting world, in which Graeco-Roman-style gods live among humans, and you can (under certain circumstances) go and talk to them, and it's a secondary world (or at least the names of countries are different), but the technology level is that of our contemporary world.

This forms the background for a good solid murder mystery. The investigator is a priestess of Justice, and she's assisted by a former criminal informant/demigod who is trying to get his act together, and faces an uphill battle to do so.

The gods are privileged (in the original meaning of the word: they have a private law, which is different from the law that applies to humans), and the investigator has a big problem with that. Especially since the clues in the murder keep pointing to it having been done by a god, and she has no jurisdiction if that is the case.

The undercurrent of attraction between the ill-assorted pair (who alternate as viewpoint characters) adds to the already well-drawn characterization, the mystery is textbook in its execution, and all in all it's a good bit of craft, as well as being entertaining.

Copy editing is good, too, with only a few small typing errors. I'll be looking for more from this author.

God & Lies was such a thrill to read! It took a fun twist on the typical mythological book and the mystery/thriller was so fun! I'm giving it 3.5 stars tho because there were quite a few opportunities to build depth to both the characters and the world that were not taken.

When I saw Gods & Lies was available on NetGalley, I instantly jumped on the opportunity. I’d seen this around a bit, most notably from Serial Box as a sort of serialised/episodic audiobook. I have to admit that I don’t really know how that works, but it had intrigued me a few months back. I can definitely see how it would work as an audiobook—I think that you can tell that it’s written for that medium, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. However, I do think this probably works better in that form but that’s not to say it’s not enjoyable to read like this either.

This is very much a novella so there’s very little worldbuilding or character development. Again, I think this is probably where it leans into the serialised audiobook form a little better—a different kind of atmosphere and storytelling can be set up that way. That being said, I thought the plot was intriguing enough to keep me interested and I didn’t really notice that though things were lacking until I really thought about it for this review.

All in all, this was a fun read and I’d be interested in reading the next.

This is interesting and I sincerely hope more is to come of this book (a whole series of this would be so cool!)
Many thanks to NetGalley and Serial Box for this free ARC. This review is made of my own accord, with no monetary compensation whatsoever from the names mentioned above and/or the rightful owners of this ARC.

This was a quick-paced and entertaining read. I read this while listening to the audiobook (which has some pretty cool sound effects btw) and that really enhanced the experience. The audiobook is free in podcast form, so for anyone who is able, I definitely recommend checking that out. I love urban fantasies and stories based on mythology but I really wish that the book had been a bit longer. I really wish could have been more time spent on world-building in the beginning and that we had spent more time building up the characters' personalities and chemistry because I struggled to get invested in their issues and the chemistry fell a bit flat for me.

3. 5 stars overall and I would definitely consider checking out episode 2.

A fun secondary-world detective story. This is a country (not a whole world, it seems) where gods and goddesses are very real and very present. And we're talking ancient Greek versions of the gods: they're petty and vengeful and lustful and all those sorts of vices that, when write large on the immortal scale, are so obviously awful. And add in the sorts of characteristics that go along with whatever you're god of - the wind god being whimsical or devil-may-care, for instance - and there's all sorts of things that can go badly for the humans around them.

Here, a priestess of the goddess of justice is called on to investigate a murder. It's a weird one, and clues lead to weird places. She get assistance - unwillingly - from a demigod; because when you've got gods and goddesses interacting with mortals, that sort of thing is bound to happen.

For lovers of a good detective story, this is a lot of fun.

Thanks to NetGalley and Serial Box for providing me with a review copy. The below opinions are my own.

Gods & Lies is a quick read of an urban fantasy with a bit of romance. This book follows two POVs Andy and Iris who come together to investigate a murder. This book is influenced by Greek mythology a bit but nothing is stated outright. It had several twists along the way and at times they felt rushed with less attention to details.

The writing style was good and the imagination of the author is to be commended. However the book was too fast paced and the characters felt stereotypical. I wish this chapter was a bit longer and more fleshed out.

Wow! What a fun ride! I have always loved Serial Box for their awesome enhanced audiobooks with sound effects and music, but I was not expecting to enjoy their titles as straight up written books almost as much! Gods & Lies season one, along with season two of this serial, also exist as one of those amazing audiobooks and you can bet I’m listening to season two as soon as possible. After finishing this book, I am eager to immerse myself in this world again.

The world that Vail has constructed is fascinating and the possibilities are endless for future stories set within it. Every aspect, no matter how small or insignificant, has a god connected to it. Like the familiar Greco-Roman deities, these gods like to meddle in human affairs, including sometimes taking humans as favourites/lovers. The murder mystery in this season was unique and really interesting, bringing up everything from the perils of god/human sexual relationships, the horrors of transmogrification, to the difficult plight of recent immigrants. I was immediately drawn in and raced though the entire story. It was very funny, super fun, and had little touches of ideas that were a bit deeper than the surface.

The characters were fun and surprising. I never knew what strange being was going to show up next! I loved strait-laced, tough Iris and sexy but hapless demi-god Andy. Their chemistry was smoking hot, and their will-they-or-won’t-they relationship has me dying for them to share a real kiss in the future. After her revelations in this book about her previous relationship with a deity I feel there is a lot more to Iris to be discovered. Andy is the comic relief with a heart of gold and a fledgling conscience that is a constant struggle for him. Iris inspires him to be better and Andy forces Iris to loosen up and relax her stringent devotion to the rules, at least a little. Together they are the perfect foils to one another, and I am sure there are plenty of hijinks to be had in their futures. There are so many fun and slightly horrifying possibilities for these characters and this strange world that I really hope this becomes a long, ongoing series.

Thank you to Serial Box or providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.

Firstly, I love good retelling. Gods & Lies is exactly that. Gods and Lies is an urban retelling where the gods of old are still alive and well and people go out of their way to gain their favor. Gods and Lies does a lot with little. It is a fast-paced mythical murder mystery with lovable characters, Iris & Andy.

You wouldn't think that ritualist murder, Gods and Demigods, and romance go well together but Gods & Lies it did well. I didn't see the ending coming which is a huge plus for me. If you are looking for a fun, well-written, quick-read, Gods & Lies is a great choice. Would recommend!

I thought the concept of this story was really cool, and while I enjoyed the characters, I found myself losing interest in the story. There were some good, funny moments in the story, and I enjoyed the banter between Iris and Andy. I didn't predict the ending either which was nice, but I just couldn't get hooked in the story like I expected. I would definitely read another season of this book though.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Gods & Lies is a quick, fast-paced urban fantasy/mystery. I really enjoyed the world-building, but wasn't as much of a fan of the mystery or the developing romance. I'll consider reading the next season of the series, which finished recently.

I generally like secondary-world urban fantasy better than urban fantasy set in variations of our own world, and I really like what Vail has done with the development of her setting here. This was the best part of the book for me. The pantheon seems pretty clearly based on Greek and Roman gods, but with some interesting twists (I loved the idea of the Threemothers, for instance). Partially because of similarities to our world, it was pretty easy to grasp how things worked and what the rules were, generally. I felt the author was successful in creating a cohesive system of gods, humans, and other entities, and then examining the conflicts that might arise out of that system as it changed over time. I enjoyed the way those conflicts were used to support the main plot of the story.

Where I had more trouble was the plot itself. While I had fun racing around with Iris and Andy to try to solve the mystery, I found the actual solution predictable and disappointing. This was somewhat ameliorated because of other aspects of the resolution that I enjoyed - the way this case related back to the bigger picture of human-god relations, in particular - but at the moment of the big reveal I was seriously considering giving the book only 2 stars. Additionally, I found the romance boring. Iris and Andy are fairly shallow characters, although they both do have potential, but a romance between them seemed a bit out of character and not especially supported by anything in-text beyond the fact that it might be expected of this type of story/relationship.

The writing was, on the whole, engaging and easy to read. However, there was some annoyingly exposition-heavy dialogue in the middle that I would have preferred to skipped - the information could have been introduced much more gracefully.

<i>Gods & Lies</i> was a fun and intriguing urban fantasy mystery. A priestess of the Goddess of human Justice teams up with a Demigod son of the Seamother to solve a twisted ritual murder.
I struggled to stay engaged with this for some reason. Some of the early chapters or episodes felt a bit too long and slow so I kept putting it down after only a few pages. The second half, however, felt a lot more exciting and action-packed. I liked Elizabeth Vail's writing style, the adjective choices really set the tone.
It was fun and interesting so if you can manage to get into it at the beginning I'm sure this could be a very quick read. Personally, I'm giving it a 3.5/5 star but I'm rounding up to 4. The mystery is compelling and I really enjoyed the relationship between the two protagonists.

Content warnings for animal death/sacrifice, torture, murder, ritual sacrifice, parental neglect/cruelty.

<i>A big thank you to Serial Box for providing me with this copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

This was interesting.
I love all about the god-detective-thing and the team-up-with-ur-enemy-thing. I mean, I'm on it.
It was just so sad that the story were so short, I would like to read more about the goddesses and the temples, and of course, more about the organization that leads detectives over gods. It was just fun.
I like it very much.

This book was entertaining, but not one of my favourites. It was a casual reading for me, not much going on. I wasn't eager for answers as you should expect someone to be while reading a book with a mystery going on.

In my opinion it lacked character depth, and since we only have a few characters I would like to see more of them: more of their background, more of their motivations, more of their psychologic traits and emotional struggles, etc.

Let's not forget to mention the author's creativity for all these deities and the general plot, which was fun. I also got some Lucifer (netflix series) vibes from this book, and this I really enjoyed.

However, I had a bit of a hard time understanding the deities as for what they rule and represent since the book lacked a bit of information on that matter. Also, I ended up with the feeling that there was so much more room for details and story unfold which overall felt a bit rushed.

I really, really loved this book. It took me a little while to get into it but it was well worth the wait. Pacy, exciting, like Greek legends meets crime noir. I genuinely didn’t guess who was responsible till the very end and it twisted and turned throughout. I only wish it had been longer! Can’t wait to see what’s next for Andy and Iris!

I don’t know. Feels like a lower stakes 21st century tech and culture take on Gaiman. I have a feeling that the audio version (full cast?) is quite a bit more engaging...still...not too shabby.

Thank you to Netgalley and Serial Box for this ARC.

This serial is an interesting mix of: gods based on the greek pantheon, romance, and mystery. Lead character Iris is a Justix for goddess Themia. Her job is to investigate when humans and gods run afoul of each other. Though, her role is really supposed to be to investigate when the humans involved with the gods do something possibly criminal. Not to investigate the gods and their potentially criminal or reprehensible behaviour.
So Iris is sent to the site of a murder of a devotee of Aestros, the Windtamer. She's assigned a partner, a ne'er do well demigod, Andy, son of the Seamother and brother of Tilamon, Goddess of Tides. Iris has issues with Andy's constant skirting of the law and the way problems don't tend to stick to him, so she's less than happy to have him along on her investigation.
Pretty soon, they both find, using their various individual resources and methods, that there's something fishy, and possibly quite horrible going on. And the more they dig, the more certain they become that the case isn't anywhere near as clear cut as Themia would like, and that they're attracted to one another.
I liked the mix of slightly noir-ish detective story and gods behaving badly. (Though, when don’t they?)
Iris and Andy are both interesting point of view characters, so it's fun watching them use their different skills to come to similar conclusions about the case.
The pacing is good, and I liked the characters. It's not a deeply complicated mystery, but enjoyable nonetheless, and I could follow this story easily, and look forward to the next instalment.