This book surprised me. I loved it! I wasn't too sure what to think of everyone at first, as we move POV every chapter and that leaves us little time to get to know each character in the beginning. But I quickly adjusted and enjoyed the multiple POV and how it opened up the world. I do wish we saw a bit more of Jude, but I assume we will in book two.

This book is quite violent (not gory though) so I will say, if that isn't your cup of tea...

But wow! So much going on, always an adventure, I love seeing a magical female pirate story!

The slow burn is VERY slow burn, and well done, I'm excited to see where that goes next.

The ending is *chefs kiss*

Bravo

ARC Review: The Isles of the Gods

Rating: ✨5/5✨
Spice: 😘👫🏻
Genre: YA Fantasy
Tropes: magic system, strong FMC, enemies to lovers, slow burn

Hey y'all! I'm here with another review. This one I'm so excited about because I really liked it and I think it's going to quickly become a fan favorite. With that, let's jump in!

Summary: Selly has no intention of riding out the winter on land while her father sails to adventure in the north seas. But any plans to follow him are dashed when a handsome stranger with tell-tale magician's marks on his arm boards her ship, presenting her and the crew with a dangerous mission: to cross the Crescent Sea without detection so he can complete a ritual on the sacred Isles of the Gods.

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In terms of writing style, I found the author's story to be really engaging and exciting. Amie successfully wrote about pirates and magic in such a fun way. She takes ideas we classically know and turns them on their head. The magic background was pretty cool, but was left with some question marks. I assume book 2 will expand more. .

The plot structure was well done, and the pacing was steady, but definitely got slower in some sections. The twists and turns the characters faced were surprising and weren't overly foreshadowed. The book is definitely getting a second to add to the series.

The characters in the book were well-developed and quirky. Their motivations made sense, except maybe Laskia. Her character ARC was a bit of a let down, but I'm excited to see where Amie takes her (even darker I hope). I was totally invested in their lives and story outcomes. Especially Selly. I really connected to her idgaf attitude and confidence in herself. The relationship with Leander felt super natural and believable.

Overall, I really liked the book. I would recommend it to others because [reasons]. I am excited to pick up the next book in the series. Now I just have to wait for it. 🙃

Thank you to the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review the ARC. My rating for the book is ✨5/5✨

The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman, is a YA Fantasy book that will be published on May 1st, 2023.

I read an eARC of The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman. Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children’s Publishing.

The weird thing about this book was I read it supper quickly and was engaged in every moment of the action and what was going on, but I couldn’t say I cared about any of the third-person perspectives that we got from any of our teenagers. Or maybe I really cared for any of them. They never felt like real characters for me, they just felt like the stereotypes that make up most books, but without real depth to make them interesting. Jude was the one I was the most invested with, and he didn’t have much going on in this story action-wise as he was mostly being pulled along by other characters, but his background and progression felt like they had a little depth outside the other characters.

That said, I can’t fault this story for its engagement. While I’m not excited for the sequel, I did eat up this book in record time and I was genuinely having fun reading what happened next. The prose skated the line between noncomplicated, and not boring. It wasn’t so overwritten with the metaphor that it got lost in itself, but it wasn’t boring prose either. The plot only slowed down a few times to explain itself, and mostly it just let the world be and let us explore it through the world’s eyes.

I’d say this is a definite borrow, at least to check out how much you connect with the characters more than I did.

Previously I'd only read the Aurora series, which Kaufman co-wrote with Jay Kristoff. I very much enjoyed that, but this was a much appreciated refreshing kind of voice. The characters are so rootable and this read was perfect for this moment in my life. I am very excited to see what Kaufman does next and will definitely be following her!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Wow.

I can confidently say this is one of the best books I’ve ever read.

So many twists and turns. It made me cry, it made me scared, it made me happy, it made me angry. Basically I felt a rollercoaster of emotions as I journeyed through this book.

Selly. My girl Selly. From the first chapter in her POV I knew I was going to love her, and love her I did. I can honestly say she is one of my favorite female characters! She is so cool and funny, she loves sailing and being on the ocean like I do, she’s strong willed, and she remains calm in stressful situations. There’s nothing I don’t love about her.

I love characters like Leander too because he is suave and charming but he also has a big heart and cares deeply about people. It’s the perfect balance of cocky and lighthearted but sweet when it matters. My heart broke for him throughout the book when he felt so much guilt.

I LOVED Selly and Leander together, they melted my heart. If I didn’t love them together so much I’d want them for myself! All their subtle touches were so precious I melted every time. I loved their bickering and the tension between them. They had such a natural progression; their relationship never seemed forced. They are soulmates through and through. I could honestly go on and on about all the moments I loved between them because they were so many absolutely heart clenching sweet and funny moments, but I don’t want to spoil it here.

I hated every time Laskia’s POV came up. If her POV was supposed to make us care about her or feel bad for her in any way it did not. She just came across as a spoiled child. I get that’s the point but I dreaded it every time.

Jude was okay, I didn’t connect with him until the end of the book. I think I just wanted to get his POVs over with so I could get back to the main trio, but by the end I really enjoyed him. Keegan was a great character, but I could have done without his POV as well sometimes and just had Selly and Leander, but they did have nice insight to things that were happening away from the couple. I loved that Keegan liked books so much, and how he talked about escaping to other worlds in them.

I loved their little found family. It was so cute when Selly kept saying “the boys.” Any time they were traveling out on the open water my heart was pounding so hard because I was so scared what would happen. But it was so good. I loved watching their growth as characters. It was very subtle at first, but then it was there and it was wonderful.

I really liked Rensa as well! There was something about her that made me like and trust her right away. But I may be a sucker for ship captains as well.

I thought the magic system was really interesting! I haven’t read anything like it before. I’m excited for it to be explored more in the next book!

The ending was pure evil only because it makes me need the second book so desperately I’m not quite sure how I’m going to make it without it, considering I read this early and the book hasn’t even officially come out yet. I have so many questions that stems back from the prologue even that I need the answers to!

I can’t stress enough that everyone needs to read this book. It will not disappoint!

I love a good seafaring fantasy novel. This book was interesting because it had a bunch of POVs, so it was hard to keep track of the characters. In fact, I was about halfway through the book before I felt like I had a handle on who was who. I also felt like one of the main characters was a stereotype that had no real personality of his own. His character is built around being charming, and even in his POV chapters, he talks about how charming he is. "Whatever. I'm charming. I can make it work." "I'm so very good at being charming." (These quotes are subject to change with the final version.) This character felt very cliche, and I couldn't connect to him because that was his sole personality trait.

I also felt like the stakes, even though it was explained why the whole plot mattered, weren't that high. It didn't seem like it was that important for this quest to occur. It was still a fun read, but I had high hopes and I felt like this didn't quite live up to its full potential.

I was very excited to get to read this book early because I am a huge fan of Amie Kaufman. I've read pretty much everything she's written and she's a great author with great story ideas. I'm not sure if it was just the setting for this book, since I'm not fond of ships/sea stories, but it just kind of missed the mark for me. Most of the characters were interesting, but the prince is dull and shallow, with no background story at all besides being Mr. Positivity and the heart of every party. I wish we were given more info so that we could become more invested. Of course, I will continue to read Amie's books, this one just was not my favorite.

Thank you Random House Childrens and NetGalley for the digital ARC of The Isle of the Gods.

I truly did not expect to love this book as much as I did. Selly is so interesting, complex, and flawed - which is my favorite kind of character. No one was what they seemed on the surface, which is so true to real life. The care free prince was actually a powerful magician who cares deeply for his people. Keegan was probably the least complex but still an excellent addition to the story. And it really showed how often the people most impacted by war are the ones who want it the least and are just trying to be kind to one another.

Honestly, my head is still spinning. So it really is hard to talk about everything without risking spoilers. So here is a nice little list of what I liked:
-Interesting characters who are flawed but it makes them even better
-Unique magic system and very cool deity system
-Spoiled prince with a heart of gold
-Immature girl who owns her sh*t and gets over herself because we stan a self-aware queen
-Questionable morality that the characters are debating how can they do this or what should they do
-Sass, lots and lots of sass

What I didn't like
-cliffhanger endings (I get it, but that has been all I've read lately and I would love some closure at this point)
-It did lull in a few spots, but that is bound to happen when otherwise the pacing is so nice and quick

Overall, this was fantastic and I'm hooked!

From me looking up some information on this book, this is a debut of YA for Amie Kaufman. I think it was a good first attempt at the genre by herself. Which I had not notice Aurora Rising was a co-write. I found this book a little harder to read only because the plot line was a little slow. However, I love any book with the concept of something lurking from the past. I just wish there was a little more "happening". Overall, beautifully written.

Book Name: The Isle of The Gods
Author: Amie Kaufman

ARC

Thank you to Random House Children's, Knopf Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for an ARC of Amie Kaufman’s newest book The Isle of the Gods

Stars: 4.5
Spice : 0

Book 1 of a New Series
Cliffhanger
Fast Paced Plot
Character Driven Narrative
Multi POV
High Fantasy High Seas Adventure
Young Adult.
Romance

Similar to Fable by Adrienne Young and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

- Topics
- Sacrifice
- War and Politics
- Coming of Age
- High Seas Adventure
- Guilt and Shame
- Personal Responsibility
- Actions and Consequences
- Tropes
- Enemies to Lovers
- One Bred
- Grumpy X Sunshine
- Righting Wrongs
- Thoughts.
- Plot Was Intriguing
- Loved the Magic System
- Multi-Mysteries that were Fairly Complex for YA
- Captivating Character Arcs
- The POV Changes Were VERY Distracting

Isle of the Gods is such an adventure. I loved the world building, which had a steampunk feel - autos and horses as transport, electricity. Most of the books was spent on the water, and the author’s love for sailing and being on the water really came through the page. There is a unique religious system, where the gods used to walk among the humans 500 years ago but no longer do and still have a high presence throughout the world. The magic system is also unique with the four elemental spirits. I loved our MCs, even our morally-gray one. A action-packed adventure that is typical of an Amie Kaufman book!

- 5 distinct POVS
- diverse cast, including lgbtq+

ARC was provided by publisher and Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Loved, loved, loved it!

The world building was top tier and the magic system was phenomenal. I was immersed through the entirety of this novel and never felt bored.

I also really enjoyed the hint of romance in this book - it felt believable and chemistry was there. This book does also have alot of different povs so if that bothers you, you may struggle with this book but you'll see why its necessary if you stick to it. I personally think I'm going to reread it, now that I know and understand who is who and how the magic is intwined.

Would HIGHLY recommend this book for one-bed trope lovers and at-sea lovers!

I tend to lean more towards sci-fi than fantasy, so when I come across a book that has a fusion of the two, I'm in heaven.

The Isle of the Gods is set in a world filled with magic, engineering marvels, social divisions, and religious zeal.

As each character sets out on their own journey, fate intervenes, and they'll soon find themselves facing a destiny beyond their imagination.

Through betrayal and sacrifice, they'll need to come together for the greater cause or risk war.

I devoured the book in a day. There might have been little sleep involved, but it was well worth it, and I can't wait for the next book!

The Isle of the Gods by Amie Kaufman

A fantastic new young adult novel. A rich world filled with whimsical elemental magic and warring Gods long since put to slumber. There is plenty of danger, lush descriptions, and a sweet romance.

This story takes you on a journey. The world building is a little heavier than some but that only ensured you could taste the salt of the sea on your tongue and the wind in your hair.

Like other Kaufman books there are several points of view (5 to be specific.) For some people the switch might be jarring but I thought they flowed well and story continued without any problems.

Read if you like: high sea adventures, gangsters willing to do whatever it takes, the last air bender vibes, LGBTQ+ rep, found family, YA appropriate romance,

Content: Guns, on page death, grief, sacrifice, kisses

This was a 4-star read!

I am an absolute Kaufman fan - especially her Illuminae Files and Aurora Cycle (with writing partner JKristoff), so I wanted to give this one a shot. I was first caught by the beautiful cover and the synopsis of this book - so why not dive in?!

I think my biggest issue with The Isles of the Gods is the fact that the synopsis itself was misleading. I read that synopsis and thought I would be getting a couple of POVs, but in the end, it was a total of FIVE, which got very overwhelming. This was the same issue with the other series she has been involved in. There are always SO many characters to follow. YES - It's so much fun but it's also very overwhelming when the story and world-building are so complex and slow-paced. Although I LOVED the overall plot, world, characters, and Kaufman themself, the story was slow at times and I felt myself losing interest throughout the book.

This was a brilliant fantasy story with a cliffhanger that will make you want more. I will definitely be waiting for book 2 because I am invested in the story and finding out what happens next in this captivating story.

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

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thoughts: I was so hooked on my kindle that when I went to the next page and got the acknowledgments.. I WAS DISTRAUGHT 😭 the first couple chapters get you acclimated to the world, the gods, magic and character POVS. But once it got going, it was exciting as hell!! I loved the magic system! It was a little confusing at first, but once I understood, it was super cool and unique! The banter between Selly, Leander and Keegan had me GIGGLING the entire time!! Everyone in this book has so much heart & character you grow to love them so FAST💙 I was in the edge of my seat the entire time and the romance ugh 😭 it’s PRECIOUS. There are several different POVS that are highly developed and give the plot that much more background, which made it that much more real.


Blurb in my words: We learn about the sleeping gods, that the people of Alinor and Mellacea have worshiped for centuries. Stayed sleeping because of timely sacrifices made every year from the royal family, except for this year…. However with the threat of war looming in the horizon something must be done.

Meet Selly, a frustrated magician who can’t do magic & restless manning her fathers merchant ship, has tried it all. When she attempts the slip to see her father her path crosses with Prince Leander. Who is charming, witty, spoiled and just wants to have a good time. Selly of course wants nothing to do with Leander and his charm but it’s too late when they meet again on the Elizabeth set sail for the isles of the gods. But what kind of voyage would it be without some storms on the horizon??

If you like: YA, romance, action, found family, ocean/ coastal vibes, banter, mythology, LGBTQ+ rep, Avatar: the last airbender, running away from trouble with your friends and magic💙 you’ll love this!!

Ps. if anyone tells you YA can’t have good romance YOU’RE WRONG 👊🏻

I received a free ARC of The Isles of the Gods and am leaving this review of my own volition and without compensation.

An epic story from start to finish, The Isles of the Gods will whip you off your feet from the first page and not set you down, breathless and heart pounding, until the very last. Full of dangerous sea voyages, a fantastically whimsical magic system, engaging characters and a wild chase that left me breathless and grinning at the end.

Synopsis (no spoilers):
All Selly wants to do after months at sea with a cantankerous captain is head north to be reunited with her father. While the sea is her home, she still feels unsettle, given her magic is dormant and refuses to manifest. A chance encounter with an entitled prince sets Selly off on an adventure she never asked for with a prince and a scholar she could not have less in common with. But the trip will prove to be more of an adventure than Selly bargained for, with vengeful gods to deal with and the future of the world at stake.

While historically I've never been a huge fan of multiple POV stories, it REALLY works here. I absolutely love how Amie Kaufman is able to show so many facets of the characters by portraying them through multiple eyes. By having POVs from the protagonists AND the antagonists, she makes it downright impossible to root against any one character. Each one has their faults, their reasons, their traumas which give some credence to their behaviors (except maybe Dasriel. Screw that guy). This story pulled at my heart strings like a gale pulls at a sail, giving simultaneous tastes of the salt of from the sea (and tears), and sweetness from the balm of friendship and the capacity for change.

This story is enchanting and beautiful from start to finish and I could not put it down. Very excited for more of Selly and Leander's story!

Amie Kaufman's newest series starter, The Isles of the Gods, was thoroughly captivating from start to finish. The story takes place in a fantastical world full of magic, romance, and danger and follows the journey of Selly, a headstrong and independent sailor with saltwater in her veins.

As Selly sets out to follow in her father's footsteps, she encounters unexpected challenges, including the arrival of Prince Leander, a handsome, seemingly frivolous royal with a mission to complete. Despite their initial disagreements and clashes in personality, Selly and Leander must work together to navigate the high seas and follow through with a task that grows more dangerous at every turn.

With a deft hand, Kaufman brings the story to vivid life with colorful and memorable characters and locations. The plot was complex and full of twists and turns, and the stakes continued to rise with each passing chapter, leaving me on the edge of my seat.

Kaufman's writing is engaging, and the story is original and well-executed, bringing her readers what promises to be a thrilling fantasy series. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new epic adventure to sink their teeth into.

I really enjoyed this book. It has a wonderful high seas adventure, an interesting magical system and some very likable characters, even the villains. I am really looking forward to reading the next book, which can’t come soon enough.

There are many multiple points of view for this story, maybe too many. It was hard to keep straight who was telling the story at times. But I did like all of the characters, and there were a couple I would have liked to hear more from. Selly gets the most page time, which was fine as she was a great character. She starts off being very self-centered, but she really starts to grow and seeing more than how things affect her as the book develops. The relationship between her and Leander, was developed nicely although perhaps a little too quickly. But I enjoyed them together and could totally get behind them both. Leander also shows some nice growth, but he has a lot more to go.

My favorite two characters, unfortunately didn’t get as much page time as I would have liked. I really enjoyed Keegan’s and Jude’s pov and their character development. Both of them are put into situations they cannot control, but they persevere through it all. I really feel sorry for Jude and hope that things get better for him in the next book. Laskia, the villain of our tale, was someone I could empathize with, even when she was doing something evil. But I still kind of liked her.

The story was fast paced, with some slower parts at times, which were needed. This was a hard book to put down at times. I loved the magical system and found it to be pretty unique. You need to sacrifice something important to you in order to get the spirits to help you. It is elemental based, earth, air, water, and fire, but we mostly only saw the air and water magic being used. I also liked the mythology that has been developed for this story. The world building was good, but maybe some things could have been better explained.

Overall, I really enjoyed this fast paced fantasy with a wonderful cast of characters and a very intriguing and interesting magical system. I can’t wait to see how things work out in the next book.

This book was pretty awesome. Fast and easy. Loved it. I loved the characters and the world so much. I will definitely buy this book
10/10 would recommend