I have mixed feelings about this one. It started strong and then tapered off and for the middle of the novel I struggled to stay invested and I admit I skimmed parts of it to get through it. However, it picked up in the latter quarter and I flew through the ending chapters because I finally got properly invested. I don't think it was enough to make me say I loved the book though, the conclusion also felt a bit anticlimactic compared to what the build-up had been.

This book is uncomfortable to read in places but in a good way in that it throws a harsh, clear light on traumatic issues and topics and it doesn't shy away from being 'ugly' in places which I appreciated and felt fit the narrative of the story. However, it's marketed as a horror and I feel in places it's a little light on that but there are definitely elements of it.

Overall I think this is a tentative 3.5 stars and it had a lot of elements I really liked and parts were downright addictive but it just wasn't 'enough' for me. There was a lot of potential here but I'm not sure it reached it for me.

Thanks to Netgalle and the publisher for an arc of this in exchange for an honest review.

I have to admit that the synopsis for this book was a bit misleading. With many thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for an ARC, here is my review. The book starts very strongly: great writing, nice pace, some expectations to see how it'll all turn into horror. By the middle, these expectations are dashed: the book has turned into fantasy, as the main character discovers that magic exists and can be used to save a stranger, Getting into the rest of the book proved very hard for me. I'll give it 2.5 stars rounded to 3.

This book is a horrifically magical experience, and inundated me with a voracious hunger, one that urged me to finish it quickly and left me sitting there, wondering if I could have some more. The characters were incredibly well-developed, and I had a special soft spot for the portrayals of Lou and Carrie as people who became looped into this strange surreal world--whether by choice or by accident--and struggled upon the threshold between their lives and the one that lured them. The descriptions were lush and eerie, and fully enveloped me into this story, so much so that I almost felt I was part of it. The book is saturated with mystery, and I especially loved the introduction of Christina and how she played into the wider story--and how the author described the emptiness of her and others who are chosen by the Painted Man was absolutely chilling. I somehow deduced the plot twist about Noelle beforehand, but its revelation was still absolutely moving for me. This is a very beautiful literary experiment in grief, loss, and suicidal ideation, and though the characters were left off in a comparatively better place than where they began, I was still left yearning for more of their world.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Severn House for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TW: Suicide, mental health, medical institutionalization, stalking, sexual assault (not heavily explicit), transphobia, gore (mild), war, PTSD, animal torture/death (mild)

This is a beautifully written literary horror novel that tackles trauma, loneliness, and human connections - and how not being alone and finding these connections can be the way to actively combat the demons haunting you. In this novel, even until the last page you won’t be entirely sure what is reality and what is an unreliable narrator - and yet, the story will still suck you in until the last page. I thought Eddie was a fascinating main character, as he was broken, traumatized, and in many aspects not the “hero” he strived to be. He self-admits to being drawn to broken people who need his protection - regardless if they truly need him at all. However, his flaws make him a realistic protagonist, and as the story progresses and his investigation leads him further and further into the grim underbelly of reality, we want him to succeed. .

Many reviews mention the blurb being misleading, and I agree with them - mostly. I would say that everything that happens in the blurb description is true, but this novel uses them more as a storytelling device to explore the trauma and mistakes Eddie has made in his life. I would take the blurb with a grain of salt, as this story would not fit under fantasy-horror in my opinion, and the use of magic is more of a background to the surrounding events. The magic and the Painted Man are less aspects of the world, but rather a way to show how trauma can haunt and “possess” you - to the point that eventually you feel it’s better to give in to these darker desires than fight to live another day. Even as we begin to understand who, or what, the Painted Man is, we’re never really certain if the events described in this book really occurred - or if they are how the traumatized people in this novel interpret them.

A great deal of this novel is a form of inner monologue for Eddie as he goes about his life, and starts to slowly lose his grip on his life after his trauma from the Vietnam war. He has hearing and memory issues, and trouble connecting with people on a personal basis - which is the catalyst for him losing his job at the beginning of the novel. Losing the one thing he had going for him, and being estranged from his parents and an ex-girlfriend, he decides he isn’t much use to anyone and wants to take himself out of the equation entirely.

However, he is interrupted before he can take more than a few pills by a gunshot from the woods nearby. Deciding to investigate, he sees a woman in a red dress running away - sounding distressed - and finds a notebook on the ground that seems to have been hers. At this point in the novel, a second POV begins with the voice of the woman in her notebook as she writes down her thoughts. As Eddie reads further into the notebook, he believes he has some kind of connection to this woman and is compelled to save her - becoming almost an obsession for him.

This is also interesting, because we spend a great deal of the novel unsure if these events actually occurred as we (as Eddie) experienced them, since he was heavily under the influence at the time. This unreality only becomes stronger the further we investigate into the journal, and the deeper Eddie’s investigation goes. As he continues, he meets two pivotal characters that know more about this mysterious woman than they will tell him - Carrie and Lou. Through becoming closer to Lou, and talking with Carrie, Eddie is unintentionally pulled further into the unknown world of magic both operate in - and both warn him of escaping before it’s too late.

A large focus on this novel is on both of the main male characters - Eddie and Lou - as having had previous instances of stalking women. It’s honestly a testament to how well this novel is written to make both sympathetic characters who the reader will root for - even while even the characters themselves acknowledge that their past behavior was unacceptable. I thought this novel did very well to play into the stereotypes of the quintessential “stalker” - one is a shy, soft spoken man with a stutter who becomes attached to anyone showing him kindness, and the other is a dishonorably discharged traumatized war vet believing his girlfriend still needs him around. In any other novel, these characters would be one-dimensional villains - but in this one, they are sympathetic protagonists who have made mistakes in their past..

I found Lou in particular to be an interesting examination of the “stalker” stereotype. His hair is sometimes not in great condition, he likes to watch movies more geared towards children, he becomes attached to anyone who shows him kindness to the point that it leads to him stalking this person. On top of all that, he also has a severe stutter and likes to give off the idea that he isn’t intelligent, to make his life easier. And yet, Eddie is drawn to him to learn more - even when Lou refuses to give him any information on the mysterious woman he is trying to find. As these two traumatized men, who have issues fitting into regular society, come together to find friendship - they learn how to rely on one another and find strength in their bond. I really enjoyed their dynamic, and how they gained strength from each other to help curb their more pronounced issues (Lou with being shy and differential, and Eddie with anger issues). They in a way protect each other, and through their relationship both grow as people to learn how to move forward in the world and their lives.

I’ve seen multiple people question the lgbt/queer label on this novel, and spoil it by saying it only occurs at the very end of the book, and personally I’d disagree with that. HOWEVER, without giving any spoilers, I will say the only difference between the end and the rest of the novel is how explicit the representation given is. There is no surprise to how the events at the end unfold, and once we finally learn all the clues to putting all the pieces together on the mystery woman's identity, they all fit together perfectly. My only surprise at the “reveal” was how well it was done and how perfectly it tied the preceding events together. I think I would enjoy this novel on a reread, knowing the reveal, to be able to see all the hints I might have missed before.

I would suggest this novel to anyone who likes horror, but who wants the horror to be the device to tell the story of the characters and their motivations. This would not be a good fit for anyone wanting a straightforward dark fantasy horror, as this book heavily focuses on the thoughts and relationships surrounding the main character Eddie, as opposed to the magic in this world. I would describe this more as a literary horror novel, which examines the stereotypes people fit into, and how by opening up to one another we can learn to live and grow past them.
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Spoilers beyond this point.

I keep seeing reviews spoiling the ending for this book and claiming the character of Lou is transmisogynistic, and that Eddie’s response is ALSO transmisogynistic. This isn’t true. The REASON Eddie has issues with the demon only referring to Lou as Nicole and “she” and a “woman” is because LOU THEMSELVES says that he doesn’t feel entirely like a woman, and if he was born as a girl he STILL wouldn’t see himself as a woman. Lou is nonbinary. And it’s honestly SUPER disheartening to see SO MANY people just decide that a nonbinary person in the 80s, who doesn't have access to the words and lingo we use today, is transmisogynistic. Eddie himself asks Lou if he’d prefer to be called a woman named Nicole, and LOU says no. Nicole is a PART of her identity, but not the ENTIRE THING. And after this point Eddie switches between he and she when referring to Lou. The REASON that it’s wrong that “Nicole” only comes out entirely as a woman when she’s possessed by a demon, is BECAUSE she’s not ONLY a woman named Nicole, she’s also a man named Lou, and a person who doesn’t solely identify as either gender.

Stop saying this is transmisogynistic, you’re being enbyphobic by claiming that Lou HAS to be a woman - DESPITE THE CHARACTER THEMSELVES saying they’re not. This book does absolutely NOT do the “man in the dress” gag (y’all do realize it’s only transmisogynistic when it’s a joke, right? Men can wear dresses, but I guess if you can’t understand people who don’t fit in the gender binary you might not be able to see that.)

Eddie uses the phrase “man-woman” to describe Lou BECAUSE THIS IS THE 80S AND NEITHER KNOWS THE TERM NONBINARY. I had to come back to edit my review because of this nonsense. The book clearly has Eddie ask Lou his preferences in how Eddie should refer to her, AND it’s obvious that Eddie accepts EVERY PART of Lou/Nicole - including them not solely identifying as a woman. If that were to ever change, Eddie would support her. But as of now, Lou EXPLICITLY states that they don’t think they’d be comfortable only being a woman if they were born in another gender.

Nonbinary people exist. Not everyone fits into the gender binary and seeing one (1) character do that doesn’t make it transmisogynistic, you’re just being transphobic. Thanks.
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Initial thoughts after finishing this book:

HOLY SHIT. I have so many thoughts. I loved this. This blew me away so much I was not expecting it at ALL. Am I still a person after reading this? Are any of us????

This was a absolutely thrilling page turning dystlopian fantasy.

The plot was interesting and captivated my intersest.

I haven't read something quite like this in a while.

Definitely recommend if you like a thrilling dystopian set fantasy

Eye of a Little God is a decent story in desperate need of at least one more round of editing. The prose is inoffensive for the most part, the action isn't the worst I've read on a page, the characters are compelling enough to get you through their arcs without irritation. In many places, I would even say that each of these aspects at least border on "really good." If the novel was at its current peak more consistently, I would recommend it wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, any time it really begins to find its flow, even on a sentence-to-sentence basis, some kind of barrier pops up that brings it to a screeching halt.

The most egregious of these barriers are the numerous spelling and formatting errors. These become not only more common towards the end of the book—presumably because A.J. Steiger was either worn out or rushing to meet a deadline—but also more glaring. There is at least one chunk of text in the final confrontation with the main antagonist, the big dramatic boiling point that the entire novel had been leading to, that is clearly just a placeholder note the author left for themself. Not in the sense that the wording feels out of place or underdeveloped, but in the sense that it fully interrupts a sentence, shifts to third-person future tense, and says "Here this character will continue to do this, using this general theme." This is something that gets mocked even in self-published books and fanfiction, so it feels downright inexcusable to see it appear in a book that presumably had to go through several layers of editing to get into my hands. Especially during such a key scene.

These kinds of issues with Eye of a Little God are made more noticeable, and more painful, by how much potential they're wading in without even realizing it. The prose, as mentioned, is often legitimately good, allowing readers to begin getting lost in the voice of a scene and really feel enveloped in its tone. I say "begin getting lost" because any time you find yourself getting too invested, a childishly-written line or a word repeated one too many times in back-to-back sentences will break your focus and keep you separated from what's happening on the page. This isn't constant enough to be maddening, but it does seem to happen 100% consistently any time something good goes on for a few too many lines.

Similarly, an ex-stalker with severe anger issues is a compelling point-of-view from which to write, but both traits are downplayed until they might as well have just been ignored altogether. Just as readers might start to wonder how the main protagonist's biggest flaw might impact his budding friendship, in fact, it's implied that it's something mythical and beyond his control, and it doesn't become a problem again. (This is also barely explained, and seems mostly to operate as an excuse to neither condemn nor explore this trait in more depth.) In a more political sense, it is also incredibly frustrating to read such a sympathetic take on this type of character with very little emphasis on the actual suffering their behavior inflicts on real people. Unless you can one-up Bojack Horseman, we really don't need more stories that pat abusers on the back and tell them they aren't actually that bad. (This is also present in the characterization of the main character as a Vietnam vet; it's the same tired story of how much it affected American soldiers to murder innocent people, with no real empathy afforded to the people they were murdering.)

Finally, in a similar vein, it feels almost cruel to market this book so heavily as an LGBT story. Yes, gay characters and themes do eventually show up in the very last scene of the book, but they are coated in a thick layer of transmisogyny that serves no real purpose. The mysterious woman that Eddie has been searching for the entire length of the novel is revealed to be his friend Lou, who only presents in a feminine way when he's fully possessed by a demon. He is stripped entirely of his humanity for every moment he is wearing a dress, and it is played up a lot as unsettling (or at least being synonymous with things that are unsettling). He is even described by the narrator as a "man-woman," and Eddie seems to rightfully resent that the demon is calling Lou a "she."

The demon is, to some extent, meant to release the people it inhabits from all of their inhibitions. Simply writing Lou as a trans woman would have made more narrative sense, while still being just as (if not more) progressive, and it wouldn't have played so heavily into tired transmisogynistic tropes. The most charitable reading of the scene that I can give is that Steiger wanted to toy with the realities of history; gender and sexuality often interlinked with one another before language for trans people developed. Regardless of if the author actually openly detests transfemininity, though, this scene reads like another rendition of the same tropes that trans women have been denouncing for years.

In short, Eye of a Little God is worth reading if you find it for free or for very cheap, but it lacks the depth that might warrant actively seeking it out. It pussyfoots around its more complicated themes and falls heavily into tired, often offensive tropes that it's already commonplace to subvert. It's best when you turn your brain off, but if you do so, you risk uncritically rooting for a stalker whose victim is a woman that isn't even half his age. I wish the author luck in their growth, and I am interested to see what else they might produce.

Content Warnings: Suicide & suicidal ideation, Medical institutionalization, Stalking, Gore, PTSD

Steiger’s work has some good core ideas, spooky moments, and heart warming moments. However, I found the book disappointing overall.

A major weakness I found is that it doesn’t feel time period accurate. It’s meant to be post-Vietnam war, so late 70s/early 80s, but the way it discusses some topics make it feel from a much later time period. For me, the most distracting of these incongruities was the way the topic of stalking was handled. Characters in the novel took it far more seriously than someone from the time period would have (unfortunately), which made it feel weird. Add in that we’re meant to empathize/sympathize with two stalkers regardless, and that makes it doubly weird.

The second biggest weakness was the pacing. Certain parts were incredibly tense and made me eager to keep reading, like Eddie’s early investigation of the notebook at the beginning of the book. When that fell away and suddenly it was building a friendship and exploring magic with runaway Carrie, I got both confused and uninvested. They do tie together, but the same energy and tension wasn’t present. Similarly, after the big confrontation with the Painted Man, the book continued on even though the main action was over. The little bit of the ending didn’t really add anything.

Finally, the LGBTQ+ content is disappointing due both to its brevity of appearance, as the only queer content really appears in direct connection to demonic possession.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a review copy.
Oh, this book. I devoured it. The blurb makes it sound like this will be a dark Fantasy, possibly some magical realism, a journey into an unknown place. But that does it a disservice, because if that's what you're expecting, you'll be disappointed. Eye of a Little God is one long fever dream, slightly rotten, oh so sweet. Seriously, the book was so very sweet for a book about loneliness, aloneness, obsession. It was beautiful and I loved it. Strong 5 stars.

This one started strong but then quickly lost steam. It felt like it was going nowhere and I found myself losing interest pretty quickly.

The writing style is beautiful but the plot and characters let this one down.

Sadly I did not enjoy Eye of a Little God.
It wasn't what I expected and it confused me at times.
I did like the writing style so i may try out another book by the author but this one just wasn't for me.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review

This was gifted to me by the publisher & Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Let me start off by saying that this isn't really a horror? It feels like it leans more into the fantasy/general fiction range of things. There are some things that are disturbing, but notching like what I would personally expect to see from something within this marketing realm.

I will say that I found the MC's voice to be interesting, but overall this did not hold my attention like I had hoped for.

This book does make me feel uncomfortable, but I unfortunately I did not what was going and kept wanting the book to be over.

"Eye of a Little God" gives off some seriously creepy vibes and throws an intriguing plot into the mix. At first, I was hooked, but as the story rolled on, it got a bit repetitive, and that kinda dampened the vibe.

The plot's all weird and confusing, which adds this mysterious charm, but I gotta admit, I couldn't vibe with the main character. That connection was missing, and it left the whole thing feeling a bit meh.

Expected a bit more magic, especially after reading the blurb. Still, it's an okay read. If you're into offbeat stories with a spooky twist, "Eye of a Little God" might just be your cup of tea. 📚👁️

The Painted Man is here. I feel him in the darkness. He says, "If you let me in, I'll make the pain stop." God help me, I want to let him.

I wanted to like this more than I did. It had a lot of potential but ended up just falling flat.

What a book. Wow. I didn’t really know what I was getting into, but it became one of my favourite books I’ve read this year.

In the best way possible, this book is weird. It’s strange and it’s confusing and I spent most of the time reading it trying to thread together things that never really seemed to fit - and then somehow, it all came together in the end.

Beyond the strangeness, this book is a wonderful ode to loneliness, and outsiders, and different types of grief. The characters are so deeply complex, Eddie in particular is a difficult man to understand, but one I grew to have so much affection for.

I truly cannot recommend this book enough. An absolute mastery of horror that somehow left me feeling soft and warm by the end.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of Eye of a Little God! Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I really tried to push through and keep reading, but there wasn’t enough to engage me past the first quarter of the novel. It felt like the writing was trying too hard to be gritty and dark, more to the point of shocking the reader than actually establishing a plot. I think this is particularly true when it comes to how the women in this novel were written as well. We also don’t get much in the way of character-building at the start, making it difficult to sympathize with the protagonist and join him on his journey. Additionally, while the surreal or horror-adjacent elements seemed intriguing at the start, the lack of cohesion between these elements caused the novel to fall flat early on. I was looking forward to this read, but I’m sorry to say that I struggled getting into it and ultimately decided not to finish the novel.

Creepy endearing read! Eye of a little god follows MMC Eddie a lonely cast off veteran who has given up on life - until he stumbles upon a strange girls diary containing disturbing entries, creepy sketches and notes that seem to link to him but he’s not sure how. Eddie goes down a rabbit hole of twists/turns and unexplainable situations which lead him to question what is real and what is in his head whilst distracting him from his earlier path of despair. For fans of Stephen king/joe hill who want something a bit more rough around the edges.. this is a good read - I think the story does feel a little repetitive but the final few chapters do pick up. I would say the fantasy elements could be built out a bit more but overall it was a decent read

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

Eddie’s visits to see Carrie were my favourite parts if I’m completely honest. The first 40% of the book I wasn’t sure if there was misdirection or what was going on. And then towards the end I was almost positive that we had been double bluffed so it was quite exciting.

I wasn’t expecting the twist at the end but it made the most sense retrospectively.


But we also need to talk about how stalking was a major plotline in this book but none of the characters had any comeuppance from it. I know this is set in the 70’s (American politics isn’t my finest, I think that’s the Reagan era) but what a trip that was.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.

I found it a little difficult to get into this book but once I found a rhythm it was easier to read. I don’t think the blurb quite suits the book. All that happens is accurate yes but not quite in the way that would be expected, there isn’t another world so to speak just another side to the world, like flipping a coin. It’s a slow tale of a man finding out that magic is real, can be used and how far he’s willing to go to save someone he’s never met. It doesn’t really kick off properly until the last half of the book but I enjoyed the ride. Eddie is both deeply troubled and incredibly sympathetic, I almost wish I had more time to get to know him.

It’s an odd read but one I’ll be thinking about for a while.