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A review by mspilesofpaper
The Gods Below by Andrea Stewart
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley for granting me an eARC.
The mortals broke the world with their greed. The skies were filled with smoke and ash, the air grew hot, and Tolemne made his way into the core of the world to ask a book of the gods - to restore the world. The god Kluehnn granted it by restoring the world realm by realm, but restoration comes at a price: half the population will become material for the restoration and the other half will be changed into something better. Hakara and her younger sister Rasha flee from the restoration as it hits their realm but are separated at the border; Rasha stays behind in Kashan and Hakara gets swept into the neighbouring realm.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
The Gods Below is an epic fantasy that's the first in a series/trilogy. It is set in a fantasy world that has multiple realms, and whereas our Earth has lava at its core, their world is hollow and used to be the place where the gods lived.
The story is told in multiple POVs (5), four of which are set in the present and one in the past. Each POV has a different narrating view (Hakara and Rasha are written in first person, the others are third person), which is odd when you switch chapters and, therefore, the POV because there are rarely two chapters told from the same POV.
Unfortunately, I struggled with the book just like I did with The Bone Shard Daughter - an interesting plot, but the characters and their development are so utterly lacking. All characters are so single-minded in their behaviour, so their POVs became very quickly annoying and sometimes repetitive. Especially Hakara's and Rasha's when they think of the past and the other one. They have the same thoughts over and over and over again. It's something that annoyed me in TBSD as well. I believe I would have cared more about the sisters (and them being on opposing sides of the overall conflict) if they had been better developed.
Something that I struggled with in TBSD as well: the romances. The f/f pairing and the m/f pairing happen out of nowhere and are utterly shallow. Neither pairings have a true connection with each other, but suddenly, there's yearning and pining in the f/f pairing, and a hint of it in the m/f pairing? The m/f pairing is even more annoying because the male character is still grieving his dead partner and family. Why the fuck is he suddenly interested in a stupid 25 years old girl? Because Hakara isn't the brightest character at all. She rushes into everything, she never thinks through anything, ... - it's very unbelievable and exhausting.
I liked the plot and the world-building (even if the latter can be confusing), but I wish the characters had been better. As it stands now, I don't think that I would continue with the upcoming books (when they are published).
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
TWs & CWs: death, violence, estranged sisters, sexual content (fade to black), cannibalism
Trope(s): /
Diversity: bisexuality, genderfluidity, POC characters, aromanticism
Genre: Fantasy
Heat/Spice: 0 🌶️
The mortals broke the world with their greed. The skies were filled with smoke and ash, the air grew hot, and Tolemne made his way into the core of the world to ask a book of the gods - to restore the world. The god Kluehnn granted it by restoring the world realm by realm, but restoration comes at a price: half the population will become material for the restoration and the other half will be changed into something better. Hakara and her younger sister Rasha flee from the restoration as it hits their realm but are separated at the border; Rasha stays behind in Kashan and Hakara gets swept into the neighbouring realm.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
The Gods Below is an epic fantasy that's the first in a series/trilogy. It is set in a fantasy world that has multiple realms, and whereas our Earth has lava at its core, their world is hollow and used to be the place where the gods lived.
The story is told in multiple POVs (5), four of which are set in the present and one in the past. Each POV has a different narrating view (Hakara and Rasha are written in first person, the others are third person), which is odd when you switch chapters and, therefore, the POV because there are rarely two chapters told from the same POV.
Unfortunately, I struggled with the book just like I did with The Bone Shard Daughter - an interesting plot, but the characters and their development are so utterly lacking. All characters are so single-minded in their behaviour, so their POVs became very quickly annoying and sometimes repetitive. Especially Hakara's and Rasha's when they think of the past and the other one. They have the same thoughts over and over and over again. It's something that annoyed me in TBSD as well. I believe I would have cared more about the sisters (and them being on opposing sides of the overall conflict) if they had been better developed.
Something that I struggled with in TBSD as well: the romances. The f/f pairing and the m/f pairing happen out of nowhere and are utterly shallow. Neither pairings have a true connection with each other, but suddenly, there's yearning and pining in the f/f pairing, and a hint of it in the m/f pairing? The m/f pairing is even more annoying because the male character is still grieving his dead partner and family. Why the fuck is he suddenly interested in a stupid 25 years old girl? Because Hakara isn't the brightest character at all. She rushes into everything, she never thinks through anything, ... - it's very unbelievable and exhausting.
I liked the plot and the world-building (even if the latter can be confusing), but I wish the characters had been better. As it stands now, I don't think that I would continue with the upcoming books (when they are published).
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
TWs & CWs: death, violence, estranged sisters, sexual content (fade to black), cannibalism
Trope(s): /
Diversity: bisexuality, genderfluidity, POC characters, aromanticism
Genre: Fantasy
Heat/Spice: 0 🌶️