My Five Star Review For Godsgrave
Hi, hello friends!
Today I’m going to be sharing with you a spoiler free review
for Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff which is the second book in the Nevernight
chronicles. Jay Kristoff is also the co-author of the Illuminae Files (read more: Illuminae book review). Going into this, I wasn’t overly hopeful, NOT because I don’t think
Kristoff is a great writer (he totally is!) but because I’m not much of a dense
fantasy gal.
However, suffice to say, I loved it!
In case you can’t tell by the title, I gave this book a
solid five stars, and it was my second five star read out of the 100+ books and
I didn’t think I’d find another book to give five stars to but then I read this
and yes, it was pretty damn good.
About the book.
Book: Godsgrave
Series: Nevernight
Author: Jay Kristoff
Series: Nevernight
Author: Jay Kristoff
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Pages: 448
Publication date: September 2017
Pages: 448
Publication date: September 2017
Synopsis: Assassin Mia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church ministry think she’s far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she’s no closer to ending Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo, or avenging her familia. And after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church itself.
When it’s announced that Scaeva and Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself to a gladiatorial collegium for a chance to finally end them. Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold within the collegium walls, and the body count rises, Mia will be forced to choose between loyalty and revenge, and uncover a secret that could change the very face of her world. (source)
When it’s announced that Scaeva and Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself to a gladiatorial collegium for a chance to finally end them. Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold within the collegium walls, and the body count rises, Mia will be forced to choose between loyalty and revenge, and uncover a secret that could change the very face of her world. (source)
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Recommended for: Anyone 15+. Caution: blood, violence and sex.
I was provided a copy for review from Harper Voyager however all thoughts and opinions are my own and this is an honest review.
My thoughts.
{ writing }
It without a doubt that Kristoff is an amazing writer. There
is a perfect amount of action, mystery, intrigue and explanation. The story
truly unfolds in the best way possible, and it is such an experience in itself
seeing the way the different pieces fit together. There is such great depth to
his world, from the history, to the political intrigue and the characters and plot.
I’ll be honest with you, it is quite dense at the start and
took me some time to get into because of how huge the book was and how long it
took to finish each page. But when I got into it, I REALLY got into it. It was
so hard to put down and had an incredible amount of twists and turns and had me
on the edge of my seat the entire time.
I can’t even imagine how Kristoff plans all of the parts of
the story to come together, but I am so appreciative of the way he pulls it
off.
Also, can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that
Kristoff included a recap at the start of Godsgrave because I remembered very
little from Nevernight and it was super helpful to have that there. All other
authors and publishers, please take note.
{ idea + plot }
I loved that this book moved away from the initial setting
of Nevernight and followed the adventures of Mia once she has graduated and
become a Blade. The story is initially told in switching perspectives, so from the
past Mia which fills in the gaps for what is happening in the present to Mia,
which I thought was an incredibly clever way of teasing the readers with the idea
that they could have all the answers, if they kept reading. (Pure and utter
genius, my friends!)
As for the book’s idea in general, I loved the bloody brutal take on assassins by Kristoff. When I think assassin’s, I mainly think of the Throne Of Glass series, and this is that, but the adult fantasy version of that, with better characters, better romance, better plot. Basically better everything. (#sorrynotsorry) Like I said before, the world building in this book is insane and while there isn’t confirmation of this, the book seems to be a take of ancient Rome, from which the gladiator style warriors and architecture that is part of the book seems to stem from.
I am usually not the kind of person who likes a very heavy
plot in a book. I find myself so easily confused and lost and just done with the book and it was so, so surprising to me when I read this book,
which has an incredibly complex plot by the way, and was able to follow along
with everything and understand everything. I was so utterly pleased with the way
Kristoff made the plot complex enough that it was thrilling, but clear enough
that it was understood by readers with poor attention to detail who avoid high
fantasy because they easily get lost (aka me).
The plot was so ridiculously amazing and well thought out.
There were so many twists and turns and OH MY GOD moments and moments where I wanted
to throw the book onto a wall and scream and THAT. ENDING. I. AM. NOT. OKAY.
I.
NEED.
THE.
SEQUEL.
If you have read it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If
you haven’t, go read it so you can also scream and despair about it like me!
{ characters }
I loved Mia’s character development in this! She really grew
to be someone I enjoyed reading about and someone I rooted for and I loved her
morally grey character. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about the new
romance introduced in the book, because I did really love Tric but I found I liked
it.
The only criticism for the romance I can say is it was a
smidge underdeveloped BUT I was so thrilled that Kristoff not only made Mia
bisexual and featured an f/f relationship in Godsgrave, but he took extra care
to ensure that he stayed within his lane while writing her story. (Which he
mentioned in one of his interviews).
I also loved the little spats between Mister Kindly and
Eclipse, holy craps they were so funny and added a much needed lightness in the
book.
{ overall }
I.
NEED.
THE.
SEQUEL.
OVERALL RATING:
★★★★★
Have you read Nevernight or Godsgrave? What did you think?
7 happy thoughts
I'm listening to the audiobook of this one right now and I LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
~Brittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles
Thank you so much! Glad you're enjoying it!
DeleteThis looks like such an incredible book! It's so good to hear you enjoyed it so much -- I actually haven't heard of this series before (though of course I have heard of Illuminae, & am really enjoying it so far). It's an enormously special thing to find a 5-star read after so many average or disappointing books, & I'm glad you stumbled across this one, lovely. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us <3
ReplyDeleteTopaz (Six Impossible Things)
I hope you get around to reading it and thank you so much for taking the time to comment <3
DeleteI skim read this review because I haven't read Godsgrave yet and kind of want to go into it without knowing too much from others. So glad you loved it though, especially if it got a five stars from you!!
ReplyDeleteHahaha I am a super harsh critic what can I say! And yes, I hope you get around to reading it because it is SO GOOD!
DeleteGreat post thank youu
ReplyDeleteLeave me a comment below! And feel free to leave your website URL so I can come visit!