Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I honestly don't know what to think of this.
I loved the concept, but not the execution.
The writing was great, but this book somehow seemed to drag on, it felt endless.
The characters were fine, I just couldn't seem to relate to, or even care for, any of them. I feel like the character development happened in reverse here. I loved the characters at first, but ended up liking them less the farther I got in the story.
Their whole journey just seemed pretty pointless to me, as well as the triple POV.

This book sounds like something I would have loved, and after a disappointing start I had all the intentions to try and give this book a chance. But I DNFed not long after that. I didn’t feel connected to the characters, and I wasn’t keen on all the rhetorical internal monologue. But the thing that made my decision to DNF was the fact that the plot didn’t seem to go anywhere (except in circles...)

So I’ve been attempting to improve my Netgalley average and this is one I’ve had sitting around for a little while. The blurb really caught me when I requested it, but I never got round into picking this up until now.

The Orphanage of the Gods, unfortunately, didn’t manage to live up to my expectations. It had a really strong start with Hero, who’s strength and compassion I still admire, but once the perspective switching began I found myself less interested. The other two perspectives were a strange addition, Raven especially as she was a young girl and I don’t really think it added any essential details to the story, but Kestrel’s perspective just made me uncomfortable and I’ll be getting into why a little later. There was also the fact that once the perspective switched the other two protagonists were barely touched on; it felt a bit like I was reading three stories in one, and I was not a fan.

Hero was this novel's saving grace. She made difficult decisions facing her issues head-on, and remained a compassionate healer throughout. I also really enjoyed the other side characters that were introduced, and for a second thought we were going to get a rag-tag revolutionary group, but they really weren’t essential to the plot in any way.

There be spoilers over yonder, if you don’t wish to read ’em scroll past the next paragraph

Now onto what really made this book a flop for me. The sapphic relationship and Kestrel. For the final chapters of the book Kestrel takes the reins, with the focus shifting to her, the revolution, and Eliza. This is where things start getting iffy…there’s an instalove relationship that feels rather toxic but isn’t supposed to be perceived that way. Eliza’s brutal decisions and ruthless use of her ability to control others was a sour note, and Kestrels unfaltering loyalty to a woman she’d just met especially when that woman had not behaved like that previously. I usually not a fan of instalove as a trope unless it’s done well, and it definitely wasn’t done well here.

Spoilers are over, tune back in here

The plot too, hops around with abandon making it hard to follow at times. This a first for me but I really think this would have benefited from being a series, as nothing is given the detail it deserves and I really would have loved more time with each character. Everything was underdeveloped and so nothing truly had an impact on me, it was a shame because I could almost taste the potential but everything was jumbled.

All in all, this is a book that I probably should have DNF’d, and it made for difficult reading. This story wasn’t for me unfortunately and I’m pretty grumpy about it because I loved the premise for this novel.

Recommend: Sorry but no, the novel had so much potential but I really couldn’t enjoy it

I really appreciated the sibling relationship in this book, the world and the characters were well developed so you could get fully immersed in the plot.
I always rate a book whose characters get their hooks into me enough that I feel the emotions along with them highly and this book did that. It’s also so nice to see a stand alone fantasy!
I can’t wait to see what this author does next.

The Orphanage of Gods by Helena Coggan was a dark and gritty novel about one child who was born from a God's journey for survival in a harsh and cruel world. Highly recommended.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

Content warning: blood, violence, self-harm, blood drinking, forced suicide

I went into this expecting an adventure - a high-stakes escape, and characters running for their lives. Instead, it's actually a very static book, with a lot of discussion and then a few large battles. The world feels more sci-fi than fantasy, and the world-building in general is quite light, with only a few hints at the history of the war between gods and humans. It's also pretty unrelentingly brutal and violent, to the point where you almost become inured to the constant grimness of these characters' lives. I made it to the end, but I didn't enjoy it much, and I doubt I will remember much about it in a few months. Two and a half stars.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

Another one for the DNF pile. This was also book of the month in one of my Illumicrate book boxes so I got a nice hardback signed with sprayed edges. Unfortunately I just didn't like the book. I got about 200 pages or so in, but I just have no interest in picking the book up to finish it.

There was little to no world building - in the world the book are based on gods are living being who ruled the world but the regular humans rebelled and wiped them out and took over. All that seems to be left were the gods children who were rounded up and put in prison like orphanages, and treated terribly.

The story starts with two teens escaping from one of these orphanages to find the girl of the duo's missing sister. The reader is just thrown in to the action and off it goes. There's a bit of flashback story telling to go into the history of how they got to where they were when the novel started, but I just didn't find myself caring or really connecting with any of the characters. Everything was kind of flat and to me felt unemotional and that made the story dull. Even when the escaping duo get involved with a group of rebels who oppose the way things are run. The point of view suddenly starts shifting and it's a whole different set of characters and histories introduced all of which are going to come together with the other plot.

I just don't have any interest in finding out anymore. So calling it quits on this one.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for approving my request to view the title.

I very rarely give books one star but I found The Orphanage of Gods so pointless I couldn't possibly give it anything else.

Plot: 1/5
Characters: 1/5
Writing: 2.5/5

The book was based in a world with gods and humans. The gods had silver blood and special abilities and the humans had red blood, however, the humans rebelled and killed many of the gods. They tried to wipe them out at all costs. At first I found the premise intriguing (I thought it was like an inverse Red Queen) but my interest quickly sputtered out.

The plot made no sense. Two gods, Hero and Joshua went to save their human friend Kestrel from the Guard. They saved her then ended up joining a rebel group and then lots of things happened but ultimately they all amounted to nothing and I finished the book with a pervasive feeling of disappointment.

I felt like the book had no direction. It took me here and there, up and down, side to side, over hills and under starry skies and then at the end of the day, nothing much happened or at least nothing worth caring about happened. Whilst I was reading I thought, 'This story is going somewhere, right?' and I kept thinking that thought until the very last page. Then I realised that unfortunately, the story was always going nowhere.

Furthermore, the book was split into three parts with three different points of view and I didn't understand why I was reading the story from those perspectives, especially because I couldn't care less about the characters and their motives. The second perspective was a ten-year-old girl called Raven who apparently was very special and was supposed to be in charge someday. I had no idea why her point of view was included because during the book she didn't do much.

The romance was unrealistic because Kestrel and Eliza had only known each other for a few days and they were suddenly throwing around declarations of love. Also, Eliza was a complete maniac and Kestrel seemed to not mind at all no matter what terrifying things she did.

In conclusion, I thoroughly disliked this book and I would love to have the hours I spent reading it refunded to me so I can spend them on a different book.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The book wasn't what I expected, there are 3 different narrators and the plot is a bit weird. I liked the writing style and most of the characters but the story moved quite fast from one plot point to the other and I found the ending didn't suit the book.

It took me ages to get into this book (actually, I did it on my third attempt), and I have no idea why. It wasn’t terrible, the beginning was sort of ‘standard’ (= nothing particularly off-putting), it read easily, there wasn’t anything stylistically bad in here, and there was a good chunk of the novel where I actually wanted to read, once I got past the first chapters. However, in the end, I wasn’t sure what the point really was in terms of the story and the characters’ evolution, and this is the kind of thing that is likely to make me forget ‘The Orphanage of Gods’ fairly soon.

I never connected with any of the characters for starters. Hero was somewhat likeable, but too whiny and dwelling on the same things over and over again. Joshua had no redeeming qualities that I can think of. Kestrel was OK but pretty much thrown in there as a puppet. Raven (who’s the narrator of the middle part, out of three) was supposed to be that super future leader, but she was 10 and didn’t do much (apart from being targeted), so that defeated the whole purpose. Eliza, well… it was very convenient that she could avoid many consequences thanks to her powers. The guards were just depicted as monsters and never anything else, and whenever another god or demi-god was somewhat likeable, they just got out of the picture sooner or later.

(Bonus point for same-gender relationship, which is a nice change; but as usual in suYA ch novels, it was insta-love and came out of the blue… so I guess that’s no bonus point, all in all.)

The ending was murky and left me unsatisfied. It felt both unavoidable (it was either that or just offing everyone, I guess) and like a cop-out, because so many things were unresolved at that point.

The Orphanage of Gods is not what I expected.  The Story is interesting has multiple elements and busy action scenes. 



The book is split into 3 different points of view:

Hero- Half God who has escaped from the orphanage.
Raven - Half God, 10 years old, groomed to leave the resistance for the Gods.
Kestrel - Mortal girl who grew up with Hero in the Orphanage. Hero saved from prison and she joins the resistance.  
By having 3 separate point of views it made it feel like its 3 separate stories with over lapping character. 

I found the history of how the Gods came about and the toppling of the Gods. It would be interesting to find out more about the emergence of the Gods.

Another element that I liked was the powers the Gods / Half God. Especially that they could have more than 1.

The end part of the book feels a little rushed, everything seems to come to a conclusion very quickly. It took me by surprise what happened at the final

I wanted to like the characters more, but the only one I really connected with is Hero. Her powers and kindness make you like her.

The Orphanage of Gods is an easy to read fantasy fiction. 



My rating for The Orphanage of Gods is 3.5 out of 5.

And this was just another case of intriguing premise, badly executed...
Based on its summary, I wanted to love ”Orphanage of Gods“. However, the plot was all over the place. The pacing was completely off, and the story itself at times very confusing and unclear.
I couldn’t connect to any of the characters either.
The writing itself was pretty simple and personally I wasn’t a fan of it.
In conclusion, ”Orphanage of Gods“ didn’t live up to its potential and left me utterly disappointed.

- DNF @ 50% -

The gods were nearly wiped out twenty years ago in a human revolution, and now their children are in an orphanage where they try to conceal their powers and silver blood from the Guard.
Hero has managed to finally escape from the orphanage with Joshua, but their friend, Kestrel, has been taken by the Guard.
Hero and Joshua travel north, intent on rescuing Kestrel. On the way, they cross paths with someone who has plans for them.
Will Hero and Joshua rescue Kestrel?

The blurb for The Orphanage of Gods intrigued me, but unfortunately this wasn't for me.
I didn't find the characters very interesting, despite the fact that some of them had powers. I thought they were a bit bland and I didn't care what happened to them.
I got on with the plot to begin with, but then I lost interest. Not much happened in what I read, and there didn't really seem to be a direction the plot was going in.
The writing style was okay, but it didn't grip me. I would have liked more world-building.
I'm disappointed that I didn't like this more, and I feel like it didn't reach its potential.

Overall, this wasn't for me.

First of all i love the cover!
The beginning is really engaging and you get thrown into the action. And this makes clear early in the beginning that the story focuses way more on plot, than being character driven.
Many people compared it to Strange the Dreamer, because of common themes, but sadly having Godspawn is the only common ground besides strong friendships i find.
But it is still a very enjoyable read with rich worldbuilding and a nice cast of characters.
3.75 stars

I was initially super engaged with this book and extremely emotionally invested in the characters. However, after the first change of narrator I found it a lot harder to stay interested. With the third and final narrator I began to recover some of my emotional investment, but not the way I'd had at the beginning. The plot had some unexpected twists, and the ultimate direction of the character arcs wasn't what I might have expected, making it more original and interesting. However, I'd have found it more compelling as a narrative if we'd stuck with one narrator throughout, even if it may have limited other perspectives within the story. I very much enjoyed the bond between Hero and Kestrel, though, and I liked how much of a focus there was on this, rather than the narrative fixating on the romance elements.

this book caught my eye mainly due to the cover, I mean it's truly eye-catching but then you hit the first page and the magic of this story dose grip you immensely from the world-building to the characters who literally feel like they're coming to life in front of you this book was beyond anything I could imagine and more, it quickly became one of my most loved books this year.

So the cover and premise for this are amazing. I was completely drawn in and really thought it would be something I enjoyed. And yes, I did get Strange the Dreamer vibes, but they only last so long before the story becomes something of its own.

I have to say I really didn’t connect with any of the characters. The main three being Hero, Joshua and Kestrel with another gang of characters that you meet during the course of the book. I just found that I didn’t connect with any of them and at some point during the book they all either disappear/die/resurrect and it becomes somewhat cheapened because almost the moment they are all back together something else happens and it’s back to only one/two of them participating in the story itself. There’s also the 10 year old protagonist in Raven, who supposedly is loved and adored by all but really she’s just slightly irritating (but then again she is incredibly young!).

The story has some huge time/location jumps. At the very start Hero and Joshua are travelling hundreds of miles to go and rescue their friend. This journey is repeated another time during the book and it happens in the course of a paragraph break, with no indicator of time passing. It became a bit difficult to keep up when the time passing changed constantly from minutes and seconds to days upon end, some kind of marker for this would have been helpful.

Also, no spoilers, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending. It didn’t quite wrap everything up and it just felt like a quick way to end the story.

I’m sad this didn’t work for me, but I just didn’t connect with the characters as well as I would have liked.

I requested this book as I was very interested in the blurb and this book didn't disappoint. This book has a lot goin on including drama and politics and I love a fantasy with those two things in, unfortunately however some aspects of the book could of had more time spent on them then others and this gave me a different view on the book but never the less it didn't put me off completely.
The main characters are mainly the children of Gods, and I feel like this was a very interesting aspect to a book as usually books like this focus more on the Gods then their children so this made me like the book a lot more. Each child had a backstory, and these defiantly set the characters up and made them the characters they are. The characters were very interesting and even though a couple of relationships in the book were slightly confusing and hard to get my head around I still enjoyed reading about them all.
It was really interesting to learn about the children and all their different powers they possessed. Nothing seemed to flow as nicely as it should have and I was always sort of caught off guard when things started happening. The downside to this book is that the relationships between the characters was to quick and made things a little confusing and it took me a little time to come round to it all and some of those parts were defiantly more rushed than others.