4.5 stars. This feels like the start of the next big fantasy action series that everyone is going to be invested in, and I'm so honoured that I was there at the start of it all!

A playboy prince, a girl raised on the sea, an irritated bookworm, sleeping gods and set mainly at sea... Sign me up!

Selly has had enough of waiting around for her father to return home and so plans to make her own way to him but all her plans are dashed when a handsome (mostly) stranger boards her ship. They embark on a dangerous mission: to cross the Crescent Sea in order to complete a ritual on the sacred Isles of the Gods. But what should be a simple cruise to a secret island turns into an epic adventure bringing two countries to the brink of war and waking dangerous gods from their centuries of slumber...

As soon as I read the blurb for this book I knew it was one I had to read. I enjoyed the multiple POV and thought the mix of characters was great. There was great banter between Leander and Selly and I thought Keegan added a really good balance. The ending is a cliff hanger and has me desperate for book two already!

The only reason this gets 4 and not a 5 from me is the pacing, this book was almost 500 pages and yet the storyline was only over a few days. I get that this is setting the scene for the series and developing the characters but I think there could have been a bit shorter.

Thank you @rocktheboatnews for my review copy.

Such an adventurous, action-packed fantasy story taking places across countries, and seas, with a mixed bag of narrators. It takes a little time to get used to the five narrators of this book and their places in the story but it wasn’t long before we knew who we were rooting for and I was on the edge of my seat for so much of this book. It’s fun, flirty and magical - what more could you possibly need? Although a few of the twists and turns were a little predictable, this was still an all-consuming read with cannons and shipwrecks and moral dilemmas. The characters came to life on these pages, their emotions giving realism to the story that had me laughing and crying (not usually at the same time).

I loved joining them on their adventures, even filled with desperation for the down-on-their-luck trio to beat the baddies. I’ve officially been left wanting more and can’t wait to see what happens next. Hoping I get more of my Leander and Selly fix because roguish princes and cranky sailors are definitely my jam.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

This had all the signs of being a really good book but kinda fell flat to me. I wanted more from this book but sadly had to punch the way through the slow pacing and the flood of same-y characters.

I really liked the premise of this book and I will say, the setting on the sea was *chefs kiss* - someone find me more pirate books, please.
I liked some of the characters but the issue I had was that they all read the same. To be honest, Jude’s point of view was completely just there for filler and didn’t add anything to the story. I really didn’t think the multiple perspectives worked for this story.
I wanted more romance and/or emotional connections. I don’t necessarily think a good fantasy needs a romance but there needs to be some emotional tether for me to actually care about the stakes or the characters and it felt like this was missing for me.
I hated the pacing of this book. This is really what stopped my enjoyment for it and brought the book down a lot.

Overall, something I wouldn’t pick up again or recommend but could see it appealing to new fantasy readers.

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you One World Publications and NetGalley for the arc of Isle of the Gods by Amie Kaufman in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

A whole new world of adventure, myth, fantasy, gods and magic. Amie Kaufman once again delivers a fantastic world, built on a history of a family of gods who turn to war between sibling gods and the peoples, and history that sprung from them.

Kaufman introduces a magic system that combines the elements with sacrifice and throws a sailor, a scholar and a prince into a world on the cusp of war, and the adventures, obstacles and challenges that they must face, together and separately.

The book is told from multiple POVs but, this is handled well, doesn’t create confusion, and provides perspective that is key to the plot and pace of the story. The book is well paced, laying the foundations of the world building and gradually picking up the pace steadily until the final third of the book, that explodes!

Thus is a great read that Zi totally couldn’t put down - I read it on my flight home and never has a flight gone by so quickly! If only the wait for the next book in the series was so fast!

Fantasy fantasy full of adventure and magic. The world building in this book is absolutely fantastic and I loved all the details described. The plot had a good steady pace but the last third was definitely filled with a lot more action. I read this book in one day as once I started I couldn’t put it down. The POV switches a fair bit between characters which does take some getting used to but I love that you get different characters perspectives. The book follows the adventures of a sailor, a prince and a scholar who are thrown together and must overcome obstacles to complete a quest whilst being targeted by an enemy. I love that this book didn’t focus solely on romance but have us lovely little hints of what I hope develops in the next book.
I really enjoyed the authors writing style and found it easy to follow. I’d definitely love to read more from this author.

I’m most certainly looking forward to the next book in the series after that ending it can’t come soon enough.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I've loved all Kaufman's sci-fi collaborations so I was interested to read a pure fantasy story by her. This held many elements dear to my heart - old gods waking up, seafaring adventure, a young protagonist questing for identity. Overall this was a very enjoyable start to a new series even for someone like me who is really not in the target audience.

A sailor, a prince, a scholar. Unlikely allies, but forced together by circumstance to embark on a quest to strengthen a God and stop a war. No pressure.

This is a roaring fantasy full of magic and adventure (and a smidge of romance). The POV switches around alot, which was hard to follow at the beginning. However, once I got to know the characters it was a brilliantly written book! And the kind of book where I really need the sequel now - that ending was *chef's kiss*

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.