This is my first Amie Kaufman book so I had no idea what to expect beyond its summary. I was relative pleased with the story though! It was based heavily on the seas which is a setting I’ve really come to love and enjoy. The world-building alongside it was spectacular too. It was amazingly done down to the very sights of the other ships and the places they travel through. It helped to truly get immersed in with the characters and what they went through also as if blending in alongside them while they traveled the Port Naranda and voyaged to the Isles of the Gods.

On to the characters though. I think I have a strong unpopular opinion here when I say that I enjoyed every character- even Laskia. Leander had to grow on me though. He was about every inch full of himself and arrogant, and I definitely had to see more of his backstory before coming around to eventually liking him.

On the side of sacrifices though, what Selly and Keegan went through and gave up easily made them on the higher side of my favorites list. Especially for Keegan who just unfortunately was on the wrong ship at the wrong time, getting himself roped into something larger than he could’ve imagined. Selly also lost a lot, yet continuously moved forward and forward- displaying the strength she had and yet also showing her flaws from that constant self-push.

The characters were pretty well done and I loved seeing their changes, their growth and declines with how they chose to handle what was thrown to them.

This book has a few typical tropes of it, and the romance arc was all sweet and cute- I personally just felt it was pushed a bit suddenly from a gradual warming up to each other to suddenly relying on one another. Still though, it was a sweet thing to see unravel.

There are a lot of places in the book like this, however. For the most part, it has a slow moving pace considering everything happens in the span of some days. The beginning was especially slow as it was the introduction to the magic system, to the divinity system, and to the characters. Even then, I liked the pace as it didn’t throw everything to you at once. You get snippets throughout and in ways that doesn’t seem like information dumps.

‘The Isles of the Gods’ was a book to win me over when I wasn’t expecting it to. From its maritime descriptions to its slumbering gods who still demand prayers and gifts, Amie Kaufman’s latest release has me excited for what’s next! I can’t wait to see the aftermath of what’s happened in book one and see how it goes for the characters in book two!