The Gods Below is the first book in the Hollow Covenant series, from the author of the amazing The Drowning Empire trilogy. Set in a new world with a new cast of character, this was a fantastic introduction to this new series. The characters are all well written, the plot is compelling throughout and the world is an interesting one. The world building was definitely one of my favourite things about this book. I would definitely recommend checking this out.

After taking weeks to get through 3 chapters, I've decided this isn't for me. The characters and the writing are not gripping me.

I loved Andrea Stewart’s previous trilogy, The Drowned Empire and so I was really looking forward to reading this first volume in her new fantasy series.
As before, Andrea Stewart excels in creating a new world for the reader to explore. The world here is huge with many different lands and gods who are certainly taking an active interest and involving themselves in what is happening.
The story opens with Kakara and her sister who are eking out a precarious existence in a land that is almost a wasteland. The land is about to be restored by the god Kluehnn however restoration results in many of the lands’ inhabitants being transformed into what might be seen as monsters and so is an event to be feared as much as welcomed.
The story is told through multiple POV and we see different aspects of the world through each of their eyes. As is generally the case with multi POV books, I enjoyed some of the stories more than others. I enjoyed Kakara’s POV the most and that was certainly the one with the most action. She also had the best partner too in the huge mountain of a man Thassir. Possibly I loved him so much because he loves cats and hates anyone who is unkind to them.
I loved the world building and the magic system of gems that could give god-like powers. The idea of a magic system that involves being able to hold your breath is an imaginative idea and Kakara’s skill in this was echoed for me when I watched some of the artistic swimming at the recent Olympic Games and was amazed by how long the swimmers were able to hold their breath underwater while still performing a routine. The fact that the magic is forbidden to humans is also something that I really enjoyed. It’s always good when the characters have to break the rules.

My main difficultly with this book was the sheer number of different POV that we were introduced to very early on. I felt that I was moving onto different characters and situations before I had really got a hold on the POV that I was reading about. As well as Kakara and her sister, Rasha, we have 3 other POV who each have their own storyline. This constant changing early on in the novel made it difficult for me to engage with the characters and there were days when I put the book down and read something else which is very rare for me and not a good sign for the book in question.
I did go back to it and enjoyed the novel as a whole but it was a struggle to keep going at some points. Hopefully, now that everyone is established and the world building done, the next instalment will move more quickly and I will feel more connection to the characters. I am certainly looking forward to seeing where Andrea Stewart takes the story next.
Three and a half stars rounded up to four.
I am very grateful to Net Galley and the publishers, Little Brown Book Group for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This is very clearly book one in a series - it takes a while to set things up (understandable) and leaves a lot of questions and hooks that may or may not play out well later.

Through multiple POVs, we follow the story of the separated sisters Hakara and Rasha - as well as the story of a dying and partially restored world. It has a magic system that for now looks coherent if maybe not exactly easy or efficient to use, a religious cult whose members actually get to meet their god on a regular basis, some politicking among the elite of the yet-to-be-restored part of the world, and mysteries galore about the nature of gods and the way the world works.

I don’t necessarily appreciate the multiple POVs, especially when they switch so often, but here the scale of the story justifies it; whether or not it will turn out to work in the end remains to be seen. Book one was mostly a fast and easy read, though some things were predictable enough (Thassir’s origins, for example, despite the red herring thrown in later in the story, or the fact that Mitoran is not who she says she is). I can’t say I got invested in any of the characters very much, as I’m way more interested in what the author has planned for the cosmic-level world building, but I’m okay with that so long as they stay consistent. That said, I didn’t care for romantic subplots much: Rasha’s seemed a bit rushed, but at least it’s more balanced than Hakara’s [SPOILER I’m just not into god/human ships, okay. Call it an old woman’s concern about unrealistically large experience and power gap].

On the subject of what else was sort of meh, I would point out some excessive repetitiveness in both internal monologue and dialogues, which just slowed the story down, and some interactions that honestly were just not clear. A good example is a conversation between Thassir and Hakara that happens later in the book. It is positioned as a fight of the kind after which people go their separate ways, and I actually had to reread it to a) figure out what was going on with Hakara’s motivation and how she got there; b) why the basically single accusatory thing she said was supposedly so hurtful, especially to someone who has barely started becoming her friend. These kinds of things are jarring, and if more of them surface in the later books, it would certainly have an impact on the overall enjoyment from the story, which, on balance, was a pretty fun read for me.

Overall, rounded up to 4 & looking forward to the sequels.

3.5☆


Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.


I'm going to preface this with how much I loved the author's Bone Shard series. Whilst her new series has promise, the first novel is not on the same level, unfortunately. 


Having said that however, I will keep going with the series as if the threads begun in The Gods Below follow the same plot structure as The Bone Shard series, these separate threads will come together in lster books, intertwining into an epic ending.


The reasons I'm unable to give this higher centres around a few points. First, let's discuss the things this novel does well. The world. It feels original, well constructed, and intriguing in many aspects. There's enough mystery embedded in the world that I will return for this, however, if you haven't read the author's earlier series and know her writing style, i can see why this alone would not be enough for you. Additionally, the magic system has some unique aspects but also sometl that I'm not totally on board with. 


The magic system involves drawing/summoning aether (magic) from below the ground. The deeper, the more powerful, to be breathed in, giving certain users powers is pretty cool. Holding ones breath to keep hold of that power is also a pretty interesting limitation. The part that doesn't work as well for me is that usually this is poisonous to mortals unless they 1. Swallow god gems (mined from the earth, where they aether is) and 2. They infuse inside, allowing the aether to give them powers. It reminds me of Mistborn, and I'm just not really sure this bit is needed/works. It certainly isn't as rounded as the bone shard magic system. I also didn't really understand where the gems actually come from or how they are formed, which left a whole in the relatively hard magic system for me.


Further to this, the actual powers gained aren't all that varied/spectacular, and our main protangonist Hakara primarily just uses them for super strength to hit things, which isn't particularly inspiring. I wanted to see some more unique powers to this series, if I'm honest.


The second part I took issue with is that every romantic entaglemnt is same-sex. I have no problem with some of this, but every single one? Seems unrealistic/unbalanced and I couldn't quite follow how essentiallly one night stands, that happen with a few hours of meeting one another, seem to progress into all encompassing love in the blink of an eye. I'm not a huge fan of romance in fantasy novels as it is. They often don't work, and the lack of build hinders the believability of it and distracts from the main plot for me.


Finally, there are several povs, similar to The Bone Shard. The difference here is twofold. There's too many too early, with Naionen's earlier ones playing no part in the story until the last 15%. I like to really get to know the main characters of the books and understand their thoughts, motivations, and the complexities of their decisions. This is challenging to achieve with so many in so short a novel. I actually ended up wanting a lot more of Mullayne and his quest than I did of Hakara and Rasha by the end, and he is a side character hut at least with clear motivations and difficult decisions to make. Perhaps this makes him a little more relatable and, therefore, more interesting to read. Consequently, the plot suffers as a side character's became more interesting than the main focus of the novel. 


Sheuan I loved in the beginning. However, she quickly becomes one dimensional after her one night stand/romantic entaglement mentioned earlier, resulting in myself hurrying through, hoping Mullayne's chapter was next


Now, I fully expect Stewart's next entry in the series will surpass this for two reasons. Firstly, I think we will get to know the characters more, and they will 'flesh out' with more chapters, making them less one dimensional and consequentky more intriguing. We also got some interesting reveals that made the plot more engaging in the final 10% of the book. This is a big reason why I can't award more than 3.5, however. The plot, outside Mullayne, doesn't engage enough because I can't feel invested in the characters without the necesary depth - the number of characters here requires considerably more chapters in my opinion in order to achieve said character depth and a reader's emotional investment in them. 


Furthermore, in book 2, i think more of the mystery of the world will be revealed (and it is a refreshingly different fantasy world) and the plot threads will further intertwine, giving us character development and hopefully more investment in the characters' journeys. Right now, they feel very single-minded. Hakara wants to find her sister, Rasha wants to belong, Sheuan wants to save her clan, Mullayne wants to save imeahand follow in Tolemne's path. That's it for character depth, sadly.


This book was ultimately a book I was happy to complete as it is a decent novel, it's the characters' depth and the romantic aspects need further developmeyn to make the plot really engaging and grab a reader's emotional investment. Stewart is more than capable of this, based on her debut fantasy seties, so I will absolutely be on board for book 2.

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the ARC.

Ultimately, The Gods Below was simply not for me. DNF @ 37% — I gave it a shot for 20 chapters and was still bored from the plot and not interested enough to keep dragging myself through it. There were multiple POV chapters, of which only one I was even mildly intrigued by: Hakara, whose goal is to find her estranged sister separated from her ten years ago. I definitely can see the *potential* of the story's premise of rebelling against a self-proclaimed One True God and having your world and selves molded according to said god's whim, and I acknowledge that Andrea Stewart is playing the long game of building up this world and all the respective politics in each region/perspective. It is a shame that I was unable to reach the crux of the story where, hopefully, things would escalate far more rapidly than it did in the first 20 chapters, but my lack of enjoyment with this proved too much to force myself with the slog.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for my digital review copy.

I enjoyed this, even if the pacing felt on the slow side for the majority of this book.

I forget how seamless Steward blends all the POVs together (especially how she uses both first and third person to differentiate the different voices.) I didn't have a difficult time at all discerning who I was with whilst I was reading.

Due to the number of POVs, it felt like a slower paced book, as you spent time with everyone setting up their view of the world, which can feel satisfying when done right, but when I finished, I found that I wished there was slightly more development happening so I could guess where we will go next.

I know this is a completely separate world to Stewart's other trilogy so it took me a while to remember that they were completely separate worlds. I do love how Stewart writes magic systems and this has to be one of the highlights for me.

I love how there's a character with a soft spot for cats in this! As there was one in The Drowned Empire and I'm glad there's one in this!

I know I was the most invested in Rasha and Sheuan but that's because I am more invested in the sapphics.

I am excited to see where this goes next as I felt like this book was setting up what's to come in the next one.

I received this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this book. The concept and plot were brilliant. Two sisters, the oldest fighting to get back to her younger sister who had to figure out her place in a new world and become independent. The world itself was creative, the gods, godkillers, gems and cats. The history and snippets from then were so intriguing. Also, the writing was good, it flowed well, the use of description was appropriate, not too much to take my attention off the story and make me want to skim, and not too little to leave me blind. To be honest, all of these things kept me reading.

The foundations were solid but the construction was flawed. Hakara is desperate to get to her sister and maybe it was because the character pov changed so often, but I just didn't feel it in my gut. There was something missing. Her character fell a bit flat for me.
Rasha just annoyed me. She basically gave up on her sister, never mind didn't even consider going back for her even though she had been altered and would probably have no issues. She just decided that she was going to devote herself and risk her life to be a godkiller. Then she had the audacity to be pissed with hakara.
Mull - why did he have a pov other than to highlight a historic event and poke holes and confirm theories? That and his masks.
Thassir was an intriguing character. Dark, brooding, likes cats (really appreciated the connection between the past and present there) but other than showing up and helping hakara, he was also flat. There was minimal chemistry between him and hakara, she used him like a tool she was vaguely attracted to.
Sheuan was another interesting character, giving another view into the workings of this world, hakara highlighting those who have nothing, just trying to survive, and through her the unanointed. Sheuan was born into a clan, although her clan was in decline and out of favour with the sovereign after her father had been caught embezzling. Her journey and adventure was by far the most exciting, coupling political intrigue and adventure. She was the character I was most invested in. The f/f aspect was very well written and her attraction was more believable than hakara and thassir.

The twists and turns were well thought out and extremely enjoyable but to get to them there were a lot of flat characters and everything was so dire all the time, there was very little let up from the sense of doom. I couldn't seem to become invested in the characters so I struggled with this book even though I enjoyed the world, it's rules and everything else that came with it. There was a lot in this book but nothing was every really duelved into, everything was quite shallow. I did enjoy this book and I'm grateful that I had a chance to read it.

I've read some mixed reviews for this and I find myself almost sitting slap bang in the middle of them all. The world, execution and writing style were all brilliantly done, however I don't feel the characters were as well built as I would have liked.

Let's start off with the bit's I loved, because they far outweighed the bad when it comes to this first in a new series. I had absolute faith in Stewart's world building based on her previous series, and she certainly doesn't skimp in this one. After a war broke the world, a man went to bargain with the God's to save humanity, and only one answered. Now that God, Kluehnn, asks for regular tributes of magical gems to help build his power, and in return he is gradually transforming each land. But all wishes come with a price, and the price of transforming the land, is a transformation of the people also, at least the ones who survive. Those who do survive the process wake up wholly changed, taller, stronger, with horns and scales and many other changes.

It's a brutal world, one where people both pray for transformation, and also wish that it didn't have to come for them. A world filled with God's, god's who are hunted to cement Kluehnn's power, God's whose only crime was living. Stewart brilliantly builds the world to life, and her opening few chapters really show the emotional impact of transformation, especially for those who aren't worshipers of Kluehnn, those who simply want to survive, as well as allowing us insight into the time before the breaking, when Kluehnn was just coming into his power, and seeing the other God's trying their best to stop him from total control.

The story is told from multiple POV's, Hakara, Rasha, Sheuan, Mullayne & Nioanen. Hakara, Rasha & Sheuan were definitely the main POV's, the one's we spend the most time with and the ones who have the most impact on the story, with Nioanen used to throw us back to the time before the breaking, a time when God's had only just started to be hunted. Mullayne... I really don't see what he added to the story. There were certain things he brought to light, but I do feel these will become more important as the story progresses. Hakara was definitely my favourite of the characters and, apart from Sheuan, the only one I felt was reasonably well developed. We meet her at a pivotal part in her life, one that quickly becomes traumatic and that trauma follows her for the rest of the story. She is someone with only one goal in life, to go back to her kingdom and find out if Rasha, her little sister survived the transformation. She's feisty, not afraid to push when it's needed, nor is she afraid of stepping on any toes, not if it gets her back to her sister quicker. Not only was she the best developed of the characters, but her POV added the most depth to the world, as well as introduced us to some pretty pivotal characters.

All in all though, the characters were severely underdeveloped. There were so many emotional aspects, high action scenes that should have had me emotional, on the edge of my seat, and for a few I was, but for the most part I struggled to find myself caring enough about them. I almost feel she used this book, and the characters to focus more on the building of the world, than the characters themselves, which was a little disappointing because they had a lot of potential. I have faith that Stewart will develop them more in the next book, but their lack of strength made some of the plot points, the romance in particular seem overly rushed. I will say that despite all that, the characters all had their own, strong distinct voices that made them stand out from one another.

Normally, a book with this lack of character development wouldn't be a win at all for me, which just shows the strength of Stewart's writing and storytelling because I never once found myself bored or tempted to DNF. Her ability to draw you into her worlds is truly spectacular, and her writing style is descriptive and propulsive enough to ensure you get stuck in quickly. Maybe my expectations were too high, after all I loved her previous series, I just felt I didn't click with this one as easily. All that being said, by the end I was fully invested in the story and despite having quite a few questions I am absolutely eager to get my hands on the next book and see where the story takes me.

Thank you to Orbit, NetGalley and author Andrea Stewart for this eARC

When I tell you I screamed when I got approved for this ARC! I was so excited to get to read it and fall in love with it!
But I have to be honest here, once I started reading, insta-love it was not.

The worldbuilding is phenomenal. It's unique and so well thought out.
The magic system is interesting and new - if also very impractical.
The story is classic fantasy with some real life issues incorperated.
Where The Gods Below sadly lost points for me was the characters. The characterization fell flat, and the characters felt more like archetypes of the genre rather than fully formed people. There were so many characters/POVs but I didn't connect to any of them and felt no emotional investment in their story, except maybe Nioane.
I still enjoyed the book immensely because of it's other aspects, but it will not be a new favorite as I had hoped.
3.75 stars

I am familiar with this authors work before and i was a little bit scared to start a new series which is on a new world and new characters but the author nailed it. I really enjoyed this book and how the author depicted every single thing in this book. There are multiple POVs and how the stories join together and develop the world and plot is simply masterful. The way she handles a large cast of POVs, each one messy, unique and human (even the gods) will never not be a thrill. While there's a lot of worldbuilding and lore to get across it's done deftly and without losing focus on the elements that sing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Andrea Stewart has delivered again, I absolutely loved The Drowning Empire and was anxious at the concept of a new world, but I need not have worried. The world-building is epic, detailed and full of messy characters. There are multiple POVs and how the stories join together and develop the world and plot is simply masterful. The stakes are so high in this book, it’s an actual whirlwind to read but in the best way. In this book there is a lot of action, political intrigue, magic, Gods and cats. There are also side romances, some I enjoyed but one I felt was a bit insta love/lust for me personally, but I appreciated the adding in of a bit of romance as a break from everything else. We do get some animal companions in the form of cats, this added lighter elements into the story and really balanced it out. I can’t say I had a favourite character as I enjoyed all the POV and that is rare! Definitely a book I would recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Andrea Stewart is an auto-read for me, after the gorgeous Drowning Empire trilogy, and this book absolutely continues that trend. The way she handles a large cast of POVs, each one messy, unique and human (even the gods) will never not be a thrill. While there's a lot of worldbuilding and lore to get across it's done deftly and without losing focus on the elements that sing.

Going in to this book, I knew I was going to have a blast no matter what (as I previously also loved The Emperor's Daughter by the author) but I didn't expect myself to really breeze through it! I started this on Saturday and got halfway in and devoured the last half in two days.

This book has all the elements that I loved from the The Bone Shard Daughter (and the rest of the series): strong (and I can't help but love even though I know they're a mess) characters - with of course one of the characters having a fondness for animals (this time, cats); strong worldbuilding; and also a captivating storyline. I definitely enjoyed some of the characters' POV more than the rest but I was so excited to read through each knowing that their paths will intertwine with each other eventually and how it will go. I loved the little romance that was sprinkled into this but honestly it wasn't a big thing and I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed it less if they weren't there.

I will definitely be tuning in to the second one. Thank you to Orbit UK and Netgalley for approving me of an ARC.

This book is amazing! I am a huge fan of Andrea's work and I was so excited about this new trilogy. The Gods Below is brilliant and fans will not be disappointed . This is the perfect epic fantasy, full of stakes and romance and the most incredible worldbuilding. I can't wait for the next one! I loved it!

I was in love with The Drowning Empire series so it should be no surprise that I was over the moon when Andrea announced a new series. I was not disappointed!

We spend a bit of time with Hakara and Rasha before the restoration and separation but they're just kids then. 15 and 9 years old. After that point we're ahead to ten years later and Hakara is causing trouble in a way only she can and to be fair she is very good at it.

I would say the story doesn't really start until Hakara joins the Unanointed because this is when we really get to see kick off and more of the world. We meet Thassir, who is so cat obsessed he makes me look reasonable (my cats have their own IG for a point of reference), plus the head of The Unanointed, and the team that is made up of a bruiser, arbour, wasp and vine. I actually really liked this quartet of roles and when things go wrong, the constant need to keep the four roles balanced adds a layer to the motivations in breaking the God Pact. As always, Andrea is excellent about giving us enough background about the supporting characters that you just want to know more.

Our other POVs are Rasha, Sheuan, Mullayne and some flashbacks to Nioanen. Rasha was great. Sheuan…I have some mixed feelings about. I like her character but I didn’t always get everything that came with it. And it’s really hard to talk about that without spoiling too much but I will say, I’m not sure I get her as a love interest for the character she connects with. That said I really liked her character, her duty to family vs her own path, and taking control of things for herself. Mullayne is by far the character that is going to shake things up the most despite not having tons of page time and not interacting with our core cast of characters. I have a strong feeling his POV is going to be crucial going ahead, and I cannot wait.

Niaonen’s POV is our flashback POV. This is when we’re about a decade after the Shattering, the war with the gods is under way, his fellow gods are falling and he is trying to stay safe and hidden with Irael, a shapeshifting god. Again, I can’t talk too much about this character without spoilers but safe to say, this was another solid POV.

I have high hopes for this new trilogy and with everything I’ve come to expect from Andrea’s works, I know it will get weird, emotional and be oh so satisfying to have gone through when it comes to an end.

Andrea Stewart has done it again. I honestly am just in awe with the way Andrea creates and weaves her tales. Andrea just creates such incredible worlds and I know every time I pick up one of her tales, I'm going to get a unique and engaging world.

The Gods Below is the first in a new epic trilogy, filled with magic, loyalty and rebellion and a unique god system.

Mortals burned the world and turned to the gods to help, only one answered and demanding a steep price to restore the land, transforming each realm one at a time. One of our MC tries to escape with her younger sister, however tragedy spilts up the sisters and they end up on differing sides of the struggle for freedom.

I adored this book so much, the characters, the exploration of consequences of power. I cannot wait for the next tale in this series.

Interesting concept with Gods and transformed humans through “Restoration”. There was some political intrigue and divisions between realms due to this restoration. This wasn’t really explained, but hoping that as the trilogy progresses it will become clearer. The magic system was fairly unique, if not fully realised yet. There are gaps in knowledge that will likely be explained later, but the magic gems were interesting and the idea of ingesting the magic to gain certain traits when not breathing created a level of tension to the magic use.

I really liked Hakara and Rasha; it was an very enjoyable dynamic between sisters, but I was rather disappointed with the resolution of their conflict. I did like their dual timeline and thought the multi pov was well done. I particularly liked how the author was able to create natural crossovers between the interwoven characters and provided a different perspective to the narrative. The main god, Kluehnn, had a cannibalism scene that was rather odd and there was a lack of explanation about why he is consuming other gods - for power, magic, just because, who knows? Again this might end up being a large plot point but was brushed over rather quickly here,

Overall, this wasn’t inherently bad but it was disappointing. I’m not a fan, because I don’t feel like it fully committed to any direction and tried to do too many things half heartedly. I think the concept was interesting and may appeal to a younger audience even if it isn’t necessarily marketed as a YA novel.

Having never read Andrea Stewart, I was unsure what to expect but this was a great novel from beginning to end.

I loved the world building but there were some aspects of the magic system that I found confusing in places. I loved Rasha and Hakara's POVs the most, and spent the whole book desperate for them to reunite, which sadly fell a little flat. However, I think this first instalment has set up nicely for what will hopefully be a great series