So, I want to start this off by saying that I’m new here and had I known that you are able to preview a few pages of a book before actually reading/requesting it, I would have done so with this book. However, since I didn’t know that, I was able to automatically read the book now.

The synopsis was really intriguing which is what drew me to the book. The cover is also stunning. However, the writing style isn’t my thing and I’m very put off by it. Unfortunately, because of this, I do not want to continue.

Also, I should note that I only gave this book a 5% chance. Had I continued, I might have given it a higher rating, but as it stands, I’m only giving it one star.

I’m a firm believer that there’s a story for every reader, and unfortunately, this story just isn’t for me. But, I do not think it’s a bad book by any means and I’m sure that there will be plenty of people who will love this book!

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book regardless of me not connecting to it because of the writing style. It’s still very much appreciated!

The pacing was a bit askew, but dispite that I found the plot to be widely entertaining. The smart concept didn't disappoint, but the characters did feel mildly written-for-the-plot, so there's that.

The idea for the story is great and the characters and their motivations are interesting and original. (How Saran "saved" Keiran first is a bit of a gut-punch - I mean she is supposed to be the hero.)

But it is slow, so slow. If you can keep going, you have a very interesting story, but I can understand the reviewers who DNF or gave it a bad review.

K. Platt is a talented writer with a good eye for difficult characters (there is no good or bad here, just different shades of grey, everyone has an understandable reason for their behaviour) and I've never read of a universe just like that.

I hope she writes more in the future and I really hope she gets an harsher editor - a very good one would have cut 50 pages out of this book and asked her questions about some details, that didn't make complete sense.

I look forward to her next book.

I like the title of this book a lot unfortunately, I have mixed feelings with my reading.

The author mixes the genres with this novel, we have a fantasy world with magic, royalty and other, plus parallel world including one similar to ours, and we feel that the author has a lot of ideas for her series. Unfortunately, I find that this first book does not go far enough, the political stakes of the book are hardly explored. There is the tyrannical king that our characters are trying to eliminate through a rebellion, however, we see nothing of this rebellion, everything seems to be concentrated within the castle and the outside world is kind of missing and it is the same for the motivation of certain characters, the beginning of the rebellion and the global context that leads to this social and political situation. A lot of informations seems incomplete.

Our two main characters are Saran and Keleir, Saran is the king's daughter, she is the first victim of his tyranny, and for years she has been ready to overthrow him, but she does not want power. She is a heroine who does not often make the right decisions and her love for Keleir will not help her in any way. Keleir has a demon in his body, he was saved from it by Saran and a relationship was born between them. I must admit that I felt detached from the characters, the style of the author was not immersive and I did not feel their emotions as much as I would have like.

Overall, this book is not bad, but it is not excellent either. We feel that there is research in the universe and mythology, but it is under exploited in my eyes and the characters are too far from the reader for my taste. I hope that the continuation will be exploited a little better the elements set up by the author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ok this book was so much better than I initially expected. First off the beginning was like a smack to the head. You're just dumped into the middle of a battle right away, no intros, no explanation. It was an unexpected beginning and I loved it. We are quickly introduced to our three main characters, Keleir, Rowe and Saran. They are all powerful mages of different elements. Keleir also happens to be housing an Oruke demon inside him. Along with his internal battle, the battle for the kingdom is also occurring, and holy crap is that king evil! Like I haven't hated a villain this much in a long time. The characters are fantastic and they definitely walk that moral gray line at times. I really enjoyed the magic system, and the multiple worlds. These three worlds are all known to each other and interact with each other which is unique.

The pacing is good too. It starts all crazy, then slows down a bit and then picks right back up. Things go crazy at the end of the book. There are plot twists and a major cliff hangar. I am so excited for the next book. Someone let me know if there's an Oruke around I can sell my soul to for the sequel right now!

Emotionally gripping! I loved this new fantasy adventure that captured my attention from the beginning. Full of suspense and mystery I loved the various twists and turns trying to see where the story was going to go. I enjoyed the characters as well and look forward to seeing what happens next.

I tried with this one. I really did. The cover is gorgeous. But as soon as I started reading, I was confused, more confused, and then disappointed.
Saran is a princess and a mage, and is seeking to overthrow her tyrannical father along with the help of her true love Keleir, who happens to be possessed by a demon. The two must keep their love a secret, along with their plans to lead a revolt.
It sounds like a promising and exciting story. But just a few pages in I felt like I was missing something, The farther I got in the book the more I felt like I had missed important backstory, to the point where I double-checked to make sure this was not the second installment of a series. It just seemed like A LOT of important things happened in the past, and instead of characters just referring to those things, the reader should have experienced them along with the characters. The literal world-jumping was a bit of a shock, too, and instead of adding to the story it just took me right out of it.
This book was just not for me. I would not recommend it.

This book tries so hard, but it's not enough. It wants to be high fantasy, but the writing is pompous and devoid of any charm, boring and sometimes it doesn't really flow. The characters are insufficiently sketched, the worldbuilding is sorely lacking and seems to lift heavily from Shades of magic.

I was sent a copy of this by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a pleasant surprise. I loved the main characters and their story and how the main character struggles with her place in the world.

It did take a while for me to get the hang of the world. As a reader you are thrown right into the action (which I liked) and slowly you are told about the characters, their relation to each other and what’s happening.

There are three worlds: the first, where magic still exists; the second, that has no magic and where the people are starting to drain its resources; and finally the third world, where nothing grows and no natural life exists (except for the people of that world). I enjoyed this division of the different worlds, but it did feel a bit weird to read about visits to and from the second world (which is our world).

Saran is a princess and a time mage, and she is also secretly working with the rebels to overthrow her father, the cruel king. She is linked to Keleir, her love, and his brother Rowe. Keleir is a victim of a demon-like parasite called the Oruke, who lives between the worlds and is able to enter the world by entering children in the womb and slowly taking over until nothing of the child exists anymore. But Saran managed to close off the Oruke and pull Keleir to the surface again. But he is still struggling with the presence inside of him, even more so when Saran is punished and her magical powers bound.

I enjoyed the relationship between Keleir and Saran very much and it was beautifully written. As well as the relationship between Saran and Keleir’s brother Rowe. I also loved how the magic is portrayed in this book, where the magic wielders have one magical skill: time, fire, ice, lightning etc. I always love a good struggle/redemption story and this certainly has one of those.

I look forward to reading the next book in this series!

E-arc provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found the beginning very interesting but after the first 100 pages, the book lost appeal to me. The story was too slow and the book was dragging so bad. I could not engage with the characters which I found bland and not interesting enough keep going until the very end. I sadly didn't finish this book.

It was interesting. I liked the characters and the book went beyond my expectations. I love love the world and the princes, princesses, and the whole world of theirs. It really reminded me of Sarah J Maas so if you like her work then you're sure to like this one.

There were parts that were slow and kind of boring to get through. Sometimes i had to read something else then come back to this, or I would skim the parts that were boring.

I'll just say that this book wasn't for me. If you're a big fan of fantasy/magic/royalty narratives, you may enjoy this book. However, the world building and exposition left a lot to be desired, and there were a lot of plot holes that I can't look past. The writing is ok and plot is engaging toward the end.

What I DO want to say is that I think the metaphor behind the central romance in this book is dangerous. Because of the "demon" living inside of him, Keleir is unpredictable and violent. In the past, he hurt the people he loved and he may do so again if he loses control. The only thing that can save him or redeem him is Saran's love for him and efforts to fix him. This is pretty directly a metaphor for alcoholism/domestic abusers - at one point Keleir even says he's been "dry for five years, but it doesn't change what I am or what I did." And the narrative that Saran should give up everything to fix him is problematic and, frankly, hazardous. If alcoholism, intimate partner violence, and domestic abuse are triggering for you, be careful with this book.

I'd also note that I personally would not classify this book as YA. The themes involved are dark, violence is graphically depicted, and it involves a fair amount of sexual content, with slavery and consent creating further complications. Some young adult readers may be up for all this, but I would categorize The Living God as adult fantasy.

The Living God sounded so promising but yet it's one of the many books I must admit to not being able to get into. The beginning has no action and the story is slow. While normally that wouldn't be a problem for me. The more I read the more I just want to move on with the story. So while others may end up loving it. I won't be able to say I'm one of them. This book just didn't do it for me. Overall the premise sounds amazing but the writing style and tone of the story just doesn't flow for me. Thank you though for the opportunity to read this book.

The Living God is one of those books that you either love or hate, I don't believe there is much middle ground. While the concept was amazing, the writing did not resonate with me.

I was really hoping for more. Everytime I got excited about a chapter, it would just take forever to get there. The pacing was too slow and I kept getting pulled from the narrative.

The Living God
Actual Rating 3 stars

The Living God looked as though it would be a truly fascinating read and to some extent it was. I found that the magic system was interesting and I loved the whole idea of the Rauke’s soul. I also loved and enjoyed the dynamic between Keleir and Saran. With all that being said I did find the plot to be a bit slow to progress and I also found the plot to be slightly disjointed at times. But what truly bothered me was how the The Living God seemed more like a second novel rather than the first book in a series. When I first began reading I thought I had been mistaken and The Living God was a second or possibly even a third book in a series. After checking online to see I found that it was in fact the first book which slightly threw me off. I would have loved to have known a bit more about the origins of Saran and Keleir’s relationship before being thrust into their quest.
I think that this book was interesting and overall I enjoyed it. I plan on reading the next book in the series. I would suggest this book to people looking for a unique fantasy novel to read with an interesting magic system.

The pacing of this book is very weird from the beginning as are the chapter lenghts which make for a somewhat uneven read. We are thrown into the story without any explanations and the dialogue and characterization as well as the world building and descriptions are somewhat flat and run-of-the-mill and not very engaging. Oh, and of course she, as a princess, is super special and has red hair and is in a very special relationship with this very special dude she saved. I didn't feel the chemistry of the main couple at all (since they are together out of necessity) and at this point in time I'm not very interested in continuing to see where the story goes

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
3.5 stars****
I was excited about this book when I received a copy. It starts off, full of action and magic and I'd hoped that is was setting the tone for the book. There is magic and mystery. There is even action, but it is very slow getting going. I came back to this book numerous times. It was not a book that I couldn't put down. I DID want to know more; the story, the characters, they intrigued me enough to keep going. The author has amazing world-building skills and the depth of clarity with which she writes about her characters and the plot going on around is, also. Maybe let superfluous descriptions, narratives, or settings would help get the flow of the book moving. I don't know. It is a great plot and good read, just have to keep with it.

I didn't love this book but I didn't hate it. The story line held my interest and I am eager to see what Kaytalin has in store for readers next!

My Review: Sadly this one I ended up DNFing around 45% the book was just dragging so bad and the plot just didn't have that spark I was looking for. Most of the book just felt like like it was just getting started forever. I wished that the start of this would have been much faster because even at 45% it felt like the book was just getting started.

Thank you for writing a smart young adult novel. Too many YA authors lately have been hitting readers over the head with heavy-handed messaging. This novel allows the story to show the themes. With vivid characters, fast-paced plot, this allegory contains many lessons about climate, power, religion, and trust. I highly recommend this book.