Rating: 2/5 stars
Pages: 300
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Inkshares
Release Date: May 21, 2019
The Living God is foretold to bring about the destruction of the world in order to rebuild it into a paradise. Some worship and welcome His coming, other's fear Him and would do anything to stop it. The Living God follows the internal struggle of two mages, Saran and Keleir, as they confront their fears and attempt to find meaning in the hand that life has dealt them. Saran seeks to overthrow her crazed father and salvage what is left of her country before it falls into complete ruin. Keleir is cursed with a Rauke's soul, an ancient creature who is only able to survive by merging with an unborn child upon entering our world. Saran and Keleir are touched by fate, gifted with the ability to sense each other, and destined for a future that neither care to know. When Saran's magic is stolen, she must confront a life without the ability to manipulate time, struggle to see the rebellion finished, and keep Keleir from becoming The Living God. (Summary taken from Goodreads)
*** Thanks to Netgalley and Inkshares for providing me with an eARC of this book. ***
This book really missed the mark for me. The premise was interesting, and I think there was the potential to be an interesting plot in there, but unfortunately it was overshadowed by dreadfully slow navel-gazing and a romance in which the two characters had no sparks. So much of the book was spent on things that just didn’t seem important. Basically, I got bored reading it, which, given how violent it is in places, is probably not a good thing. Not to mention. I love violence (I know, I know, this makes me sound terrible, but I am who I am.)
I’m gonna keep this short, rather than list everything that didn’t work for me. I think the world seems interesting, though I would’ve liked it a little better fleshed out, and honestly I want to know more about it. The writing itself was good, if a little—to borrow a word from another review—pompous in places. Too bad, because the description sounded interesting, and I got really excited when it turned out the protagonist had time control powers or whatever they were (they were not well-defined), and I thought the cover was gorgeous.
I dunno who I would recommend this to. At any rate, if you like high fantasy, and are a fan of star-crossed lovers, and don’t mind books that meander, maybe give it a try. I’ll probably keep an eye out for more books by this author, cause I do think she’s got some talent and definitely some interesting ideas.
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