Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this one! Good worldbuilding that keeps you guessing at the same time, interesting characters and premise. I would read more by this author.

"The Life-Giver" by Jase Puddincombe is a captivating and imaginative sci-fi and fantasy novel that transports readers to a world of magic, mystery, and the power to shape life itself. Puddincombe's storytelling prowess shines as they craft a tale of destiny, elemental powers, and the complexities of a unique realm. The book's vivid world-building and well-defined characters create an immersive reading experience that resonates with young adult readers. Puddincombe skillfully blends elements of magic, adventure, and the struggle for balance, leading readers through a journey filled with twists and revelations. "The Life-Giver" is an enthralling read that invites readers to explore a world where the forces of life and death are inextricably linked, leaving them eager to uncover the secrets and challenges that await the characters as they navigate a world of magic and discovery.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

The Dreamers spend their nights conversing with the Sun God. The Scribes care for the wasted bodies left behind whilst their minds are free to roam, and record all they tell of their night-time adventures upon their return. Both are taxing roles to fulfil but never before have they been dangerous ones. That is soon to change.

This had such an unique and intriguing premise but, unfortunately, I don't feel I really bonded closely with what unfolded or the characters this focused upon. I can't accurately describe why not and can see this really working for other readers, as it was fast-paced and innovative in design. I think I have read one too many dystopian novels, perhaps, and now it isn't something I ordinarily gravitate towards. Or it may have merely been the case of right book at the wrong time. It sucks when that occurs as the book did nothing wrong or has any negatives that I can really criticize, which feels unfair. However, I felt what I did and enjoyed my time within this world well enough but don't feel it is one I will revisit.

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

Really well thought-out book with amazing characters and excellent setting.

This is a book with strong characters, touching amazing themes like friendship, love for family and friends, connection and grief. It was amazing to watch Lyam grow, backed by his true friends.
The only slight downside to this book was that the middle part seemed to be stretched out just a bit too much in my opinion.

An exquisite example of the scope of Fantasy. As someone who’s read a lot of this genre I was pleasantly surprised to find a fresh voice. I really loved this book & enjoyed discovering the machinations of their society and god.
Crisp & inviting i throughly enjoyed the language & imagery & would happily read more of this world now that they’ve reached the surface.

Brilliant storytelling about what happens when the world you live in finds Dreams untouchable. What happens when the nightmares finally show up.

This book was really interesting! I was intrigued by the storyline and that's what initially drew me to this title. I also really love the cover artwork.

A beautifully written book. Really enjoyed reading this. Thanks to publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read.

A unique story in a genre that has a lot of recycled ideas. The representation was great and it will be an easy book to give to the right reader who needs to be seen.

First, I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book. I am leaving this honest review of my own will.

I wasn’t as into this one as I thought I’d be. The cover art is okay, but it wouldn’t catch my attention in a bookstore. The writing is alright, I just couldn’t get into the story.

This was SO COOL??? And very different from a lot of YA fantasy out there. The concept in and of itself was fascinating but then paired with really striking world building and interesting characters, this honestly stands out. I want it to be more popular too because this is such a unique story with a lot of heart. Along with the worldbuilding, the character development is incredible. This is such a well-balanced book in terms of character and plot driven events happening. I really appreciated Lyam's development especially. Such a cool story and I hope to read more from this author!

This book was not my cup of tea. I tried to get involved in the characters and writing, but I constantly felt like something was off. My immersion was constantly faltering, and in the end I put down the book at roughly the 50% mark. On the positive side, the magic system - based on dreams and communication through them - was very compelling and original.

I want to start by saying it's refreshing to read a standalone fantasy. Also, hinted ace/aro rep! It took me a little while to get into this book, but once I understood the world and got to know the characters, I did really enjoy it. I felt there could have actually been a bit more development of the world and a better pay off in the end, but overall, a well crafted story highlighting important bonds.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

The world of "The Life Giver" is an interesting one. A society of people that live entirely underground, and whose society is guided by a mysterious god. The god is a sun deity called The Life-Giver. The Life-Giver communicates their will to their people through a mildly complicated system of Dreamers, Scribes, and Designers. But when something goes awry with the Dreamers, the Council tries to lay the blame at the Life Giver's feet. Our main protagonists, a Dreamer named Annelie and her Scribe, Lyam, learn of the conspiracy created by the Council and set out to fix the corruption that lies deep within their society's heart. The worldbuilding was cleverly written and was slowly rolled out so that as you read, you learned more and more about how the world of The Life Giver functions. The relationship between Annelie and Lyam is an interesting one. It's very clear that they love each other deeply and are on the level of soul mates, but the story never makes it romantic. Their relationship stays fully platonic and familial. This is a lovely change of pace since a lot of YA stories would have thrown in a random romantic subplot for no reason. Enoch was also an interesting character, though it's obvious he is meant to get the plot moving. The speed of the plot was a bit rocky for me; it moved along at a decent pace but slowed down to almost a snail's crawl in the middle. It picks back up near the end of the story, however, so it's just a small hurdle to get over. A slow down in plot isn't really a make-or-break part of a novel either way. The world of The Life-Giver is so unique that I'm struggling to compare it to any other type of fantasy book. The concept of magical dreams is nothing new, but the way this story uses them, makes the concept feel brand new. The mystery of the book is what really drove me to complete the book. I wanted to know why the Life-Giver was acting how they did, what was really going on with the Dreamers, who the heck Enoch really is, and so on. If it wasn't for my intense desire to find out the answer to the mysteries, I probably would have struggled more with that plot dip. All in all, The Life Giver has an amazingly created world, with characters who are easy to connect with. After a small look, it appears this is the author's first book! I loved this story, so I will be looking out for their future works!

***Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an electronic copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.***

5/5 stars
Recommended for people who like: magic, intrigue, looming apocalypse, disability rep, magic

This review has been posted to Goodreads and Instagram as of 4/12 and has been posted to my book review blog as of 4/26.

I will admit I was a bit nervous at first going into this book since I read The Lost Dreamer last month and it has a similar concept with Dreamers communing with the gods (and the very first chapter of this book is called the last dreamer). But this book is 100% different from that one. Other than the Dreaming aspect, which really is only similar in name and needing to be asleep, the two stories have different arcs, character types, settings, adventures, etc.

This story was pretty interesting. Everyone lives underground, but worships the sun. The whole living-underground-previous-end-of-the-world gave me 'City of Ember' vibes, which was cool. I thought the take on celestial gods was interesting as well. The sun wasn't just something that had been sentient but wasn't anymore or that people just decided to worship, but actually was sentient.

While the book does give off City of Ember vibes, it's much more dystopic, which is interesting. The Dreamers are kept in seclusion to keep them 'sacred,' and there's a whole bunch of rules about who can do what in relation to them. There were times where, from the outside, I wanted to shake Lyam for how he was thinking and behaving, but then I had to remember that he's been spoon-fed this his entire life and doesn't really know any better.

Lyam is the main narrator for the story and is one of the Scribes (i.e., caretaker for a Dreamer). He was the youngest to be have been selected, along with his charge, and strives to do a good job. He's 18, so an adult and capable of doing things on his own, but there are moments where it's also clear just how young he still is. I think Puddicombe struck a nice balance between having Lyam be someone who has had to take care of things on his own basically since he was 9 and also being someone who is still very much a child himself.

Annelie is a secondary narrator, in that she's Lyam's Dreamer and only narrates the Dreaming portion of the book. Honestly, there's a ton of stuff going on in this book to keep Lyam's parts interesting, but I do like Annelie's the best. The whole communing-with-the-literal-sun thing is interesting and I wasn't sure at first how much of it was literal vs. metaphoric, but no, the Dreamers really do talk to the sentient sun. Where Lyam was able to offer a look at their physical world and characters, Annelie is able to show us the magic of the world and the other Dreamers.

The relationship between Lyam and Annelie is very sweet and it really comes through how much they each care about one another. Annelie was 6 when she had her first Dream, and Lyam 9, so they've essentially grown up with only each other for company (though unlike Annelie, Lyam could go home for visits when he wanted). Lyam is the one tasked with taking care of Annelie, but Annelie does the same for him, making sure Lyam eats, sleeps, etc. when needed.

Enoch is the big side character we get to see, but I had trouble getting a feel for him. Overall he's a pretty chill dude, but there are times when he comes across as incongruent (i.e., seems pretty angry but nothing comes of it). I wish we got a bit more background with him, or perhaps a better conclusion for his arc. Tasmin is the other big side character, and she feels much more filled out than Enoch does. Tasmin is the head Scribe and was previously a mentor to Lyam, so she comes across as fairly motherly. I liked her and her charge, Nethan, and was glad that they were consistently in the book.

One thing I do wish was different, though, is that I wanted Lyam and Annelie both to have more agency. Lyam is able to move around the city and do things, but he needs repeated, large pushes in order to get stuff done. On the opposite side, Annelie is confined to her tower not just by the laws of their city, but also because she can't really walk very well and wheelchairs don't seem to be a thing underground (they are above ground, so she does get a wider range of mobility, but only much later in the book). Annelie is much more likely to be an active agent and so it's a shame that she only really gets to be one at the end, then certain things happen where she's only ~sort of~ an agent.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought the concept was intriguing. I would've liked to see more agency by the two main characters, and perhaps a more resounding conclusion for Enoch, though.

The Life-Giver is a very well written standalone fantasy novel. The world building was very detailed and very interesting, but it did end up slowing down the plot. The main character Lyam was very enjoyable to follow and I loved the relationship between him and his dreamer, Annelie. It was refreshing to see a strong and close bond between two characters that does not turn to romance. I wish we saw more of Annelie in the book because she was an interesting character.

The plot itself is predictable with twists you see coming, but I didn't mind with the world and strong writting making up for the weaker plot.

I definitely recommend this book to those who love stories with great world building and don't mind a slower plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Parliament House for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is set in a really intriguing world, where people live underground and only a select few can have contact with the sun (the Life-Giver). We follow one of these people, a Dreamer, and her Scribe, the only person she can have contact with as they unravel this weird society's mysteries.

Something I really loved about the Life-Giver was the beautiful friendships. It was very refreshing to see a Young-Adult book that tells a love story, but with no romance attached. When I saw that the author was part of the asexual and greyromantic, I was even happier with it - teens who are part of the a-spec will find in this book not only understanding and representation, but also a tale where they too can fit, they too can have these relationships and there's nothing wrong with it. The author is also diagnosed with several disabilities, namely physical ones, and also gives disabled people a voice in their book. I especially loved how even though it was clear there was a disability, it was just a part of the story and not a plot point. It's so important to show that disabled people are much more than their disabilities and deserve to have their own adventures, that are not related directly to their disability.

This having been said, I didn't give a 5 star review because some parts of the plot itself felt a little rough and because there was a lot of repetition in some of the characters actions (Lyam licked his lips a lot, which i understand can be seen as a nervous tick, but it didn't quite work in my opinion).