3.5/4 ⭐️

I feel like I had way too high hopes for this book. It didn’t reach it unfortunately. Was it good yeah and I liked the idea of her being the non human and MMC a human. I love that even though he is a human that he can be there for her and be her safe space and protector. I just didn’t feel as connected to the book and it was as addictive as I would have liked

This cover is absolutely gorgeous first off and the title is very intriguing, I was instantly sucked in. This book was so well written and the narration did the book justice. I loved this story so much and will definitely be purchasing the physical book asap!

"The Goddess Of" is a spellbinding, emotionally constricting, and mental rollercoaster that leaves me at the edge of my seat. This is my first read of Garner's work, and I can safely say I'm running to the next book. Between Garner's worldbuilding and her love for each and every character, I dearly cherish her way of forming characters and their trials. This book is for those who aren't ready to be emotionally saved. There's twists and turns, trials around every corner, and romance galore that provides natural chemistry between two mature characters - I greatly appreciate this. The book left me with some unanswered questions, but not enough for me to not finish the story. Well done!

This is book!!! Oh my gosh I love it! At first it seamed like the little mermaid meats Greek mythology. But this is so much more!! Such a good unique story. Fast paced, awesome fighting scenes, graphic details and epic battles. I thought this was going to be a stand alone but I very much look forward to the next book in this story.

The Goddess Of is a cute, enchanting story. I give it a solid 4 stars, and a 2 for spice.
The world is rich, with gods, goddesses, mages/witches, blood magic, curses, undead, and more, all set against a cute island that I think is set near Japan. The character arc of Naia is great, she really comes into herself over the course of the book. Ronin is book boyfriend goals, caring, loving, protective, "touch her and die", accepting of every aspect. I love him. Its hard to get flirty, witty banter and interactions between characters right, but this book has done a great job with it. Its not over-done or forced, it feels very natural for the characters and scene. The pacing was right, the action was well spaced out and not over-forced. There are lots of little twists and turns, especially towards the end. Cassian is playing 3D chess while everyone else is playing checkers. Props to the author for the detailed plot in this book!

The narrator did an excellent job, the characters all had unique and identifiable voices. The voices fit the characters, and emotions were well portrayed. Overall, this was a very enjoyable book to listen to. It just lost out on that 5th star because I personally am not a fan of pregnancy tropes, though this gets a bit of a pass since it was an important plot device in this specific case. I just feel it was lacking a little something that would have pushed it into the 5 star range. Still, this book is absolutely worth a listen or read and I'm hoping the second book follows Finnian's story next as I don't see how Naia could have more to her story. It all seemed wrapped up in a nice HEA bow at the end.

This fantasy Audio was fabulous! I loved the story and the narration. The title intrigued me and it lived up to the hype! Read this for a book that will get you out of a reading slump s as bd stick with you for a long time!!!

I received this book free from Netgalley for an honest review.

I found the story to be a fun and captivating read! Naia’s journey, especially as she learns modern-day human customs and explores new foods, was one of my favorite aspects of the book. Her experiences were both entertaining and endearing, making it easy to connect with her character.

One thing I didn’t love was the timeline. While the story starts in the present, it frequently jumps back in time to explore Naia’s upbringing. While these flashbacks provided valuable context, they sometimes disrupted the flow of the story for me.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read, and I’d recommend it to anyone who loves a unique take on mythology mixed with modern-day adventure!

Unique world building. Wonderfully written. This book has great pacing that keeps you engaged throughout.

This was a beautiful, and heart-wrenching at times, story. I appreciate how the author represented trauma, anxiety, and overall mental health. Naia’s mother is one of the most terrible villains I’ve read in a long time! Solaris was one of the most interesting characters to me because it was so easy to go back and forth between understanding him and disliking him. And Ronin is one of the most perfect book boyfriends! Naia has never been given a choice in her life, and he gives her that. Several of the plot reveals had me shocked, all the way to the ending! I would definitely recommend this book!

Update with audiobook review: The audiobook is about 17 hours and narrated by Abigail Reno & Benjamin Crow. The narrators do a wonderful job and I would highly recommend the audio version!

𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵.

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘙𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯.”  𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦. “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦.”

Thank you to the author and Book of Matches Media for providing me with a copy of this book, and to Dreamscape Media for the audiobook. This review is voluntary, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Wow. This right here is an audiobook that you need to listen to!

I am so grateful to Netgally, Randi Garner and Dreamscape Media for the ALC of The Goddess Of.

Abigail Reno and Benjamin Crow are the narrators for this fantastic story. I could not have asked for a better audiobook. The narrators brought such depth and feeling to these incredibly complex characters. I was absolutely captivated while listening to this story. Abigail was able to bring out all the hurt, fear and pure love from the FMC Naia that I felt that I was living this tale along side her.

The story itself was utterly perfect. We follow Naia who is a goddess who has lived her life powerless in a world full of powerful deities. She has a horrible traumatic past but continues to hold on to hope for a life of freedom. The chemistry between Naia and the MMC Ronin is perfect. And the ending? My gods it was action packed and had me on the edge of my seat!

Although this book concludes Naia’s story there is a book 2 which follows two other characters that I can’t wait to read.

I knew this story would have a chokehold on me but it surpassed what even I anticipated and I am obsessed with everything about this world. The Goddess Of has been a refreshing fantasy read, dual timelines, past and present. Sad, Emotional, Beautiful, I adored these characters. Naia, daughter of the High Sea Goddess, has no power or title and lives a dreary life waiting for the day she is intended to form a union with the son of another God to break a curse placed on her mother. Her story is tragic and sad and Randi wrote it so beautifully. Desperate to leave she escapes on her supposed wedding day and flees to the Mortal land where she meets Ronin. The only thing Naia wants is to find her brother Finnian to help hide her from her cruel mother. I love books with meddling Gods and found families. Naia's story is so sad but beautiful. I devoured this audio, Abigail and Stewart did a magnificent job of capturing all the emotions. A 16 hour audio I could not put down and will listen to again this month because I am so absorbed in this world, absolutely the best book I have read this year.

I look to forward to then next book in The Fragile Divine series that came out 3/5/25

P.S. How gorgeous is this cover!

Favorite Quote: "The city is just as much yours as it is mine. I am yours"

Thanks to NetGalley, Randi Garner and Dreamscape Media for providing me with an ALC in exchange for review.

The audiobook is amazing. I love how Randi Garner made this world come to life. The intertwining between the world of gods with the current world meshed really well. Her beautiful writing allowed for the world to take shape and allowed the reader/listener to fully be engulfed in the story. This is a story about a goddess named Naia who is looked down upon by her family. She goes on a journey to find her brother Finnian but ends up finding herself, her true power, her love and finds a new family. This story is full of romance, high stakes, god mythology, family drama, found family, arranged marriage, forced proximity and the journey to find ones self. Remember that all curses come with a price. You can never be prepared when the time calls.

This was a great audio! I loved the narrator for this. World building can sometimes be hard when listening to a book for the first time but this was super easy to follow along with. Especially letting the readers know when it was the past or present. This book gave me Cruel Prince x The Little Mermaid vibes and it was a super cool setting. I loved the glimpse of a HEA but the setup for book 2 and her brother finny. I definitely would love to read this physically too so I can annotate as I read.

Loved this book and the cover had me hooked before I even opened the first page. Its emotional, high stakes and has an epic romance. I loved a fated mates with a grumpy character and a slow burn. I don't read many urban fantasies but the world building on this one is unique and I really enjoyed how magic was blended into the real world. There were major dark fairytale vibes mixed with a modern world that interesting. I love the main characters and a good mysterious curse to keep you intrigued.

Audiobooks are usually not really my thing! My mind keeps wandering and I usually just can't concentrate on it! But that doesn't mean I stop trying!

I've gotten a lot of tips, like experimenting with the speed and also to try to read along. Luckily I have the physical copy (cause how could I not, I mean look at it!) so I did!

It certainly went better than most times. The voices of the narrators were very pleasant and I think they did a great job! They really brought their MC's to life!

I was a bit dissapointed when I found out the male narrator only comes in at the end and doesn't do all the male voices but I guess it makes sense as it was still Naia's POV. It did take me a bit out of the story everytime, but I mean it could be a me thing? Maybe I just need to get used to it? Anyway this is the first time I finished an audiobook so that says something!

The story itself was amazing! It took me awhile to get into it but once I was it was really good! My heart broke for Naia and I was fuming during the flashbacks! I really loved the unique take on Gods and Goddesses and the love story between Naia and Ronin was everything! The ending dragged a bit but I love how everything came together.

Naia is 800 years old without power, a title or a place that feels like home. Her mother is forcing her to marry, and on the night of her escape she blindly accepts a curse to flee to the mortal land.

The audiobook and narrator was very well done, the voices were very distinct and it made the story easy to follow along!

The story and the writing is beautiful – no doubt. The Goddess Of does a deep dive into extremely complex family dynamics, trauma, abuse, but also healing. But the world building fell a bit short for me. The magic and all the gods and goddesses and witches sounded so interesting, but I felt like that could have been explored a little more.

Naia also went through a lot for the sake of conflict and not plot advancement, so that was a little difficult to follow along. Also, I was a bit confused that she had ‘read’ so much about the mortal world but was always confused. Her siblings had mobile phones but she called it a ‘communication device’ when she was in the mortal lands which stuck out to me. The multiple timelines of the book was a little difficult to follow along to, but didn’t take me out of the story completely.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you so much @dreamscape_media and @netgalley for this ALC! 🥹

I'm so happy I listened to @mspaulaa_reads and listened to the audiobook while reading it because this was THE book to do it with! Naia and Ronin's story had me angry for them, crying, and falling in love so much that I'm buying a physical copy 😫🖤 What a heartbreaking and beautiful book. I am obsessed with this world and all of the characters!

🖤 Hurt/Comfort
🖤 Dual Timelines
🖤 Touch Him/Her and Die
🖤 Found Family
🖤 Mental Health Rep
🖤 Dark Urban Fantasy Romance
🖤 Hidden Identity

It took awhile for me to get into this book. I wasn't really enjoying it in the beginning and almost DNF'd a few times. The modern day setting isn't my preference for this type of magic in books, and our main character was presented as ignorant of the human world, yet was aware of most things which, in my opinion, takes away from the opportunity for interesting moments in which she would experience the new, human world oddities. The addition of Japanese culture and setting felt forced to me and was unnecessary and a bit overdone. I wasn't particularly enjoying the interactions between our main couple for the first 25% of the book and was losing interest, as I had thought of this as a romance novel.

HOWEVER.

As I stuck with it and continued listening to the audiobook, it transformed into more of a family drama full of gods and goddesses, with unhealthy and damaging relationships, messy pasts and emotional turmoil. I live for this shit. I love nothing more than messy gods ACTUALLY being messy and over-confident/proud and entitled. This d e l i v e r e d. I think of this book as more of a family drama than a romance, with lots of dramatics between family members, curses and brutally harsh lessons.

I absolutely loved the flash backs in time where we see how Naia grew up and the pain she endured. How she was forced into terrible situations and endured. Her relationship with her father and brother (and mom) and how it changed (or didn't) over time. The tragedy and love (and tension and blame) I really loved the insights and depth of character, as well as how realistic it was for her relationships to end up as they did. There wasn't much active world building but, in the creation of the character, I feel like we the readers ended up with a lot of information on the world and types of gods and their abilities and what we knew was acceptable behavior (in the world) and not. The writing is very good and enjoyable. As previously mentioned, it took awhile for me to get used to our main character, and I don't know if I particularly LIKE her, but the story and her adventures through life made me like her and the book as a whole. The audiobook was great and the set up for book two is absolutely enthralling. I need more books with actual meddling gods who are vengeful just because they can be. I loved this in the end, but it took awhile for me to get there.

Overall, I recommend for those who like high fantasy, character driven stories, family and "rich people" drama, and friends to lovers with a side of family turmoil and call-outs to the Hades-Persephone mythos, plus some Japanese culture, food, and mythos.

Omgosh this book. Let's start with the amazing character development, you really get to know Naia and there is so much depth to her. There are flash backs (normally not my thing) that gave such incredible insight into our FMC, how she grew up and her relationship with her family. You immediately feel for her and engage with her trauma. Naia is a Goddess with no title/power but she is so strong in every other way and incredibly written.

She escapes her hellish mother and arranged marriage, finding herself in the mortal realm. Here we meet Ronin, he's got his own trauma, is extremely kind and so supportive of Naia. Their relationship is very slow burn but so worth the journey. He supports her, doesn't push and will do anything to make sure she finds happiness.

The found family and Naias relationship with Finny is wonderful and I loved the magic system. I wanted even more information on it! Curses, Deities that are often deplorable in their actions and adventure is present throughout the story. You become engrossed in the book and invested in the characters and outcome.

This journey will have you feel all the emotions from warmth, happiness, to sitting there upset!

The book was not what I expected at all going in but was a wonderful surprise.
As a spoiler free review I don't want to say too much but hopefully I've convinced you this needs to be on your TBR! A true story of strength and endurance.

Thank you Netgalley for this ALC! The audio book was great, I loved the narration.

This is a new dark fantasy series that will have you captivated from the start. Naia is a goddess without a title or power. As the firstborn daughter, she is the key to breaking a curse that haunts her mother. This curse leaves them both trapped in the undersea kingdom. In order to break it, Naia is arranged to marry a god from the opposing family. Naia calls upon the High God of Death and Curses for help. She blindly accepts another curse in order to escape her kingdom and marriage. She is thrown head first into the mortal world.

I finished this and immediately wanted to start the second book. This story was so heartbreaking throughout with what Naia has endured over her 800 years. There were a few unexpected twists that really made the book. That ending almost destroyed me not once but TWICE. I can’t wait to see what happens in the second book.