Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5
Narration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5
Duration: 16 hrs 50 mins
Narrated by Abigail Reno; Benjamin Crow
Audiobook Pub. Date: 02.25.25

“Darkness and all; she wanted every part of him.”

🌸 Romantasy
🌿 Urban Fantasy
🌸 Touch Her & Die
🌿 Meddling Gods
🌸 Star Crossed Lovers
🌿 Found family
🌸 Mental Health Rep
🌿 Older MCs
🌸 Dual Timelines
🌿 Cliffhanger

"Happiness was a mirage, and perhaps it was better for it to remain that way. Basking in its rays of light would only make the darkness that much colder"

The Goddess Of by Randi Garner is the first book in the interconnected standalone series, The Fragile Divine series. It was everything I didn’t know I needed! I loved the world building and character development. The take on Gods and Goddesses with a Greek Mythology vibe, was chefs kiss. This was beautifully written and truly will be an immersive experience for any reader that picks it up.

Naia, our female FMC, daughter of the High Sea Goddess, is a goddess that is born without a title. She was able to overcome and persevere throughout the book. Her mother may or may not have a hidden agenda. However, you’re going to have to read to see how Naia’s story plays out.

There’s twists and turns. The ending was definitely not something I saw coming! I truly cannot wait for the second book to come out on 03.05.25!

I had the pleasure of experiencing the audiobook for this one. The narrator’s were able to take this above and beyond. I think they did a great job with the pacing and record. Highly recommend listening to it!

Thank you netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the pleasure of listing to the ALC.

A Goddess Of was an absolutely phenomenal read—without question, a five-star book. If I could give it six stars, I absolutely would. This was, hands down, some of the best writing I’ve experienced in this genre.

Randi Garner crafted a breathtaking world, immersing me in a deeply evocative story that felt both vivid and devastating. Naia’s journey was beautifully tragic, full of twists that had me sobbing, catching my breath—only to be shattered again. The layers of story and history intertwined masterfully, and each connection revealed left me in awe.

Naia was such a refreshing FMC, and Ronin was an unexpected but entirely captivating MMC—I ate up every moment. The blend of goddesses, gods, and witches was seamlessly done, never feeling overplayed but instead woven in with effortless finesse.

This book was everything. I received this as an audiobook and loved the narrators, I felt they added to the overall vibe of the book so well!

Thank you so much to Randi Garner, NetGalley, and Dreamscape Media for this ALC!

📌 A couple of my favorite quotes:
- "..how Ronin's soul ceaselessly wandered the world to find her own. Ronin, Kaleo--no matter his name, he was her other half, beneath his skin, flesh and bones, he was hers as much as she was his." 🥰
- "You are the only goddess I worship, Naia." 🔥
- Ronin's presence was warm, like being beneath the sun after centuries of being drenched in a cold rain and Naia wished to remain warm." 👏🏽👌🏽✨

This book follows the goddess Naia on her journey to get away from her abusive and powerful family. Along the way, she encounters a surprise roadblock, Ronin. Will she be able to keep him safe from everyone pursuing her?

This book was entertaining. It focused more on the personal development of Naia and flashbacks to build her story instead of plot advancement. I liked learning about her background this way, but it was hard to stay immersed in the plot since there was a lot of back and forth on the timeline. I enjoyed seeing Naia build relationships with friends as well as love with Ronin after being isolated for so long.

The audiobook was well produced and easy to follow. The character voices were distinct. I believe the audiobook added to my enjoyment of the story.

The Goddess Of by Randi Garner was an audiobook for me and I really liked the
narrators who were Abigail Reno and Benjamin Crow. Honestly they were the reason that I kept listening. I felt like it dragged a bit in the beginning but I ended up enjoying it. There was a lot of past and present and by the time I was half way in I was all in.
The chemistry was good between the MC and I liked the twist at the end. Would I listen to another by this author? Absolutely.
Thanks Dreamscape Media via NetGalley.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the Audio ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

I think this was a very beautifully written and unique story. The characters are so interesting--even the side characters are memorable in a nice way. The plot brought something new to a pantheon retelling which for me is always exciting! The language used is descriptive and gorgeous without being over the top. (Also, Randi, you got me and my multishipping heart. Thank you, thank you, thank youuuuu!)

I think some of the tropes were just not for me which is why this is a 4 star not 5, but I think it would be criminal to knock it down any lower than a four just because there were certain elements that didn't gel with me. However, there is so much I enjoyed, and I thought the VAs doing the narration did one hell of a good job.

90% of this book was just WOW! It was a different approach to a god & mortal, 100+ year age gap. I loved the consistency of the world building and growth of the character that didn't seem forced. I really appreciated that the FMC could still critically even though they were extremely sheltered.

My only qualm is it seemed like there were a few different places the book could have ended, or pieced together differently (That was only the last few bits before the epilogue). I'm so excited to see where the overarching story is going, I can hardly wait for the next book (I'll probably still be waiting until the audiobook comes out though, I almost never visually read a whole ebook/physical copy).

Abigail Reno's casting & narration were nicely matched to the main character. Her dictation and audio quality was crisp enough for me to listen at my preferred 2-3x speed.

Note + not sure if it was just the NetGalley app or not, but the chapters read did not match with the chapter listed on the file (example: it was chapter 15, but the display said 16).

Title: I was kinda confused and totally didn't get the title until I read the book..... it makes so much more sense as to why it was chosen... I totally get it now and think it's perfect.

I wanted to like this more than I did. I think Garner writes in a really descriptive, eloquent way but I felt the plot of this book just dragged. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen and it would in little spurts, but there was so much lull in between, especially in the beginning that it was hard to hold my interest.

The Goddess Of was a completely unexpected read, a raw, at times heartbreaking, but also incredibly sweet and moving story.

Naia has a very difficult past, which has broken her down over and over again but has never managed to break her completely. Seeing her take charge of her life again, learn to trust, and find her strength was beautiful, even if painful.

Ronin is an enigmatic figure, but little by little he opens up and allows us to get to know him better, and what we find is a man willing to do anything for his loved ones. He too, like Naia, has suffered much. This is why the relationship between the two of them develops slowly, naturally, as trust is built between them.

Once we reach the end of the story, we can only be proud of Naia and the growth she has had, and I can assure you that all the suffering was worth it!

It was so nice to be able to revisit this title as an audiobook, the narrators did an incredibile job! This title is already available (also on KU) but I highly recommend the audiobook to anyone who prefers it or wants to give it a try.

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and the author for an ALC copy of this book!

I really liked the writing style of this. The story was tragic but lovely, and the characters were really easy to understand and like. This had a lot of TW and content warnings that I don’t usually read but I actually was able to really enjoy this one, which I’m glad I requested this without reading all the warnings because I probably would have never picked it up.

The back and forth on the timeline was pretty simple to keep up with and I liked getting to experience the full story rather than just being told. It was interesting to get to know the gods and the relationship between Naia and Solaris, they were both victims of their mothers.

I liked the building relationship between Naia and Ronin and the full backstory behind them. The information was slowly given to us and not just dumped all at one time and I really liked the author’s ability to do that.

The narrator did a really great job with the characters and the pacing.

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Randi Garner for the advanced copies of this book!

The first in a series, I was engaged from the start. This is my type of book !

Naia is the daughter of a powerful sea goddess. She has no title and no powers and is treated as inferior by her mother. She’s been betrothed to be married on her 800th birthday and on the day of the wedding, she makes a deal with the High God of Death and becomes cursed.

She makes off to the mortal land and runs into Ronin. They embark on a journey to find Finnian, her brother, to help hide her from their mother who is determined to return Naia and make her follow through on the betrothal.

This goes between past and present and the past scenes were heartbreaking to see the emotional abuse and abandonment between Naia and her mother. There’s so much to unpack here as her unknown curse comes into play and the cat and mouse to get her back to her world.

A refreshing and unique take on god and goddesses. Naia was a great FMC, I loved her !! Loved the romance vibes as well.

While rooted in Greek mythology, this takes a different look and covers a large time span.

I will definitely be marking my calendar for the next book (March 5, 2025!)

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. Kindle edition out now. Audiobook Release date 2/25/25!

4.5⭐️

*WARNING: slight spoilers ahead!

Wow what a story! I was immediately hooked. There was so much tension and uncertainty and I was constantly kept on my toes dying to see what happened next. I can honestly say that nothing was predictable and I was truly shocked with all the plot twists. I love the soul mates trope, especially when it transcends lifetimes 🥹. Not usually a fan of the pregnancy trope but honestly it didn’t bother me in this one.

I had the pleasure of listening to an ALC and I really enjoyed the narrators in this one! It was a very captivating listen.

I’m super excited to dig in to the next book in this series!

Thank you so much to Dreamscape Media & NetGalley for the ALC!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free audio arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read being a mix of romantasy with some action, cozy fantasy, with some influence from various mythologies. The fmc Naia is very a very tenacious and strong character while also having a tender side, which makes it strange for her being a deity. She endures so much throughout her life that you really feel for her and end up rooting for her throughout the story.

She meets Ronin the mmc, and he has a mysterious air about him, which you find out later on more about, but also a tender side which melds together well with Naia. Learning about his background and how it seems to affect the gods was a really intriguing part of the plot.

The side characters were also very interesting, including Naia's family who minus her father you can't stand, along with a found family. Good twists throughout and a good amount of action.

This book is on Kindle Unlimited, so if you'd like to read it through there you can, but I recommend the audiobook as well, as it was great! Will definitely pick up the second one coming out in March! (Also on Kindle Unlimited).

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙮 𝙍𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞 𝙂𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙧

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 4.5/5 (rounded up)
🌶️ 1/5
🎧𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥
🎙️𝘈𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘯𝘰 & 𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸

This is the first book in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, and must be read/listened to in order.

I took a chance on this because I really haven’t been into fantasy/romantasy lately and am I glad I did! This was such a great story, that hooked me from the very beginning. Naia is such a great character, and I loved seeing her growth from the beginning to the end. Ronin, my newest book boyfriend 😮‍💨 loved how he always treated Naia with kindness even from the very beginning. I did NOT see that ending coming, and need the next book asap! Highly recommend

𝙏𝙍𝙊𝙋𝙀𝙎:
- Romantasy/ urban fantasy
- Hurt/comfort
- Touch her & 💀
- Meddling gods
- Star crossed lovers
- Found family
- Mental health rep
- Older main characters
- Dual timelines
- Cliffhanger

Naia is a goddess who was born and lives without any power or title. This makes her a disappointment to her mother who is the High Sea Goddess. This story starts with Naia turning to the High God of Death and curses, Cassian, to help her escape her upcoming arranged marriage. But it comes at the cost to accept an unknown curse. After accepting she later ends up in Ronin's home. A mortal who openly takes her in.

Naia was a fantastic FMC. My heart ached for her and everything that her family put her through. At times, it was hard to read her story but I loved that she persevered through it all and came out stronger.

This felt like Greek mythology but at the same time, it was not though there were many similarities. Although this is a story about immortal gods and goddesses. The characters were extremely relatable and faced many human struggles.

The writing was beautiful and the characters were written strongly. Strong enough that the author was able to precisely evoke the emotions she desired in her readers for each character. I loved the characters I was meant to love and hated the ones I was meant to hate.

The only thing I really struggled with was the wide expanse of time that this book covered. The main character is hundreds of years old and this book covers a wide range of those years throughout the story.

I definitely think this was worth the read. Book 2 releases on March 5th of this year.

I read this through KU and listened with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook. All opinions are my own.

TW: sexual assault, sexual content, gore, blood, torture, pregnancy, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts, violence, vomit, confinement, domestic abuse, infertility