By Lydia Kealy
*Please note there are spoilers below…*
‘I wished we’d had more time, Selly. I wanted to teach you dance.”
I’m going to say it – I think this is one of the best books I’ve read recently! After finishing An Ember in the Ashes series, I really hit a reading slump. I didn’t enjoy reading the final books in the series and didn’t know what to start next. If you’re looking for a book to get you past a dull spot in your reading life, look no further!
The Isles of the Gods was such a perfect balance of slow burn romance and world building, that I found it to be a really nice read and I got through it quickly. Using the ‘journey’ trope, we see Selly, Leander and several other characters work together to meet the infamous Isles of the Gods, a place no other human has dared tread before (or so we initially are led to believe). Kaufman has a really interesting take on the interconnections between gods and humans, and I think clearly outlines how they all fit in with other (which sometimes other authors fail to do which can make the plot quite confusing).
If you know me, then you know I can’t beat a slow burn romance. I love watching charatcers slowly fall in love with each other and reading the tension-filled scenes where we’re anticipating who will make the first move! Although we do get a glimpse of this in Isles of the Gods, I did knock 0.5 of a star off the book because I felt like we could have been given just a little bit more! There’s so much promise of it but I was left just wanting a few more declarations of love, rather than the monologues of our individual characters to themselves about how they’re feeling.
This book literally kept me on the edge of my seat at the end and I was visibly stressed thinking Leander had died! I also hate to admit I failed to guess that Leander would become a Messenger. That was played out really nicely and I liked how Kaufman linked the opening of the book with the ending. I will say though, the actual descriptions at the end of the book where Selly becomes an ‘anchor’ almost for Leander’s power was quite confusing, and I only understood what had actually happened in the final pages where we hear how Laskia needs to find the same thing.
Final thoughts… I hate Laskia’s character. I see why she’s necessary and why we need someone’s perspective from that country Mellacea, but I actually just found her so annoying and really random at times. I just hope Leander beats her in the second instalment. Jude’s character is also kind of pointless in book 1, so I’m interested to see what will happen with his character in book 2.
Solid characters, fast pace and charming MMC – I would definitely recommend!
I’m seeing an emerging theme with books as of late around the sea, and as a wanna-be mermaid, I love it! You can read another sea-themed book review by checking out the A Study in Drowning review now.