“No one here knew her name, let alone what she was running from. The laugh that escaped was half sob, unsteady and hers. It felt like something cracking open inside her. She was twenty-six years old, and for the first time in her life, no one was telling her who to be.”

✨ Villain origin story
✨ Enemies with benefits
✨ Love rectangle
✨ Forced proximity
✨ Gold rush vibes

I ate this book up. It was so good I inhaled about 60% of it before I even realised how much I’d read.

Talia is a scholar trying to uncover secrets that were never meant to see the light of day, and in the process she more or less walks straight into Lore’s orbit. Lore happens to be a cult leader with ambitions that are, frankly, concerning, and from that point on things just keep escalating.

“A cage is a cage… even if the bars sparkle.”

The plot is packed with secrets, twists, and discoveries that constantly change what you think you know. The deeper Talia digs into the history of the gods, the messier everything becomes, and I was completely invested in seeing where it would all lead.

“Survival is just another language, and you’re already learning it… You have remarkable potential. That’s more interesting than perfection.”

Dawn was easily my favourite. I loved her relationship with Talia, and her own story ended up being one of the most compelling parts of the book. Every time she was on the page I wanted more.

Riven brings a steadiness to the group that balances out some of the chaos. He has that dependable protector energy that makes him impossible not to like.

“Safe was an illusion. She couldn’t afford to pretend.”

Then there’s Holloway, Talia’s childhood best friend and ex-fiancé, who spends a good portion of the book yearning, trying his best, and finding himself wildly out of his depth. Watching him get dragged further and further into everything was honestly great.

And Lore, who somehow manages to be charismatic, manipulative, dangerous, and impossible to ignore all at the same time.

“Three men. Three different versions of who she could be with each of them.”

It’s got humour, it’s got spice, it’s got queer rep, it’s got dragons, and it has characters making increasingly questionable decisions. Basically all the ingredients for a really good time.

“What’s the point of surviving if you have to be a monster to do it?”

Chaos, vibes, and opinions are all my own ✨ please give credit if you share.

This book was absolutely fantastic! It has everything a fantasy novel needs: messy characters & relationships, mythical creatures, and a new world to dive into. I loved each character (Dawn a little more lol) and how complex each one was! The friendships, romances, and the manipulation were all written so well. I cannot wait to keep reading this series and see where it goes.

4.5 stars rounded up! ⭐

No Gods West of Here is a fantasy romance novel which follows Talia, a scholar who travels overseas to carry out her research into the lost fae language of Starscript in order to unlock the secrets of their ancient technology.

This was excellent, especially for a debut novel! I loved the author’s choice to include little excerpts from in-world academic texts and folktales at the beginning of each chapter, like neat little embellishments to the worldbuilding whilst you’re engaged in the story.

If you like the sound of these vibes you will probably love this book as much as I did:
• steampunk / wild-west / post-apocalypse setting
• long journey/quest with found family dynamics between the five MCs
• fae with their own ancient technology & language
• dragons and magical monsters
• rich folklore and mythology
• scholarly FMC who learns to take back her power
• badass second FMC who is a hired assassin and has a troubled past
• a DELICIOUS love triangle: MMC 1 is a broody oathsworn bodyguard who’s very Geralt of Rivia coded; MMC 2 is a dark cult-leader-stroke-prophet figure who ensnares people with his charisma and manipulates them to his own ends.
• the spice is SPICY 🌶️ too, and not just for the sake of it

I will definitely be picking up the sequel, whenever it comes!

I graciously received this ARC from NetGalley and the author.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I absolutely loved this book.

The world-building was hands down my favorite part. It's one of those books where you can tell the author put so much thought into every detail. The Old West setting mixed with fantasy was such a fun and unique combination. it felt completely different from anything else I've read. It felt like I was reading about a real place. And anything fantasy with a well developed language like this one hooks me immediately!

The characters were another huge highlight. Everyone felt like an actual person instead of just filling a role in the story.

This book never lost my attention and is the definition of a page turner. There was always a new mystery or secret being revealed.

If you're getting a little burned out on fantasy, definitely give this one a try. The Western vibes, the rich world building, and the amazing characters made this one of the most unique fantasy books I've read in a long time. I can’t wait to add a physical copy of this book to my shelf!

I straight up DO NOT KNOW what I just read, I just know I need MORE. Instant buy book, instant read author, everything. This is my new white whale except I’ve already found it. I’m not even making SENSE, this book has fried my brain in the best way.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5) | 🌶️🌶️ (2)

This was so much more than I expected, than I could have hoped for. It’s got all the goods I like, some small things that I almost never see but LOVE OMG, and plenty I didn’t realize I needed. I’ve been procrastinating this review for almost 12 hours because - I don’t know. I don’t. WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?

I’m just gonna lay it out. The writing is good. Great, got it. Characters? Interesting, unique or a great spin; motives all there, amazing backstories, gives context to their actions. Love it. What I always look for. Epigraphs are out of this WORLD, and I’ll be re-reading just to take a closer look at those. They’re genius.

Plot? Fuck off, honestly, I can’t even. Just read it. My breathing is going a little wonky just thinking about it. I MIGHT BE DEVELOPING A WHEEZE.

Okay okay okay. Okay. Worldbuilding, absolutely. Amazing, one of the most unique I’ve read in a long, long time. A bizarre melting pot of things that you don’t think someone could make fit together, but Gaard DOES, somehow. I mean…

It’s western. Gold rush, saloons, wanted posters. Frontier boomtowns. Desolate mined out areas. Riches hoarded by the top, struggling lower cities, rebellion brewing.

It’s fantasy. It’s got fae (?!), it’s got ruins and a Civilization of Old. There’s ROYALTY.

It’s oddly sci-fi?! I dunno. I’m not asking questions at this point.

It’s - also! we’re not done! - D&D-ish. There’s weeks long travel, they SPLIT THE PARTY. There are campfires and - well, not guard rotations because Dawn always takes first watch. But there is OBVIOUSLY a solid adventuring party here. A bard, a cleric, a rogue, a paladin, aaaand a warlock. Come back when you’ve read it - I’m NOT pulling these out of nowhere and I’ll ONLY take criticism on the rogue classification.

IT’S GOT DRAGONS AND A LITTLE SQUIRREL SHAPED FRIEND AND QUEERS AND A GRASS FLOWER CROWN! 😭

I haven’t even started in on any specific characters. What really amazed me is, yes, Talia is the main character… But every other character is also written *amazingly*. I definitely felt a few of the main five were a bit on the light side at first; maybe the first 40%? At around 60% I was like no, okay, the author definitely knows what she’s doing, I’m gonna let her do her thing - and by the END? I can’t. Any time I get close to thinking about what Gaard has done with this story and these characters my brain just goes to static. What a fucking masterpiece.

I have been sitting with this review for hours because I genuinely do not know where to begin. This book was so much more than I expected and I am still not fully recovered.
Talia is a scholar chasing secrets that were never meant to be found, and in the process she walks straight into the orbit of Lore, a cult leader with deeply concerning ambitions. From that moment everything escalates, and it never stops.
The plot is packed with twists and discoveries that constantly shift what you think you know. The deeper Talia digs into the history of the gods, the messier and more compelling everything becomes. I was completely invested from beginning to end.
The characters are where this book truly shines. Dawn was my absolute favorite, her relationship with Talia and her own story becoming one of the most compelling threads in the entire book. Riven brings a steady, protective energy that grounds the chaos. Holloway, Talia's childhood best friend and ex-fiancé, spends the book yearning and wildly out of his depth in the most entertaining way possible. And Lore manages to be charismatic, manipulative, dangerous, and completely impossible to ignore all at once.
Now the worldbuilding. It is a bizarre and brilliant melting pot of western frontier grit, high fantasy, fae mythology, hints of science fiction, and full D&D adventuring party energy complete with dragons and a little squirrel shaped companion. It should not work. It absolutely works.
Spice, humor, queer rep, dragons, and characters making increasingly questionable decisions. This is a masterpiece and you simply need to read it.