The audiobook was hard to follow because I couldn’t go back and refer to other characters plot lines. The book was really interesting but I need to read not listen.

The first bit was confusing. I had difficulty understanding the first part and made the rest seems off.

2.5⭐️ (rounded up)

The city of Valentine is going to drown. After the old gods fled the city, Valentine had no protecting and after 10 years of trying to keep their defences there’s no time left, rainy season is upon them. What makes matters worse is there is a serial killer sacrificing their victims running loose through Valentine. Lilac will do anything to summon her mother, a blood god, to return to Valentine. Including murder. But her lover Arcadia, captain of the evacuation team, must never know and neither can Arcadia’s best friend Alex and his partner Cecil of Ace Investigations. Alex and Cecil have been tasked with finding this serial killer but while they hunt they uncover some truths about what actually happened 10 years ago when the gods left. Will Lilac be able to summon her mother to save the city she loves? Will Alex and Cecil uncover the truth? Will Arcadia be able to move past her traumatic past and save the people she loves?

No Gods for Drowning is a third person triple (and sometimes more) POV, urban fantasy, detective noir, thriller/horror, with a little bit of a sapphire romance.

Lilac was my favourite character in the book. She had an amazing back story and all of her motivations made sense. Lilac was a great character who went through a very emotional journey throughout the book. Arcadia was also very interesting to me and I almost missed the whole point that she was trans. Arcadia went to the blood god, Logoi (Lilac’s mother) and asked for a physical transformation to who she truly was on the inside. Alex is a detective and Arcadia’s former partner in the police force. He is constantly battling his past and trying to not make the same mistakes again and he’s a seriously good detective. Every single character in this book is morally grey (maybe with the exception of Arcadia, maybe?). I was left rooting for them one chapter, and then rooting for their downfall the next. Every single one of their motivations make sense, which really caused this push and pull, because the writing was so well done that we sympathize with each character.

While we have the POV of the three main characters, Lilac, Arcadia and Alex, we also get some POV’s from some of the supporting characters like Cecil and Vince. I do feel like some of the supporting POV chapters weren’t really developed enough and needed a little bit more information or time with them. There was two chapters in particular that were very short and felt like they weren’t important enough to be included.

I wish I read this as a physical/ebook instead of an audiobook. This story is too complex to be listened to, you need to give it your full attention to catch all the details. Another downside to the audiobook was the lack of a map. A map or even a pdf map would have made this listening experience even better! Locations are very important to this story so trying to figure out how everything was situated was very difficult.

This book wasn’t my normal cup of tea but if you enjoy urban fantasies with great world building and a very dark twisted story this ones for you!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audio copy for an honest review. I love you guys 💕

This was a bad ass read/ listen. So rich and captivating. From the synopsis, “Set in an alternate reality which updates mythology to near-modern day, NO GODS FOR DROWNING is part hunt for a serial killer, part noir detective story, and unlike anything you've ever read before.” I’d agree with that and add that it’s something that will rattle around your brain pan for a while afterwards.

No Gods For Drowning ended up on my year end best of list.

I find audiobooks hard to rate: they run the risk of being average if the narrator isn't right for the story, and conversely a great narrator can make an average book feel fantastic.

I initially thought this story was a case of wrong narrator. possibly decent story but it turns out it's just not great. I do think that this narrator, while an excellent voice and great pacing, was not the best choice for this particular title. That being said, I continued listening for the story, and even went as far as to reread bits of the text on my own but it is not a stand out story.

The premise is great, but I think that goes without saying because why request a book if the premise is of zero interest to you? The execution is mediocre. The writing is simplistic, which in general is not an issue but this story would have benefited from a more lush form of writing.

I never found myself caring for the characters or the story as a whole.

Big thanks to Netgalley and Hailey Piper for the audio ARC in exchange for a review.

This was a tough listen at times. There were a lot of slow, lagging scenes that, if presented in a movie, would probably have shown a lot of emotion but kind of felt slow in audio. Maybe it was more the emotion in the tone of the voice actor, and written word would have given me more of an opertunity to create the image in my head. IDK.

I enjoyed the story line and is very relevant for issues in today's world.

This is enjoyable fantasy novel where gods and reincarnation are real. I enjoyed the reader who has a an Australian accent. This book is good for fans of American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

Reviewed the audiobook for Library Journal, this tale is a creative blending of multiple genres into a story of religion, transformation, and what it takes to truly be a god.

No Gods for Drowning grabbed my attention from the very first line and delivered till the very last.

The Old Gods have abandoned the world that Lilac Antonis resides in. Without the Gods help the world is becoming more perilous, filled with monsters and murderers. When a serial killer begins ritualistically murdering, Lilac is determined to end the cities suffering any way she can, even if it mean summoning her mother and betraying her closest friends.

Piper has created a world that is fully realized and a pleasure to learn about. The pacing is swift and the characters are grey making this a sure bet for anyone who prefers a darker grittier fantasy.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this early in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this arc. This was an interesting read. I enjoyed it. The story had some great twists and turns.

this was a very trippy story, with lots of moving pieces to follow! I really liked the alternative perspectives and thought the author did a great job connecting them. I also really liked the narrator and would definitely listen to her again.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

Hailey Piper’s "No Gods for Drowning" is a lesson in world-building and how to make a trope-filled murder mystery new and awesome. I found parallels between her work and China Mieville’s, one of my favorite writers. I would love to see more of Piper’s writing in this world.

The plot seems simple at first: something of a ritualistic serial killer is stalking a city, just as the city prepares for its catastrophic rainy season. On top of that, the gods, who used to walk among the people, disappeared ten years previous, and no one really knows why. A cast of characters including a flood fighter, a detective, and two descendants of the missing gods are thrown together in this setting, and both enemy and ally must work together to save their homes.

Elements of fantasy, noir, and horror meld together in Piper’s narrative, making for a book unlike any I’ve read in many years. The closest parallel I can draw is Perdido Street Station, but it’s not as odd as that, so if anything it’s more accessible. The world-building, particularly the history of it—the migrations, the generations of gods—is rich and detailed. The characters are well-rounded and fleshed-out, and there’s sympathy enough to go around even if you can’t decide who the villain and who the savior is.

I highly recommend this book to fans of mystery, fantasy, and horror, and I hope Hailey Piper revisits the world of "No Gods for Drowning" in more of her writing. I received the audiobook version from NetGalley.

3.5 stars... A very pleasant surprise. The start of the book was a little odd, and I wasn't sure I would stick with it but the twists and turns that lead up to a huge surprise at the end made it all worth it. The world building was good, but something things were unclear. It didn't cause me to completely get pulled out of the story or suspend my belief in what was happening. I also liked that there are many Queer characters, and it just is. People or gods love who they love and no one cares. The story does not end on a cliffhanger but I am very curious to see where things in this world go. I would absolutely read the next book in this series.

I thought I would love this but something about it just felt off-I liked the concepts detectives, magic etc but something just felt flat to me. I'm sorry!!
I will still make a good post about it though

This one unfortunately wasn't for me. Fantasy is a tough genre to write. The world building needs to progress in a palatable way but this was a massive convoluted info dump. There was so much going on and I struggled to get into this story. Maybe it was too difficult to follow as an audio copy and seeing the words on paper would have helped? But it was a struggle not to DNF, I kept putting off playing the story which tells me all I need to know.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The ancient gods have left Valentine, and the monsters they protected mortals from are now seeking to hunt and destroy humankind. A serial killer has begun to ritually sacrifice victims as an offering to a blood god, who just happens to be her mother. Lilac Antonis will do whatever it takes to save her city and those she loves, especially her lover Arcadia Myrn, even if it involves murder.

While out on assignment as a flood fighter, Arcadia comes across the murder scene of Lilac’s sacrifice victims. Unable to fight her instinct as a former cop to investigate the murders, she seeks out her former partner Alex who has been assigned to the case, along with his new partner Cecil. While investigating the case, Alex and Cecil learn more about the gods and learn that they may have not left willingly and that they all may be in far greater danger than they ever suspected.

Like other works I have read by her, Piper has once again excelled when it comes to character-building. I love books with morally gray characters and this book has them in spades. I also love that this book isn’t specifically one genre—it is mythology, noir, fantasy, has Lovecraftian described gods and monsters, it is a procedural thriller, and has LGBTQIA characters as protagonists.

I both read the ebook and listened to the audiobook provided by #Netgalley and Dreamscape Media. I was instantly taken in by the voice of Jodie Harris. She could read a telephone book and I’d be riveted and hooked on every word. I hope to find more of her narration work soon.

4/5 Stars
Thank you to #NetGalley and #DreamscapeMedia for providing me with a review copy of the audiobook of this novel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you so much for the ARC of this title!

No Gods for Drowning is really well crafted story. The world building is fascinating, and the characters are very easy to engage with. The audiobook version is fun to listen too, and brings a lot of the characters to life. I wanted more of this book in the best way possible. I found myself wanting more of the world building explained, and more intricate details. Even without an in depth dive into the mythology of the world Piper constructs, the novel still effortlessly weaves its plot together, and I as a reader did not feel lost by the wayside at any point in this story. I really loved the romance that was intertwined with this story's mystery and impending disasters. The story does not have an intense amount of action, but leans into the mystery side a thriller, challenging readers to unravel the disappearance of the Gods. All in all, this is a really fun and unique title that I will for sure recommend in the future!

2.5 rounded down. Some good things, some bad things. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.

No God's for Drowning has a lot going on in it. A (essentially) Demigod trying to call forth her deity mother, a soldier trying to keep a city safe, detectives investigating sacrificial murders, and more. If you're really good with names and constant POV changes then you may find this more enjoyable than I did, but honestly by the last 3 hours(25%) I just wanted to finish. This one wasn't for me, but those epic quest lovers who can keep all the characters straight may enjoy this.

I'd recommend this for lovers of adult Sci Fi/Fantasy that can hang tough with info dumps. Not recommended for those who enjoy a fast paced story. 2.5 stars rounded down to 2.

The gods have abandoned the holy land, and the sea and its monsters are attacking the city of Valentine. Lilac, the daughter of the god of reason, has taken it upon herself to to offer human sacrifices to draw her mother back to the city. Two detectives from Ace Investigation and Lilac’s lover, Arcadia, are tracking down this “serial killer” slitting throats and leaving bloody signs on the walls.

Gods, sea monsters, blood, gore, lies, secrets, corruption, religious fervor and murder.

I tried. I really tried. I stuck it out for the full 13.5 hours. And there were things I liked about this novel: the world-building unrolled very organically, characters felt real and dialogue was smooth, sassy and clever.

But I disliked the story. Lilac is just terrible, idiotic, inconsistent. The last few chapters were hard to follow, full of unlikely coincidences and ARCADIA DOES SOMETHING THREE TIMES. I don’t want to give any spoilers but good lord, you can’t use the same plot device THREE TIMES.

This month was a really great month for book releases, and this was one of my most anticipated! It did not disappoint this is so highly rated for a reason! I love Hailey Piper’s writing style and have really enjoyed everything of hers I’ve read. She’s really good at fitting a lot in a short amount of pages so I was really interested to see what she’d do with 430 pages of space to build in. Each of her books has a really interesting world she constructs and the fantasy horror noir in this one was really fun to read and immerse myself into. The Gods, Goddesses, and Godexs have all vanished leaving the mortals and their half human children to fend for themselves. Major flooding is drowning the city and what’s in the water may be a fate even worse then that. Everyone is suffering, and on top of it all there is a serial killer loose in the city. I don’t really want to give too much away because I like going into books as blind as possible and I really think that’s the best way to read it. There was so much action and stuff going on, really fast paced, that starts from page one. I couldn’t put this book down and it might be my favorite Hailey Piper read yet!