It is going to be hard to put in to words just how much I adore this book, but I'll try! H.E. Edgmon has a real talent for making queer characters that are angry and sometimes completely unlikeable but always make you want to root for them. Especially in Godly Heathens, every character is vibrant, complex, and not usually "good" but still lovable.

Godly Heathens is about queer, trans kids trying to balance being resurrected, immortal gods with being teenagers. It features a complex, probably toxic poly relationship that I absolutely adored, along with a large host of side characters to fill out the world who may not always get a lot of screentime but still get enough personality and history to feel real.

This book is messy, raw, morally gray ( and sometimes straight up evil), and I adored it fiercly.

Synopsis:

Gem Echols, a nonbinary Seminole teenager residing in a small town named Gracie in Georgia, relies on their charisma to hide their underlying anxiety. Gem is famous for being the person who helped their peers realize their queer identities. The only individual who truly knows them is another trans teenager named Enzo, who resides in Brooklyn and is miles away from Gem.

Gem has recurring dreams of magic and violence that feel genuine, but they have never shared them with anyone, not even Enzo. However, a new girl named Willa Mae Hardy arrives in town and behaves as if she and Gem are old acquaintances. She seems to know things about Gem that no one else knows, including their dreams.

After Gem is attacked by a stranger who claims to be the Goddess of Death, Willa Mae rescues them and provides some information. According to Willa Mae, Gem and she are reincarnated gods who have loved and known each other throughout many lifetimes. Unfortunately, Gem has not always been a benevolent deity, and they have created many enemies in the pantheon who will continue to pursue them.

Thankfully, Gem still has Enzo, but as the past catches up with the present and worlds collide, Gem will learn that everyone has secrets to keep.

Thoughts:

DEAR. MOTHER. OF. GOD. THIS. WAS. MINDBLOWINLGY. GOOD! This was the first book I read by H. E. Edgmon and man oh man, this was a wild ride! Their writing is so good, it was almost impossible not to fall in love with the characters and the story. The story reminded me a lot of Kresley Cole’s The Arcana Chronicles which I absolutely adore. The story was well developed, the plot intricate and the characters had depth and soul making you want to root for them, even the darker ones. Whenever I thought I had it figured where the story was heading, Edgmon threw in plot twists which changed the narrative and leaving me pleasantly surprised. Their writing was spunky, snarky and and filled with comic relief which made the story all the more interesting to read till the very end. The intimate scenes among Gem, Enzo and Rory were so artfully showcased too. It is not everyday that we get to read a polyamorous YA book, so that was another plus for me as well.

I wholeheartedly loved Gem. They were a brilliant protagonist. I feel the author did a fantastic job portraying the struggles a non binary teen goes through and I have never wanted to hug an imaginary character so tight and Edgmon made me want to do that. Gem was at times extremely dark and had a lot of inner demons they were fighting but despite that they were also tender, soft and empathetic making them a relatable character.

Enzo/Shade and Willa Mae/Rory too were brilliant characters. I loved Enzo’s flair for drama and Shade’s deeply rooted cunningness and apathy. Willa Mae/Rory was such a badass character and I really loved how the author showed us glimpses of their tenderness making her character essential for Gem’s existence. All the other characters were well written too. None were similar. Some were bizarre, some were chaotic and some were calm. All of them combined made the story very interesting indeed.

Although there were a few plot holes here and there, it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book at all and Godly Heathens deserves all five stars I am giving it. H. E Edgmon is an extremely talented writer who can weave beautiful stories that keeps the reader engaged and enthralled. I am looking forward to reading the next installment of The Ouroboros series.

I do not have the words to express how amazing this book is. It is rare that I don't find something wrong with even my most favorite books, from my favorite authors. But this book? I don't have a single damn criticism. I genuinely think this is one of the most well written books I've read, and it hit so many of my sweet spots -- from soulmates to the exploration of the power of darkness to some of the best and most authentic queer (& neurodivergent) rep I've read since HFWU last year. Just so many aspects that I love to see in the books (and other media) I consume were present here and they were simply SO well done. I don't think there was a moment of this book where I didn't enjoy it, where I wasn't engaged, and where I didn't love almost every single character on paper. If this book does not BLOW UP and hit some Best Of lists and Bestseller lists, I will start a riot.

OT3 for LIIIIIIIIIFE 10/10 I need book two RIGHT NOW and I can't believe I have to wait like two years. RIP me, if you need me I'll be hibernating until I can read book 2

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for the chance to read this book!

I had high hopes to enjoy this book, but. . . unfortunately I found myself unable to. There were some sections that felt too general YA-- Gem being like "I convinced this jock to call me a god" (not a direct quote), at the time before they all know they're gods. It's pointed out by Willa Mae that Gem has all the godly arrogance with none of the power to back it up, and it still just felt so. .. . flat. As well as Willa Mae telling Gem flat-out they're basically the god of gods, the most powerful one of them all. There was also the line "No relationship has ever been more toxic or sexy than the one between original-me and the god of things forbidden" which I all but felt my eyes rolling for. The obvious twist that I also spent most of the book waiting for. . .maybe it was the build up? But it also felt strange Willa Mae hadn't openly considered the possibility before it was revealed.

There were other points where I was realizing that yes, this was villain MC, but it still felt .... overmuch, really. After a twist, when the gods they're fighting try to make a deal and end their own suffering, the MC would seemingly rather risk everyone than the discomfort of one. (Yes, it could have been a quick betrayal, but still! It seemed a very reasonable end to the conflict that was easily tossed away). While other things still could be proven off, and Reveals made in the second book, I also felt as if we were primed to see sacrifices made for magic when . . . none really happened. It might be the true sacrifice was a partial loss of humanity or ethics, but it didn't seem much of that way, just a build-up to claim danger and then... nothing.

I definitely did like some of the humor: calling something -phobic because it inconvenienced them specifically. I also enjoyed the difficulty with the family dynamics between Gem and their parents. Their mother loves them, but does not and cannot understand them, so ends up harming them emotionally. Their father is. . . .well. Their father.
I also enjoyed the conversations between Gem and Willa Mae about their heritage, and what it meant for them as gods-- what and who they looked like, what had happened to their people, the multiple links they had, and I look forward to hearing more about that in the second book.

*Thank. You to Wednesday Books, H.E. Edgemont and Netgalley for providing me with an E-ARC of "Godly Heaths in exchange for an honest review *
I thought that Godly Heathens was inventive and hilarious. I loved Gem in all his moral grayness. And I thought that the (love Triangle? Polyship? I'm not entirely sure what to call the love between Jem and the Mountain and Gem and Slade? But I do think that this a fresh fantasy story fans of the genre will absolutely love!

If you like stories where the main characters do depraved, brutal things with little to no real remorse, this is probably for you. If you don’t enjoy that, well, maybe steer clear.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me this ARC and giving me a chance to read this amazing novel. I love supporting LGBTQ+ authors and I love seeing all of the new, diverse content that is coming out of the traditional publishing industry. Also, the description alone was enough to intrigue me but I was pleasantly surprised with how much I got sucked into this story. It gave me a bit of an American Gods by Neil Gaiman kind of vibe, was still very fresh and original.

The mythology that Edgmon created was a nice change of pace from most of the mythology novels I've read recently, which tend to rely heavily on preexisting myths and gods. The world he created was interesting without being overly complex and I get the feeling that we have only scratched the surface. I feel as though the next book will go into more detail and we still have more characters we need to meet. That being said, I like that there is still a little bit of mystery to keep us hooked and dying to know more.

The characters throughout the book were great and I love that there doesn't seem to be a "good guy" in this. Everyone is morally gray and no one can claim innocence. And without spoiling anything, I love love love the relationship choice for Gem. I like non-traditional romance plots and I kind of hope this becomes more normalized in literature (which I believe it is, but I see this happen more in the indie/self published industry.)

Overall, I really loved it and couldn't put it down once I started reading it. I'm really excited to see that this is the first in a series and I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

Oh. Dear. Gods. Pun absolutely intended in this case.

This is an amazing book and if it is not the first in a series then I think I might honestly cry. Beautifully written, Godly Heathens poses the question of who are we really and do our pasts truly influence or presents and our futures. Gem has a lot to reckon with, a lot to try and come to terms with, and has to try and reconcile feuding parts of themselves just as others try to. Willa Mae is compelling and made me love her and hate her and want to know what her deal was from the moment I met her. And Enzo? I was right about Enzo and yet also so wrong about him at the same time. Fate pulls all of these people together, forcing them to play things out similarly but differently over and over again and makes you wonder if cycles of pain, abuse, and trauma can actually end or if people refuse to let you move on, how can you possibly break it yourself?

Nearly all of the characters are morally grey in some way, shape, or form: which made me love them all the more. I'm a sucker for a good morally grey story and wanted to know what solutions they could possibly come up with this time that they hadn't before. Apparently, you just have to add a new element to the mix that hadn't been there before. I won't tell you what, that would be spoiling, but know that a new element is added to this chaotic tale of love, betrayal, secret identities, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and coming of age. While many things are exactly as they seem, some are so much deeper than that. Gem has to struggle with their past lives, their current life, what is hard, what is easy, what is expected, and what happens when people just won't stop seeing the worst of you even when you've changed? Though there is quite a bit of humor and witty one-liners present to off set some of the grim dark elements of nightmares and memories that the characters go through. My favorite quote had to be "None of the Gods are Cis." It made me grin so much. I love have nearly every major player is some form of LGBTQIA+ individual. Loved reading about another she/they as well.

I loved how our own history, mythos, and lore was woven into what Edgmon created of their own amazing pantheon. It had me wondering what the Ether had been like and how everything got so unhinged and wrong and twisted to allow things to get how they have become. I love how characters weave in and out of the story only to pop in later in a way you don't expect. Please keep writing and I will absolutely buy anything in this series. This book is going to wind up on my bookshelf and I will shove it at anyone that I possibly can to read. Amazing work.

2.5 stars

I didn’t care for any of the characters or the plot. It felt boring.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC of this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!
I haven't read a fantasy book in a bit, and I forgot how good they are.
I think the concept of this book is new, and I've never heard of any book quite like this one. The characters are all really cool, and the idea of The Magician being kind of a villain, but also the main character was interesting. I always love a good morally grey character, and all of the gods fit that bill.

One thing I really didn't like was all the modern slang (bestie/lives rent free in my head/ big brained and sexy/"she makes FINGER GUNS at me in agreement"??????). I saw one review that said it felt like being hit over the head linguistically with the fact that this book takes place In Modern Times", which describes it really well. The slang just never quiteee flowed, and it's also all slang that was mostly popular around the time I assume the book was written, so about a year ago. While that makes sense, I still didn't like it.

I will say, the really big twist (or rather one of the big twists) about one of the characters was reallyyyy easy to guess. Also, I think the pacing of the book was mostly good, albeit a little slow in the beginning.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

It's definitely slow paced and I was growing frustrated, but it picked up about halfway and got better. The writing and world building is beautiful and unique and I found myself wanting to keep reading all night. It's the kind of story where you're iffy about it but then you think about it for days afterwards.

This book was so good!The pacing in the beginning was slow but by the middle I was hooked by the beautiful world that the author created. The writing is lyrical and smooth and flows so easily. Plus, the story is just an enjoyable one where you want to keep reading. I'm definitely eager to read the sequel!

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever read a book and then decided that you just need to lay down on the floor for like three hours and let your brain marinate in the novel like it's a soup, but cannot form any coherent thoughts about the book other than basic descriptions of the characters such as "fun", "sexy", "evil", or some combination thereof. Well, if you understand my plight, and would like to read a well-written novel (with an almost entirely transgender cast of characters), about gods on earth, where the gods are not necessarily good or bad, but are a lot of fun to read about. also the main characters are those gods. and let's just say some morals are optional