DNF.
I wasn't going to review this, but I thought I might as well explain why I stopped reading it. Because of this, I do not think I will be sharing my review on socials.

First of all, it is confusing for the sake of being confusing. A lot of books, especially fantasies, are indeed confusing at the beginning while you are getting familiar with the world and the characters, but in this case it did not feel like that. I had to reread some parts to try to make out what was being said. Concepts were introduced that did not carry out later, which only made you feel like you wasted time with them.

Both the cover and synopsis gave me an idea of what this book would be like, and it got my attention, but that potential was not met within its pages. Apart from the story not delivering, and it being confusing, I was taken out from it with its complicated and incorrect grammat and spelling and punctuation mistakes.

I read other reviews to try to see if it got better, since I very rarely DNF books, but I saw some content warning and scenes described that I am glad I did not have to read.

This was not a book for me. If you think you might be interested, I recommend looking at some of those warnings first.

This was my first and only DNF. I actually read this a while ago but wasn't going to review.

I got the Arc from netgalley.

Firstly, love the cover, love the premise. I was so excited !!

Sadly the lack of editing had thrown me off so badly I barely made it a few chapters and the plot or lack of was not good. I was confused, bored, frustrated and overall just not enjoying it.

However, I would like to give Kai another chance one day.

I did not finish this book, this was because the writing the plot were too difficult to get through and I felt it was formatted and plotted out terribly. The spice and plot made no sense and the characters fell flat. I do not recommend.

I wish I had liked this story, but realistically there is no plot in this book.
We're introduced to gods at the beginning who then don't reappear at all throughout the whole book and with a timeline that doesn't make sense. Then we're introduced to a whole new set of characters a couple of chapters in which are humans and have nothing to do with the gods we are introduced to at the beginning. Then 60% through we get new characters that take over the rest of the story with a couple of the original gods added in again.
We are made to care about specific characters and then they are killed off as if they weren't at all relevant to the story.
It didn't feel like I was reading a well-thought-out story and the only way I was able to finish it was by having my Kindle read it to me. I do not recommend this book.

An unexpected pleasure to read. I was entertained from start to finish. Fast paced and exciting. One of the best things in an easy fantasy read.

I wanted to be sucked in to this right away, but it just didn’t happen. The plot sounded promising and I was so excited, but so far it fell short and I wasn’t able to finish it yet.

I'm sorry but i got 20% in and realised i really wasn't entertained due to the amount of grammatical errors and the mish mash of godly to human storylines that haven't seemed to go anywhere so far.
So this is a did not finish and i hope with some serious editing and rewrites I'll be able to come back to it at some point.

Unmarked grave by Kai Smith.
The Lost Children Book 1.
War has reached the heavens, and the gods must face the hard truth; someone is hunting them. Christian was the first to fall, though doubt looms as his sibling and wife Seren, God of Evil, may have been the intended target. With the shakeup at the pinnacle level of the pantheon, the world trembles in uncertainty as Damion, Seren’s brother, assumes the throne, becoming the God of Good.
A very good read with good characters. I loved the cover. 4*.

Book with potential due to the story line but didn't make it for me.
I found some scenes were cut out and i didn't get the full description or reason for the scene. It was confusing at times and I didn't understand alot of the story. I think there could be more potential for 2nd book.

While I had high hopes for this novel, it did not live up to my expectations. Unfortunately I could not bring myself to finish reading this past the first 10% due to the writing style. This ARC had so much potential but was lacking in the editing department. While the synopsis, title, and cover art initially drew me in, I could not get over the poor writing style and lack of background information that would have helped to truly draw a reader into the story. As a reader, I try not to judge too harshly but with the amount of grammatical errors and the dizzying whirlwind that was the first few chapters, I cannot rate this novel any higher.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

I enjoyed the characters dynamic throughout the book. Fun fast read.

I loved the cover and title of the story and I was excited to read this based on the description but that is where anything positive I felt about this book ended. The beginning was chaotic and ridiculously confusing. Honestly I couldn’t even get through it and I have a very hard time just quitting. The grammar and misspelled words were so frustrating. I think that some ideas have promise but a whole rewrite would be needed to salvage those ideas at this point.

I am confused 😕. I liked it, it was very entertaining and I do want to know what happens next, so I will keep an eye out for the next book. But I don't totally understand what I read, is like 3 diferent stories that are connected to something bigger. But there is no hint I could get of what that bigger thing is. Feels like a chapter of a longer book instead of a first book of a series. The stories are obviously related because the shared characters but nothing else tells you why you are reading that. Also from one story to the other years pass, but it doesn't say so you feel quite lost for a while. The characters tho are great and I found easy to connect to them, and want to continue to read their story, but with this book I can't be sure that the next book will talk about the same characters?
Also after reading the book I wonder, who is the people in the cover ???
The description says its volume 1, but I doesn't feel like a volume 1.

There’s a difference between confusing fantasy readers to keep them enthralled in the story or confusing the reader to the point they have no idea what is going on.

This story has potential - but it is absolutely no where near the quality it needs to be in order to be enjoyable. The writing style was so hard to get into. I found myself wishing for less in some scenes and more in others.

I wish this was much more polished. It was a struggle to get through.

This review comes from Netgalley.

I was really excited to read this book because it has a description that drew me in immediately. Everything, from the title and series name to the book cover, had me interested in the story and the world I might be submersed in. Unfortunately, this was not a long-lived feeling.

To begin with, I genuinely believe that this book has potential! But it really needed a copy-editor, proof-reader, a few more rewrites, and some extra love.

I found some scenes could be cut out, others could have been better fleshed out, and some should simply not have made it past the drawing board. But, again, it could be a really good story if it was given more time and more energy!

Now, on to the reasons for my low rating:

I have to start with what I have been always told is a rule of thumb when writing fantasy, “There is a difference between confusing your audience in an interesting way, and confusing your audience so much they don’t understand anything.” This book was confusing and often left me wondering what I had just read. I had to let it sit for a couple of weeks at one point because I just was not able to get into it enough to continue. It had scenes that didn’t make sense for the storyline or were not clear enough to understand the reason for their inclusion. I often found myself skimming it in order to make the scenes/chapters go faster so I could move on. This is not a reaction I want a book to give me.

In line with this, the character tones and personalities weren’t drawn out enough for me to easily differentiate between them or correctly assume the speakers before they were named. The characters just felt a little bit hollow and not fleshed out or created to their fullest potential. On top of this, it felt like there were too many characters introduced within the first couple of chapters that it became a chore to remember who was who.

Another point I have to make is the lack of showing. There is a lot of telling in this book, but not a lot of showing and I think there were a large number of missed opportunities where the author could have really dove into a scene in a far more effective and intriguing way had they used the “show don’t tell” rule.

Compared to the numerous fantasy YA/NA books that I have read in the past, this book just did not meet the standard I would expect for it to sell well. Yes, there will definitely be people who enjoy this book, and if that’s you, I don’t judge you for that! However, I honestly believe it needed more time and more love put into it before it should have been considered as publishable.

Would I recommend/buy this? No. I don't think it's at a standard where it should have been published yet.

Thank you Netgalley for having this book up and thank you for letting me review it honestly and openly!

Thank you net galley for the arc now here is my honest opinion.

I was really excited for this book because this description sounded amazing and the cover is gorgeous and it’s an NA fantasy book I was sold but couldn’t finish this book I didn’t even reach the end of chapter 3.
The writing style was so bad that nothing made sense and the writer was just saying the same 3 things and never explaining them. He once used “ favored souls “ 6 times in a paragraph WITHOUT LIKE EXPLAINING WHAT THAT IS.

I was so excited for this book but I just couldn’t bring myself to finish it I knew it would put me in a slump nothing about it was appealing the writing was just bad and I sometimes questioned if this is an actual writer.
Chapter 1 made no sense and not in like oh it doesn’t make sense fantasy type of way but like nothing is properly fucking explained way and you have characters introduced out of no where with no explanation and no one understands what tf is happening.
And don’t even get me started on chapter two when he legit hit her and was like “ why, seren? Why did you make me strike you” SO MUCH RAGEE but that’s not even the worst part then 5 secs later he justifies rape? And then Proceeds to say “ it’s not forced if it’s what freely given to me “ YOU FUCKED CHOKED HER AND MADE HER PASS OUT YOU ASSHOLE.

I legit decided to skim some parts but by mistake went to far and ended up in another rape scene?? Like does this author have nothing better to do than write about male characters taking advantage of women? And I saw something with a knife and that’s when I decided that I will not continue reading . This takes the place for the worst book I ever read. The only good thing about this book is the cover and this is where the saying don’t judge a book by its cover comes from.

It I could rate this lower I would

thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

the description, title, and cover of this book made me think it had a lot of potential.

i feel like the writing made the book a lot more confusing as the punctuation just felt like a whole mess.
worldbuilding was lacking and i felt like was not developed at all and the characters felt very superficial and hollow.
the combination of the lack of worldbuilding, boring characters, and poor grammar choices just made this book not very readable for me.

Okay so lets start off with the most important part, I did enjoy the book but I still don't know what exactly the storyline was supposed to be?

The cover is absolutely gorgeous and It draws you in but I have no idea who they are supposed to be even now.

The characters were very hollow to me throughout the entirety of the book and there were enough that came and went that I wasn't sure what the story was actually supposed to be about.

The book is very clunky in that there are a lot of times when a character's name is used when it doesn't need to be used. Or, alternatively, there were moments when I thought "Oh this has got to be x character because it's their voice!" only for it to be an entirely different character.

The dialogue isn't a whole lot better, there isn't anything more than a comma or a question mark to end a moment of dialogue but even the question mark is used sparingly and so there's no real emotion behind the words that are used.

This is probably not a book I will pick up a second time though I am curious to see where else the author is planning to go with this so I may pick up a second book (if there is one) though as I stated, I am unsure what actually was going on.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Let's start out with the positives, shall we? The cover is to die for like it is gorgeous. The description of the book "oh good lord, it sounded like my kind of book". The title: had me hook, line and sinker.

I never made it past 2% of the book because I realized after the fifteenth mention of table that I would only be wasting my time. The book did not do any of the positives justice and I am not convinced the book was proper English. For an author who has written several books, let's just say I was hoping for a better writing than whatever that was like most of the sentences were incomplete or had random ellipses (...) in them. Like what the heck? If I had to tell anybody about what the beginning was about I would not be able to do it. I wished the beginning did not exist because I could not even get past it to get to the knight protecting the High Priestess which sounded incredible.
It was not my kind of book :(
1 out of 5 stars.

This was enjoyable but unfortunately I have read better. I have read quite a lot of books from the New Adult fantasy genre and this one was lacking. I didn’t enjoy the setting of this book which is a shame as I usually enjoy stories with different worlds. The characters were lacklustre for me and left me wanting. Also there was a time jump of seven hundred and fifty six years later which just annoyed me as I am not a fan of time jumps. The cover is great though.