Godkiller

QuietCat reviewed Godkiller by Hannah Kaner (Fallen Gods, #1)

Somewhat Held Back

3 stars

A world where gods were once rampant now sees religion as outlawed. The fates of a young noble girl who is bound to a small god, a godkiller, and a former royal knight become intertwined.

I was very much into this book at first. The world building is good, and the first few chapters have pretty fantastic prose and character introductions. It definitely will suck you in. However, towards the later half of the book I found myself feeling a bit disappointed with how some of the characters, and their relationships to each other, developed. Particularly Elo, who I grew to increasingly dislike despite my best wishes. It does end on a fairly good note--this book is definitely more of a 3.5 than a 3. If it weren't for those flagging and awkward moments, it could have easily been a 4. I just didn't feel compelled to hurry and read …

A world where gods were once rampant now sees religion as outlawed. The fates of a young noble girl who is bound to a small god, a godkiller, and a former royal knight become intertwined.

I was very much into this book at first. The world building is good, and the first few chapters have pretty fantastic prose and character introductions. It definitely will suck you in. However, towards the later half of the book I found myself feeling a bit disappointed with how some of the characters, and their relationships to each other, developed. Particularly Elo, who I grew to increasingly dislike despite my best wishes. It does end on a fairly good note--this book is definitely more of a 3.5 than a 3. If it weren't for those flagging and awkward moments, it could have easily been a 4. I just didn't feel compelled to hurry and read the next installation, though.

Emily reviewed Godkiller by Hannah Kaner (Fallen Gods, #1)

It's okay

3 stars

Not sure I enjoyed this enough to continue with the series.

Wrote my thoughts out over here: sunscales.bearblog.dev/review-godkiller-by-hannah-kaner/

73pctGeek reviewed Godkiller by Hannah Kaner (Fallen Gods, #1)

Not quite to my tastes

3 stars

The fates of a Godkiller, a baker, and a young girl and her pet God intertwine in this fantasy novel. I really wanted to like this more than I did, but for some reason neither the world, the story nor the characters really captured my interest. However, it really picked up by the end and pushed me into probable sequel-reading territory.

Nomad Scry reviewed Godkiller by Hannah Kaner (Fallen Gods, #1)

4 stars

4.5 stars.

I really liked the character development and growth. I liked the world, the gods, the mystery, and the fairly smooth way the main characters end up journeying together.

patchworkbunny reviewed Godkiller by Hannah Kaner (Fallen Gods, #1)

Review of 'Godkiller' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Really enjoyed this found family fantasy, with gods who survive through belief and worship. Pacing is a little uneven and the ending was a bit rushed but I will certainly be reading book two!

WardenRed reviewed Godkiller by Hannah Kaner (The Fallen Gods Trilogy, #1)

None

3 stars

These cunning gods and their cunning games.

It always sucks to be disappointed in a book that has so many things going for it that I absolutely love. The setting is full of mysteries and wonders; I was fascinated by the way all the gods-related worldbuilding was handled. The characters are pretty cool, too; I especially loved Elo and his backstory with King Arren, but I also really felt for Kissen, Inara, and Skedi in equel measure. I loved how diverse this book is, especially all the disability rep. And at the same time, I really didn't like the story.

It's not that it's bad. On the contrary, the premise and the sequel hook at the end and multiple isolated parts of the journey between are all pretty cool! But it's like all the separate character arcs never blended into a single whole for me. The narrative often got bogged …

These cunning gods and their cunning games.

It always sucks to be disappointed in a book that has so many things going for it that I absolutely love. The setting is full of mysteries and wonders; I was fascinated by the way all the gods-related worldbuilding was handled. The characters are pretty cool, too; I especially loved Elo and his backstory with King Arren, but I also really felt for Kissen, Inara, and Skedi in equel measure. I loved how diverse this book is, especially all the disability rep. And at the same time, I really didn't like the story.

It's not that it's bad. On the contrary, the premise and the sequel hook at the end and multiple isolated parts of the journey between are all pretty cool! But it's like all the separate character arcs never blended into a single whole for me. The narrative often got bogged down in small details that obscured the things that really mattered, and the pacing alternated between painfully slow and super rocky. I can't really complain about the writing style, but it did little to immerse me.

To be honest, I'm now kind of wishing I could read another story set in this unique world, and probably even with the same characters (especially Elo and Kissen), but like... with a different plot? Maybe at a different point in their lives? Because honestly, even though the main plot got somewhat interesting in the final third of the book, I kept feeling like Elo's and Kissen's backstories / pasts had me more invested in them than the journey they were actually overtaking.