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An Unmarked Grave
War has reached the heavens, and the gods must face the hard truth; someone is hunting them. Christian was the first to fall, though doubt looms as his sibling and wife Seren, God of Evil, may have been the intended target. With the shakeup at the pinnacle level of the pantheon, the world trembles in uncertainty as Damion, Seren’s brother, assumes the throne, becoming the God of Good.
Meanwhile in the realm of mortals, men like Sir Franklin Heron, a revered knight in the Hoya Kingdom, do everything to protect those in favor of the gods. Humble and loyal, Sir Heron is tasked with escorting Dara, a future High Priestess and niece to the Arch Bishop, across the lands as the predators of those looking to shift their standing with the gods are on the hunt. As if the trolls, giants, and other mythical creatures were not enough to worry about, Sir Heron must account for the Unmarked mortals.
Will, these Unmarked mortals from the Realm of Technology, ravish the lands and people with their insatiable greed, or will Sir Heron and his men rid the mortal plague from the home while protecting the future High Priestess?
Meanwhile in the realm of mortals, men like Sir Franklin Heron, a revered knight in the Hoya Kingdom, do everything to protect those in favor of the gods. Humble and loyal, Sir Heron is tasked with escorting Dara, a future High Priestess and niece to the Arch Bishop, across the lands as the predators of those looking to shift their standing with the gods are on the hunt. As if the trolls, giants, and other mythical creatures were not enough to worry about, Sir Heron must account for the Unmarked mortals.
Will, these Unmarked mortals from the Realm of Technology, ravish the lands and people with their insatiable greed, or will Sir Heron and his men rid the mortal plague from the home while protecting the future High Priestess?
Kindle Edition
Published December 25, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 26, 2021
(I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)
How do I even begin to describe the absolute dumpster fire that I just read? This book has got to classify as a hate crime. Like, I demand the two hours of my life back that I just wasted on this. Never, have I EVER rated a book 1 star. I don't think I've ever even READ a book that I despised so much as I despised this. So let's dive into the MANY notes I took while letting my poor eyes take in this trash.
The opening line to a story is one of the most important things to a book. It grabs the reader's attention, pulls them into the story and peaks their interest. My interest? Was more on the fact that there were so many grammatical errors on the first page it took me three times reading it over to even understand. For your own eyes to feast on, here's the first line.
^ "I'm done," Christian, king of the gods, yelled, his words echoing through every hall in the heavens. ^
OK... aside from the FOUR commas in ONE sentence, this line is terrible. My English teacher once taught me that no author should ever have to STATE what's happening in dialogue, they SHOW it. And yet... Smith had to literally say Christian was yelling. How would we know? His dialogue showed no capitalization, no exclamation mark, or any indication that he's yelling aside from us being told he is. Quite literally, a few lines from that, Smith writes:
^ The issue... were they for sorrow or rage. ^ Yes, this is legitimately an entire sentence. Talking about Christian's tears? Okay well... if they were for sorrow or rage, SHOW IT. It took me several re-readings of this line to comprehend it.
It's like that throughout the ENTIRE book. I'm not sure if Smith EVER took a writing course, but I'm convinced he's allergic to various forms of punctuation. If anyone was wondering, I did in fact keep track of how many of his dialogue sentences ended in a comma. NEWSFLASH. Literally EVERY SINGLE LINE. Throughout the ENTIRE book. It was exhausting to get through, let me tell you.
Now, writing aside, let's get on with the actual hate crime part of this book. I can't tell you what this plot is supposed to be about AT ALL. Some random gods in the beginning, Christian getting stripped of his title and being banished to Earth, and a bunch of random characters killing random mortals because the "have" to. That's all I got, folks. A few hundred pages of absolute... nothing.
Moving on... there's a "spice" scene quite abruptly in Chapter 2, though I'm not sure I can even call it that. Christian slaps this woman, Seren, then blames her for him having to do it. He then proceeds to justify rape because "it's not forceful if it's what is freely given to me." I'M SORRY SIR, WHAT. The amount of rage I felt in that moment is indescribable. The amount of misogyny is astounding. Truly I had to take a moment. Oh but it doesn't end there. We'll get to that later.
There's a random jump in time, of 756 years? Not sure how that helped progress the story at all because it seemed to be the same situation the characters were still stuck in. The gods are all trying to kill people because some dwarf looking goblins said so, and I didn't retain the entire middle of this book.
Now towards the end, when I thought I couldn't be more revolted and uncomfortable from this, Smith really said "hold my glass" and did a DOOZY of an ending. This man Steve needs to kill some people and walks in on these two people getting it on. How does the audience know that? Because of this gloriously hilarious line:
^ "Put it in the other hole... Ah." ^
TRIGGER WARNING SA for this next paragraph
I really burst out laughing, so I'll give Smith that. It was just so out-of-pocket but on with the point here. Steve offs the man then proceeds to try to rape the woman because of course a white male author has nothing else to write about then taking advantage of women. The real kicker here is when Steve can't seem to get little Steve up, and this woman offers to HELP him?! In WHAT WORLD would that EVER happen. Truly I have no words.
As if that scene wasn't bad enough, it continues with Steve getting mad that he's ill-equipped so he decides to shove his knife IN this woman. Yes. I was speechless once again. I'm not even sure I need to explain my disgust with this, it speaks for itself.
So, that's my review folks. My first ever ARC and I feel quite scarred. This book doesn't even deserve to be called as such. I can't believe I took the time to even finish it. Is there an audience somewhere that would enjoy this? Oh I'm sure. And they're all living in their mom's basement playing Skyrim with week old Cheeto dust settling into the keyboard. Now, I wanted so badly to like this book after the cover caught my eye. But it seems dear Kai Smith and I just don't have the same idea of what a good time is. I'll give a solid 8/10 for the cover though, and after looking at his other series, he definitely nailed it on that front.
How do I even begin to describe the absolute dumpster fire that I just read? This book has got to classify as a hate crime. Like, I demand the two hours of my life back that I just wasted on this. Never, have I EVER rated a book 1 star. I don't think I've ever even READ a book that I despised so much as I despised this. So let's dive into the MANY notes I took while letting my poor eyes take in this trash.
The opening line to a story is one of the most important things to a book. It grabs the reader's attention, pulls them into the story and peaks their interest. My interest? Was more on the fact that there were so many grammatical errors on the first page it took me three times reading it over to even understand. For your own eyes to feast on, here's the first line.
^ "I'm done," Christian, king of the gods, yelled, his words echoing through every hall in the heavens. ^
OK... aside from the FOUR commas in ONE sentence, this line is terrible. My English teacher once taught me that no author should ever have to STATE what's happening in dialogue, they SHOW it. And yet... Smith had to literally say Christian was yelling. How would we know? His dialogue showed no capitalization, no exclamation mark, or any indication that he's yelling aside from us being told he is. Quite literally, a few lines from that, Smith writes:
^ The issue... were they for sorrow or rage. ^ Yes, this is legitimately an entire sentence. Talking about Christian's tears? Okay well... if they were for sorrow or rage, SHOW IT. It took me several re-readings of this line to comprehend it.
It's like that throughout the ENTIRE book. I'm not sure if Smith EVER took a writing course, but I'm convinced he's allergic to various forms of punctuation. If anyone was wondering, I did in fact keep track of how many of his dialogue sentences ended in a comma. NEWSFLASH. Literally EVERY SINGLE LINE. Throughout the ENTIRE book. It was exhausting to get through, let me tell you.
Now, writing aside, let's get on with the actual hate crime part of this book. I can't tell you what this plot is supposed to be about AT ALL. Some random gods in the beginning, Christian getting stripped of his title and being banished to Earth, and a bunch of random characters killing random mortals because the "have" to. That's all I got, folks. A few hundred pages of absolute... nothing.
Moving on... there's a "spice" scene quite abruptly in Chapter 2, though I'm not sure I can even call it that. Christian slaps this woman, Seren, then blames her for him having to do it. He then proceeds to justify rape because "it's not forceful if it's what is freely given to me." I'M SORRY SIR, WHAT. The amount of rage I felt in that moment is indescribable. The amount of misogyny is astounding. Truly I had to take a moment. Oh but it doesn't end there. We'll get to that later.
There's a random jump in time, of 756 years? Not sure how that helped progress the story at all because it seemed to be the same situation the characters were still stuck in. The gods are all trying to kill people because some dwarf looking goblins said so, and I didn't retain the entire middle of this book.
Now towards the end, when I thought I couldn't be more revolted and uncomfortable from this, Smith really said "hold my glass" and did a DOOZY of an ending. This man Steve needs to kill some people and walks in on these two people getting it on. How does the audience know that? Because of this gloriously hilarious line:
^ "Put it in the other hole... Ah." ^
TRIGGER WARNING SA for this next paragraph
I really burst out laughing, so I'll give Smith that. It was just so out-of-pocket but on with the point here. Steve offs the man then proceeds to try to rape the woman because of course a white male author has nothing else to write about then taking advantage of women. The real kicker here is when Steve can't seem to get little Steve up, and this woman offers to HELP him?! In WHAT WORLD would that EVER happen. Truly I have no words.
As if that scene wasn't bad enough, it continues with Steve getting mad that he's ill-equipped so he decides to shove his knife IN this woman. Yes. I was speechless once again. I'm not even sure I need to explain my disgust with this, it speaks for itself.
So, that's my review folks. My first ever ARC and I feel quite scarred. This book doesn't even deserve to be called as such. I can't believe I took the time to even finish it. Is there an audience somewhere that would enjoy this? Oh I'm sure. And they're all living in their mom's basement playing Skyrim with week old Cheeto dust settling into the keyboard. Now, I wanted so badly to like this book after the cover caught my eye. But it seems dear Kai Smith and I just don't have the same idea of what a good time is. I'll give a solid 8/10 for the cover though, and after looking at his other series, he definitely nailed it on that front.
June 14, 2021
I love the title, which is neither here nor there, but I wanted to point it out...
...or at least that's how I was thinking it when I was reading however after finishing the book **I love the title even more** because it's Steve, it's *perfectly* Steve. Just bravo. Sure The Reaper's Apprentice was Q but just not as perfectly as this one is Steve.
But enough about that, let's talk pros.
Jordan. My man Jordan *finally* someone with a functional moral compass!... (spoiler warning)... so OF COURSE he almost died. But I'm happy Jordan made it out of this book though I'm not holding my breath about him making it to the end. Though in all fairness since Frank said some “famous last words” I fully expected *everyone* to die (what actually happens I won't spoil any more).
Another pro is that I loved some of the creative lore details in this like how the shapeshifters retain some characteristics of their last shift, or the detail that green-scaled or black-scaled or whatever means a different type of Narvin (oh no Black-scales run!) or the unorthodox dimension that was given to a succubus's attack.
Now before going on to cons I have a few points worth mentioning that to me live somewhere in the middle: when I got to Steve's slice of the story I recognized the names of the blurred humans (which I think is fair to say when 'unmarked' started to sound derogatory and the poor people have suffered enough) but “my complaint” is that one of my first thoughts was uh oh, I don't recall all of them, i.e. someone is dying. Which is a so-so thing as on one hand one could feel we already know how it ends (like when a movie trailer spills everything so why watch the movie?) while on the other hand it's also true that IF we know the ending we don't know how it came to be. Personally my favorite part of this series has been the backstory (lore wise but also characterwise) so knowing the ending is meh but again I *could see* how knowing the end defeats the purpose of reading/telling the story which is why this is neither a con nor a pro.
There's also that I suppose I should've seen it coming knowing this was going to be about the gods but I was still surprised by how “religious” this book was. Like actual prayers to Damien? Whoah. When it comes to my reads I'm neutral-ish on the topic of religion but this still had the word 'blasphemy' blinking away at me. And related to this I have to mention the following quote: “Jorden, they may be humans like us, but their plane was corrupted by greed and deception,” Frank reminded Jorden. “Their leaders sent their men to death for nothing more than...” That reads completely different now that I know that Christian was sent over to us, just how responsible for it could he be?
Third and last is the ending. I liked how very emotional it was but I debate how 'abrupt' to call it... Definitely some degree of it but I can't really picture a better way to end it so I have to let it pass though as a result of those two, again, it's neither a pro nor a con.
Now on to the actual cons.
Abusers. Killers. Cheaters. Bigots (against blurred humans). Misogynists (because of course the misandrists needed company?) and the list goes on. In all fairness I went into this knowing this series is ruthless and can get dark, but I was thinking dismemberment not SO MUCH immorality! That said this point is more a personal con but still needed to be pointed out as it's a large part of my opinion of this read.
Of these moral shortcomings a few instances that stick out:
“Why, Seren? Why did you make me strike you.”
Immediate reaction: great, so Christian is not only a cheater but an abuser. *Just* what this moral deficit needed. (And yes I'm aware Seren wasn't exactly nice to him either but that's no excuse for violence or rape.) That the gods then got rid of him on what amounts to a technicality is personally just a facepalm but I concede that it fits right in with the world. (I'd say ooops on those “spoilers” but come on, all of it happens close to the starting gate.)
“It was me teaching you to listen to your body. You know how Maleaka wanted to mount you and break you?”...“If you would have let her dictate the sexual interaction, she would have killed you in the end.” Need I say more?
I could stand here all day with more examples given the boundless immorality within the pages but I won't do that and there's also something to be said that if you put the darkness aside I can't really name another con so overall this was a pretty good read which is why I rate it a four but mention that for the writing itself it could've been a five it's just that I can't give it that score with all the moral lackings plus that in general this type of story just isn't really my cup of tea enough for a true five. However, for what it's worth this has been my favorite book so far and I've read all of them so the recommendations standard I've said in my previous reviews stands: love ruthless? you'll love this. Oh also in case anyone is weirded out that I posted this before the book was officially out I got an ARC and the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
...or at least that's how I was thinking it when I was reading however after finishing the book **I love the title even more** because it's Steve, it's *perfectly* Steve. Just bravo. Sure The Reaper's Apprentice was Q but just not as perfectly as this one is Steve.
But enough about that, let's talk pros.
Jordan. My man Jordan *finally* someone with a functional moral compass!... (spoiler warning)... so OF COURSE he almost died. But I'm happy Jordan made it out of this book though I'm not holding my breath about him making it to the end. Though in all fairness since Frank said some “famous last words” I fully expected *everyone* to die (what actually happens I won't spoil any more).
Another pro is that I loved some of the creative lore details in this like how the shapeshifters retain some characteristics of their last shift, or the detail that green-scaled or black-scaled or whatever means a different type of Narvin (oh no Black-scales run!) or the unorthodox dimension that was given to a succubus's attack.
Now before going on to cons I have a few points worth mentioning that to me live somewhere in the middle: when I got to Steve's slice of the story I recognized the names of the blurred humans (which I think is fair to say when 'unmarked' started to sound derogatory and the poor people have suffered enough) but “my complaint” is that one of my first thoughts was uh oh, I don't recall all of them, i.e. someone is dying. Which is a so-so thing as on one hand one could feel we already know how it ends (like when a movie trailer spills everything so why watch the movie?) while on the other hand it's also true that IF we know the ending we don't know how it came to be. Personally my favorite part of this series has been the backstory (lore wise but also characterwise) so knowing the ending is meh but again I *could see* how knowing the end defeats the purpose of reading/telling the story which is why this is neither a con nor a pro.
There's also that I suppose I should've seen it coming knowing this was going to be about the gods but I was still surprised by how “religious” this book was. Like actual prayers to Damien? Whoah. When it comes to my reads I'm neutral-ish on the topic of religion but this still had the word 'blasphemy' blinking away at me. And related to this I have to mention the following quote: “Jorden, they may be humans like us, but their plane was corrupted by greed and deception,” Frank reminded Jorden. “Their leaders sent their men to death for nothing more than...” That reads completely different now that I know that Christian was sent over to us, just how responsible for it could he be?
Third and last is the ending. I liked how very emotional it was but I debate how 'abrupt' to call it... Definitely some degree of it but I can't really picture a better way to end it so I have to let it pass though as a result of those two, again, it's neither a pro nor a con.
Now on to the actual cons.
Abusers. Killers. Cheaters. Bigots (against blurred humans). Misogynists (because of course the misandrists needed company?) and the list goes on. In all fairness I went into this knowing this series is ruthless and can get dark, but I was thinking dismemberment not SO MUCH immorality! That said this point is more a personal con but still needed to be pointed out as it's a large part of my opinion of this read.
Of these moral shortcomings a few instances that stick out:
“Why, Seren? Why did you make me strike you.”
Immediate reaction: great, so Christian is not only a cheater but an abuser. *Just* what this moral deficit needed. (And yes I'm aware Seren wasn't exactly nice to him either but that's no excuse for violence or rape.) That the gods then got rid of him on what amounts to a technicality is personally just a facepalm but I concede that it fits right in with the world. (I'd say ooops on those “spoilers” but come on, all of it happens close to the starting gate.)
“It was me teaching you to listen to your body. You know how Maleaka wanted to mount you and break you?”...“If you would have let her dictate the sexual interaction, she would have killed you in the end.” Need I say more?
I could stand here all day with more examples given the boundless immorality within the pages but I won't do that and there's also something to be said that if you put the darkness aside I can't really name another con so overall this was a pretty good read which is why I rate it a four but mention that for the writing itself it could've been a five it's just that I can't give it that score with all the moral lackings plus that in general this type of story just isn't really my cup of tea enough for a true five. However, for what it's worth this has been my favorite book so far and I've read all of them so the recommendations standard I've said in my previous reviews stands: love ruthless? you'll love this. Oh also in case anyone is weirded out that I posted this before the book was officially out I got an ARC and the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
August 30, 2021
This review comes from NetGalley.
I was really excited to read this book because it has a description that drew me in immediately. Everything, from the title and series name to the book cover, had me interested in the story and the world I might be submersed in. Unfortunately, this was not a long-lived feeling.
To begin with, I genuinely believe that this book has potential! But it really needed a copy-editor, proof-reader, a few more rewrites, and some extra love.
I found some scenes could be cut out, others could have been better fleshed out, and some should simply not have made it past the drawing board. But, again, it could be a really good story if it was given more time and more energy!
Now, on to the reasons for my low rating:
I have to start with what I have been always told is a rule of thumb when writing fantasy, “There is a difference between confusing your audience in an interesting way, and confusing your audience so much they don’t understand anything.” This book was confusing and often left me wondering what I had just read. I had to let it sit for a couple of weeks at one point because I just was not able to get into it enough to continue. It had scenes that didn’t make sense for the storyline or were not clear enough to understand the reason for their inclusion. I often found myself skimming it in order to make the scenes/chapters go faster so I could move on. This is not a reaction I want a book to give me.
In line with this, the character tones and personalities weren’t drawn out enough for me to easily differentiate between them or correctly assume the speakers before they were named. The characters just felt a little bit hollow and not fleshed out or created to their fullest potential. On top of this, it felt like there were too many characters introduced within the first couple of chapters that it became a chore to remember who was who.
Another point I have to make is the lack of showing. There is a lot of telling in this book, but not a lot of showing and I think there were a large number of missed opportunities where the author could have really dove into a scene in a far more effective and intriguing way had they used the “show don’t tell” rule.
Compared to the numerous fantasy YA/NA books that I have read in the past, this book just did not meet the standard I would expect for it to sell well. Yes, there will definitely be people who enjoy this book, and if that’s you, I don’t judge you for that! However, I honestly believe it needed more time and more love put into it before it should have been considered as publishable.
Would I recommend/buy this? No. I don't think it's at a standard where it should have been published yet.
Thank you NetGalley for having this book up and thank you for letting me review it honestly and openly!
I was really excited to read this book because it has a description that drew me in immediately. Everything, from the title and series name to the book cover, had me interested in the story and the world I might be submersed in. Unfortunately, this was not a long-lived feeling.
To begin with, I genuinely believe that this book has potential! But it really needed a copy-editor, proof-reader, a few more rewrites, and some extra love.
I found some scenes could be cut out, others could have been better fleshed out, and some should simply not have made it past the drawing board. But, again, it could be a really good story if it was given more time and more energy!
Now, on to the reasons for my low rating:
I have to start with what I have been always told is a rule of thumb when writing fantasy, “There is a difference between confusing your audience in an interesting way, and confusing your audience so much they don’t understand anything.” This book was confusing and often left me wondering what I had just read. I had to let it sit for a couple of weeks at one point because I just was not able to get into it enough to continue. It had scenes that didn’t make sense for the storyline or were not clear enough to understand the reason for their inclusion. I often found myself skimming it in order to make the scenes/chapters go faster so I could move on. This is not a reaction I want a book to give me.
In line with this, the character tones and personalities weren’t drawn out enough for me to easily differentiate between them or correctly assume the speakers before they were named. The characters just felt a little bit hollow and not fleshed out or created to their fullest potential. On top of this, it felt like there were too many characters introduced within the first couple of chapters that it became a chore to remember who was who.
Another point I have to make is the lack of showing. There is a lot of telling in this book, but not a lot of showing and I think there were a large number of missed opportunities where the author could have really dove into a scene in a far more effective and intriguing way had they used the “show don’t tell” rule.
Compared to the numerous fantasy YA/NA books that I have read in the past, this book just did not meet the standard I would expect for it to sell well. Yes, there will definitely be people who enjoy this book, and if that’s you, I don’t judge you for that! However, I honestly believe it needed more time and more love put into it before it should have been considered as publishable.
Would I recommend/buy this? No. I don't think it's at a standard where it should have been published yet.
Thank you NetGalley for having this book up and thank you for letting me review it honestly and openly!
September 13, 2021
Won as a Goodreads Giveaway. DNF. Which is saying a lot, because I always slog through till end. This entire manuscript needs to be trashed and re-written. I would also recommend the author find/hire an editor. The misspellings and bad grammar is unbearable to the point of making some sentences unintelligible.
December 14, 2021
Okay so lets start off with the most important part, I did enjoy the book but I still don't know what exactly the storyline was supposed to be?
The cover is absolutely gorgeous and It draws you in but I have no idea who they are supposed to be even now.
The characters were very hollow to me throughout the entirety of the book and there were enough that came and went that I wasn't sure what the story was actually supposed to be about.
The book is very clunky in that there are a lot of times when a character's name is used when it doesn't need to be used. Or, alternatively, there were moments when I thought "Oh this has got to be x character because it's their voice!" only for it to be an entirely different character.
The dialogue isn't a whole lot better, there isn't anything more than a comma or a question mark to end a moment of dialogue but even the question mark is used sparingly and so there's no real emotion behind the words that are used.
This is probably not a book I will pick up a second time though I am curious to see where else the author is planning to go with this so I may pick up a second book (if there is one) though as I stated, I am unsure what actually was going on.
The cover is absolutely gorgeous and It draws you in but I have no idea who they are supposed to be even now.
The characters were very hollow to me throughout the entirety of the book and there were enough that came and went that I wasn't sure what the story was actually supposed to be about.
The book is very clunky in that there are a lot of times when a character's name is used when it doesn't need to be used. Or, alternatively, there were moments when I thought "Oh this has got to be x character because it's their voice!" only for it to be an entirely different character.
The dialogue isn't a whole lot better, there isn't anything more than a comma or a question mark to end a moment of dialogue but even the question mark is used sparingly and so there's no real emotion behind the words that are used.
This is probably not a book I will pick up a second time though I am curious to see where else the author is planning to go with this so I may pick up a second book (if there is one) though as I stated, I am unsure what actually was going on.
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April 13, 2025I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved the cover and title of the story and I was excited to read this based on the description but that is where anything positive I felt about this book ended. The beginning was chaotic and ridiculously confusing. Honestly I couldn’t even get through it and I have a very hard time just quitting. The grammar and misspelled words were so frustrating. I think that some ideas have promise but a whole rewrite would be needed to salvage those ideas at this point.
August 21, 2021
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Let's start out with the positives, shall we? The cover is to die for like it is gorgeous. The description of the book "oh good lord, it sounded like my kind of book". The title: had me hook, line and sinker.
I never made it past 2% of the book because I realized after the fifteenth mention of table that I would only be wasting my time. The book did not do any of the positives justice and I am not convinced the book was proper English. For an author who has written several books, let's just say I was hoping for a better writing than whatever that was like most of the sentences were incomplete or had random ellipses (...) in them. Like what the heck? If I had to tell anybody about what the beginning was about I would not be able to do it. I wished the beginning did not exist because I could not even get past it to get to the knight protecting the High Priestess which sounded incredible.
It was not my kind of book :(
1 out of 5 stars.
Let's start out with the positives, shall we? The cover is to die for like it is gorgeous. The description of the book "oh good lord, it sounded like my kind of book". The title: had me hook, line and sinker.
I never made it past 2% of the book because I realized after the fifteenth mention of table that I would only be wasting my time. The book did not do any of the positives justice and I am not convinced the book was proper English. For an author who has written several books, let's just say I was hoping for a better writing than whatever that was like most of the sentences were incomplete or had random ellipses (...) in them. Like what the heck? If I had to tell anybody about what the beginning was about I would not be able to do it. I wished the beginning did not exist because I could not even get past it to get to the knight protecting the High Priestess which sounded incredible.
It was not my kind of book :(
1 out of 5 stars.
March 23, 2022
I received an eARC of this book from GenZ publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed are mine alone and other than the free book, I was not compensated in any way.
I wish I had liked this story, but realistically there is no plot in this book.
We're introduced to gods at the beginning who then don't reappear at all throughout the whole book and with a timeline that doesn't make sense. Then we're introduced to a whole new set of characters a couple of chapters in which are humans and have nothing to do with the gods we are introduced to at the beginning. Then 60% through we get new characters that take over the rest of the story with a couple of the original gods added in again.
We are made to care about specific characters and then they are killed off as if they weren't at all relevant to the story.
It didn't feel like I was reading a well-thought-out story and the only way I was able to finish it was by having my Kindle read it to me. I do not recommend this book.
I wish I had liked this story, but realistically there is no plot in this book.
We're introduced to gods at the beginning who then don't reappear at all throughout the whole book and with a timeline that doesn't make sense. Then we're introduced to a whole new set of characters a couple of chapters in which are humans and have nothing to do with the gods we are introduced to at the beginning. Then 60% through we get new characters that take over the rest of the story with a couple of the original gods added in again.
We are made to care about specific characters and then they are killed off as if they weren't at all relevant to the story.
It didn't feel like I was reading a well-thought-out story and the only way I was able to finish it was by having my Kindle read it to me. I do not recommend this book.
December 25, 2021
Unmarked grave by Kai Smith.
The Lost Children Book 1.
War has reached the heavens, and the gods must face the hard truth; someone is hunting them. Christian was the first to fall, though doubt looms as his sibling and wife Seren, God of Evil, may have been the intended target. With the shakeup at the pinnacle level of the pantheon, the world trembles in uncertainty as Damion, Seren’s brother, assumes the throne, becoming the God of Good.
A very good read with good characters. I loved the cover. 4*.
The Lost Children Book 1.
War has reached the heavens, and the gods must face the hard truth; someone is hunting them. Christian was the first to fall, though doubt looms as his sibling and wife Seren, God of Evil, may have been the intended target. With the shakeup at the pinnacle level of the pantheon, the world trembles in uncertainty as Damion, Seren’s brother, assumes the throne, becoming the God of Good.
A very good read with good characters. I loved the cover. 4*.
March 25, 2023
This was my first and only DNF. I actually read this a while ago but wasn't going to review.
I got the Arc from netgalley.
Firstly, love the cover, love the premise. I was so excited !!
Sadly the lack of editing had thrown me off so badly I barely made it a few chapters and the plot or lack of was not good. I was confused, bored, frustrated and overall just not enjoying it.
However, I would like to give Kai another chance one day.
I got the Arc from netgalley.
Firstly, love the cover, love the premise. I was so excited !!
Sadly the lack of editing had thrown me off so badly I barely made it a few chapters and the plot or lack of was not good. I was confused, bored, frustrated and overall just not enjoying it.
However, I would like to give Kai another chance one day.
December 26, 2021
I'm sorry but i got 20% in and realised i really wasn't entertained due to the amount of grammatical errors and the mish mash of godly to human storylines that haven't seemed to go anywhere so far.
So this is a did not finish and i hope with some serious editing and rewrites I'll be able to come back to it at some point.
I received an advance copy of this from NetGalley.
So this is a did not finish and i hope with some serious editing and rewrites I'll be able to come back to it at some point.
I received an advance copy of this from NetGalley.
January 17, 2022
Thank you net galley for the arc now here is my honest opinion.
I was really excited for this book because this description sounded amazing and the cover is gorgeous and it’s an NA fantasy book I was sold but couldn’t finish this book I didn’t even reach the end of chapter 3.
The writing style was so bad that nothing made sense and the writer was just saying the same 3 things and never explaining them. He once used “ favored souls “ 6 times in a paragraph WITHOUT LIKE EXPLAINING WHAT THAT IS.
I was so excited for this book but I just couldn’t bring myself to finish it I knew it would put me in a slump nothing about it was appealing the writing was just bad and I sometimes questioned if this is an actual writer.
Chapter 1 made no sense and not in like oh it doesn’t make sense fantasy type of way but like nothing is properly fucking explained way and you have characters introduced out of no where with no explanation and no one understands what tf is happening.
And don’t even get me started on chapter two when he legit hit her and was like “ why, seren? Why did you make me strike you” SO MUCH RAGEE but that’s not even the worst part then 5 secs later he justifies rape? And then Proceeds to say “ it’s not forced if it’s what freely given to me “ YOU FUCKED CHOKED HER AND MADE HER PASS OUT YOU ASSHOLE.
I legit decided to skim some parts but by mistake went to far and ended up in another rape scene?? Like does this author have nothing better to do than write about male characters taking advantage of women? And I saw something with a knife and that’s when I decided that I will not continue reading . This takes the place for the worst book I ever read. The only good thing about this book is the cover and this is where the saying don’t judge a book by its cover comes from.
It I could rate this lower I would
I was really excited for this book because this description sounded amazing and the cover is gorgeous and it’s an NA fantasy book I was sold but couldn’t finish this book I didn’t even reach the end of chapter 3.
The writing style was so bad that nothing made sense and the writer was just saying the same 3 things and never explaining them. He once used “ favored souls “ 6 times in a paragraph WITHOUT LIKE EXPLAINING WHAT THAT IS.
I was so excited for this book but I just couldn’t bring myself to finish it I knew it would put me in a slump nothing about it was appealing the writing was just bad and I sometimes questioned if this is an actual writer.
Chapter 1 made no sense and not in like oh it doesn’t make sense fantasy type of way but like nothing is properly fucking explained way and you have characters introduced out of no where with no explanation and no one understands what tf is happening.
And don’t even get me started on chapter two when he legit hit her and was like “ why, seren? Why did you make me strike you” SO MUCH RAGEE but that’s not even the worst part then 5 secs later he justifies rape? And then Proceeds to say “ it’s not forced if it’s what freely given to me “ YOU FUCKED CHOKED HER AND MADE HER PASS OUT YOU ASSHOLE.
I legit decided to skim some parts but by mistake went to far and ended up in another rape scene?? Like does this author have nothing better to do than write about male characters taking advantage of women? And I saw something with a knife and that’s when I decided that I will not continue reading . This takes the place for the worst book I ever read. The only good thing about this book is the cover and this is where the saying don’t judge a book by its cover comes from.
It I could rate this lower I would
February 6, 2023
I appreciate this advanced copy from the author and Goodreads. Let me start with the cover and title: beautiful cover and the title drew me in and made me excited to read this book. That is where the interest stops, I could only suffer about halfway through this book. The beginning was so very confusing and all over the place. The characters were bland, nothing to draw you in to any particular one, no background on who they really were. There were characters that just appeared and you did not know who they were and that was confusing. I was confused in what was going on in this book, no explanations on anything. I felt that my mind was all over the place trying to figure out what the heck was going on. There are so many errors and typos that I had to reread a lot of stuff to make sense of it all [but it still did not make sense] . All in all, I have no idea what the storyline was. Maybe I should have pushed through to the end of the book and maybe the story would have come together??? But I believe an author needs to grab your attention at the very beginning. Maybe with a lot of editing and some rewrites it could be a decent book.
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