Liza Anderson’s WE WHO HAVE NO GODS will win over many readers. The story centers around a powerless girl who takes on an elite magical academy just to keep her brother safe. All the romantasy tropes are on display here, and they work perfectly well, too. All in all, this book is an entertaining read.

Solid start to a new fantasy series with horror elements. While this is described as dark academia I do feel like the academia is a bit watered down. The story is action-packed, which is a pro for engagement, but lacks a solid foundation for true “academia”. We don’t actually get much POV into the what Victoria is learning, instead it’s just told during action scene that she learned about this creature or piece of magic. The author is talented enough to have been given a larger word count so it’s a shame the actual academia part is glossed over. Still, I appreciate the well-done horror elements as a nice break from a saturated Romantasy genre. Very much looking forward to the next installment and bummed I have to wait so long!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for my first ARC! I was excited to read this one because of the fantasy elements, which are always a draw for me.

While the story offered engaging moments and an intriguing supernatural element, I couldn’t help but notice several similarities to The Fourth Wing. The setting at a school, the presence of varied teacher dynamics, a protagonist portrayed as physically weaker, and a romance involving an authority figure all felt familiar. These parallels made it harder for me to see the book as fully original, though it does put its own spin on things with a different magical framework.

Even though it followed some familiar beats, I still found myself enjoying the story overall. It ends on a cliffhanger (of course!), and I’ll probably pick up the next book to see where things go.

Thanks to @netgalley for my first ARC! We Who Have No Gods is a new adult, dark academia with magic, monsters, and mayhem. Our lead heroine, Victoria, and her younger brother Henry, are swept into the world of witches and magic when their mother's mysterious past catches up with them.

FMC Victoria is able to hold her own as the only non-magical being in the castle while her younger brother begins his training as a witch. I appreciated how much she takes in stride, trying to solve problems and learn as much as possible even though she's 'just a human'. Our male lead, Xan, came off a bit flat for me. He was the typical brooding, dark-haired MMC, but he didn't provide much conflict or plot momentum for the story.

I also think that some world-building aspects were explained away too quickly. While I appreciated Victoria's competence, she also seemed to know about magical beings and artifacts out of the blue and with complete understanding.

Overall, I think this book series has some great potential and the foundation of some really fun and interesting characters, I'll be looking out for the next one!!!

I had the chance to dive into We Who Have No Gods by Liza Anderson through an ARC, and wow, what a ride! This book pulled me into its world of magic, secrets, and tension with a story that feels both fresh and familiar. Here’s my take on what worked, what didn’t, and why I’m giving it a solid four stars.

Pros:
The world-building is a standout. Anderson crafts the Acheron Order and Avalon Castle with such vivid detail that I could practically feel the damp stone walls and hear the whispers of ancient magic. The concept of a secret society of witches guarding the veil between the living and the dead is intriguing, and I loved how it blended gritty fantasy with a touch of mystery. Vic, our protagonist, is a compelling underdog. Her lack of magical ability in a world where power is everything makes her relatable, and her determination to prove herself kept me rooting for her. The dynamic between her and Xan, the head Sentinel, is electric—there’s this slow-burn tension that had me flipping pages to see where it would go. The plot’s pacing is mostly spot-on, with a mix of action, intrigue, and quieter moments that let the characters breathe. I also appreciated the exploration of family ties, especially Vic’s relationship with her brother Henry and the shadow of their absent mother. It added a layer of emotional depth that hit home.

Cons:
That said, the book isn’t flawless. Some of the secondary characters, like a few of the other initiates, felt underdeveloped. I wanted more from them to flesh out the stakes of the Order’s internal conflicts. The magic system, while cool, could use a bit more clarity—sometimes it felt like the rules shifted without enough explanation, which left me scratching my head. There were also a couple of plot threads, particularly around the looming war, that felt rushed toward the end. I would’ve loved a bit more buildup to make the climax hit harder. Lastly, Xan’s brooding intensity occasionally tipped into cliché territory, though Anderson mostly pulls it off with their chemistry.

Overall, We Who Have No Gods is a gripping debut that blends magic, mystery, and messy human relationships. It’s not perfect, but it’s got heart and a world I want to return to. I’m excited to see where Anderson takes this story next! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, definitely a book I’d recommend to fantasy fans who love a strong protagonist and a hint of romance

Dark Academia and add witches? Yes, please! This book was fantastic. Vic is determined to protect her younger brother, no matter the cost. So, when he is taken to train as a witch, she will let nothing stop her in going as well, wven though she is merely human. Boy, do things take off from there! The monsters are no joke and, of course, there's romance as well. Thoroughly enjoyed and cannot wait for the next book!

We Who Have No Gods promises a gothic, dark academia fantasy filled with witches, secrets, and slow-burn tension. In reality, it delivers something more like "academia-adjacent" fantasy with a few intriguing ideas that don’t quite reach their potential.

The setting—an eerie castle in the woods that functions as a kind of witch academy—might suggest dark academia vibes, but the story doesn't really engage with the academic setting beyond its location. There are almost no classes, no real exploration of the magical system, and virtually no worldbuilding to ground how magic fits into the larger world. For a book set at a secret society’s training ground, I expected more immersion in that aspect.

The main character, Vic, was hard to connect with. She’s inflexible, often annoying, and felt like a shallow sketch of a person rather than a fully formed protagonist. Her relationship with her brother Henry—the emotional core the plot hinges on—feels oddly flat, especially since he spends most of the story trying to escape her influence. It made her fierce protectiveness feel unearned and somewhat baffling.

There’s a romance subplot with Xan, the gruff, powerful Sentinel tasked with keeping the castle safe. While the tension between them had its moments, it leaned heavily on insta-lust and included a very awkward sex scene that seemed rushed and oddly sanitized (possibly with clothes still on?). Instead of deepening either character, it just felt shoehorned in.

Still, I had a decent time reading it. The pacing moved quickly enough to keep me entertained, even if I found myself wishing for more depth and explanation. I wouldn’t say this is a bad book—it’s just not a very developed one. If the author had spent more time fleshing out the world, giving the characters emotional complexity, and delivering on the premise’s darker potential, this could have been something special.

As it stands, it’s a fast, easy fantasy read that might scratch an itch if you’re not looking too hard beneath the surface.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5
An adult gothic dark academia with witches and monsters. The book was very well written, the descriptions were very detailed and intriguing, and the dialogues were perfect. Spectacular plot with lots of thrilling, suspenseful, and ofc scary scenes. The world building and magical system was well thought out and executed throughout the book. I loved the main characters, their unique personalities and their development were incredible.
In general, I loved the book from the beginning to the end. It wasn’t slow-paced neither fast-paced, it was perfectly paced and got me hooked all the way till the end. The ending had my emotions flying all over the place, I literally devoured it in one day and now I feel empty and can’t wait for the next book😭

The story follows Victoria Wood who has given up everything in her life to protect her brother since she was 16 following the mysterious disappearance of her mother. When her brother gets chosen to attend Avalon Castle, an academy to train witches, Victoria is determined to accompany her brother to protect him and keep him safe. As the first and only human to step a foot inside the castle, Victoria faces a lot of hardships and challenges in a place where people fight for power, and being powerless herself she struggles to fit in. At the same time, she forms unexpected friendships and alliances. The best part? Xan, the grumpy Chief Sentinel who’s always there to protect her, and the strong attraction between them and the delicious hot tension that builds slowly throughout the book *chef’s kiss*.

I enjoyed reading Victoria’s journey, her thoughts and character development throughout the book. Her moments of vulnerability and feeling of powerlessness in a world where being powerful defines your worth, being torn between her duty to protect her brother and finding her way, place and purpose in life. As the oldest sister, she was so real and relatable. The romance aspect was perfectly written and depicted, the growth of attraction and feelings between Victoria and Xan was so natural and didn’t feel forced or rushed at all. Finishing the book left me feeling hollow, this’s how much I truly loved it😭

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for providing me an ARC of this incredible book🙏💕

Absolutely loved the world building here and the system of magic! The chemistry between the romantic leads was pitch-perfect and the pacing was great. I read this in one sitting!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Ballantine for the ARC of We Who Have No Gods by Liza Anderson.

Unfortunately, this book just did not work for me and I DNF'ed at 21%. I originally had been really excited about it, especially seeing as it was signed to a three-book deal from a debut author from a genre I read from really heavily. I was excited for a new voice and a new story. I'll also say I read this while on vacation during the same week I read Blood Over Bright Haven, the final book in the Rook & Rose trilogy, A Curse Carved in Bone, and The Wind Weaver, so I was well stocked-up on dark academia/romantasy for comparison metrics.

I think my issue was that everything felt very flip-floppy to start. Vic is told "You can't come to the school" on one page and "Yes, of course you can be here" on the next, same on the topic of her mother "I had no idea she was up to anything other than being a nurse" on one page to "Oh, but I always knew she was keeping this secret" or Henry knew about the secret, etc. Vic learns the school is normally for after you finish college, but our first exposure to other students is two twenty-year old girls, not post college aged. We're also told most students only need to get to level four to safely leave the school and never need to fight and can lead a normal life, but also Henry believes that the school will put him on the path to being a senator or other high powered person even though he's a high school dropout?

For character development, Vic questions absolutely nothing and just goes along with whatever. As a character, she didn't feel solid - she's sacrificed her education and her future for her brother who doesn't seem to consider her in the slightest. She spent years training herself to fight so she can protect him, but doesn't question anything about her mother/the castle/why they would let her stay -- she just seems to be floating into the plot and making snarky comments without any goal.. Her brother Henry seems to have no issue leaving her behind because he's "special" and she isn't, and has opportune memories of his mom telling him the castle is safe, and within one day at the school he's overhearing top secret rumors about war.

It also felt like the only actual world building was in the chapter intros which had very strong Fourth Wing vibes // the sparring scene also had very strong Fourth Wing vibes as well which made me question if part of this is some level of Fourth Wing fan fiction, especially with the character names also being similar to Violet and Xaden.

I think I needed to feel like there was more detail in the plotting or character depth from the get go, and more consistency in the knowledge of the characters and their exposure to the layers of the plot in order to continue.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

I need more!!! What a cliffhanger!

Witches🧙, monsters 👾, Avalon Tower 🏰, magic 🪄, slow burn💕, strong female lead💁🏻‍♀️

Victoria Wood had always protected her little brother Henry from dangers their mother had warned about. When they are found by witches, they are both taken to Avalon Tower to train. Vic is independent and knows how to defend herself, it's inspiring how she never gives up. She makes allies along the way and meets Xan🌶️. Low spice and slow burn but I can't wait to see what's next for them. Read to find out the potential Vic has hidden, as someone not born with magic like her brother.

There is a lot of information but not too difficult to understand. I enjoyed the action, the variety of characters, and the villains. I feel like the strong bond between the siblings started to diminish as the story started to focus on just Vic. I hope the next book will emphasize them a little bit more. Overall interesting and keeps you captivated ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am always looking for an urban fantasy vibe, and this delivered! It had great world building (even if the info dump excerpts at the beginning of the chapters were a bit much) and good conflict. The villains were predictable, no twists there, but it did set up a sufficient air of mystery that can definitely be explored in future books.

The romance could be more developed. It wasn’t bad per se, just a little undercooked if that makes sense. And a pet peeve of mine is sexual encounters written at VERY inconvenient times. But the bones of the romance are good, as are the character interactions.

Overall, this wasn’t my favorite book of the year, but I would still recommend it for a quick-paced urban fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Going into this book, I had a notion I would enjoy it due to the premise. Well, I did enjoy the idea that was being presented, some things could be fixed to make this series better.
Starting off with the world building, it was there but... it fell flat. It didn’t feel unique at all, and it felt “typical”. More could’ve been done with it especially with the idea of the order and the people who hate the order.
While the magic system was slightly “different” and nice, we don’t really find out how a witch is “Made” until a while in and even then its barely discussed. Its talked about quickly then passed over and that makes it confusing and it can be a struggle to read through.
The romance was, okay. It makes it seem it may be a bigger plot in the book, but it feels more like a small subplot in this one.
Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is an excellent debut novel. It is well written, different, and sets the reader up nicely for a next novel. I liked the fmc. She was brave, and badass in her own way. She did make questionable choices at times, but they were understandable for her character. I liked the love interest as well and the side characters minus her brother. I’m super interested to read the next installment and to find out some more about her mom, max, and aren. It was very action packed and the creatures and setting were well established. I will say the plot gets a bit lost as the action swallows it up a bit and it ends with a LOT of unanswered questions that I’d love explained just a bit more to satisfy me with a first installment of a series. That being said, it had a great start based on the characters and interesting premise and I will read the next installment. Thank you to netgalley and Ballantine for approving me for an arc for an honest review.

4.7 stars.

There was so much to love about this book. The characters were well fleshed out and the story was enthralling. It was easy to feel the tension and thrill Vic feels through out her experiences. I am severely impressed by the fact that this is a debut novel. I can not wait to see what else they release.

The random POV switching near the end was the only thing that felt a little strange, since it hadn't happened at all previously in the book. while I enjoyed being inside those POVs but I feel like it needed to be more all or nothing. Swapping the entire book or not at all. This, however, did not in any way effect how much I enjoyed the book overall and doesn't reflect in my final rating.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. The premise is interesting enough, however, the execution left me wanting. The world building felt flat, the "bad guys" felt comical, and the romance was weird. At no point was I surprised by any of the twists or betrayals.. I did not understand the magic system, at all, and was insanely disappointed that we have yet another shadow wielding MMC. The epigraphs, particularly on kindle, were insanely long and distracting from the actual story IMO. The romance never really clicked for me as we have such a limited number of interactions between the FMC and MMC and saying it was insta-lust doesn't really fit either. The story has so much potential but alas it didn't work for me.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for this advance reader’s copy.

Slow to start but what good book isn’t? I was drawn in and hooked about half way through. I love all the different Orcans and the information given about them. Strong, solid main characters although I want to know more about their father! I love the push and pull of Vic and Xan and the connection Xan has with her regarding brothers!

I have a fairly disjointed review and will break it up to keep it tidy.

Blurb response:
-A mention of monsters would be helpful here, because boy are there monsters!
-Gothic is a fair enough descriptor, but I am not seeing dark academia.

Plot:
-I enjoyed the book well enough, and at the 70% mark was eager to finish and see what happens.
-I am curious to see what happens with the character twist at the end.
-I felt a little confused on the Brotherhood's take on Mades.. did I misinterpret their feelings intitially or was the ending part of the twist and meant to surprise us

Characters:
-Vic (FMC) was okay, I hope in future books there is a bit more explanation on "why her", why is everyone so interested in her beyond her lineage?
-One character, who shall remain nameless, I disliked throughout the book and they felt too peripheral. But I think the twist at the end helped shed some light on that.
-Love interest.. I didn't understand the romance here, I guess maybe just more instalust than I prefer. Again, hopefully this will piece together in a subsequent book.
-Aren Mann I really really enjoyed as a character. He seemed to be the most thought out and has a clear personality, I loved him even down to his southern accent.
-I liked the friendships in the book as well, they felt organic and authentic.

Structure:
-The epigraphs were a bit on the nose, and just felt like an easy way to explain somethings within a short book. Compared with the Empyrean series where they felt more like a puzzle to put together.
-I agree with some reviews I have seen that this could have read better in first person. I think it would have helped to connect to Vic more.

TLDR: maybe some themes that just aren't for me (monsters, instalust) and a lot of gaps in motivations.. Could pan out to be a good first book if subsequent books lend clarity. Curious to read book #2 for more on the cliffhanger!

Liza Anderson, welcome to the party! With a strong setting, wonderful world building (excellent choices with who and how we learn things about the world within), and strong characters—I can’t wait for the next installment! With twists and turns accompanied by heart wrenching revelations (and deftly planted seeds that I can only assume will bloom in future books)—Liza Anderson’s debut surpassed my expectations, and left me excited for what’s to come.

I struggled to stop reading. The academia concept is one I always enjoy in a fantasy setting and the fact the MC is normal was refreshing. The chemistry with Victoria and Xan was also super hot.