Book Name: What Monstrous Gods
Author: Rosamund Hodge

ARC
Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books, Balzer + Bray for an ARC of What Monstrous Gods by Rosamund Hodge

Stars: 2
Spice: 0 (YA)

Standalone
Fast Paced
FMC POV
High Fantasy

I wish I could accuse this book of trying to push a religious or theological agenda. However, this book was too confused on what it believed, to make a clear or concise point for an audience. The love story and characters were engaging. The overall plot was interesting. This book had every reason to be a 5 star. The religious commentary ended up being the majority of the book, completely derailing what otherwise would have been an enjoyable read. So I'm giving this book a 2/5 merely because I think the concepts for the plot and for the characters were there and interesting which is the only reason I finished.

Due to the Negative Nature of this review, I will not be posting it to Goodreads or retail sites with respect to the publisher and author.

I've been sitting on this review for months, unsure where I stand with this book. I was expecting a more plot-heavy book when this is a character study. Lia is struggling with deep religious trauma and trying to forge her path with the gods.

The two main religions are Catholicism and then polytheism of some kind. Despite researching, I couldn't directly correlate the latter to any current/historical faith, so I found it odd that one was inspired by a practiced religion and the other not. There is also evidence of the gods and magic, but it's not explained how those who are Catholics see those works and have faith in one God. The difference between the two sects didn't make sense. Overall, the belief systems were underdeveloped and needed more fleshing out.

The book takes way too long to explain key points. I kept flipping back and forth, sure I had missed something. The magic system, historical facts, and plague aren't explained til the second half. At around 37%, I was sure I was skipping pages. It was all so confusing. The author shouldn't explain everything from the get-go, but the reveals were too late. By that point, I was frustrated with the half-baked world.

I did like Lia. She has tenacity and grit and is very determined throughout the book. Even when the world starts falling apart, she still holds her ground. I love a storyline around religious trauma, so it was interesting how Hodge wrote about Lia falling away from her faith while desperately trying to please her gods. It was well done.

The ending was rushed and unsatisfying. All that angst and tension throughout the story resolved way too quickly.

If you go in ready to be a little confused and with a love for storylines of girls working through trauma, I think you'll enjoy this one.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Overall, this novel was good. The pacing was a bit off for me, and the ending was a little anticlimactic. I wanted something bigger, more interesting. I liked Lia's character and how she was mostly morally gray. Her wavering faith affects her decisions. She always seems to have the best intentions even though she doesn't always do the right thing. I also loved the relationship between Lia and Ruven. The concept of their relationship was unique, and it was filled with great banter. There is a bit of a love triangle, but it's not your typical one.

4/5 ⭐️
Damn. What a book. At first, I was very intrigued by how the book opened with a list of each of the gods, and you see how wonderful and then horrifying they are. Then the story started and a couple times I was worried it was going to unfurl in a way I’ve seen many times before. But then the author just kept taking these left turns in ways I never anticipated. It kept me engaged and intrigued and wondering what will happen next.
I’m not religious, but I think this story did such a fascinating job tackling the conversations had around religion for thousands of years. Yet twisting the facade of it to look different and feel like a fantasy story, putting a little distance from the emotions around religions in real life. I think the conversations here were fascinating to me as someone who isn’t religious.
I know some people might not like the FMC, but I really enjoyed her. And I enjoyed watching her twist things to fit her beliefs. Even when there’s so much evidence proving against them, it was like watching a contortionist change them to fit their narrative. Yet it was never malicious like I think we often see in other books and shows. I wanted to shake her at times, but I equally loved watching her.
My only critiques is that the ending was okay. But honestly, I don’t think there was a good way to end it. All the strands leading up was amazing, but I couldn’t say what the best way to tie them up would’ve been. So how it ended was fine but still left me feeling meh. The other thing I didn’t like was the side character, Princess Varia. Her character felt all over the place. She sort of gave me whiplash. I kind of wish the author spent a little more time polishing.
Overall, I’m definitely going to be recommending this book. I had a great time reading this book. I couldn’t put it down. I was practically devouring it.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

I am so happy this book exists! More standalone fantasys are needed. If you liked sleeping beauty then you will enjoy this retelling. I especially love the fact that it isn’t in a series and it’s a young adult book.

"A rich and romantic new standalone fantasy loosely inspired by the classic Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, from the New York Times bestselling author of Cruel Beauty! Perfect for fans of These Violent Delights and The Shadow Queen.

Centuries ago, the heretic sorcerer Ruven raised a deadly briar around Runakhia's palace, casting the royal family into an enchanted sleep - and silencing the kingdom's gods.

Born with a miraculous gift, Lia's destiny is to kill Ruven and wake the royals. But when she succeeds, she finds her duty is not yet complete, for now she must marry into the royal family and forge a pact with a god - or die.

To make matters even worse, Ruven's spirit is haunting her.

As discord grows between the old and new guards, the queen sends Lia and Prince Araunn, her betrothed, on a pilgrimage to awaken the gods. But the old gods are more dangerous than Lia ever knew - and Ruven may offer her only hope of survival.

As the two work together, Lia learns that they're more alike than she expected. And with tensions rising, Lia must choose between what she was raised to believe and what she knows is right - and between the prince she is bound to by duty...and the boy she killed."

The fairy tale Sleeping Beauty was one of my first obsessions.

I enjoy haunting stories, and I enjoy "hero with wrong information" stories, and this was both. However, I feel that once the main character is rewriting reality, it has to be done in the right way to make the reader suspend their belief long enough to truly enjoy it. I think that this author was trying to do too much with this book. It was enjoyable, but I think it needed to be an Adult fantasy romance with more intimacy and more detail. With young adult books like this with such high stakes in a high fantasy setting, it's hard to truly do it right. If this was an adult story where the author could get darker, bloodier, and sexier, I think it could be really good instead of just good. The themes were there but everything felt very Disney, which is fine because it's young adult. This is definitely great for teens and I think a lot of young people will enjoy it. I'm glad it's not another fae romance for sure and I respect the lore that was created for this plot.

Are you kidding me????? A dark retelling of Beauty and the Beast? Where is the hype!? This was fantastic! To be completely honest with you, I am not a huge fan of retellings because I've been burned and luckily with this one.. I wasn't! I thoroughly enjoyed it and I can't wait for others to get their hands on it too. This was amazing.

I always thank NetGalley and publisher for letting read books early because cmon. They are pretty awesome

But this time around I wish I can unrequest this book. Honestly. I have no idea what I just read.
Beside the bad unclear writing, choppy scenes, weird religious views and absolutely “let me just put words on the page” world building, I wish I can unread this.

I don’t even care half of the words I used are not real. That’s how bad this book was.

I enjoyed Rosamund Hodge's backlist YA fantasy titles when I read them. Both are fairly straightforward fairytale retellings that incorporate similar elements/twists in the telling. I haven't read them recently, and I'm not sure how my reading of them would change given that I've delved much more deeply into fantasy since then, but I can always appreciate a solid retelling.

This book is a much more comprehensive fantasy world, and I think that this, to some degree, works against the book a bit. The book starts with a long list of gods and details about them, which leads to probably certain expectations about the level of worldbuilding in the text. However, I've often noticed an inverse relationship between the amount of information given about a religious or magic system at the outset of a fantasy book, and an actual level of depth to the worldbuilding, and the same was true here.

The premise (religious zealot girl with a revenge plan and sorcerer ghost boy with a chip on his shoulder) IS legitimately interesting, but the worldbuilding and the writing can't keep up here, and the dependence on romance is a flaw. To be honest, a lot feels pretty randomly decided, and that's generally not my favorite in a fantasy book. How am I supposed to buy into the plot and the characters when I genuinely don't know how they're going to act next or what random surprises are in store...and not in a fun suspenseful way, but in a way that communicates a lack of sense to the narrative.

Finally, the gods/religion end up being a bit disappointing. The heretical god is a clear representation of Jesus Christ (his followers are the magisterium and he's described as being killed by being hung on a tree and being weak by coming down to earth so no I'm not exaggerating that), and while I think there's a way to incorporate elements of real world religions in order to comment on them, this doesn't really serve a purpose in the book. In fact there is so much flash and noise around the various gods and religious systems, that when combined with the FMCs doubt, there's no real takeaway here.

I think that for lovers of YA romantasy, this will find an audience, especially for those who love a magic/worldbuilding system centered around heavily religious themes and conflicts between gods. I don't think these types of books work for me. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy.

DNF. I ultimately could not get past the theology of the book. I thought the religion aspect of the story was too much. I wanted to see more character development between Lia and Ruven. Thank you to Balzer + Bray for the ARC.

Interesting world, well-fleshed out characters. I would say this felt very much like reading a book by Margaret Rogerson, but since I consider that a high compliment, the rather familiar plot setup didn't bother me too much.

Marvelous, fantastic, the gods were spectacularly alien and inhuman in their manners in a great way. Thanks for the arc

This was such a good and fun time to read. I loved the retelling elements and the writing style. 3 stars overall.

I am always here for a good fairy tale retelling, I hardly ever see a good interpretation of Sleeping Beauty, So I was very excited for this one! Paired with a unique setting, enemies-to-lovers, and coming-of-age tropes, and I enjoyed this book. Some things I wish we could have seen more of was Ruvens backstory (since he was my favorite character), more of the Gods, a little more worldbuilding. The romance between Lia and Ruven also confused me because at times it felt like it was a slow burn, but somehow I still felt like their connection was a little too “insta-lovey”. There are a lot of religious tones in this book that I know wont sit well with all readers, so please check TW’s before reading this book. Overall I give this book a 3.75 stars but will roundup to 4.
I would recommend this book to those who love fairy tale retellings, dark fantasy, and enemies to lovers in YA books.

I devoured this novel in two days. I couldn’t stop reading it. It is face paced and jammed packed with gods, magic, and a. supernatural love triangle! What more could a gal ask for?

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Harper Collins for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.

I found it a first in a long time that I had found a very intriguing retelling of Sleeping Beauty, one of my least favourite fairytales to read about. This book though intrigued me from the synopsis to how the story unfolded, it had many different twists and ideas from the original that I felt for the first time a story if it's own. I loved the different characters, how we see List struggle internally finding a place she belongs and feels love, between her duty and the evidence she sees before her. I loved the deep thinking it brought to my mind, and also how we see the characters make different choices, based not on moral goodness but pure selfish desires to live.

The only thing holding me back from giving it 5 stars is I wish the ending part was flushed out more and it just felt slightly off.

First the cover just draws you in. I think many of my students judge a book by it's cover and it really helps sell the book to them. As a teacher, I'm always wanting to provide great stories to my students and this was just a wonderful story. Highly recommend.

This book was HIGHLY religious and for me it was a really large turn off. The story itself was hard to follow and at times I felt that I was being preached at and at others I was swept away to a fantastical world. I think that with some more editing or something this one could be better. But sadly I think this one was just trying to do to much with not enough pages. I also think that this one might have been better suited for the New Adult or Adult Fantasy crowd.

What Monstrous Gods is a complex retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale set in a world of gods and magic. The protagonist and narrator, Lia Kurinava, is about to turn seventeen when the novel opens. She has been raised by the sisters of a convent dedicated to the goddess of spring, new life, and healing, and she is one of a handful of girls to be born with the power to enter the briars, kill the evil sorcerer Ruven, awaken the royal family from their 500 year long sleep, and restore peace and health to the kingdom.

Lia succeeds in her task early on in the novel and is surprised when the newly awakened queen betroths her to Prince Araun in recompense for her service to the kingdom. Lia has pledged herself to the convent that raised her, hoping to become a nun, but a little known rule that those born with magic power must marry into the royal family or die thwarts her life plan. Lia and Araunn are sent on a pilgrimage to awaken the shrines and bring back the saints, opening the space for a slow burn to their growing relationship. Lia is haunted by the ghost of Ruven and surprised by what she learns of gods, lending tension and suspense to the journey.
Fans of Sleeping Beauty will enjoy Hodge’s loose take on the fairy tale. The story is rich in religious contemplation, and the book begins with a clear overview of the gods and their shrines to help the reader keep track as the characters’ journeys move forward. The book is full of theological musings, mysterious surprises, and atmospheric world building that will delight fans of fantasy and fairy tale.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.