Sweet sparkling pandas, this was amazing. Don't let the amount of time it took me to read this reflect on the story, because it was 100% me not being in the mood for YA.

I should have known Amie would deliver.

I loved these characters. They're lost and ruthless and charming and smart and loyal and a million other things. I'm not usually good with multi-POV, but this one had me craving more of everyone.

Plot wise, it was intriguing. A history of gods, a future of war, and an in between of 6 people looking fight, but for different reasons.

Overall, this story was light and fun while still dark and serious. I loved every page, every situation, and the ending is absolutely bonkers insane. I can't wait to read what's next.

**Huge thanks to Amie and the publisher for spoiling me with an early copy**

I think this book had great potential, but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. There was too little action, and the story felt a bit flat and unentertaining. However, it was still enjoyable enough for me.

Kaufman writes books that you get lost in. Amazing writer and stunning book. Highly recommend this book.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy of The Isles of the Gods. This was a fantastic fantasy novel and I already ordered copies for my book shop.

An interesting story that has a few characters to follow. I think I would enjoy this more in physical format. However it was still thoroughly entertaining and fast paced.

I have loved Amie's previous work which has been paired up with a co-writer so was super excited about diving into The Isles of the Gods. From the summary, this should be a book that I absolutely fall in love with so it was a bit of a surprise when I didn't

It took a few tries to grab me and get any momentum in the story. And even when I felt a touch of momentum, it didn't stay. There were A LOT of characters to keep track of and their individuality did not always stick in my brain so the switching POV frequently killed the pace for me.

The world building is really cool and there are elements I like so right now I am on the fence about reading on.

I have drifted away from YA SFF for most of this year as well, so that could also be at play.

I've enjoyed books from this author before, so I was rather eager to read this new one! The beginning was really tough for me to get into due to the numerous point of views. With this many different voices, the plot became really muddled and it was tough to understand what the whole point of the novel was. The pacing didn't help keeping me invested and the constant switching of the point of view was distracting. I did appreciate the romance that was thrown in, and honestly, it's the only thing that kept me going. The ending left it open enough for me if I'm interested in reading the sequel. I am worried that I'll lose interest with not being able to remember the first novel. Time will only tell.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Books for access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Diving headfirst into the first released book of a high fantasy series can be a little nerve-racking, but the prospect of an exciting, magical adventure on the high seas was too good for me to pass up, and I'm so, so glad that I was lucky enough to read this one. Your main cast of characters were all so well written and fleshed out with their own belief systems and insecurities and hopes and dreams and driving forces pushing them forward, and it only made getting to know them all together as they interacted more rewarding. Selly's love of the sea and her doubts in herself and her own abilities always clashing with her independence and distinct knowledge of what she *is* good at, Leander's love of his home and his people while his fear of failing them keeps him from living up to his potential, Keegan's desire to learn leading him to leave behind his family and their expectations, Laskia's devout belief in both herself and her cause despite others never giving her the chance to prove herself, and Jude's desperation to take care of himself and his mother and his mistrust of others after he was let down in the past... Chef's kiss doesn't begin to cover how much I love everything about every one of these characters.

The world was massive and and interesting and well explained, and I never once felt like there was an info dump to get me up to speed. The lore of the world the characters lived in was so, so cool, especially getting to see how belief either ran or didn't run the world, how the effects of their history had trickled down to create the world as we get to know it. And the magic system! I think I could rant about it for hours, truth be told. I don't think there was one piece of this story that I didn't like (except that it ended where it did without there being more for me to immediately ingest of course). I laughed, I cried, I screeched and kicked my feet, I yelled at characters, I got up and anxiously paced my room--I even stopped breathing a couple of times. And since finishing The Isles of the Gods, I haven't stopped recommending it to my friends so that I'll have even more people to run my mouth to about it. It was an easy five star read for me, and I am desperately excited to see what all of my new favorite characters get up to in the next book.

I really enjoyed The Isles of the Gods. To me, the best way to describe it is Fable meets Six of Crows. The story follows Selly, who is trying to reunite with her father. However before she can do this, her ship is commandeered by the Prince of Alinor. Prince Leander has a secret mission to reach the Isles of the Gods so he can perform a ritual that will help his god Barrica keep Macean, the god of Mellacea, asleep. They run into trouble when Laskia, a devoted worshiper of Macean, shows up to stop Leander from completing his mission.

I loved the world building in this one. It’s a fantasy book, but with a few modern touches. The magic system is really cool too. People with magic are called magicians, and they have green magician’s marks that show what elements they can manipulate. When they use their powers they have to sacrifice something to the spirits of the element that want to use, which makes it pretty interesting.

I would definitely recommend this book to any ya fantasy lover. The book alternates between the different characters so you get to meet all of their personalities. It was highly entertaining and I really liked it. I cannot wait for book two to come out!

While I thought this was a great idea for a story, the actual book itself just didn't do it for me. It is really difficult to pull off multiple character POVs, and unfortunately the huge cast of characters were not distinguishable enough to succeed at such an approach. I didn't like any of these characters, so it was impossible to care much what happened in the story.

I tried with this book. I really did. There are way too many characters and they all sound the same, so I had a hard time keeping track of them. Because it was so hard to distinguish between the characters and their stories, I found myself not caring about any of them. Illuminae is one of my favorite book series, and I'm starting to wonder if it's because of Kristoff and not Kaufman. It's such a shame, and this book sounded so cool, but in the end, it was not for me.

This was not my favorite. There were a lot of varying points of view, which is a style I don’t personally find particular interest in. Too many focal points is a lot for me, as a reader, to keep track of. Additionally, the tense of the writing kept throwing me off.

This book seems to be well-liked, but it just was not for me.

Though the concept was phenomenal -- and much of the execution matched to boot -- the actual story itself was a lot slower than I anticipated, making the book a bit more of a slog that I wanted.

It took me a chapter to decide that this book was worth the investment of my time. Once I was invested in the plucky Selly, I was happy to read what became a suspense-filled tale. Leander and even Keegan also become more nuanced and interesting as you progress through the book. Be prepared for some tough sacrifices and high stakes adventure when you read Isle of the Gods.

This is my first solo Amie book and I enjoyed it. It's easy to see now where Amie comes in when writing with a partner. Her world building is absolutely amazing and she really shows it off in this book. While the dialogue isn't as strong, she definitely makes up for it. The beginning of the books is slow, then the middle picks up, but oh boy that ending. So while this isn't an amazing book for me, I definitely enjoyed it. I really thought the premise of the story was interesting and I enjoyed learning about the world. It leaves off in a way where I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

There were a lot of characters... a lot. Definitely took a minute to get them all figured out which is why I think the beginning was a little slower for me. Selly is one of our main characters and I really enjoyed her. She started off very snarky but honestly she grew on me very fast. I understood why she was upset but as soon as she realized she needed to change, she did. Leander is our prince who needs to get to the island.... a year ago. His character was super easy to get behind right at the beginning. Of course he comes off as a care free Prince but it was easy to see that wasn't the case. I really didn't care for Laskia but I don't know if you were supposed to? However, Keegan I think was my favorite character. There was just so much to him and I loved all the surprises he brought to this story. His character was very much needed.

Overall, The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman was a good book. I'll definitely be continuing this series when book 2 comes out and can't wait to see waht happens next. The pacing was a little tough for me but I think a majority of it was the overwhelming amount of characters. It took time to sort them all out but eventually I did. If you can't handle multiple POVs then I'd definitely be cautious going into this book. Selly and Leander took up most of the book but honestly Keegan was my favorite. I thought he was a very complex character that brought so much to the group.

**Thank you, Netgalley and publisher, for giving me an electronic ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

I liked the magic system and the spirits but it a bit slow for me. I found the characters too similar and I found myself flipping back to the beginning of the chapter to figure out who was in the point of view.

Amie Kaufman is an amazing writer and storyteller no doubt about it. I had very high expectations reading The Isles of the Gods and I was not disappointed at all. The Isles of the Gods is a captivating adventure, with a world filled with mythology, magic, and danger. The story is very character driven. It has a big multi POV cast with five characters that I Ioved. The characters Selly, Leander, and Keegan were absolutely perfect and I adored them. The romance in here is just starting and is a perfect combination of sweet and slow burn. I have already purchase I copy for my library. I’m sure my students will also enjoy reading this amazing story. Thank you NetGalley for giving me this amazing opportunity.

I’ve read other series I’ve thoroughly enjoyed co-authored by Kaufman, but never one penned solely by her. Based on the other books, I was anxious to dive into this novel.

Stories set on the high seas just scream adventure to me. This one is no different. Selly’s spent most of her life sailing and is more comfortable on water than land. After months away, she’s anxious to be reunited with her father on another ship, but fate has other plans for her. Instead, she’s stuck crewing a ship carrying Prince Leander (traveling under the radar, third in line to the throne, and loves to party) to the Isles of the Gods where he’ll make a sacrifice to prevent the slumbering gods from awakening and starting a war. An attack on their ship, with Leander as the target, leaves only three survivors – Selly, Leander, and Keegan – to stop the coming war.

The story is primarily told in five POVs – Selly, Leander, Keegan, Jude, a friend of Leander who’s coerced into working against him, and Laskia, a power hungry villain trying to prove herself to her crime boss sister. Selly doesn’t care much for spoiled Prince Leander, but there’s more to him than what’s on the surface. He turned out to be my favorite character. The other characters are well-developed and come with their own backstories, and I liked that they weren’t glossed over. It added depth to the story.

With a potential war on the horizon, assassins chasing Leander, and a sea to cross with little resources, stakes are high for these characters. It’s a hefty book at over four hundred fifty pages and starts a little slow for my taste, but soon picks up and rarely lags. I’ll definitely be picking up the sequel.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was a great YA fantasy journey that had me hooked from the beginning! It was well written with amazing world building and complex characters--told from multiple POVs to keep you hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! The world is unique and gave me Pirates of the Caribbean and Hercules vibes. In a world with silent Gods, a Prince is in his way to make a sacrifice to his nation’s Goddess, when Selly, a young daughter of a pirate lord, bumps into him. The two embark in a journey together along with new and old friends, as well as enemies.

I love a book with multiple POV’s and enjoyed seeing so many sides of the story in this book! It truly has everyone you want in a YA fantasy adventure book, along with romance, mystery, and plenty of magic. It was a good time!