Going into this one I was worried because it has the worst rating on here and other sites of any book I’ve read before.  I picked it up based on author recognition without knowing anything and regretted it a bit after seeing the reviews but felt I should read it all the same, and I can say I'm happy I did. 3.5 is my honest rating but I wish I could give it more because the average ratings for this just seem wrong and I'd love to bump it up a little if I could. The plot itself is very slow and not a huge amount happens, I didn’t care much for any of the characters either though I did find them deeply intriguing and visceral, what makes this book is the writing.
 
 The prose is just fantastic. I could feel the darkness of the world portrayed here from the start and as the characters and story developed it only got more real. The small glimpses back to the western world by Kate became less and less throughout as she became less and less herself. As much as I might disagree with some of the philosophy here I can't fault the writing, it takes something special to make me want to pick up a book where very little happens, I have no care for the characters beyond the protagonist (and even then only minor care), and some of the themes I dislike, but this managed to make me want to come back, and just feel the story and all its darkness. 

There’s a debate about the racism and misogynistic sides to this, and I land on the side that it’s not that bad. It speaks against colonialism heavily and the idea of forcing religion on foreign countries which I like. It looks at the idea that people are not complete without a partner, both man and woman. There are points where it feels wrong, looking at the subjugation of woman to man, and being completed by his seed. The protagonist fighting internally against her wanting to be free, vs a goddess and subject to a god. The themes here are all over the place, it’s got racism, and sexism, anti-colonialism and female empowerment, depending on how you read it you could come down on either side. I choose to just love the writing and enjoy this bizarre world. 

Is this a book I would recommend? No… I can’t see who I would say you should read this to, it’s a big gamble on whether after this recommendation they’d thank you or hit you in the face and cancel you… But for those out there considering this one, open a bottle of red wine, light a fire, sit in a dimly lit room, and read this without worrying whether it’s correct or not, just enjoy the writing.