It’s spooky season at Kindig Blog and I was drawn in by the cover of Unseen Gods – excited to see what lurked beneath!

When a group of friends decide to travel to an old hunting cabin, they realise they may have bitten off more than they could chew as the lights start to dim and night draws in.

After starting to read Unseen Gods, I had to check and double check that this wasn’t part of a series. Nothing in the blurb indicated this was the case, but a lot of things weren’t adding up and I had the feeling I was missing something. Professor Colista, one of the main characters is described as a Chaos Magician with his ingenue Jenifer, but it isn’t properly explained what this is and there was reference to previous events that I didn’t understand or have any context for. I ended up having to specifically search for the author’s name and the character’s name to find out that the character featured in a previous book called Tethered to Darkness. Usually this wouldn’t bother me – I’ve read lots of books mid-series but usually they offer some kind of introduction to newer readers which isn’t the case here. This made it really hard to empathise with the characters and led to a lot of confusion.

Aside from the missing context of the previous book, I also didn’t particularly find any of the other characters very likeable, although Justin Holley pulls no punches with their fates. The only character I actually felt something for was the cat. I also didn’t really understand whether his dad was actually there or an astral projection which was just confusing. Although the atmosphere was creepy with some gory scenes, I don’t really understand how the events at the Hunting Lodge were linked to the possessed lady at the hotel or the Hairy Men or the blue lightning - it all just seemed like a lot of ideas being thrown around without anything to link them together.

If you want to give this book a go, I’d highly recommend reading Tethered to Darkness first, so you get essential exposition about the characters which is severely lacking in this book. Thank you to NetGalley & Flame Tree Press for a chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is definitely a book that started strong and then fizzled out as I kept going. At least it didn't take too long to get through.

This horror novel has moments of brilliance that planted the most disturbing images in my head. Other parts were not my thing, which makes it hard for me to rate it. It took a bit for the story to get going, biding its time introducing the characters. I really rooted for the MC, Professor Colista, his apprentice Jenifer and his feline familiar, Crowley (mild spoiler for crazy people like me, who won’t read anything where a cat is in peril: the author goes to great lengths to assure us from the beginning that he will be safe). The rest of the cast was more or less likable. Once the horror got going, it really caught my attention with a mixture of Hellraiser and Evil Dead. But then it kept interrupting the action with dialogues about the characters’ feelings (not my thing). At the risk of sounding like a psycho, I thought that the most horrific parts were very good and I’d give those five stars. The rest of the novel would get 3.5 from me so rounding up to 4.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Flame Tree Press.

Very interesting 3.5/5..... It started strong being able to describe some really spooky scenes. I actually had to stop reading in the middle of the night!

Couple of things:
- The characters were a bit trope-y
- I personally would have liked to explore the Colista's magic and his past a bit more. It felt like it wasnt explained thoroughly.
- I disliked the reveals or "telling the story via the characters dialogue." The conversations between the characters felt a little awkward and unnatural at times. It really took me out of the spookiness of the story just explaining stuff via their convos.

This was still a fun ride, I liked the back n forth of chapters following the two different sets of characters, and I never felt bored. And parts of it were actually scary!

This was a fast read. It was good but not memorable. It's not a book that I think I will remember in a few weeks. I enjoyed it while I was reading it but I think that was it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley.

Apologies, but this was a DNF for me. I just couldn't get on with the style of writing (and the almost-cat-death at the start was a bit explicit!). Not an enjoyable read for me.