Synopsis:
In this sweeping epic fantasy comes a story of magic, betrayal, love, and loyalty, where two sisters will clash on opposite sides of a war against the gods.
A divine war shattered the world leaving humanity in ruins. Desperate for hope, they struck a deal with the devious god He would restore the world to its former glory, but at a price so steep it would keep the mortals indebted to him for eternity. And as each land was transformed, so too were its people changed into strange new forms – if they survived at all.
Hakara is not willing to pay such a price. Desperate to protect herself and her sister, Rasha, she flees her homeland for the safety of a neighboring kingdom. But when tragedy separates them, Hakara is forced to abandon her beloved sister to an unknown fate.
Alone and desperate for answers on the wrong side of the world, Hakara discovers she can channel the magic from the mysterious gems they are forced to mine for Kluehnn. With that discovery comes her sister is alive, and the rebels plotting to destroy the God Pact can help rescue her.
But only if Hakara goes to war against a god.
Review:
Hello again dear reader or listener, guess who’s back (back again). You’ve seen a lot of me lately but it’s not my fault so many good books have been coming out!
As always, first a big thank you to the author, Andrea Stewart, for sending me an eARC copy of her book. I promise an objective review. Ugh… I won’t be able to think of promises the same after this story, thank you Andrea!
The Gods Below is the badass start to Stewart’s brand new series, The Hollow Covenant, and ooh boy what a start it was. I’ve been meaning to read her debut, The Drowning Empire trilogy for a while now and when I saw TGB would be out soon, I figured I’d jump in with this new book first that intrigued the hell out of me, so I could go back and enjoy more the author’s work after it. In hindsight I would do it again but I am kinda suffering cause I tend to at least wait for two books to be out in a series before I begin reading (I do buy them as they come out though – we support authors and their sales in timely fashion in this house!).
Now, it wouldn’t be an Eleni review without some kind of disclaimer at the beginning, would it? So here is this one: The Gods Below will not be for the impatient reader, nor the one who is in the mood for a quick and snappy buildup. Having not read this, call it level, of fantasy in some time myself, I will admit I struggled in that first 30-35%. In fact, if I hadn’t been buddy reading it with another FFA member (waves at Frasier) I might have set it aside for a later date. Not because I was not enjoying what I was reading, but due to pace and not feeling edge of my seat hooked yet. Especially as my mood reads have been gravitating toward standalones and other subgenres with more streamlined structures and far fewer povs. I am very glad I didn’t pause though, because I am here to say that it is all worth it in the end!
Stewart builds up her new world and its characters slow and steady, which, to be fair, is pretty necessary for the all the pieces she needs to move in a way that will make the most sense to the reader. What the author is setting up is no small feat, weaving in centuries of history, magic, politics, gods, rivalries, and cults, with multiple complex and layered characters. Once you hit that 40% everything starts clicking into place and the pace picks up considerably and steadily all the way to that absolute fire of an ending. You are well and truly emotionally invested in the characters and their journeys, and they are so broad in personalities in some ways, that you can find yourself relating to at least one if not more at any given time. It just takes a little patience and trust in what the author is trying to achieve, because she most definitely delivers. And something that surprised me positively was the amount of laugh out loud moments there were, even amidst hardship and darkness.
While I would argue that The Gods Below is a character and plot driven story in equal measure, Stewart’s skill shines the most in her character work for me. I love me a complex and rich character, I love it when they are flawed and still have a great sense of humor amidst the struggle, and I most definitely love it when I think I know what they’ll do next because the author has given me such a great understanding of who they are to their core, and yet they’ll still surprise me! A tiny aspect of the story took me by surprise for how sudden it was, especially compared the slow buildup of everything else but at the same time I didn’t find myself minding since it fit with the emotional journey of those characters. Also, Stewart planned the story so brilliantly that she kept me guessing until the very end. This was mainly in regard to one pov, whose big reveal I thought I clocked from the very beginning but then the author would pull the rug from under my feet every few chapters, and I would find myself pacing back and forth and flinging theories at anyone who would listen (thank you mom and thank you Frasier). And yes, there is overall body horror and tons of Emotional Damage, you know, as a treat.
Stewart employs a lot of awesome tropes, such as ragtag team into found family, opposites attract, or even one of my absolute favorites, siblings on opposite sides of a conflict. It just never fails with me! Rasha and Hakara are slightly differentiated from the other povs by being written in first person, compared to the others being in third, and I found that an interesting device to highlight their arcs a little above the others. They are after all the heart of this story. As with all multi pov stories moreover, you are just dying for the moment when all these separate characters and their arcs will converge because you know their meet-ups will be amazing in various ways! And to top that off, one very grumpy, winged man who is fond of cats to the point of idiocy, has now joined the pantheon of characters that live rent free in my mind. And wouldn’t you know it, he is the one that the author tortures the most… I am fine.
Shredded feels aside though, The Gods Below is a grand start to a series which promises even more twists, intrigues, feels, romance, political machinations, and magic! Nailing the psychology of different kinds of trauma, cultish manipulation, the weight of familial expectations, and the forced shouldering of responsibilities that you are ill prepared for or didn’t deserve, Stewart presents readers with a story full of heart and drive and stubbornness. All of which is allowed to build and flourish within a fresh and imaginative world, with plenty of hardcore action, and all of those little touches that give everything a deeper dimension. Stewart is unflinching and not afraid to go hard when the moment calls for it and it makes for edge of your seat storytelling. You just need to trust the process. And when I say the author goes hard, I genuinely went back and reread the last chapter four times. She somehow conveyed such an emotionally rending scene while also making it so damn hardcore. (Insert fire Elmo gif here). And I don’t say it lightly. For some reason I also kept having Sleep Token’s Take Me Back To Eden playing in my head throughout those rereads.
As a final sidenote, if you have read and enjoyed Asunder by Kerstin Hall (review of that here) you will also love this and vice versa. I won’t elaborate because this review was too long already but when I tell you to just trust me on this. These two books go hand in hand.
Until next time,
Eleni A. E.
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