I really enjoyed The Isles of the Gods. To me, the best way to describe it is Fable meets Six of Crows. The story follows Selly, who is trying to reunite with her father. However before she can do this, her ship is commandeered by the Prince of Alinor. Prince Leander has a secret mission to reach the Isles of the Gods so he can perform a ritual that will help his god Barrica keep Macean, the god of Mellacea, asleep. They run into trouble when Laskia, a devoted worshiper of Macean, shows up to stop Leander from completing his mission.

I loved the world building in this one. It’s a fantasy book, but with a few modern touches. The magic system is really cool too. People with magic are called magicians, and they have green magician’s marks that show what elements they can manipulate. When they use their powers they have to sacrifice something to the spirits of the element that want to use, which makes it pretty interesting.

I would definitely recommend this book to any ya fantasy lover. The book alternates between the different characters so you get to meet all of their personalities. It was highly entertaining and I really liked it. I cannot wait for book two to come out!

While I thought this was a great idea for a story, the actual book itself just didn't do it for me. It is really difficult to pull off multiple character POVs, and unfortunately the huge cast of characters were not distinguishable enough to succeed at such an approach. I didn't like any of these characters, so it was impossible to care much what happened in the story.

I tried with this book. I really did. There are way too many characters and they all sound the same, so I had a hard time keeping track of them. Because it was so hard to distinguish between the characters and their stories, I found myself not caring about any of them. Illuminae is one of my favorite book series, and I'm starting to wonder if it's because of Kristoff and not Kaufman. It's such a shame, and this book sounded so cool, but in the end, it was not for me.

This was not my favorite. There were a lot of varying points of view, which is a style I don’t personally find particular interest in. Too many focal points is a lot for me, as a reader, to keep track of. Additionally, the tense of the writing kept throwing me off.

This book seems to be well-liked, but it just was not for me.

Though the concept was phenomenal -- and much of the execution matched to boot -- the actual story itself was a lot slower than I anticipated, making the book a bit more of a slog that I wanted.

It took me a chapter to decide that this book was worth the investment of my time. Once I was invested in the plucky Selly, I was happy to read what became a suspense-filled tale. Leander and even Keegan also become more nuanced and interesting as you progress through the book. Be prepared for some tough sacrifices and high stakes adventure when you read Isle of the Gods.

This is my first solo Amie book and I enjoyed it. It's easy to see now where Amie comes in when writing with a partner. Her world building is absolutely amazing and she really shows it off in this book. While the dialogue isn't as strong, she definitely makes up for it. The beginning of the books is slow, then the middle picks up, but oh boy that ending. So while this isn't an amazing book for me, I definitely enjoyed it. I really thought the premise of the story was interesting and I enjoyed learning about the world. It leaves off in a way where I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

There were a lot of characters... a lot. Definitely took a minute to get them all figured out which is why I think the beginning was a little slower for me. Selly is one of our main characters and I really enjoyed her. She started off very snarky but honestly she grew on me very fast. I understood why she was upset but as soon as she realized she needed to change, she did. Leander is our prince who needs to get to the island.... a year ago. His character was super easy to get behind right at the beginning. Of course he comes off as a care free Prince but it was easy to see that wasn't the case. I really didn't care for Laskia but I don't know if you were supposed to? However, Keegan I think was my favorite character. There was just so much to him and I loved all the surprises he brought to this story. His character was very much needed.

Overall, The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman was a good book. I'll definitely be continuing this series when book 2 comes out and can't wait to see waht happens next. The pacing was a little tough for me but I think a majority of it was the overwhelming amount of characters. It took time to sort them all out but eventually I did. If you can't handle multiple POVs then I'd definitely be cautious going into this book. Selly and Leander took up most of the book but honestly Keegan was my favorite. I thought he was a very complex character that brought so much to the group.

**Thank you, Netgalley and publisher, for giving me an electronic ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

I liked the magic system and the spirits but it a bit slow for me. I found the characters too similar and I found myself flipping back to the beginning of the chapter to figure out who was in the point of view.

Amie Kaufman is an amazing writer and storyteller no doubt about it. I had very high expectations reading The Isles of the Gods and I was not disappointed at all. The Isles of the Gods is a captivating adventure, with a world filled with mythology, magic, and danger. The story is very character driven. It has a big multi POV cast with five characters that I Ioved. The characters Selly, Leander, and Keegan were absolutely perfect and I adored them. The romance in here is just starting and is a perfect combination of sweet and slow burn. I have already purchase I copy for my library. I’m sure my students will also enjoy reading this amazing story. Thank you NetGalley for giving me this amazing opportunity.

I’ve read other series I’ve thoroughly enjoyed co-authored by Kaufman, but never one penned solely by her. Based on the other books, I was anxious to dive into this novel.

Stories set on the high seas just scream adventure to me. This one is no different. Selly’s spent most of her life sailing and is more comfortable on water than land. After months away, she’s anxious to be reunited with her father on another ship, but fate has other plans for her. Instead, she’s stuck crewing a ship carrying Prince Leander (traveling under the radar, third in line to the throne, and loves to party) to the Isles of the Gods where he’ll make a sacrifice to prevent the slumbering gods from awakening and starting a war. An attack on their ship, with Leander as the target, leaves only three survivors – Selly, Leander, and Keegan – to stop the coming war.

The story is primarily told in five POVs – Selly, Leander, Keegan, Jude, a friend of Leander who’s coerced into working against him, and Laskia, a power hungry villain trying to prove herself to her crime boss sister. Selly doesn’t care much for spoiled Prince Leander, but there’s more to him than what’s on the surface. He turned out to be my favorite character. The other characters are well-developed and come with their own backstories, and I liked that they weren’t glossed over. It added depth to the story.

With a potential war on the horizon, assassins chasing Leander, and a sea to cross with little resources, stakes are high for these characters. It’s a hefty book at over four hundred fifty pages and starts a little slow for my taste, but soon picks up and rarely lags. I’ll definitely be picking up the sequel.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was a great YA fantasy journey that had me hooked from the beginning! It was well written with amazing world building and complex characters--told from multiple POVs to keep you hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! The world is unique and gave me Pirates of the Caribbean and Hercules vibes. In a world with silent Gods, a Prince is in his way to make a sacrifice to his nation’s Goddess, when Selly, a young daughter of a pirate lord, bumps into him. The two embark in a journey together along with new and old friends, as well as enemies.

I love a book with multiple POV’s and enjoyed seeing so many sides of the story in this book! It truly has everyone you want in a YA fantasy adventure book, along with romance, mystery, and plenty of magic. It was a good time!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's, Knopf Books for Young Readers, and Amie Kaufman for the opportunity to read The Isles of the Gods in exchange for an honest review.

A seafaring adventure awaits with a grand cast of characters and of course the tense forbidden romance Amie Kaufman is known for.

Selly doesn't want to wait all winter for her father's return, so she plans to take the last boat up north to find her father and join him. Her plans are disrupted when she misses her boat  due to a handsomely sly fellow: Leander. Now she must join her friend and continue her shiphand training so she can one day be a captain.

Leander is a prince, and being of the direct loyal line, he is tasked with his family's quest of responsibility to Alinor's goddess, Barrica. Every 25 years, a royal must sail to the Iles of the Gods and make an offering to keep their goddess powerful and help keep the risk god, Macean, tethered down. It's Leander's turn, and with a decoy fleet out on the water, he finds himself on the same ship as Selly, making a great payment for them to safely bring him to the Isles.

Keegan can be found on the same ship as well, one who went to school with Leander in the past and is not in passage on his way to be a scholar at the Bibliotek.

A manhunt for the prince leads these three to embark on their own quest for the Isles, and survival, hopefully before a major war can begin.

With epic seafaring imagery and lingo, and unbelievable twists at every turn, Isles of the Gods is a beautiful fantasy novel for a young adult audience, the first of a duology. There's excitement and adventure, as well as the tense forbidden romance that will make any reader's heart pound. An absolute must-read for fantasy, adventure, and Kaufman fans!

I thought I was going to love this book. The title alone sounded amazing. Within the first couple chapters I was already confused. I really wanted to love it though. I enjoyed the characters and the world building. I will probably come back to this book at some point and try it again.

This is a fun, fast-paced fantasy that younger high school students will love. Amie Kaufman is the queen of snappy dialogue for the younger age group. Sweeping and very fun.

So first off fair warning this one is told in not one, not two, nope FIVE POVS!! And lord did it make it so confusing. This story was a mess of plot holes, way too many POVs, and just an overall flow that didn't work at all. I have loved some of this authors other books were she has written with someone else but I do not think I will try another from her alone.

Overall this was a very solid 4 star book. The story is narrated from 5 different characters and all are very diverse and interesting, be it the prince, scholar, zealot, sailor or the adrift betrayer, so that a perfect way for the reader to always be in the loop with what is going on. That being said, at times the story felt a little bit too complicated and busy, hard for me to follow what was going on and get invested- right up to the very messy end that is. I do think there was a lot of set up in this story so I can imagine the next book jumping right into the action and being even more engaging for me. I will definitely be back for more in this series and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes high stakes adventure books filled with peril and death, with just a touch of "what could have been" romances and a large cast of characters.

Thank you Penguin teen canada for this e-arc!

I actually liked this book more then I expected to. I was a little confused at the beginning, but after the first few chapters it became very easy to understand the world building.

The magic system was really cool and it was really interesting to see how magic impacted the lives of many of the characters

It was also super intriguing that we got to read the book from multiple points of view, including one of the villains.

It was filled with a bunch of casual representation (and lots of queer people!) and the characters were really likeable

Perfect for anyone who likes quests, old gods, cool magic systems, and adventures

Selly, Prince Leander and Keegan are in a race to save their world as they know it. Leander needs to provide his year overdue sacrifice to prevent the slumbering Gods from awakening, and Selly and Keegan have sworn to help him. They face seemingly insurmountable odds, and not to spoil the ending, but all's well that ends well...or so we think! There was a major cliff hanger that has me excited for the next book.

This was slow starting for me, but I am a sucker for seafaring stories and Kaufman tells a good one. With magic, warring gods, and a sort of a merging of the 1920's style world on the edge of tech advancement.

The major problem I have with this book is that I have to wait for the next one to come out to see what happens next! I loved this world and these characters so much. I was immersed in this story and flew through it. The characters went through it in this book and it really sets the stage for the next one beautifully as well as being a great book itself.