Canon

Disclaimer that this review is for an ARC copy I picked up at my local library.

This is a tough review. I love the idea of this book, especially it being a story with a nonbinary MC, but this book was definitely not for me.

The humor and blasphemy was great, the 4th wall breaking and speaking to the reader was fun, and I can tell the author has a strength in this writing style... But I felt constantly lost throughout the book. I think the biggest problem for me was the lack of a strict timeline other than "mostly the 90s", which made it hard to really picture the world or get into it. It just seemed very absurdist to me and was not my style.

I also didn't like as a fellow enby that Yara was constantly reminded to be AFAB. I definitely show more understand how it fits into the plot with their OCD and trauma, but it just seemed overkill to continue reminding readers about it. I've only recently started diving into literary fiction so maybe I'm completely missing the point here but I didn't enjoy it.

Yara's OCD was written very well, I found myself preferring their stories the most, and the humor was very fun and entertaining but everything else in the book just felt very confusing and flat to me. Maybe litfic just is not for me?

I probably should've just DNF'd this book but I wanted so desperately to see why everyone else loved it. I can see why anyone who's a fan of mythology might like it, I can tell it had some great overarching lessons or commentary and I'm grateful we have stories like this for queer folks, but it just felt like I spent 460+ pages on a whole nothing burger. Perhaps I'll read it again another time and update this review when I'm in a better mindset to properly appreciate it if reviews still hold up later. show less

The way this book is written is so unique. The story is written in 3rd person but, with a very familiar story teller. The story itself is about a unlikely hero on God's quest, but God is a bit...off. there are the good guys and the bad guys but the line is a bit blurred. The characters all are in need of some serious therapy. The world is set in modern setting: phones, cars, holy wars, you know that kind of thing. The ending...is a bit abrupt and im not sure how I feel about it. But I did enjoy the writing style of the book it flowed so naturally with my brain. Very pleasant to read.