Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Broken Gods #1

Shattered Heir

Rate this book
I’m nobody. A street rat. Human. At least, that’s what I tell myself at night.
Truth is, I’m the daughter of a God King. Ruler of the dark and twisted Otherworld where the gods are so powerful they share their souls with Guardians—demigods born to protect their God at all cost. My mother was one of those Guardians.

Being the only heir to the Otherworld throne, I saw first-hand the entitled and immoral lives the gods lived at the expense of the mortals. When my mother died, I escaped the Otherworld to live among humans. A silent nobody disguised as a street kid who roamed the city, far away from the cursed life of the gods.

A plan that worked perfectly. Or so I thought.

When five breathtakingly gorgeous demigods claiming to be my Guardians showed up on my eighteenth birthday telling me my father had been killed and I was to be Queen, I had a feeling my time of freedom had run out.

This is book 1 of the Broken Gods series.

This is a reverse harem novel.

Expected release date: August 2017

214 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 29, 2017

272 people are currently reading
621 people want to read

About the author

N.M. Howell

20 books85 followers
N.M. Howell is a USA Today bestselling author and all-around nerd from the Pacific Northwest. She has an obsession with coffee, spicy food, and the rain, and she absolutely hates sleeves. (Seriously, they're like little fabric prisons!) When not locked away in her writing cave, you'll likely find her either wandering the world, lost in the woods, or fighting with her micro-wolf pup over who gets the best spot on the couch. Hint: the dog wins.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
85 (21%)
4 stars
97 (24%)
3 stars
103 (25%)
2 stars
63 (15%)
1 star
49 (12%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
Profile Image for Montzalee Wittmann.
5,303 reviews2,357 followers
September 29, 2017
Shattered Heir: A Reverse Harem Novel (Broken Gods)
by N.M. Howell
I read the updated version of this. Ms Howell updated the version and changed several things that people were not liking. I has partly though the old one and started over and I noticed the difference.
I love all her books and I must say I was not into the original addition. This revised one is much better. I found the character more likable and the scenes more realistic. A touch more romance (I don't care about romance but some do), and it did add a spark. I didn't finish the first version so I don't know what all she changed. I enjoyed the story for the fantasy, adventure, and the characters. Good plot and dialogue.
Profile Image for Marguerite (M).
767 reviews657 followers
April 1, 2018
UPDATE 29/09
Wait... what? The book I read is not the actual book?
So it seems that the book have been updated in ten days. I don't really know what happened and stuff, but my review if for the first version (maybe it was a draft?) and might not be relevant. But because I really disliked this book, I won't read the 2.0.

367 reviews3 followers
September 23, 2017
How is this a RH? There is No romance between the heroine and her guardians. They might as Well be her brothers. Ridicolous.

Also. She is so very immature. "Just spent the Day trying to save children, mothers, fathers ect....and the Chick wants to go to the mf circus?" Like wth....NO..... who the Hell does that. Get your ass to the castle and save some people - idiot.

The constant selfishness.... "Rhea you Can save the World and the people if you just accept your throne" Rhea, "NO I DONT WANT THAT STUPID CHAIR." Are you for Real? Stupid child....

Profile Image for Jeanny.
2,070 reviews173 followers
October 7, 2017
DNF @ 45% I was absolutely uninterested in this story or characters. I attempted to read past the boredom thinking it’ll get really good after this slow bit... but alas it was all slow & as mentioned before an absolute bore. Glad it was free KU
Profile Image for Jennifer G.
2,905 reviews55 followers
October 10, 2017
Rhea is the heir to the Otherworld, but six years ago she ran away to hide among the humans as a street rat. Her father the King was an evil ruler, her mother died as one of his guardians, and Rhea left a world in turmoil. Now her father has been killed by her uncle, the land is at war for the crown and Rhea's guardians have shown up to return her to the Otherworld. They want her to claim her throne and restore peace to the land. Rhea agrees that peace is needed, but she doesn't see how she can make anything better and she refuses to consider ruling. When they return to the Otherworld, their lives are in constant danger. The land is in ruin, the people are nearly destroyed. Rhea is determined to help, but equally determined not to claim the throne.

Rhea is a stubborn character. She absolutely refuses to see what is clear to everyone else; that she is destined to rule, that she is the realm's greatest hope. She is also very afraid; afraid of turning evil like the other gods, afraid of failing, afraid of letting everyone down. It would have been easy to blame Rhea, dislike her. I found her frustrating at times, but I understood her fear. My problem was with her guardians. These men were supposed to carry a piece of her, support her fully, love her. At times they claimed to support her, care for her, but they did not show it. They wanted her to be Queen, yet they told her what to do, didn't listen to her suggestions, showed her no respect or regard, never explained anything, and then got angry when she did something wrong. I saw absolutely no connection or soft feelings from them towards her. To be honest I was a little taken aback by the odd assortment of guardians. Arry, the leprechan with his orange hair and constant laughter seemed flippant; Grayson, the gargoyle seemed more like a rock than a person, but he seemed protective at least; Keaven, the vampire seemed too reserved, but did warm up when his human obsession flared, Roan, the lion shifter was by far the most likable. He seemed warm and beautiful, damaged, yet caring. But then there was Taelor. The WORST. His attitude was uncaring, cold, and judgemental. He was never in a good mood except when discussing the woman that seemed to truly have his heart. His statement that her mother was the kindest and most beautiful creature on this planet is so unacceptable. Coming from one of Rhea's guardians this is a dealbreaker for me. Her cousin seemed to hold her in higher regard than her guardians and seemed more competent as well.

I wanted to like this book. Interesting concept. NM Howell is a good writer. Had it not been a reverse harem maybe I would have enjoyed it. The fantasy world was nicely created. There were some nice touches. Rhean exposign herself to the village was a great scene (although the guardians got mad), her bonding with her horse, her talk with Roan, and Keaven with the phone were nice. The bracelet scene was my favorite in the book. I had some questions. The guardians showed up on her birthday, yet no presents or well-wishes (she didn' even get her precious cupcake), why? If they careed about her, why didn't they follow her out of the Otherworld? They could have kept a distance, yet watched her closer. What happened to her daggers? Did her bracelet make it through the fights? The action picked up and the second half of the book was an entertaining fantasy adventure. The ending was good. However as a Reverse Harem it does not work! I am fine with insta-lust/insta-bond, etc. I am fine with a slow-burn. I was not fine with this. There wasn't even the feeling of big brothers. These men acted like advisers, not potential lovers. They didn't even act nice half the time, much less act attracted to her. There needs to be a lot of time spent repairing the relationships if this is going to be a reverse harem. I can maybe see it working out with everyone except Taelor, but I'm not sure.
Profile Image for Joana.
929 reviews23 followers
September 29, 2017
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think this book was first announced as a romance and it's not, but it's an AMAZING fantasy, very character driven, which is my favorite type. Rhea is such an interesting character; she has been on the run for years and we meet her when she's thrown back into her world, we stay with her as she finds out about the new state of Otherworld and her reactions are really well done

The relationship between Rhea and her Guardians is also so well done, very brotherly and family-like - and since I was rewacthing The West Wing, it very much reminded me of the quartet (not as good, of course... really there's no friendship better than CJ and Toby's). My only problem with the Guardians was that sometimes, especially when they are in a group, they weren't that easy to tell apart. But I think as the series goes on, it will change. Hopefully Rhea will get more individual scenes with each one, since in this one we got them only with three of the Guardians, in which we got a bit of their backstory
Besides her friendship with the Guardians, there were others that were so good, especially the one close to the end, and the one at the beginning with Lanei - I hope we see her again :)

The world, the magic and the backstory was also so intriging and that was definitely something that caught my attention immediately, and I really liked how you find out more through the book, and there's still more to know

Really it's a GREAT book and I would definitely recommend. And even better, the book works on its own, the story is fully developed and completed, of course, there are still things left open that leave you excited for the sequel, but you're content with this story - the main storyline has a beginning, middle and end, and I really appreciate that in a book as a individual identity even when it's a part of a series.
Profile Image for Lana.
2,811 reviews61 followers
September 27, 2017
A great book with a lot of potential to become a great fantasy series however i must admit that Rhea who is meant to be the heroine often made me feel very frustrated as she kept on telling herself that she was no one and nothing and fighting her magical powers till the very end of the book even when she absolutely needed to get to grips with that power. Her guardians who were also demi-gods and there to offer her protection also let her down when she needed them most, to get themselves captured and made defenceless so quickly was also a let down however things do take a turn for the better when Rhea meets her cousin Chrystalline and they attempt to overthrow their uncle, the strong and very evil sorcerer Aelon and Rhea reclaims the stone of destiny. There are 7 stones that need to be claimed and the one who claims all 7 would rule over the otherworld forever and hopefully bring a much needed peace to the world of the fae. Can Rhea really be the one choosen to do this? Look forward to reading the next book in the series and i hope Rhea will come into her own strength in the 2nd book!
Profile Image for Mia LeNae.
482 reviews6 followers
September 21, 2017
Spoilers

112 sighs and 197 slow breaths. Every other sentence. I wanted to throw the book but I couldn't because it's on my Kindle. Rhea was FILLED with self hate until the very last chapter of this book. She has a harem but they read more like her older brothers than anything else. Meanwhile she was tonguing down her cousin. It may change in book two but I won't ever find out. Rhea spent 24/7 being a scared kitten no sass no spunk at least nothing that was believable. I will give her a little credit she had a spurt of Xena ninja warrior after her one hour of knife lessons but not even her guardians took her seriously because they ended up rolling on the floor laughing. This story just didn't grab and hold me like I thought it should.
Profile Image for Athena.
43 reviews
September 26, 2017
It was a lovely read and really fast-paced one
I LOVED the connection between Reah and her guardians,it certainly gave something to look out for and at the same time it was the thing that made me read the book because i was triggered by who will she end up with.Also i really liked that the weaker girl became at the end a strong leader.I know that it's a sterotype but i still love it.I feel like books like this one can absolutely teach us some things if we allow it to. And at the end i don't really recall something i consider a drawbacn
153 reviews2 followers
September 29, 2017
A very well written, fast moving story filled with elements of fantasy, magic, and characters that beg to return in future novels. It's a story of betrayal and trust; of death, destruction, and hope; of fear and bravery, and of facing one's destiny. N.M. Howell has crafted the beginning of yet another wonderful series. I look forward to the next installment.
Profile Image for Melissa.
163 reviews2 followers
October 24, 2017
I just can’t...no... I tried like three different times to read this but I could not finish it. The heroine is stupid and selfish and immature. Is this a book meant for preteens? That’s how childish it seemed.
I was bored out of my mind
This was a DNF for me and I don’t think I will go back to try and read again.
Profile Image for Bex.
51 reviews
September 21, 2017
Didn't like the formatting. The large gaps between paragraphs and lack of indentation kept throwing me off. DNF
Profile Image for Jessica.
70 reviews1 follower
September 30, 2017
Wow, so glad that's over. Very long winded, with lots of filler. Heroine was weak and character development was stagnant. Skip
9 reviews
September 22, 2017
DNF at 35%

The sample started out promising but I can't take a chronically stupid protagonist. Rhea knows she's in danger but keeps going off on her own and getting into trouble. Even after she had been told not to. Over and over. Maybe this book gets better later. But, I couldn't take it anymore.
Profile Image for SJ.
2,446 reviews15 followers
September 24, 2017
OMG I absolutely loved this book. Rhea lives on the streets of Detroit, she has made her home on a roof out of stuff she has found. She keeps to herself and is in hiding.

One night, on her birthday that all changes. Her guardians find her and she goes back home with them to find things have changed and she sees the devastation of the past six years since she left

This book is a lovely long length that you can really sink into, it's well written with a great storyline. There is humour, magic, fantasy and danger and we see hints of the strength and courage that Rhea possess.

Her guardians are all different in temperament and in species but band together to create an awesome unit of guardians

I am looking forward to book two, hopefully seeing Rhea grow stronger and see her relationships with her guardians intensify

This is a great read, I really enjoyed it and highly recommend
Profile Image for Amber.
74 reviews
November 5, 2017
It was not the worst thing I read. I did wish there was romance, but there was hints at it and little more.
Profile Image for Fayre Turne.
3 reviews
January 9, 2019
The concept was good, but the writing/character development is not. Rhea is spoilt, rude, and self-deprecating. She sees the world in all its gloom and doom but through her selfishness, refuses to be the heroine that they need. This book is classified as RH but the development of romance is poor. If it's a slow burn, then well... it's a very veeeeery slow burn.

And why would the band of six visit a circus when the world is falling apart? There are hundreds of thousands of dead bodies in fields- how is the troupe even making enough money to be running a circus act? You'd think that they'd be more concerned with their own survival, but I digress.

Has this book been edited at all? Through the book, Rhea is often spelt as Rea (especially when she meets with her cousin). Also let's just look at the sentence "Rhea breathed in a slow breath." How does... I just... what even...

She tries negotiating with her uncle, the man/god causing said gloom and doom but he disappears in a puff of smoke? Why would she not just end his life? Or give the sword to one of her guardians to chop his neck? Like if she had the time to free her guardians from their cells whilst her uncle was questioning how the destiny sword thing hadn't hurt her, surely she had time to heal them as well so they could give her uncle the chop. I guess when books don't have a solid plot, filler content needs to be put in place.

I hope the second book comes out soon for a chance to redeem itself because everybody deserves a second chance! :]



Profile Image for Beth C..
1,874 reviews15 followers
November 7, 2017
Epic RH drama!!

Loved this book and I'm so happy this is a series! The whole book was full of danger and intrigue and excitement. There was backstabbing and treachery and a little fun and laughter thrown in too.
After escaping to the human realm from the Otherworld six years ago, Rhea, the princess and rightful heir, has no intention of returning. But her five guardians, Arry, Greyson, Taelor, Roan and Keaven find her and convince her to come back and see what has happened since she left and since her father, the king's death.
It's so much worse than Rhea was expecting, and she and her guardians go have some interesting and harrowing experiences upon their return to the Otherworld. But along the way, she begins to care for and even like her guardians...the five men she has been trying to evade her whole life.
But it sounds like this book is just the beginning of her adventures trying to reclaim her world. Can't wait to see how it continues!
Profile Image for Laura.
2,157 reviews18 followers
May 21, 2018
Rhea fled the Otherworld after her mother died because her father was an evil tyrant. She lives on the streets of Detroit and isn't doing all that well for herself. Her guardians eventually come to her to let her know that her father is dead and she can basically fix everything if she takes the throne. The first problem is...that makes no sense. The other problem, and compote deal breaker, was Rhea herself. I actually didn't mind the whole leaving the Otherworld as soon as she had the chance. The issue is that her character makes no sense. She lives in the human world, swears she won't go back and that she'll never take the throne. Then she's making ridiculous "inspiring" speeches to random people.
Profile Image for Tamara Tabor.
52 reviews
September 27, 2017
overall, I really enjoyed this book. I wont lie, the MC did rub me the wrong way occasionally but that just made the story that much more real and relate-able. she has some serious eye candy with her and one of her men.. the tension there, oh boy! But I feel like she gave in a little to early personally to there disagreement but if I take the time to really think about it, she still needs time to develop and really become her own woman. With that being said, I really feel like this book sat this series up to be really amazing and I can not wait for the next book. I am excited to see how this world develops along with the MC and her guys.
Profile Image for Melissa.
160 reviews7 followers
October 27, 2017
Shattered Heir the first in the Broken Gods series by N. M. Howell is a fantasy novel written in third-person from eighteen-year-old Rhea's point-of-view.

The book has a slow start and if I'm honest I thought most of the opening that takes place in the human realm could have been cut from the book completely. The pace of the book doesn't pick up much even though there are a few fights sprinkled throughout. A lot of the story is traveling, a whole lot of traveling. It wasn't terrible, but the story didn't intrigue me and characters never made me care about them. The writing was fine grammar-wise and the descriptions were well done, but sometimes the dialogue felt silly.

As a main character, Rhea is not my ideal. I prefer a main character who isn't so childish and is slightly more capable. I hate to admit this, but the day after I read this I had to look Rhea's name up because I could not remember it. Nothing about her made me want to see her prevail, I just hated her Uncle enough to want her to kill him. As a character, I found Crystalline far more interesting.

The story as a whole reminded me of an anime (not a specific one, just anime in general). A girl is the chosen one, five hot guys (all with very different personalities and appearances) must guard her until she completes her destiny. The diner, the circus, bathing in the river, and the final confrontation in the book all reminded me of how plots and characters act in anime. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just the impression I had while reading.

Overall I'd say it was okay, not a bad book but nothing special either.
Profile Image for Kelly.
71 reviews4 followers
May 9, 2018
This book had good potential with the story line, but it was too slow moving. The main character of the book grated on my nerves like no other. I get it, she’s 18 and scared to rule her people but it was like a broken record. You can only say, “I want to make peace, but will find someone else to rule,” so many times before it gets old. Not a lot of character development throughout the book, and the guardians were weak. If they’re supposed to guard you, shouldn’t they be able to kick ass? Blah on the whole thing. I’m probably so disappointed in the book because I’m used to reading adult paranormal instead of young adult, and I could tell the difference.
Profile Image for Clarisse J..
17 reviews
February 4, 2018
The book was good, okay. I wouldn't say that it was really great but it did interest me. It was enough for me to make me want to read the next book. I really hope the author would publish the next book soon cause I'm curious to know how Rhea's adventures through this series would turn out. Also, I'm curious of how Rhea's relationship with her guardians would unfold and progress. Its refreshing to see that the storyline is not focus solely on the romance. Anyway, like I said, I want to read the second book of this series.
Profile Image for Krystal.
213 reviews
November 5, 2017
This book starts out with a young homeless girl who turns out to be a princess that is the next inline for the throne. This is a unique, magical adventure through another world that is often cruel & at war. Rhea along with her five guardians must face her uncle if the world has any hope of finding peace. And Rhea must chose whether or not to grab her destiny or walk away.

I voluntarily agreed to review this book, and was given an Advanced Reader Copy to do so.
Profile Image for Abi.
2,286 reviews
January 5, 2018
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. As in, I don't know if I liked it or I loved it.

One the one hand, it was an engaging, action packed fantasy, with a cool, powerful heroine. It didn't even have romance; just hints.

On the other hand, it took Rhea an awfully long time to come to terms with who she was, which frustrated me.

So I think I'll give this book a 4.5 star review.
2,882 reviews11 followers
October 17, 2017
Great story. Exiled by personal choice. Reluctant to return. Rhea is every bit a fallen hero. Will her faithful companions be able to help her overcome her fears and take her rightful place? Will they all survive?

N.M. Howell was able to keep me guessing. I like that in a story. I hope you do as well.

I was provided ARC by the author. The review is my honest opinion.
2 reviews1 follower
November 2, 2017
Couldn't finish it....25% into the book and the main character is still trying to run away and leave her guys and her people to there own end....not inspired! I was absolutely uninterested in this story or characters. I attempted to read past the boredom thinking it’ll get really good after this slow bit... but alas it was all slow & as mentioned before an absolute bore. Glad it was free KU
Profile Image for Shawna.
19 reviews
November 29, 2017
DNF
Holy F*** I have never been more annoyed by a lead character!!!!! She is an absolute IDIOT and it is unbearable to watch her make the same mistakes and be so selfish and literally not learn from anything. She is so short sighted and just stupid stupid stupid.
The plot and characters had so much potential but holy Gods what a disappointment. Awful.
Profile Image for Dianna.
79 reviews1 follower
December 13, 2017
I did enjoy this book despite it having the standard princess in another world, magical girl to save the world story. It appears to be heading in a reverse harem style which is concerning based on the characters beliefs and childhood. I’m thankful the author did not rush into anything, and hopeful that if continued the author will have a believable way to make things seem real.
8 reviews
September 27, 2017
Good Read

I really liked the plot and characters. There were grammatical errors throughout the book. Overall I love it. I couldn't put it down. I'm patiently waiting for the continuation of the story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.