The Isles of the Gods is the first book in a new fantasy series following Selly, who gets forced to join a voyage across the seas to the uncharted Isles of the Gods in order to help Prince Leandor of Alinor complete a sacred ritual. What was supposed to be an easy journey soon leads to treason, bringing two countries on the brink of war and the threat of two dangerous gods raising from a 500-year slumber.

This is the first solo Amie Kaufman I've read and the first taste of fantasy from her, and it did not disappoint. The whole concept of old sleeping Gods waking up to start a war was exciting and left me interested in learning more.

On top of this, the characters had so much depth and relatability, which I found refreshing for a YA fantasy (it's been lacking for me lately).

I've seen people complaining about the pacing being slow, and while I did feel that way in the beginning, it didn't feel like a chore for me. The slow pacing felt natural for the course of the plot, and there were plenty of exciting moments thrown in along the way to keep me reading long after I should have put it down. I actually found myself feeling like the pacing was perfect for the plot of the book.

The ending definitely left me intrigued to continue and my only complaint is that with it being an ARC, I now I have longer to wait to read the next book and rejoin these characters on the next part of their journey!

A swashbuckling adventure mostly set at sea, full of magic, god's and religious zealots.

I don't often read fantasy but who can resist a gorgeous cover and a talented writer. As such I will admit this took me longer to read than usual but most likely that's just my reading pace for fantasy.

Amie Kaufman has done a fantastic job of creating a fantasy landscape that is easy to follow and interesting to read about. She spreads out the world building throughout the novel so there is no info dumping (which I hate in fantasy). And it's brilliantly and subtly done, I hardly noticed how quickly this world came together in my head.

The characters were so well written, and the motivations were clear. I felt deeply for selly and I was continually annoyed by Leander for his blasè reactions but even he had redeemable features.

All in all I'd highly recommend this novel and I can't wait for it to come out!

When i think of AK, i think of sci-fi collaborations. so i was really interested in reading a fantasy story written by just her. and i think this is a success!

the concept of old sleeping gods waking up to start a war is always a winner when it comes to fantasy. i had fun with the majority of the story taking place at sea and thought it was a very fitting atmosphere for both the characters and plot. the characters themselves have a lot of depth to them, the plot is engaging, and the writing is just so lovely and fluid.

the only thing that lessened my reading experience was the slow pacing. this is a pretty decent length novel with multiple POVs and an entire storyline taking place over only 2-3 days, so all that made it feel super slow. so much page time is spent setting the scene, building the world, and developing the characters. and its done really well! but as a plot person, i just prefer more than exposition, especially for a first book in the series.

but if you enjoy character-driven fantasies about warring gods and appreciate AKs storytelling, then look no further! i have a feeling this series is going to be one of her best.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher!

4.5 stars. This feels like the start of the next big fantasy action series that everyone is going to be invested in, and I'm so honoured that I was there at the start of it all!

A playboy prince, a girl raised on the sea, an irritated bookworm, sleeping gods and set mainly at sea... Sign me up!

Selly has had enough of waiting around for her father to return home and so plans to make her own way to him but all her plans are dashed when a handsome (mostly) stranger boards her ship. They embark on a dangerous mission: to cross the Crescent Sea in order to complete a ritual on the sacred Isles of the Gods. But what should be a simple cruise to a secret island turns into an epic adventure bringing two countries to the brink of war and waking dangerous gods from their centuries of slumber...

As soon as I read the blurb for this book I knew it was one I had to read. I enjoyed the multiple POV and thought the mix of characters was great. There was great banter between Leander and Selly and I thought Keegan added a really good balance. The ending is a cliff hanger and has me desperate for book two already!

The only reason this gets 4 and not a 5 from me is the pacing, this book was almost 500 pages and yet the storyline was only over a few days. I get that this is setting the scene for the series and developing the characters but I think there could have been a bit shorter.

Thank you @rocktheboatnews for my review copy.

Such an adventurous, action-packed fantasy story taking places across countries, and seas, with a mixed bag of narrators. It takes a little time to get used to the five narrators of this book and their places in the story but it wasn’t long before we knew who we were rooting for and I was on the edge of my seat for so much of this book. It’s fun, flirty and magical - what more could you possibly need? Although a few of the twists and turns were a little predictable, this was still an all-consuming read with cannons and shipwrecks and moral dilemmas. The characters came to life on these pages, their emotions giving realism to the story that had me laughing and crying (not usually at the same time).

I loved joining them on their adventures, even filled with desperation for the down-on-their-luck trio to beat the baddies. I’ve officially been left wanting more and can’t wait to see what happens next. Hoping I get more of my Leander and Selly fix because roguish princes and cranky sailors are definitely my jam.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

This had all the signs of being a really good book but kinda fell flat to me. I wanted more from this book but sadly had to punch the way through the slow pacing and the flood of same-y characters.

I really liked the premise of this book and I will say, the setting on the sea was *chefs kiss* - someone find me more pirate books, please.
I liked some of the characters but the issue I had was that they all read the same. To be honest, Jude’s point of view was completely just there for filler and didn’t add anything to the story. I really didn’t think the multiple perspectives worked for this story.
I wanted more romance and/or emotional connections. I don’t necessarily think a good fantasy needs a romance but there needs to be some emotional tether for me to actually care about the stakes or the characters and it felt like this was missing for me.
I hated the pacing of this book. This is really what stopped my enjoyment for it and brought the book down a lot.

Overall, something I wouldn’t pick up again or recommend but could see it appealing to new fantasy readers.

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you One World Publications and NetGalley for the arc of Isle of the Gods by Amie Kaufman in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

A whole new world of adventure, myth, fantasy, gods and magic. Amie Kaufman once again delivers a fantastic world, built on a history of a family of gods who turn to war between sibling gods and the peoples, and history that sprung from them.

Kaufman introduces a magic system that combines the elements with sacrifice and throws a sailor, a scholar and a prince into a world on the cusp of war, and the adventures, obstacles and challenges that they must face, together and separately.

The book is told from multiple POVs but, this is handled well, doesn’t create confusion, and provides perspective that is key to the plot and pace of the story. The book is well paced, laying the foundations of the world building and gradually picking up the pace steadily until the final third of the book, that explodes!

Thus is a great read that Zi totally couldn’t put down - I read it on my flight home and never has a flight gone by so quickly! If only the wait for the next book in the series was so fast!

Fantasy fantasy full of adventure and magic. The world building in this book is absolutely fantastic and I loved all the details described. The plot had a good steady pace but the last third was definitely filled with a lot more action. I read this book in one day as once I started I couldn’t put it down. The POV switches a fair bit between characters which does take some getting used to but I love that you get different characters perspectives. The book follows the adventures of a sailor, a prince and a scholar who are thrown together and must overcome obstacles to complete a quest whilst being targeted by an enemy. I love that this book didn’t focus solely on romance but have us lovely little hints of what I hope develops in the next book.
I really enjoyed the authors writing style and found it easy to follow. I’d definitely love to read more from this author.

I’m most certainly looking forward to the next book in the series after that ending it can’t come soon enough.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I've loved all Kaufman's sci-fi collaborations so I was interested to read a pure fantasy story by her. This held many elements dear to my heart - old gods waking up, seafaring adventure, a young protagonist questing for identity. Overall this was a very enjoyable start to a new series even for someone like me who is really not in the target audience.

A sailor, a prince, a scholar. Unlikely allies, but forced together by circumstance to embark on a quest to strengthen a God and stop a war. No pressure.

This is a roaring fantasy full of magic and adventure (and a smidge of romance). The POV switches around alot, which was hard to follow at the beginning. However, once I got to know the characters it was a brilliantly written book! And the kind of book where I really need the sequel now - that ending was *chef's kiss*

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.