Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Review: THE SHADOW OF THE GODS by John Gwynne

Rating: 2/5 stars

DNF at 50%. 

This book is 100% a case of “it’s not you, it’s me.” I genuinely really wanted to like this book. I mean, dragons? Yes. A strong female protagonist who is also a mother? Yes. Epic fantasy with epic worldbuilding? Yes. Sounds great! But it’s also Norse mythology–based and focuses a lot on the gods. And that’s a no for me. 

John Gwynne is an excellent writer: he crafts fleshed-out and believable characters in a rich world with a compelling plot. But I just couldn’t find it in me to care. I feel so bad saying that because I think this is a good book, but I know it’s not a book for me. 

I started reading this book physically, and after fifty pages and finding it hard to continue, I switched to the audiobook. This story was easier to understand when reading with my eyes, but I just didn’t have it in me to keep going in that format. Because there are three POVs, the audiobook made it hard to track which POV I was reading from, so I kept getting confused about what was going on. 

I knew rather early on that I wouldn’t be finishing the series, but I at least wanted to finish this book. I struggle with mythology and any stories that are based on it or include it in any way. Doesn’t matter what kind of mythology either—I have never enjoyed it. I know some people love it though, and if that’s you, please check out this story. 

I have been hearing so many accolades for The Shadow of the Gods, and even more so for its sequel, The Hunger of the Gods, so I was excited to read it, but this just isn’t the series for me, due to no fault of the author but only due to my own personal preferences. 

If this book sounds interesting to you in any way, please go read it for yourself and don’t take my word for it. I still want to read John Gwynne’s Faithful and the Fallen series, so I do plan on getting to that eventually, but the Bloodsworn Saga is a pass for me. 

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