This did not start off well for me. Not sure if it was that there were so many characters that needed to be introduced and back story given. Oncecthecadventure on the seas started I totally got into it. I really enjoyed Selky, Keegan, and Leander. Of course being a series it ended with a doozy ending. Can't wait to see what happens next to this trio.

Going into this it felt like I should have prior knowledge to the world even though this is the first book in a series. I feel like the world building was poorly done and so I was confused trying to understand what was happening. I also felt there were too many POVs especially since they all sounded the same. If I wasn’t paying attention, I wouldn’t realized I switched POVs until later on. I felt like the concept for the book was there and it had potential, but the execution fell flat. It also was a very slow start and it took me over a month to read this, which is abnormally long for me.

What a story! What a refreshing, fantastic and fun story by Amie Kaufman! I always have enjoyed Amie’s writing and this one did not disappoint! Always leaving us on those cliffhangers that make you need the next book immediately! The story was intense, exciting, adventurous and enticing. I was intrigued quite fast by it and by the characters too.

The characters were fun and entertaining to follow. Selly, Leander, and Keegan make a great trio. They worked well together and each brought great personalities to the plot. Laskia is a great character. I love how fearless and confident she was although not for the right reasons. She’s unapologetic for who she is and what her task is.

I did not expect to adore this book the way I did, but I’m so glad I did!

Selly wants to sail the seas, just like her father, but he has left her behind for his own adventure. When a stranger with magician marks comes aboard and requests a secret sailing, Selly believes she has an adventure ahead of her. Everything starts easy, but soon events occur that bring countries close to war. Can Selly trust this stranger? Will the gods be appeased and stay asleep?

The Isles of the Gods is the first book in the series with the same name. This fantasy adventure was captivating and heart-pounding as the main characters traipsed across their waters in the hope of pleasing their gods. Kaufman’s world-building was smooth and effortless as the story progressed. The chapters alternated narrators, so readers need to pay attention to who’s vantage point they are reading. This was a good start to a new series.

I’m not gonna lie, this started slow. I was pretty bored in the beginning, and the multiple POVs – five of them – were making it worse. I outright hated Jude’s chapters, and didn’t care a whole lot about Laskia’s either. 5 points of view were overwhelming, and in the beginning felt a bit unnecessary.

However, right around the 30% mark, things finally picked up. And from that point on, I was hooked! The action was almost non-stop from that point up until the end, with only a small lull in the middle.

I love the sea, and love stories centered around the sea. So, the setting of this one drew me in! I thought the magic system was really cool – affinities for elements, in which the person could speak to and control spirits; and marks on the arms of the magicians when their abilities manifest, to show which element they have an affinity for.

In addition to sea stories, I also adore stories with Gods in them – the kind where Gods are real beings that have a hand in the world. I actually would have liked to have learned a lot more about the other gods as well as the Mother. Maybe in the next book!

I also wish we could have spent more time at the actual Isles of the Gods. The book is literally named for them, yet they only took part of 15%. Not even kidding. It was a bit of a cathartic feeling, though, when part 4 came and they finally, finally reached the Isles. I’m talking that glorious dawning feeling of anticipation, which makes up for the fact that it took so long to get to it.

Back to the switching points of view: It was a bit much in the beginning, and even though I didn’t like Jude and Laskia’s chapters, I do see how they were necessary to understand them. I never really felt like I knew Jude, though. His POV gave us insight into how he was feeling about what was happening (namely that he didn’t want to be helping Laskia), but not who he was as a person. I kind of felt that way about Keegan, too. Overall, though, I thought it was a great cast of characters! I’m pretty excited for the audiobook, because it has a separate narrator for each character. (I’m calling it now, Donnabella Mortel – Zila’s narrator in the Aurora Cycle – is gonna be Laskia. I’m thinking Steve West will be Jude. I don’t know the other 3 very well, but I listened to samples of their other works and I feel like Vidish Athavale fits Keegan and Homer Todiwala fits Leander. Nikki Patel 10/10 has to be Selly and I can’t wait to hear her bring that sarcasm to life!)

I also enjoyed the romance. Enemies to lovers is my fave trope! (Did I mention it also contains the only one bed trope? Oh yes.) I loved the banter between Leander and Selly. He came off as a pompous ass in the beginning, and it was hilarious that Selly gave no quarter and kept him on his toes. When he brought the sass, she gave it right back!

Um, THAT ENDING?! The 9 month wait for book two is going to be long!

I did not get very far in this one because it did not hook me right away. I felt like it was missing something, that it wanted me to be invested in the characters right away without me really having met them yet. I have trouble with fantasies like this, where the author expects the reader to understand the world right away.

I have read and loved Kaufman's other work, so I knew that this had high potential to be an amazing story. Boy, was I right--this was SO GOOD. This story was such a good blend of fantasy and adventure, with incredible world-building and a well-developed cast of characters. I should have held off reading this a little longer, because I am going to go crazy waiting for book two! I don't want to give too much away, because the world and characters are so much fun to get to know, but if you love sailing the open water, adventure, ancient gods and fantastic world-building, then you're going to devour this!

To say, I was excited when I received an arc of this book is an understatement. Having been a fan Amie Kaufman‘s other series I knew that I had to pace myself reading this Otherwise I’d be mad when I had to wait a whole year for book 2. I did not pace myself, but it was so worth it. Just the adventure fantasy book I needed. Action, romance, wit from a team of complex characters…good and bad. I need book 2 NOW!

The gods walked the earth once but a terrible war destroyed so many lives and one of the gods was helped by the faithful to secure the world and went to sleep. Unfortunately many years later war is brewing between the people and the some faithful want to wake a nasty sleeping god to take over while others need to attempt to secure the bonds holding him with a sacrifice. Selly our sassy and competent sailor gets thrown into this mess and into the pathway of a future scholar, a charming prince and a vengeful girl trying to prove herself to her sister. This book is fast paced and exciting with fantastic characters. I couldn’t put it down.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The world building was excellent, I really felt the setting. I loved Selly and Leander. Their banter back and forth was fun. I wish this had been a standalone but I’ll definitely read the second book.

Engrossing, meticulous and absolutely devastating, Amie Kaufman’s THE ISLES OF THE GODS is unlike anything else I’ve read all year. It breaks you apart just to put you back together — jagged, misaligned, unwanted puzzle pieces and all.

Set largely on the high seas, THE ISLE OF THE GODS is a dark, magic-infused YA adventure that delves into the nexus between the futures we dream up for ourselves and the roles we’re fated to play. Switching between the outlooks of a cast of distinctly charming and somewhat tortured characters, this book serves up adventurous antics, fictional lore and world-building mastery akin to Leigh Bardugo’s infamous SIX OF CROWS and Tricia Levenseller’s DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING.

Simply put, Kaufman has done something quite extraordinary here. If nothing else, she succeeds at submerging her readers in a tale so vivid, each word comes alive.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.*

Sailing on a ship sounds awesome until I think about being in the middle of the ocean when a storm hits. It’s fun until it isn’t, and that’s exactly how I would describe my time aboard The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman.

With a final sacrifice, the goddess Barrica ends the war by trapping her brother and the god of risk, Macean, in a suspended sleep state. Then 500 years pass without the gods in the world, but faith for Macean is growing to dangerous levels. So much so that the people of Alinor fear Barrica won’t be able to hold him for long. However, with a direct line to Barrica, the Alinor royal family plans to strengthen her power through a secret sacrifice passed down through the generations. As the Prince of Alinor readies for a trip to the Isles of the Gods, a crime boss in Malleacea wants to expand her power and plans to start a war to do so.

The characters in this story are tropey, but I still liked them…at the beginning anyway. Selly is a blunt tomboy with a shipload of attitude. Leander takes up the role of a charming prince who cannot spell or even understand the word ‘responsibility.’ Keegan, the scholar, shockingly values books above people. Jude is a cinnamon roll playing a bad guy because he got mixed up with the wrong people. And Laskia is just angry. I liked the connections between the characters and originally thought that Kaufman did a great job establishing how complicated the relationships were. However, by the end, the POVs were not executed well. Keegan, Jude, and Laskia peter out. They practically disappear from the narrative and when they do steal back a chapter it’s only so they can push the plot forward.

One element that I found particularly interesting in this book is the magic system, but unfortunately, it’s not the focal point of the story. There are magicians who develop affinities for one of the four elements: fire, water, air, and earth. Yes, we’re getting into Avatar territory, and don’t worry, the royal magicians have the ability to control all four elements as well. These affinities are well known, but it’s how the system operates that caught my interest. The magicians commune with the spirits associated with their element and must provide a sacrifice to tap into their power. It’s also a relational power, so having a sacrifice does not necessarily equal untold control over the element. Additionally, the level of sacrifice also determines the strength and communion with the spirits. The strength and cooperation of the spirits are based on how important that sacrifice is to you. There were a lot of interesting glimpses into this system, but I was greedy for it to play a bigger role. Kaufman leaves the door open for the second book to explore this deeper thanks to a certain magician’s mysterious abilities.

It was strange to start off loving this book and then lose interest halfway through. Isles started off really strong. The POVs were especially captivating, and I soaked up each chapter to learn how the character’s past and present would be charted to connect with others. The book’s climax is where everything changed for me. Here, the interactions become too forced and less believable after the first half of the book was underpinned by how much certain characters hated each other. I also became exhausted with the plot because it felt like the goalposts kept moving on me. The characters would set and achieve a goal, only for the game to be changed which forced them to set yet another goal to accomplish before it was changed once again. It was a tiring cycle, and I lost a lot of steam in the latter half of the book because of it.

It’s a shame The Isles of the Gods lost the wind in its sails. It broke my connection with the characters, and the unfolding mystery in the latter half of the book isn’t tempting enough to read through another 400 pages. There’s enough good in this book that you may still find this story intriguing, but I am letting this series set sail without me.

Rating: The Isles of the Gods - 6.0/10

Sleeping gods that want to start a war? Sign me up!
Really enjoyed this one, this is going on our to-order list!

4/5 stars

Thank you to the publisher for the early review copy via Netgalley.

This book was a promising start to a series and I'm very curious to see where it goes. It started pretty slow though, and with the 5 POVs, a little confusing. Eventually it all came together and the multiple POVs made a lot more sense.

There were 5 POVs: Selly, Leander, Keegan, Laskia, and Jude. I honestly hope that Keegan becomes more important in the next book because I feel like he didn't add that much to the story.

The story itself has a lot of cool elements like the Gods, a magic system with talking to and giving to the spirits of each type of magic, and of course a seafaring story. I am a little confused by the advancements of the world though. Like we have automobiles and trains and possibly electricity, but word doesn't travel very quickly?

I still really enjoyed the story and will definitely continue.

I can’t say the story is bad or good. I stopped at 10%. The time period bothers me. Automobiles but no phones? The phone was invented almost a full decade before the car. Add in it reads like a sailing ship but cars? Horse drawn cart but gramophones and cars?

The 500 year gap was really odd. Almost as if the first section was just there. It failed to keep my attention. However I would recommend to ya readers who are actually ya age. It may go over better.

Selly never intended to be part of a war. All she wants is to find her way to her father’s ship and to join his adventuring. But when the ship she’s currently on is hired for an undercover mission to journey to the mysterious and mythical Isles of the Gods, all of Selly’s plans are turned upside down and she finds herself in the midst of a conflict between countries, a battle begins to brew, one that might just wake the eternally slumbering gods themselves.

This book may have had a bit of a slowish start but it nevertheless somehow managed to keep me wholly engrossed the whole way through. Definitely a character-driven work – there are five revolving 1st person perspectives throughout – with a unique mythology that blends the line between high fantasy and urban fantasy; there are no recognizable countries but there is electricity and automobiles! It may sound like a hodge-podge but I promise the setting really really works. There’s also a lovely blend between time spent on the sea and time spent in the heart of the main city; what a contrast.

Selly is a high-relatable main character, if often too dang stubborn for her own good; Leander is much more than your stereotypical playboy prince hiding a heart of gold; Keegan is the loyal scholar who just can’t seem to catch a break; Jude is stuck between a rock and a hard place; and Laskia is the villain making the plot move along. Five different POVs is a lot but they all do offer something new. I will say that while I love Keegan, his perspective often offered the least new information out of the group, owing to his proximity to other main characters, but I would never want his viewpoint removed. Jude and Laskia, on the other hand, offer the much needed *other* side of things, but aren’t given as much time to talk and, as such, room to grow.

Laskia might just be irredeemable.

Overall, I couldn’t put it down once it really got going – you’ll know when you get there – and I anxiously await the second book in the duology next year. Of course, there’s an agonizing cliffhanger, so beware beware beware.

Content warning: blood, death, violence.

•Tropes-Adventure, Reluctant Hero, One Bed, Multi-POV
•Quotes- “A book rarely lets you down. You will find friends in its pages when they are nowhere else.”
“I answer my own prayers, Sister Beris. Nobody else ever has.”
•Thoughts-500 years ago the gods were warring and King Alselm makes a sacrifice to strengthen his goddess Barrica, so the God Macean can be put to sleep. Now every 25 years a member of the royal family must renew that sacrifice on the Isles of the gods but Prince Leander is a year late. This has caused Maceans forces to get stronger. And now they are trying to hunt him down so that he cannot make the sacrifice. This story is told from 5 POVs. We have Prince Leander who is the strongest magician and is sent on a merchant ship to make the sacrifice to the gods. Then we have Selly who is also on the merchant ship and a magician but unable to access her power. Keegan the scholar on the ship who is trying to make it to the Bibliotek so he can further his studies. Then we have Laskia who is trying to stop Prince Leander in order to prove herself to her sister. And lastly Jude who is Prince Leander’s former friend that is being forced to help Laskia so he can protect his mother. I absolutely loved this book and all these characters. The setting and world building was so good I felt like I was really on board with these characters. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book and this one isn’t even out yet!
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

The Isles of the Gods is an eclectic mix. Set in a world where there are a pantheon of Gods, magic exists alongside electricity and automobiles in what feels like the early 1900’s with gangsters, plus a plot with echoes of the events that began World War I–yes, eclectic is probably the right word. Just in case all these elements weren’t enough, the book is in alternating first person from the viewpoint of five (!) different characters. Although it is touted as a fantasy, the magic system was not well-developed (hopefully more to come in a sequel) so perhaps a better category for this book is adventure. With so much going on, the characters’ motivations were plausible, but a bit light-weight in their development.

However, in spite of these challenges and small imperfections in the individual elements of this book, The Isles of the Gods was an enthralling read. It is a book that makes the reader decide to ignore those household chores or stay up late reading just “a little bit longer”. I thoroughly enjoyed the development of the relationship among Leander, Keegan, and Selly. In the end, I adored this trio and just wanted to spend more time with them, even if it meant sacrificing a little sleep.

The pacing was brisk in this novel with good tension and plausible peril. This is clearly the first in a series so be prepared for unresolved matters at the conclusion of this book.

The Isles of the Gods follows Selly, a girl with a passion for seafaring and a determination to lead a crew of her own, who finds herself roped into a plot to deliver Prince Leander of Alinor to an island where he will sacrifice to the goddess Barrica. In the rival nation of Mellacea, Laskia seeks to prove herself to her sister by embarking on a mission with one goal - kill Leander to prevent his sacrifice. If the sacrifice is halted, old gods will awaken, and war is certain to break out between the two nations. Selly and Leander's journey proves more treacherous than anticipated as Laskia grows power-hungry and unhinged in her efforts to stop Leander's sacrifice and awaken her god.

This book was one of the best YA fantasy novels I have read this year. The world-building was detailed and engaging, especially with the role of religion through the Green Sisters and the function of the magic system within the world. I appreciated that the magic was balanced by the need for sacrifices, and I thought the idea of the spirits was a unique approach to magic.

The characters were all enjoyable to read as well. I liked Selly and definitely felt that the author was leaning heavily into making her and Leander the main focus of the book. That being said, I think it made the POVs for Laskia, Jude, and Keegan feel unnecessary at times. I especially felt that Jude and Keegan's POVs weren't necessary, and the characters would have functioned just as well as side characters without their own chapters. I wished more time was spent on Laskia and her back story to give the reader a better understanding of how she becomes so unhinged. I think a better understanding of her past might help her seem like a more believable character.

Finally, the plot was definitely slow-moving and exposition-heavy, but I didn't necessarily have a problem with that, and I believe that it's really a matter of personal preference. There was certainly a lot of time set to world-building and character development, which I think will all come together very nicely in the second installment (which I'll be looking forward to reading). But this book would definitely be for those who appreciate good world-building over an action-packed plot.

Overall, this was a really great read, and other than feeling like Jude and Keegan's chapters were somewhat unnecessary, I enjoyed the book throughout. I would definitely recommend it to fantasy fans.

#TheIslesoftheGods #NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-Arc copy of this novel.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Random House Children's, Knopf Books for Young Readers in exchange for my honest opinions.

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, YA Fantasy Romance, Pirate Fantasy
Structure: Multiple POVs
Representation: Side characters are LGBTQ+ and comment on who they are interested in
Content warnings at the end.

Sleeping gods that might awake area favorite thing of mine. Not only are these gods sleeping, but one bound the other. In addition, one of the two major nations has been sleeping.

Selly is hardened from her life as a sailor. And she's experienced disappointment in many forms of abandonment: her mother who gave her to her father, her father who left her in the care of a captain, the gods for never giving her the magic promised. The mystery of Selly's absent magic is particularly intriguing. I kept wondering if she'd be able to commune with the spirits or not.

Prince Leander, a lovable rogue, is worse off than the spare to the heir. He's the third child and useless, and so he buries his feelings in parties and superficiality. But Selly doesn't bend to his wishes. Especially when he's ruining her plans.

But then all their plans are ruined. They're racing for their lives and something bigger than any of them. They're racing to their god.

The secondary characters are also interesting with complex backgrounds and motivations. It's interesting how different people react when it seems they've been passed over. I can see reflections of their personalities on the protagonist and antagonist.

This is what a YA book should be: Emotional turmoil. High world stakes. Finding yourself.

The author hits everyone of these with perfection. I highly recommend this book.

Happy reading!

Content warnings: There is mention of sacrifice in the sense of a suicide. I felt like everything was handled well.