The Gods Below

This new high fantasy story with gods and magic is both terrifying and inspirational. The restoration is terrifying; I actually had disturbing dreams after reading those scenes. Hakara is the type of character everyone hates but you can't help but love. It also shows the dangers of one religion without anything to limit its influence. Ms. Stewart emphasizes the importance of asking questions, challenging the status quo, being true to yourself, and pushing boundaries.

Thousands of years ago, the world was shattered by a war between Gods. One, Kluehnn, offers a deal to humanity. He will restore the world, one realm at a time – but the price will be dear. Many are not willing to pay, including Hakara, who wants only to be reunited with the younger sister she was torn from years ago. The sisters are now on opposite sides of the battle, and Hakara is willing to go to war with a god to find her sister.

Andrea Stewart writes beautifully, and the world is deep and interesting. I love the above/below ground world structure, and the plot is well paced and engaging. I had a little trouble engaging with the sisters’ story, and was more interested in some of the other POV characters, but overall this will show more feel very familiar for fans of the The Bone Shard Daughter. There were hints dropped of a greater overall mystery regarding the past, the underground world, and how the shattering came to be, and that was very well done and will definitely pull readers in to the next book, to solve that mystery.

For myself, this was a 3.5 star read, but I think that’s only because I’ve been a little over-saturated on epic fantasy stories like this lately. If epic fantasy, rebellions, and battling gods is the flavor you’re craving, then this will likely hit the spot for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review! The Gods Below is available September 3! show less

The world was shattered and the god Kluehnn offered to restore it. However the restoration would cause half the people in an area to disappear and the world would be reformed in strange ways, including the remaining people.
Hakara barely escaped the change with her country but she had to leave her sister behind now she keeps trying to discover the fate of her sister.
Interesting but it feels like there's a lot thrown at the story and a lot of viewpoints shown, which do add to the story but at the same time it fells cluttered and I didn't really care about many of the characters.