Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this ARC!

I wish NetGalley let us rate in .5s because this is a 4.5 ⭐️ for me! Genuinely I do not think I would have known this was a debut author if I hadn’t, well, known that. I think the characters were done really well, and I definitely think the FMCs growth and internal struggles were really believable and grabbed the reader. Per usual in the romance department I could have used more yearning but 🤪 that’s just me. That said - shadow daddy Xan forever 🖤 I think the only thing I’d take .5 off for is some of the pacing around her and her brother’s story line once they are at Avalon. The siblings definitely have different views on Avalon, but it felt like we didn’t really see enough of what was going on in Henry’s day to say to sell what he was saying.

I’m legit bummed this book doesn’t release until January 2026 because that means I have to wait infinitely long for book 2! But I have a feeling this one will be a booktok fave 👀

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC, but more importantly, when is book 2 coming out?! You cannot leave me hanging like that!! I loved this book. Being only 300 pages, it was fast paced, brimming with excitement, frustration, siblings relationship, new friendships, and a love interest.

Vic’s mother, Meredith, told her one thing, to protect her brother and run from the “bad men” because Henry was special. She lived by that code for years, until reality caught up with them. Vic went with Henry to Avalon Castle where he began his training as a witch, and she, well, Vic got to watch. She was not a witch, but couldn’t leave Henry. What magic Vic lacked, she made up for in fighting which was noticed. She started to help the Sentinels train without their magic.

The two men from Meredith’s past are using her children but to what end. Born witches vs Made witches and who should be allowed to have magic is the over arching question driving Max and Aran.

Xan, the Chief Sentinel, notices Vic and she definitely notices right back. In dealing with a slow burn, I want more of them!!

Fast paced
Dark academia
Forced proximity
Fish out of water
Monsters!

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

While We Who Have No Gods kept me engaged enough to want to see how everything resolved, it ultimately fell short of delivering the emotional impact its ambitious setup promised.

Anderson constructs a story with all the right components—a magic system set within an awe-inspiring castle, an outsider protagonist, a romantic subplot, character transformation, and sibling bonds—but these elements never quite coalesce into something truly compelling. The magic system lacks wonder, and the castle setting never inspired the sense of awe it seemed designed to evoke. Despite frequent mentions of dirty looks and social rejection, protagonist Vic never truly felt like an outsider to me as a reader.

The romance particularly suffered from feeling derivative, leaning heavily into familiar "shadow-daddy" tropes without developing the attraction in a way that felt organic or earned. Vic's character arc also disappointed; while she grows in magical ability throughout the story, she doesn't undergo meaningful personal transformation. Most notably, the sibling relationship between Vic and Henry—which should have been an emotional cornerstone—relied too heavily on telling rather than showing. We're told repeatedly about Vic's protective instincts and Henry's dependence on her, but these dynamics never came alive on the page.

We Who Have No Gods reads like a puzzle with pieces that should fit together beautifully but somehow don't quite align.

3.5 stars rounded up

I feel conflicted about this book. On one hand, I couldn’t put it down. On the other hand, I was mildly annoyed the whole time I was reading. I liked that the world building and the explanation of the magic system felt natural as the story progressed. Vic was well developed but annoying. It didn’t feel like she was in her 20s but it’s possible that it’s because she was adultified as a child. I felt very meh about the romance and the progression of time felt unclear. The last 20% of the book felt much faster paced than the rest but I’m willing to read the next one.

All in all, I really did end up enjoying the book. I am a big Harry Potter fan and this felt like Harry Potter's big muggle sister. I wanted to love this book. Witches? Yes. Secret magical society? Absolutely, yes. Goth boarding school in the woods full of monsters and war-bound weirdos? I mean, this is my life's goal - take my money.

However, some of the language in this novel feels off. I am not one generally who dislikes modern words in fantasy setting unless the use of those words is jarring in the setting. This novel is jammed packed with instances of it. It's enough to pull me from the narrative and question some of the sentences. If I am doing that, i am not enjoying the flow or pace.

Let’s start with the premise: Vic, a snarky, underpowered mortal girl, follows her younger brother Henry to a school full of witches to keep him safe. Great setup. Except once they get to Avalon Castle, she seems to forget he exists? For someone risking her life to protect her sibling, Vic shows almost zero actual care or urgency. Henry’s off-page for 150+ pages, shows up to be an ass, and then disappears again. Their bond—which is supposed to drive the entire plot—is so underdeveloped. I hate when i just have to believe two characters are close because the narrative tells me they are. They need to show it to me. Be close. If she lives and breathes for her bother, she needs to actually live and breath for her brother in the text.

The word building is phenomenal but I need more. Made witches, monsters, forest spirits, old gods—yes please and thank you. A thousand times yes. But I have so many questions that were not answered in the narrative because no one ever though to ask them. I really like curious characters - especially in academia settings. Vic is not motivated by critical thinking and curiosity at all. She even breaks into her dead mother’s secret apartment, finds a literal nightmare creature, and leaves, no biggie. Never goes back. Doesn’t connect dots. Perhaps if she had been more curious more questions and background could have been pushed through narrative and not exposition - keeping the pace more even.

I'm giving this one a solid three. Keep in mind this was an uncorrected proof, so my experience may not be yours. I think if witches and creatures and things from other realms are your cup of tea, you will enjoy this book.

The plot does not plod on. Things happen quickly and you don't feel lost in details that don't matter. Anderson builds a world that is easy to visualize and honestly, I was ready to move in to Avalon. I also liked the basic premise for the plot and that we didn't spend too much time doing pregame explanations.

I thought this book would be up my alley, but it had a lot of fighting, which I don't enjoy. I keep hoping for a fantasy or fantasy-adjacent novel that doesn't have the protagonist falling for someone at a time that is so inconvenient and ridiculous that it defies belief. I know I'm in the minority on that one. Don't hold that against this book if that kind of thing doesn't bother you.

If you like witches and/or creatures, give this one a go.

"We Who Have No Gods" follows Vic Wood, a human without magic who infiltrates a secret society of witches to protect her brother Henry. When Henry is recruited by the Acheron Order—witches who keep the dead at bay—Vic accompanies him to their academy at Avalon Castle, despite lacking powers and facing hostility from Xan, the head Sentinel.
Anderson's magic system feels structured and purposeful rather than vague, and Vic's lack of abilities creates real tension as she navigates a world where power determines everything. The romance develops naturally without overwhelming the plot, and the family dynamics provide emotional weight to the fantasy elements.
This book avoids the cheese factor plaguing much of current romantasy while delivering solid dark academia atmosphere. It takes its premise seriously and focuses on character development over wish fulfillment. Recommended for readers wanting gothic fantasy with substance over fluff.

We Who Have No Gods is an immersive, atmospheric fantasy that had me hooked from page one. The story centers on Victoria and her younger brother Henry, who have lived in hiding since their mother's mysterious disappearance eight years ago. When a stranger appears, revealing that Henry is late to begin his training with the secretive Order of Witches, Victoria insists on going with him for his safety.

What follows is an intriguing blend of dark academia, slow-burn romance, and magical discovery. The world-building—especially the haunting Avalon Castle and the eerie Orcan—is rich and immersive. I loved Victoria’s curiosity and boldness as she uncovers secrets within the Order, and the subtle tension between her and Alexandros was executed beautifully.

One thing I wished for was more insight into Henry’s experience at the castle. His presence fades once they arrive, despite the initial premise centering on keeping him safe. The ending offers a glimpse of what might be going on with him, but it left me with even more questions. (In a good way—I need book two!)

If you're into secret societies, magical academies, and a strong, curious heroine, this book is absolutely worth the read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5/5)

I could not put this book down. Dark Gothic academia is one of my favorite categories to read and this book was no different. Vic is such a passionate character and I was drawn to her immediately, especially with her fierce protectiveness over here little brother Henry to the point where she goes joins him at the Archeon Order training to ensure he's safe. Half the time I wasn't sure if I liked Xan or wanted to slap him but he's a fun character to read about lol. I was hooked with this book from the start and loved the entire thing. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

I received an ARC of this book. This review is voluntary and expresses my own opinions.

Wow. I did not see this book coming. The magic system is unreal and I’m still not even 100% sure how it works, but damn. Our FMC is a kickass woman, but she has trust issues a few miles deep. The friends she makes along the way are the best in unexpected ways. The love interest MMC is a new kind of shadow daddy and I was here for it. The two mentor/role model male characters are vastly different and I’m excited to see how those relationships develop in book 2.
And the twist at the end, hot damn.
So in conclusion, if you are looking for a dark academia with magic and low spice/high tension romance, found family, and a bad ass FMC, 100% read this book.

This book completely gripped me. The writing is immersive and haunting, with a dark academia atmosphere that builds suspense from the very first page. The tone is eerie, the pacing deliberate, and the scenes — especially those involving the Orcans — are so vividly written I felt physically unsettled (in the best way).

I especially appreciated the slightly older protagonists and the emotional depth they brought to the story. Vic is raw and complex, trying to figure out who she is outside of being her brother’s protector. Xan was never a villain to me — just a compelling, morally gray character navigating an equally murky world.

While the romance is light and slow-burn, the emotional tension and character dynamics kept me fully invested. I loved how unsure I was of who to trust — nothing in this book is black and white, and the mystery unfolds at a perfect pace. The ending twist left me reeling in the best way and set up the next book beautifully.

Highly recommended for fans of dark academia, layered characters, and morally complex worlds with just a hint of romance.

If this were up to me i’d say this book is not ready to publish. The synopsis is misleading at best. For someone who is following their sibling to a school to protect them, Vic sure seems to not give a crap about her brother. For 150 pages Henry is not present and we hear more about how hot Xan is. When Henry makes an appearance he is only around for a page to tell Vic she needs to leave.

Somehow everyone is telling Vic the castle is dangerous and she cant wander yet she does just that with no consequences.

Xan is not imposing or ruthless, he is just an immature man child who allows Vic to teach a class because she is a good fighter. And im supposed to believe she taught this class unsupervised. Never in my years as an athlete and dancer has a skilled athlete taught a class. My friend who had a blackbelt at most was able to guide younger kids with warmups for points on his college application. Xan supposedly wants Vic to leave but spends an entire chapter wooing her and then gets steamy with her? Chapter 17 reads like it was taken from a different book. I also kept thinking of Katy Perry’s song hot and cold when reading about Xan and his bipolar behavior.

Conflicts seem to resolve with little to no effort or action. Like im supposed to believe a room full of witches and sentinals get mad that Vic is around and somehow survives their test but they disappear when she runs away? Not to mention she runs away from a dangerous situation without once thinking of her brother. And why does max (i hope im remembering that right) dig a tunnel to a female student’s room?

Normal human behavior doesnt seem to be on anyones agenda. Everyone keeps saying they should be acting like an adult but then turns around and has a tantrum. All the female characters act the same with the same comebacks and “witty” remarks. Sarah says made’s are supposedly hard to control which makes me assume their power is uncontrollable but all she does to reinforce her unwillingness to be controlled is be defiant.


I really liked this book for the first 25%. I thought this was going to be another 6/5⭐️ read this year but it quickly nosedived into a poorly written/ planned story about a girl playing hard to get with her brothers gym teacher. I liked the little quips in the beginning of each chapter, reminded me of Dune but i think it would work better if they aligned with the chapters more and provided context to the chapter rather than just the book. I think with some work this could be fixed. Spend less time trying to make it a romance and more time with vic caring about her brother. I think the romance can start when xan tells her about his brother. And Xan needs to stop being a puppy on a leash. Like why is he always there to save her? Its annoying and makes the main character seem hopelessly helpless.

I absolutely DEVOURED this book.

We Who Have No Gods opens on our FMC Vic and her younger brother, Henry, who she has been caring for since her mother died suddenly. Henry is recruited to the Acheron Order and brought to their training facility. Despite being human, Vic is permitted to train at the academy alongside magical recruits.

The magic system in this book was interesting and unique. The author expertly wove the world and system building into the story which was quite refreshing. This was a nice departure from a lot of recent fantasy novels as a lot of stories lately either do not fully flesh out their system or we get long winded exposition about the systems and the world. Vic is well developed and we get to know her well throughout the story.

I could not put this down! The cliffhanger is especially heartbreaking since the book doesn't come out for 6 months... I'm going to be waiting a while to devour the next part of this story.

This book is a solid 4 star read from me. It could be a five star if some parts of the story were better developed. I think as well as we get to know Vic, the character development for some of the other main characters is lacking. Henry especially feels very two dimensional next to Vic. The love interest and banter between the FMC and MMC also felt a little too obvious and was rife with romantasy tropes that I'm quite bored of at this point. I think for a certain audience, this relationship will play VERY well and Xan plays into the "Shadow Daddy" stereotype very well. This will probably make the book blow up on BookTok but is a bit of a let down for me.

I plan to post TikTok videos and public reviews to Goodreads and Fable closer to the publication date as requested by the publisher upon approval.

My issue with this book lies in the fact that although the synopsis makes the reader believe this book would be primarily dark academia (Henry studying at an elite and mysterious magical institution) and the bond between the two siblings, the plot was actually a slice of adult romantasy. We encounter the book's "Shadow Daddy", Xan, early on. He is the typical romantasy Shadow Daddy with the giant and imposing figure, broody mood, rippling abs, and chiseled features. His romantic tension with Victoria takes up most of the plot, annoyingly enough. We barely get to see Henry, and we do not get to follow his perspective. I feel the lack of Henry's perspective throws a gaping hole in the emotional impact of the narrative and damages the plot line. The combination of Victoria's experience in the Order with Henry's growing interest in accepting his powers through the magical institution would have made an interesting dichotomy. It would have been amazing to have Henry go through the typical hero fantasy plot while Victoria slowly unravels the dark hierarchy of the Order through her perspective. But no. We get Shadow Daddy and her easygoing relationship with her new bestie, Sarah.

I did like the world-building, and I found the excerpts at the beginning of each chapter to be very informative and engaging. And I was really hooked at the first 15% of the book when we were exploring the new characters and the relationship with the siblings. But after a while, the plot was just making me lose interest as it dissolved into romantasy tropes. I don't think I would be reading the next book in the series when that comes out.

This had a lot of potential and some really great moments. The writing is super readable and immersive, and I loved the witch lore and how dark and weird the world felt. Vic was a strong main character and the dynamic with May and Sarah worked really well. The pacing was off, fast in some places, dragging in others. Henry didn’t feel developed enough and the romance felt kind of rushed. I wanted more world building, and more time with Vic and Xan. BUT, if you’re into dark academia and witches, it’s worth checking out.

I would give We Who Have No Gods 3.5 stars. It could have been higher because it had a lot of really great pieces but falls short in a few areas.

Things I liked:
- the setting and the monsters were well described
- unique take on witches
- interactions between Vic, May and Sarah
- parts of the action had me flipping pages

Overall, it felt like the pacing did not really work. First, at the beginning of the book we don't really establish enough about Vic and Henry as people. I never felt any relationship between the two of them so he seemed like a complete brat by the time they get to the castle. It also kills the twist at the end because it wasn't out of character or surprising - Henry did not really have a character. Then there are parts of the book that really drag and then parts where it picks up and I was invested. There needs to be more consistent engagement throughtout the story.

There are also too many dropped threads/lack of curiosity by Vic. For instance, she finally gets inside her mom's apartment. Yes, there's initially a monster, but why does she never go back in and see what her mom was hiding in there? Why didn't she ask more questions about Made witches. At about 30% they kept talking about Made witches as if we all know what that is and I actually flipped back through some pages to see if I had just missed it. The explanation comes later on and even then doesn't make a ton of sense within the world. Also, why is there no discussion of who Henry and Vic's father is? There seems to be some foreshadowing (discussion of breeding for power and implication her mom slept with both Max and Aren) but Vic never thinks about or discusses this?

I also think there should have been more interactions between Xan and Vic. There are some parts of Xan that I really liked, such as complaining about Vic after she saves him and laughing in the snow, but there just wasn't enough interaction between the two characters. We're stuck in Vic's head too much and there isn't enough dialogue between them.

I really wanted to rate this higher because I love books about witches and this unique take really intrigued me.

Per publisher request - I am holding my public review until the books are being sold.

Determined to keep her brother safe, Vic finds herself becoming the one who needs saving.

I absolutely loved this take on witches. I was drawn in from the beginning and did not want it to end. Waiting for the next book is going to be so hard!

This book is a perfect mix of Legendborn, Ninth House, and Fourth Wing. I always appreciate a unique twist on a magical system in a fantasy book, combined with a well-developed historical framework. I also appreciate a flawed protagonist that you can’t help but cheer for, as well as a good will-they-won’t-they romance.

My only regret upon finishing g the book is that I will need to wait so long for the next book.

This book was filled with intrigue and I’m left wondering what will happen next! I was definitely surprised at times.

Though the story is set in modern times, it reads as if it isn’t. There are witches in a mortal world whose power goes beyond spell casting. There’s plenty world building and a lot of monsters. I would consider this a fantasy book with political intrigue. There are rivaling factions and mortal woman seemingly caught in the middle. There is romance but no spice - maybe a whisper of spice, actually.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — A Strong Debut with Heart, Suspense & Slow-Burn Romance
We Who Have No Gods is an impressive debut that blends suspense, rich character development, and a perfectly paced slow-burn romance. Xan stood out to me right from the start—his growth throughout the story was one of my favorite parts. And Vic? An incredible protagonist. Her fierce protectiveness toward her brother and those she cares about made her instantly compelling.

The worldbuilding was vivid, and the descriptions of both characters and creatures brought the story to life in such a powerful way. A great pick for fantasy readers who enjoy depth, emotion, and tension that builds beautifully.