Reviews

The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin

eclipse799's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

tregina's review against another edition

4.0

I was a little overwhelmed by this book, in the good way. The scope of it was as small as a human relationship and as large as the universe all at once, and you felt it, which is what made it all work.

What the author always does so well, and this is no small thing, is make us understand how alien the gods are. They do not think or understand or see the world the way mortals do. They are capricious and impulsive. They don't make decisions the way a mortal would make decisions. And yet in many ways they feel the things we do; they have to, in order for us to relate to them as a reader. This is an extremely fine line, and she treads it masterfully. You are never—never—entirely sure what you're going to get.

I wish I could give half stars. I would probably give this a 4.5. There are plot holes and loose ends and things I would have liked to see more or less of, but I'm left with a real sense of satisfaction in its wake.

calecrawford's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

outcolder's review against another edition

4.0

The ancient god of childhood losing his grip is an excellent premise. I was uncomfortable though with all the casual threats of murder and the many appeals to a Hobbesian worldview.

nikkilong22's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

prishukla's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Really enjoyed this as a finale to the series & really love this novel from my favorite character's perspective (Sieh) and their growth journey. Really loved this series overall & the short story at the end!

wolfblade's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

_liesl_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I’m ngl, I had a really tough time getting into this book. I think it’s because I’m just really not a fan of the trope where a main character loses their powers. So it took me weeks to actually finish this. In the end, Sieh is still one of my favourite characters from the inheritance trilogy, and this book’s rating got increased by 1 star because of the ending, which I loved. It really wraps this series up well and solved practically all of the questions that I had previously. I will definitely be reading this trilogy again though, definitely a favourite of mine from now on.

karlbarx's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

benjaminj1996's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The first third of this book was really intriguing and gripping, as was the final third - and the ending was phenomenal. Unfortunately, the middle third failed multiple times to sustain my interest. But the book as a whole was still great. 

 

It’s a very long book with a lot going on - most of this feels planned and tied up beautifully in the end, however there are some moments in the middle that feel a little bit strange and perhaps unnecessary. Another problem I had was that the pacing is very inconsistent - perhaps necessarily so due to the nature of the plot. But sometimes there is a time jump within one paragraph of multiple years - other times there are very slow moments with lots of ideas. This is fine, but slightly disconcerting at times. 

 

But the book is nothing if not ambitious - every single book in this series has massively built on the previous one to form an epic narrative with some great and thoughtful themes. In this one the levels of depth are probably more than I could get my head around. I suppose this might be why I didn’t quite resonate as well with some parts in the middle. 

 

Overall though, and especially considering the ending, there are genius levels of writing at play here