Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review!

In this debut novel, Hannah Kaner has managed to create a rich and interesting fantasy world perfect for anyone looking to start a new high fantasy series. This is a world filled with gods - some small creatures of very niche domains, others massive and territorial. But this is also a world where the worship of gods has been banned and godkillers, called veiga, hunt them for money. In this respect, people familiar with The Witcher will easily be able to find their footing in this kind of fantasy world, but Kaner’s rich worldbuilding will easily catch other readers up to speed.

Godkiller rotates between four points of view. We have Kissen, a skilled veiga, just doing their job until they run into a young girl named Inara. Inara just happens to be mysteriously bound to a god, Skediceth, the god of white lies and both the god and the girl are looking for a way to break that connection. They are two more of our point of view characters for this story. The final point of view character is Elogast, a former knight turned baker, who is asked to go on one last covert mission. All of these characters set their sites on Blenraden, a ruined city and the only place in the realm they can find the answers they seek or the favors they need to bargain for.

Godkiller is a solid first entry to a series. The characters are all interesting and each point of view feels distinct and is balanced in such a way that we learn more about the world in a way that feels natural. I never felt disappointed switching characters like I have in other multi-pov books. It was also great seeing disability and queer representation in a high fantasy novel. However, one of the major criticisms I have of this book is that it falls into the trap a lot of first entries in a series do. A lot of time is spent establishing characters and worldbuilding with a fair amount of exposition. As a result, the climax of this book felt rushed. It felt like a rush to get to a big and dramatic climax that didn’t fit with the overall pacing of the rest of the book. I do think this will be less of an issue when the rest of the series is out, but as it stands, I am hesitant to recommend Godkiller because I do not think it is as satisfying as a standalone story as other first entries in fantasy series have been for me. I will, however, be reading the next entry in this series because I desperately want to know what happens next.

I was hooked from the prologue. Epic godkiller with a deep dark past. A strange little girl who is mysteriously bonded to the God of White Lies and has her own secrets. A haunted ex-knight turned baker on a quest for redemption. Sign me up! I loved this book.

It was over all fast paced with plenty of action but also had epic world building. I loved the world infested with thousands of gods of varying abilities and personalities. The book starts with a ton of mysteries that are slowly unraveled as the story progresses. I loved all of the characters, they all had their own demons and flaws which made their decisions and actions all the more powerful.

This was a great read and I can't wait for book 2.

My thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager.
I was floored by how much I loved this.
Every single, smidging but if it. Matter of fact, I loved it so much that I'm waiting until the final story is complete.
No effing around here. I'm set for the long haul.
You?

This was a forced read for me. It had the premise to be great, but I could not get myself to read it. After 6 days, I could get past 20%

DNF

I am so dissapointed by this book.

First and foremost the writing is horrendous. It constantly changes narratives and it doesn’t stay consistent. Not to mention the pacing IR non existent. Each chapter is a different character: characters and it makes this book so hard to follow. Why wasn’t this edited?

An action-packed epic fantasy trilogy starter that employs some of the genre's best tropes--grumpy fighter adopts a girl, found family, and warring gods. The world of Godkiller feels fleshed out and complex, and I loved the diversity of the cast--plenty of queer, BIPOC, and disability rep. The system of gods was particularly cool!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

A young woman’s entire family was killed for the love and riches of a god. She then dedicates her life to eradicating them for coin. You have be hooked on the description alone! This was an interesting concept to weave in gods of various kinds. I also appreciated the stage setting of recalling a war that wasn’t won all that long ago.

There are a number of POVs in this book but ultimately by the end they all meld well. It follows the story of four characters whose lives have woven together unexpectedly. It felt like a bit of a mess around 80% and became a bit confusing and dragged a little bit, but the end is an all out sprint. I was surprised by the twist and am now all in for the sequel!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

In Godkiller, we follow Kissen, a notorious godkiller, Innara, a noble girl who has been hidden from the world, Skediceth a god who has found himself bound to Innara, and Elogast a former knight turned baker. These characters find themselves thrown together on a quest to a fallen city.

This book was excellent! I loved the queer normative setting and all of the disability rep in this story. This is a stunning fantasy debut from Hannah Kaner.

I did have one small problem with this book. It was a bit slower at the start. I didn't find myself fully engrossed in the story until about 30 percent of the way through the book. This I think is due to all of the travel that the characters embark on in order to get where they are going.

That being said I think that this book was great and I can't wait to read more from this author and this series!

This book will go great for folks looking for a Witcher fix. Dark and glittering. Will definitely order for my library.

In the world of Middren, where gods are found everywhere, things are changing. The King has sanctioned the destruction of the gods, and pays "Godkillers" like Kissen to get rid of them. However, once Kissen meets a young girl tied to a small god of white lies, she must find a way to sever their bond without killing them both. They must embark on a long journey to the destroyed city that houses remaining wild gods, and are joined by a retired knight on his own quest.

I really enjoyed this book! It did take me a bit to get into it with all the backstory and world building, but it was well worth the wait. I thought the characters were well written and complex - I often found my opinion of each of the main characters changing. Kissen is a strong female character, who despite her physical challenges can handle herself with ease. I enjoy when books have chapters that follow different characters such as this one, and the transitions were easy to follow and flowed really nicely. The world of Middren with the gods and their powers was very unique and interesting, and the concept of so many powerful and small gods that rely on humans to survive was fantastic. I loved the use of colors and emotions. There were some great plot twists as well that I did not see coming.

I will say I was disappointed with the ending, but only because it seemed abrupt and I wanted more. It seems this will be a series that I am definitely interested in continuing, and look forward to seeing more of these characters. Also, the art on the cover is beautiful and helped draw me into choosing this book. I recommend this book to lovers of fantasy. Loved the inclusion of a main character with a prosthetic leg and LGBT relationships. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for my opinion.

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner, a fun book that drew me in and made me want to keep reading to figure out what was going on.

Absolutely fantastic. This book had the perfect blend of intrigue, lore, world-building, stakes, character development, and relationship building. I've consistently described it as, "If we got more Geralt and Ciri in the Witcher series, and if Geralt killed gods instead of monsters."

I'm really impressed by how much the author was able to accomplish in such a short amount of time. I can't wait for the sequel!

This cover and synopsis caught my attention. It's a pretty short fantasy as well so I was expecting to fly through it. The first chapter was engaging and as I read I really enjoyed Kissen's character. I liked the disability rep within the story as well. However I dnfed this book at 30% . It was really boring when I wasn't with Kissen. The story was written very choppy and the character's names were confusing. The world wasn't described well enough for me and I found myself skimming description just to read dialogue.

Honestly I had a hard time getting into this book. Maybe it was because I had a lot going on but the story just didn't really capture my attention. Towards the end, with the battle against the fire god, it started to get more interesting and excited, which made me finish, but overall not my favorite. If you like fantasy storytelling with gods and the killers of them, then this is the book for you.

Oh Godkiller I wanted to love you. How can a book with such a gorgeous cover slap you in the face with the longest drag ever? Well, may I offer Godkiller for your consideration. This book started off great, I was interested to see where it went until it went nowhere for the whole middle of the book. Because it lost me then, I had a really hard time maintaining interest. Also, there are a lot of characters, and none of them really resonated with me. This might just be a me thing, but I found the world building to be confusing. All in all, I wanted to like this book, but it just was not for me.

3.5 star rounded up.

Godkiller was an interesting book and I think it was a good start to a series. The prologue is excellent and even made me cry a little. I really liked the world with how Gods work and are handled. Skedi was a interesting addition, as we got to see how a God would look at the current world.

I liked Kissen (who is bisexual and has lost a leg, love the queer and disability rep!) and Inasa quite a bit. I wasn't as fond of Elo though. I found his character kind of generic and it wasn't until the very end that I was even sort of interested in his part of the storyline. When the romance started up between Kissen and him, my immediate thought was "Kissen, you could find some more interesting!"

Overall though, I did enjoy the book.

Okay not me already fighting back tears just reading the PROLOGUE. Incredible writing by Hannah Kaner. She knows where the heartstrings are and she’s ready to pull.

Where it normally takes me a little bit to figure out what exactly is going on in Sci-Fi/Fantasy books, I fell in step with the story immediately. I felt like I didn’t miss a single second. I really appreciate how Kaner unfolded the story without just explaining everything outright, as well. I really liked the plot in general and the world. Everything about the relationship between gods and humans is interesting and so are the veigas. I liked how there was just enough world-building to get the picture but not so much that you are needing flashcards.

I felt the same way about the character arcs and relationship dynamics in this book- just enough to keep you in the story but not so much that you constantly need tissues handy.

I have only one critique. I think the character-focused chapters were unnecessary. I didn’t feel the perspectives were unique enough and we didn’t go super deep into each of their hearts and minds to warrant it. If there were more of a POV moment in the chapters I could have gotten behind it.

All in all, I really enjoyed it and I can’t wait for the next one!

I will be posting my review on social media on the release date.

This book was FANTASTIC! When I saw in the summary that it could be compared to The Witcher, I was a bit skeptical as to how it could possibly be anywhere as amazing, but Godkiller did it!! I was enthralled in the first few pages, and it kept my attention throughout the rest of the novel. I think this book will do amazing things, and I'm so excited for everyone else to read it.

Such an amazing read! The characters, the lore, and the magic system were perfectly developed. The only problem I had with the book was the romance. I love romance in a book, but the development of this one didn’t seem natural. About 70% in, one of the characters expressed attraction without any foreshadowing that this would even be on either of their minds. If there was going to be romance I wish I felt more developed or just not have it at all.

Other than that I was hooked all the way through, and I can’t wait for the next book!

Thank you Hannah Kaner, NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book felt so refreshing to me. As a lover of fantasy, I am used to an author using 400 pages or more to build a world, develop characters, and get us from one point to another. Godkiller shows that it is possible to achieve that in a much more manageable amount of time. I thought the world and its characters were compelling and had a degree of originality. The writing was strong. I had no issues with the pacing with the exception of the ending, which I thought was a little clunky. I do plan to continue on in the series and I am looking forward to seeing more from this author.