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HIGHLIGHTS
~heartbreakingly human gods
~past lives biting you in the ass
~wanting to live doesn’t make you a villain
~come for the god of magic and you better not miss
~‘burn the world down for you’ polyamory

Suggested theme song: GODS ft NewJeans by League of Legends

No shade (ahem), but in hindsight, now that I’ve read Godly Heathens, Edgmon’s first duology – the Witch King books – feel like the literary equivalent of dipping a toe into the publishing waters to check the temperature. Was the world ready for their weirdness?

Oh? It was?

Well then – TIME TO UNLEASH THE REAL GOODS. Because Godly Heathens is a hands-off-the-wheel, no-holds-barred, without-a-parachute plunge into unmitigated and unapologetic feral queer weirdness – one with teeth.

<“There are no cis gods,” they scoff.>

Gem is stunning; Gem is magnetically mysterious; Gem is a sex deity magnanimously bestowing their favours upon anyone brave enough to ask. But behind the carefully crafted facade, Gem is Not Okay; desperate to be loved, anxious, locked in bitter standoff with a mother who seems determined to see the worst in everything Gem does and is, swallowing down meds for depression, and terrified of inheriting their dad’s schizophrenia. That last one is a little too on the table, as Gem has been consumed by strange, intense, too-tangible dreams and visions for as long as they can remember. Dreams they have no intention of sharing with anyone – especially Enzo, the best friend they’re helplessly in love with, for all that he lives far off in New York and all their communiques must, by necessity, be digital.

For now. Because Gem is going to graduate and get the hell out of their tiny Southern town, and when they do, they’re heading straight for Enzo. (Though there’ll be nothing straight about it, hopefully!)

It’s a plan they treasure. One that shatters like glass in their hands when they discover that they’re a reincarnated god from another world; this life is just the latest of hundreds they’ve lived out on Earth. And the rest of their pantheon? They’re here too, and with a few exceptions, they want Gem annihilated.

And Gem might even deserve it.

<maybe a happy ending was never possible for me. Maybe some people don’t deserve one, and maybe I’m one of them.

If that’s the case, I’m still gonna fight like hell to get as close as I can.>

Godly Heathens is a mind-fuck to explain: the worldbuilding and set-up are easy to understand and absorb quickly – there’s nothing especially complicated about the gods Edgmon’s created, nor the world they originally came from, nor their conflict with Gem. Even Gem’s powers, while thrilling, aren’t hard to wrap your head around. There’s a Quest Object that needs to be found, a magic knife that’s the only thing that can kill a god for good – okay, sure! I’ve got it. It’s exciting, but not hard to follow. Even the writing is direct and unornamented – to be honest, it’s much plainer than I usually prefer my prose.

But the thing is, nothing about this book is simple at all. It just looks that way at first, briefly – like a child’s scribbled sketch, all easy lines and primary colours. But page by page Edgmon turns that sketch into something else; adding detail, more colour, shading, depth, background, foreground, layer after layer of paint that slowly but completely transforms the simplistic little picture we thought we were looking at.

And what you have at the end? Is a gods’-damned masterpiece that, to continue the metaphor, should be hanging in the freaking Louvre.

<The bogeyman has come to call, and with him comes proof that I crawled willingly beneath the bed.>

Take, for example, the idea of gods in human bodies. Edgmon could easily have just… left it at that, but instead Godly Heathens really digs into what that means, what the implications of it are, what questions arise when you have gods in human forms. What value, if any, do their human identities have against their godly memories and past incarnations? Are they a part of our world, now they’ve lived so many lives here, or do they still belong to their world of origin? How do their aspects and powers change over time, as the world changes, as what-they’re-gods-of changes? And Gem: do they really bear responsibility for the sins of their past self? Are they a different person now, or the same one? Is it fair, is it right, to punish them for things another version of them did? Is it on them to fix those things, or not – and if not, then who is it on?

<“We are not just gods walking around steering human bodies. We are also humans housing the souls of gods.>

Even the less-dived-into parts of the worldbuilding are fascinating, like the relationships between the different gods – Life and Death being sisters; Death and War being girlfriends – and the divisions Edgmon chose to make in creating the pantheon – for example, rather than having one god of nature, Life, Land, Water and Weather are all separate gods, and I wish I could ask Edgmon why, because I would love to hear the thought process that went into that!

<the whole world could put their hands on you, and it wouldn’t make you any less mine–I’ve left you stained deeper than they could dream of>

And all the ways that Edgmon fucks with the usual tropes, with The Way Things Always Go, is just *chef’s kiss* Nothing here is tidy, nothing here follows the expected patterns, absolutely fucking nothing here hews to convention and thank fuck for that, because my gods, I needed this book. I needed Gem. I needed a story that says ‘discovering you’re the Chosen One/a superhero/a literal honest-to-god god does not explain away, or fix, all the ways in which you’re Not Okay.’ And I wanted this book, this story; I wanted the sharp edges, and the monstrous love, the fucked-up MC who will fuck you up worse if you touch the people they love…but is still fragile and desperate to be loved, themselves, underneath the badassery.

<“If they kill him, no one will be safe from what I do next.”>

What I’m saying is, Godly Heathens has the vibes and aesthetic and wildly beating heart of someThing I’ve been hungry for, starving for, for a very long time; someThing I suspect there’s no English word for, but that Edgmon clearly knew we needed. I am grateful; I am ecstatic; I am both sated and deliriously ravenous for more, and not just because of that ending.

(Thank the gods we don’t have long to wait for the sequel!)

<I’m gonna fix this. I’m gonna make this right. Because I deserve everything I want.

And even if I don’t, I don’t care.>

What about the plot, you say? Don’t die. That’s – I think that sums it up okay. There are enemies coming at Gem and their allies from every direction – including their own pasts and human families – and the main, major goal is to survive, to defend, to fight back, to find what they need to do that (like the knife). That means finding each other, (re)discovering and mastering their powers, trying to keep their human lives from falling apart as they go to war against their fellow gods – you do not need to worry about their not being enough story, enough action, to more than balance out the under-the-surface complexity of emotions, introspection, self-discovery.

And of course, there’s the Mountain-moving, breathtakingly intense, delicious-and-wondrous love story that spans aeons and eternities, that poor Gem somehow has to wrestle into something humans can hold.

<If human minds are not meant to hold the burden of our memories, how is my human heart expected to carry the weight of the eternal devotion with which I’ve loved these two?>

Oh – did I not mention the polyamory??? Gem’s two love interests, and the relationship they start to build together, is everything I could ever have asked for, and I would really like to write a freaking THESIS on it, but I cannot because SPOILERS! Gods damn it.

<“I am the god who has ruled alongside you since the dawn of another time. And I have known and loved you in your every flawed iteration. Every name you have gone by, every face you have worn, I have been at your side. My soul knows yours, and yours knows mine, and if I have to wait a little while for you to remember, that’s fine. I’m gonna keep saving your ass in the meantime.”>

Look, just – come scream in my comments about your Feels when you’re done reading this book, okay? I’LL BE WAITING MOST EAGERLY.

(THE SCENE WITH THE SNAKE. You’ll know it when you get to it – and I defy you not to cry at the snake on the book’s cover afterwards. WHO PUT THAT THERE, AND HOW DARE THEY?)

<On the one hand: I think kissing her might be life-affirming. On the other hand: everything else.>

There’s no denying that Godly Heathens is a book that goes hard and pulls no punches – but it also manages to be hysterically funny, in very queer ways–

<He’d disappear if he weren’t built like a tank. (Though, I notice homosexually, he is smaller than Willa Mae.)>

very real live teens ways–

<“Do you have clothes here I can sleep in?”

My first instinct is to say Clothes? Why would you need clothes? because I am terrible and horny–not related to each other, just equally true.>

And some that just make you cackle–

<Are you trying to get me to embrace my magic by reminding me young Republicans exist and I could hex them?”>

Godly Heathens is a book with no easy answers; one that does not talk down to its YA audience, and will crack open the heart of any adult who dares to pick it up. It’s raw and vital and absolutely feral, slicing through so many layers of but we don’t talk about that; revelling in the kind of savage emotion we’re not supposed to feel, let alone acknowledge out loud; gripping you by the back of the head and forcing you to take a good hard look at how fucked-up and chaotic and messy reality is, even before gods get involved. It’s about love untamed and unleashed and unstoppable, about fairness versus justice, about how the nice pretty ideals we tend to hold up in Fantasy, particularly, aren’t so neat and easy to apply in the real world.

In that way, this is so much a story for those – teens and otherwise – who feel (who are) let down by the genre; those of us who stand on the outside looking in; those of us who’ve always felt more in common with the monsters than the heroes; those of us who are messes, damaged, not-nice.

This is a book for us.

<For anyone worried you might be the villain in your own story.

Maybe you are.
I think you deserve a happy ending, anyway.>

Godly Heathens is a book that injects itself straight into your veins and hits you like lightning, cracks your ribs open and rips your heart out–and do not expect to get it back. This is not a book you will forget, or that you get to walk away from whole; this is a book that will leave you with scars…but scars you’ll treasure.

And seriously – when you start crying about the snake on the cover, hit me up.

Godly Heathens incarnates next week – and missing it would be a sin. Preorder it, beg your library for it, get your local indie to order it in – I don’t care how, but you have to read this one.

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Gem Echols is a nonbinary Seminole teen living in the rural town of Gracie, Georgia. They are known for being their peers' queer awakening. Gem would rather be wanted than forgotten. The only person who knows who Gem really is, is Enzo, another trans kid who lives many miles away in Brooklyn.

However, even Enzo doesn't know about Gem's dreams, haunting visions of magic and violence that have felt way too real and close to home for Gem. So how does the strange new girl to Gracie, Willa Mae Hardy know? She acts like she and Gem are old companions and seems to know things about them that they have never told anyone else before.

When Gem is attacked by a stranger claiming to be the Goddess of Death, Willa Mae saves their life and finally offers some answers. She and Gem are reincarnated gods who've known and loved each other across lifetimes. But Gem learns that they have not always been a benevolent deity. They have made a lot of enemies in the pantheon - enemies who, like the Goddess of Death, will keep coming and trying to kill them. Everyone has something to hide when the past comes crashing into the present.

So I think I want to rate this 3.75 stars because I would get into the book but then it would kind of stale out in certain parts and I would get annoyed with Gem. I think that it was a good story line and I would get caught up in the drama of it but maybe I just was not such a fan of the character of Gem. They just seemed very selfish and melodramatic and I would get annoyed with them. There were some really good parts and plot twists within this story that I really enjoyed and I do feel invested enough that I have to know what is going to happen in the next book!

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

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I am deeply grateful to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with the opportunity to read Godly Heathens. This novel was an absolute rollercoaster. I found myself loving and hating every moment of my read. I personally struggled with the pacing and world building. There was a lot happening but also felt like nothing happening at all. I also felt the constant name changes made it difficult at the beginning. What I did love were the complicated relationships. Nothing was perfect, it was refreshing. And of course, I loved the queer representation. It fit perfectly in the book and made a lot of sense within the storyline. Overall, I think I enjoyed my read. I don’t know if I will recommend it to others, but maybe the right person.

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Gem Echols is a nonbinary Seminole teen living in a tiny town in Georgia who uses charm to disguise their deep anxiety and sense of not belonging. In their dreams, Gem Echols is also the reincarnation of an ageless deity who has committed unforgivable sins. When other reincarnated gods start popping up around town, Gem’s two worlds collide.

To quote Rebecca’s Roanhorse’s stellar review because she said it best:

? I do think that if I had read this as a teen, it would have become my favorite book hands down, the kind that changes your reading life, and maybe your larger life because you finally feel seen. The kind you force into your friends' hands and shout, 'Read this now!'. The kind where you fall in love with every character who is messy and sexy and terrible in their own way. But, alas, I am an old, so my enthusiasm is a bit dampened. That's not to say I didn't very much enjoy the book. The world-building is fun and creative, the twists are generally satisfying, and it is super queer in the best way. I have a few quibbles about length and structure and story logic, but I don't think they'll matter that much to the average teen reader who will find plenty to love."

So yes, SO much to love. This has some of the most engrossing first chapters I’ve read in recent memory– dark, compelling, sexy, and brilliant. Interesting world building. But as Roanhorse points out, there are some issues with pacing and structure. Gem experiences a big change in the book, which I won’t spoil, and I would have expected a MUCH bigger impact. The ending felt messy and unsatisfying, but again, I think gobs of people will LOVE this.

Great for fans of Andrew Joseph White’s Hell Followed with Us and F.T. Lukens’ Spell Bound.

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Godly Heathens is the story of reincarnated gods who have a bone (or 12) to pick with one another. I suppose meeting in lifetime after lifetime will do that. This is book is wild and chaotic in the best way and I cannot wait to read the sequel! I loved all the various identities held by the characters (great representation all around) and really enjoyed the development of the three main characters--very much looking forward to their arcs in the second book. The writing is beautifully descriptive and the dialogue is funny, both of which made for an enjoyable reading experience! I think my students will enjoy this one!

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The premise of this book got me super excited. The execution and delivery disappointed me. I loved the characters, but there was something about the writing that bummed me out and took me out of the story.

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Gem Echols is a queer Seminole person living in rural Georgia. They’ve never fit in, but they’ve always chalked that up to their anxiety and lack of close friends. However, gem begins to question everything when a new person in town insists that they are a reincarnated god from a different world.

In godly heathens, H.E. Edgmon does what they do best: create queer Indigenous characters that are a little bit feral but are so loveable.

I enjoyed Gem’s character so thoroughly. They are a bit mysterious, very deeply funny, and good, although they aren’t kind. I was rooting for Gem all the way, even when I questioned some of their decisions. The other characters, especially Willa Mae and Enzo, also have distinct personalities which I found very developed.

I found this book immensely easy to get into and read. The writing is easily digestible, which is impressive especially for a fantastical novel containing characters with thousands of years of history. I was definitely hooked.

There were some aspects I found frustrating, like impulsive decisions, and some parts I found confusing, like the backstory. Overall, I really enjoyed it and I am eagerly awaiting the sequel.

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I loved the plot. But I will say that I needed more. It didn’t feel like enough for me. So good. But I totally need more

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The first in a new series (at least according to Goodreads) about a nonbinary teen who learns they are a reincarnated god.

It took me a while to get into this. I feel like the first bit had no idea what exactly I was reading plot wise. Readers are just thrown in. It definitely picks up once Gem learns they are a god, but the writing style still wasn’t my favorite.

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This book is A LOT. I think it's so unique and full of passion, but for me a lot of the depictions of mental health were a lot to read. This story does not shy away from the pain of being a teenager. These kids are mean and hurt and confused. I think this is a story that really understands teenagers, which is ironically something that needs to be worked on for a lot of YA authors. This story knows its audience, and it doesn't shy away from the very real parts of their lives.
I do think, and this is mostly just a me thing because I'm not an avid fantasy reader, that this book is a little hard to follow. There were a lot of characters introduced in the middle of the story, and it made it really confusing. It is still such a unique plot though, and really interesting. I just had trouble following it.
I mean it when I say these kids are mean. They say a lot of hurtful things to each other and they do a lot of questionable things. But I think that makes them really real to a lot of teenage experiences. Teenagers are mean. I was mean as a teenager. Because being a teenager is confusing and painful and life is kind of horrible sometimes. So I really do get it. And I think it makes for a convincing attempt at morally grey characters. Lots of books try that and they end up with either a) just plain awful characters or b) characters who talk a lot but can't back it up. These characters, especially Gem, are people you root for and also people you really disagree with sometimes.
I think for fans of YA fantasy, this will be a smash hit. I think for teenagers who love fantasy (which is the target audience of this book- sometimes I think we forget that when we read YA), they are going to love this.

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I really enjoyed the start to a new queer fantasy series! This world and fantasy was buoy and developed so well and was easy to understand. I really like the idea of reincarnated gods from another universe. I also really liked the characters and having Gem as our main character. Having the villain as the main character is always fun but Gem’s conflict between wanting to do the right thing but also making the wrong choices sometimes makes them so much more complex that you can’t help but root for them. I couldn’t believe that it was over by the last page and can’t wait for more. This story and world building sets us up for what I’m hoping will be another magical book and a more villainous Gem along with Rory and Enzo.

Overall, this was a good start to a magical queer ya fantasy and can’t wait for the next one!

Read if you like…
•villain mc
•queer fantasy
•gods

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Thank you to NetGalley and the to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this title.

4.5

This book was so good. I really enjoyed the story and how it was told. It was so cool to get pieces of the main character's history through dreams. I enjoyed the way this story kind of went back and forth between other timelines until it was revealed what was really going on. I thought this book was very fast paced. There is a lot of action. I just really loved the idea of these characters living multiple lives and finding each other in each one. Then adding in the fact that they are literal gods makes it so exciting. This book has some content warnings at the beginning, and I would definitely recommend reading those before starting the book. I thought that the author handled all of those things really well though. This book was wild and crazy in all the best ways. I really loved it.

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Godly Heathens is a ya fantasy to follows gods from another realm that are reincarnated into teenagers. And not at all of them are nice.

This book was wild. I really enjoyed the characters and the plot of the story. There was a lot of diversity which I enjoyed as well. This book deals with a lot of trauma and mental health and I think the author did a great job with how it was handled. The ending left off with a cliffhanger which made me want the second book NOW!

Check trigger warnings before picking this one up. Release date is November 28th! If you’re looking for a wild ride with demigods then I highly recommend checking this one out!

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for the arc!

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This book stands out for its overwhelming queer themes and morally gray characters, Nearly every character is unapologetically queer ("there are no cis gods"), and the lines between right and wrong fade in and out throughout the story. The main character Gem has a punchy, likable inner monologue, but also deals with very serious family dynamics and mental health problems. I appreciated this book for not attributing Gem's mental health to his divine powers, but as an unalienable part of his humanity. The polyamorous dynamic was also unexpected, but very much appreciated. Edgmon's writing is beautiful in its imagery and captivating,

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Wow wow wow. I read H.E. Edgmon's other duology but wasn't a huge fan. Yet I was completely obsessed with this and could not put it down! I'm going to be recommending this to all my friends to read. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book. Also can we talk about how stunning this cover is?

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The dedication in Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon is what solidified it as my next read. It releases on November 28th and you should definitely give it a read.

It’s the first of a planned duology and I walked in knowing nothing more than it was a fantasy with queer trans indigenous and morally grey characters. This story did not disappoint. Weaving together a pantheon of gods, mental illness, recognize of colonialism Edgmon writes a wonderful story with unreliable narrators and grappling with many forms of love, hate, survival, and the balance of dualities. Truly enjoyed this one and I can’t wait for the second book!

There is a list of full content warnings provided in the front but a few include: Mental Illness, Internalized Ableism, references to self harm, mentions of transphobia and racism.

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First off, the cover to this book.. frigging gorgeous! Which is very fitting because this book is a gorgeous mess.

And I mean that in the best way possible.

Godly Heathens is a book about traumatized teens who are actually reincarnated Gods from another world who are even more messed up in their godly forms than their human ones. Each character is terrible and selfish and passionate. Gem is the worst of all and I absolutely love them for it.

The world building and overall story is fantastic. The representation in this book is superb; I think many will feel seen in this story. Also the ending had me oh so grateful that the sequel was already in my hands (lol halfway through it as we speak).

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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*Thank you so, so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review!*

When I tell you guys that I was so excited to read a novel with nonbinary and queer rep with the concept of reincarnated gods, I was pretty giddy.

This novel has absolutely lived up to my expectations and then some.

H.E. Edgmon's writing style is straight to the point, and yet so charming in the way you get to read what goes on in Gem's mind, what their thought process is. Gem was a great character to read about, likable and yet relatable despite everything. Plus, the other characters have their own ways of being enjoyable to read about - Willa Mae and Enzo especially. Setting helped made the story interesting too.

Overall, I look forward to picking up the published copy of this novel, and well done to H.E. Edgmon!

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I'm withholding my review, in support of the St. Martin's Press and Wednesday Books boycott that is currently taking place now.

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H.E. Edgmon is a fantastic writer. Godly Heathens is well-written and a very engaging story.
I loved the story of gods and goddesses sharing bodies with humans. I loved the rep of mental health, the trans community, and LGBTQIA+ relationships.
The author is fantastic at weaving a complicated web of tales and merging this web into a wonderful story full of mystery, intriguing characters, and magic.

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