Review: Spells For Forgetting by Adrienne Young (#Ad)

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Spells For Forgetting by Adrienne Young

Published: 27th September 2022 | Publisher: Quercus | Source: NetGalley
Adrienne Young’s Website

From the New York Times bestselling author comes an evocative, compelling novel of ancestral magic, an unsolved murder, and a second chance at true love.

‘There were tales that only the island knew. Ones that had never been told. I knew, because I was one of them.’

Emery Blackwood’s life was forever changed on the eve of her high school graduation, when the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her best friend, Lily. She’d once dreamt of running away with August, eager to escape the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and chase new dreams together. Now, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence among this tight-knit community steeped in folklore and tradition, ruled by the seasons and ancient superstitions.

But when August returns after fourteen years to bury his mother’s ashes, Emery must confront her first love and the reason he left so abruptly. But the town wants August gone again. And as the island begins to show signs of strange happenings, the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises threatens to reveal the truth behind Lily’s death once and for all. From The StoryGraph.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features recreational drug use, sex shaming, sex scenes - one semi-vague & one not overly detailed, death of a parent, arson, a person being burnt in a fire, alcoholism, child abuse - violent, and domestic violence.

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Review: Not Good For Maidens by Tori Bovalino (#Ad)

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Not Good For Maidens by Tori Bovalino

Published: 12th September 2022 | Publisher: Titan Books | Source: Publisher
Tori Bovalino’s Website

Salem's Lot meets The Darkest Part of the Forest in this horror-fantasy retelling of Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market.

They'll lure you in with fruit and gems and liquor and dancing, merriment to remember for the rest of your life. But that's an illusion. The market is death itself.

Beneath the streets of York, the goblin market calls to the Wickett women -- the family of witches that tends to its victims. For generations, they have defended the old cobblestone streets with their magic. Knowing the dangers, they never entered the market -- until May Wickett fell for a goblin girl, accepted her invitation, and became inextricably tied to the world her family tried to protect her from. The market learned her name, and even when she and her sister left York for Boston to escape it, the goblins remembered.

Seventeen years later, Lou, May's niece, knows nothing of her magical lineage or the twisted streets, sweet fruits, and incredible jewels of the goblin market. But just like her aunt, the market calls to her, an echo of a curse that won't release its hold on her family. And when her youngest aunt, Neela, is kidnapped by goblins, Lou discovers just how real and dangerous the market is.

To save her, both May and Lou will have to confront their family's past and what happened all those years ago. But everything -- from the food and wares, to the goblins themselves -- is a haunting temptation for any human who manages to find their way in. And if Lou isn't careful, she could end up losing herself to the market, too. From The StoryGraph.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features blood, gore, body horror, internal organs, and descriptions of mutilated corpses.

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Review: The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne (#Ad)

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The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne

Published: 28th July 2022 | Publisher: Orbit Books | Source: Publisher
Mary McMyne’s Website

Everyone knows the story of Rapunzel in the tower, but do you know the tale of the witch who put her there?

Enter a world of dark magic, mysterious woods and evil princes. This is the truth they never wanted you to know, as only a witch might tell it.

With her strange black eyes and even stranger fainting spells, Haelewise is shunned by her village, and her only solace lies in the stories her mother tells of child-stealing witches, of princes in wolf-skins, of an ancient tower cloaked in mist where women will find shelter if they are brave enough to seek it.

But when her mother dies, Haelewise is left unmoored. With nothing left for her in her village, she sets out to find the tower of legend-a place called Gothel, where Haelewise meets a wise woman willing to take her under her wing.

But Haelewise is not the only woman to seek refuge at Gothel. It's also a haven for a girl named Rika, who carries with her a secret the Church strives to keep hidden. A secret that reveals a dark world of ancient spells and murderous nobles behind the world Haelewise has always known.

The Book of Gothel is a lush, enchanting retelling of the tale of Rapunzel from the witch's perspective, perfect for fans of Circe and The Bear and the Nightingale. From The StoryGraph.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features vomit, someone late to starting their period, semi-vague sex scenes, pregnancy, morning sickness, childbirth, reference to abortion, reference to stillbirths, child neglect, sexual assault and threat of rape, male rape, references to stoning, violence against women, anti-Semitism, suicide, and reference to torture.

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Review: The Movement by Ayisha Malik (#Ad)

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The Movement by Ayisha Malik

Published: 21st July 2022 | Publisher: Headline | Source: NetGalley
Ayisha Malik’s on Twitter

With words come power. But do you speak out or shut up?

Every time Sara Javed switches on her laptop, checks her phone or goes outside, people are shouting. Everyone seems to be angry about something and she just wishes that they would all shut up. Until she realises that perhaps she should take her own advice.

At first people don't understand her silence and are politely confused at best. But the last thing Sara could anticipate is becoming the figurehead of a global movement that splits society in two.

The Silent Movement sparks outrage in its opposers. Global structures start to shift. And the lives of those closest to Sara - as well as strangers inspired by her act - begin to unravel.

It's time for the world to reconsider what it means to have a voice.

A sharply observed novel, charged with compassion and dark wit, that will spark important conversations about how we live, relate and communicate now. From The Goodreads.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features birth, death, bereavement, mention of racial abuse, and rape.

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Review: The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

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The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Published: 8th June 2021 | Publisher: Orbit | Source: Bought
Tasha Suri’s Website

One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne.
The other is a priestess searching for her family.
Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of powerful magic – but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

Priya is a maidservant, one of several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to attend Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, as long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides. But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled... From The StoryGraph.

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;">Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features forced drug use, body horror, execution as entertainment, and people burning alive.

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Re-Read Review: Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

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Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Published: 27th March 2014 | Publisher: HarperVoyager | Source: Bought
Robin Hobb’s Website

The kingdom of the Six Duchies is on the brink of civil war when news breaks that the crown prince has fathered a bastard son and is shamed into abdication. The child's name is Fitz, and he is despised.

Raised in the castle stables, only the company of the king's fool, the ragged children of the lower city, and his unusual affinity with animals provide Fitz with any comfort.

To be useful to the crown, Fitz is trained as an assassin; and to use the traditional magic of the Farseer family. But his tutor, allied to another political faction, is determined to discredit, even kill him. Fitz must survive: for he may be destined to save the kingdom. From The StoryGraph.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features child abuse, drug use/addiction, regerence to rape, abuse, misogyny, violence against women, animal cruelty/animal death, references to suicide, suicidal ideation, child abuse, ableist language, eference to paefophilia, and regerence to abuse of the disabled.

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Review: Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher (#Ad)

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Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

Published: 26th April 2022 | Publisher: Titan Books | Source: Publisher
T. Kingfisher’s Website

After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself. Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning. On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra's family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last. From The StoryGraph.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features dementia, childbirth, references to miscarriage, references to abortion, reference to death during childbirth, infant death, references to cannibalism, violence against women, domestic violence and abuse, uxoricide, and references to suicide.

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Review: A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

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A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

Published: 2nd September 2020 | Publisher: Picador | Source: Bought
Natalie Haynes’ Website

This is the women’s war, just as much as it is the men’s. They have waited long enough for their turn...

This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of them all...

In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen.

From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves, and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war.

A woman’s epic, powerfully imbued with new life, A Thousand Ships puts the women, girls and goddesses at the centre of the Western world’s great tale ever told. From The StoryGraph.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features vomit, blood, visceral, gorey descriptions, arson, grief, mention of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, suicide, ableism, rape, and infanticide.

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Review: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Published: 21st September 2017 | Publisher: Bloomsbury | Source: Bought
Madeline Miller’s Website

Greece in the age of Heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia. Here he is nobody, just another unwanted boy living in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles.

Achilles, “best of all the Greeks,” is everything Patroclus is not—strong, beautiful, the child of a goddess—and by all rights their paths should never cross. Yet one day, Achilles takes the shamed prince under his wing and soon their tentative connection gives way to a steadfast friendship. As they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something far deeper—despite the displeasure of Achilles’ mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals.

Fate is never far from the heels of Achilles. When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate.

Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart. From The StoryGraph.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features vomit; blood; grief; self-harm; two on-page sex scenes, one m/m, one f/f (semi-vague); ableism; human sacrifice; and numerous rapes, including male rape.

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Review: Pine by Francine Toon

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Pine by Francine Toon

Published: 1st October 2020 | Publisher: Black Swan Ireland | Source: Bought
Francine Toon’s Website

They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men.

Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she's gone.

In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren's mother a decade ago.

Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father's turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when a local teenager goes missing, it's no longer clear who she can trust.

In spare, haunting prose, Francine Toon creates an unshakeable atmosphere of desolation and dread. In a place that feels like the end of the world, she unites the gloom of the modern gothic with the pulse of a thriller. It is the perfect novel for our haunted times. From The StoryGraph.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features vomit, drug use, homophobia, bullying, a man making a woman feel uncomfortable, alcoholism, drink driving, missing persons, abduction, and murder.

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Review: Scorpica by G. R. MacAllister (#Ad)

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Scorpica by G. R. MacAllister

Published: 22nd February 2022 | Publisher: Titan Books | Source: Publisher
Author’s Website

In an ancient matriarchal world of magic, gods and warriors, the last girl – unbeknownst to the five queendoms – has just been born. As time marches on, the scribes of Bastian find no answers in their history books. The farmers of Sestia sacrifice their crops to the gods. Paxim, the empire of trade and dealings, has nothing to barter but boys and more boys. Arcan magic has no spells to remedy the Drought of Girls. And finally, Scorpica, where every woman is a fighter, their commander, their queen, has no more warriors to train. The lines of these once-great empires soon to die.

After centuries of peace, the ensuing struggle for dominance – and heirs – will bring the five queendoms to the eve of all-out war.

But the mysterious curse is linked to one of the last-born children, an orphaned all-magic girl, who is unaware she has a claim to the Arcan throne... From The StoryGraph.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features blood; death and grief; an on-page sex scene (semi-vague); birth; discussion of miscarriage; animal cruelty/death; alcoholism; visceral, gorey descriptions of violence; human sacrifice; infanticide; and execution (magical).

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Review: A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

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A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

Published: 5th October 2021 | Publisher: TorDotCom | Source: Bought
Alix E. Harrow’s Website

It's Zinnia Gray's twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it's the last birthday she'll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past twenty-one.

Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia's last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate. From The StoryGraph.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features blood, discussion of terminal illness, inevitable death, reference to sexual assault, violence against women.

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Review: The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

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The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

Published: 8th June 2021 | Publisher: HarperVoyager | Source: Bought
Ava Reid’s Website

A dark, evocative and unforgettable fantasy debut steeped in Hungarian history and Jewish mythology, perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Katherine Arden.

Stories don't have to be true to be real...

In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king's blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.

But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he's no ordinary Woodsman - he's the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it's like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother.

As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they're on, and what they're willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all. From The StoryGraph.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features vomit; blood; bullying; animal cruelty; racism; violent, visceral descriptions; violence against women; mutilation; self-harm; self-multilation; torture; and sexual assault.

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Review: Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

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Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

Published: 24th March 2021 | Publisher: The Borough Press | Source: Bought
Emily M. Danforth’s Website

1902, Brookhants School for Girls: students Flo and Clara are madly in love with each other, as well as completely obsessed with The Story of Mary MacLane, the scandalous debut memoir by 19 year old MacLane. A few months later they are found dead in the woods, after a horrific wasp attack, the book lying next to their intertwined bodies. Within five years the school is closed. But not before three more people die on the property, each in a troubling way.

Over a hundred years later, Brookhants opens its doors once more, when a crew of young actresses arrive to film a high-profile movie about the rumoured Brookhants curse. And as past and present become grimly entangled, it’s soon impossible to tell quite where the curse leaves off and Hollywood begins... From The StoryGraph.

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Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features vomit, a fire, use of both soft and hard drugs, alcoholism, mention of suicide, a mental asylum, abuse of a patient, and attempted rape.

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Review: For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Orbit Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

Published: 1st June 2021 | Publisher: Orbit Books | Source: NetGalley
Hannah Whitten's Website

The first daughter is for the Throne. The second daughter is for the Wolf.

For fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale comes a dark, sweeping debut fantasy novel about a young woman who must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood to save her kingdom. But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn’t the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood.

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods.

Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can’t control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can’t hurt those she loves. Again.

But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn’t learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole. From The StoryGraph

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Review: The Blue Eye by Ausma Zehanat Khan

The Blue Eye by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Published: 20th August 2020 | Publisher: HarperVoyager | Source: Bought
Ausma Zehanat Khan's Website

The Companions of Hira have used their cunning and their magic in the battle against the patriarchal Talisman, an organization whose virulently conservative agenda restricts free thought. One of the most accomplished Companions, Arian, continues to lead a disparate group in pursuit of the one artifact that could end the Talisman’s authoritarian rule: The Bloodprint.

But after a vicious battle, the arcane tome has slipped once more beyond her reach. Despite being separated and nearly losing their lives, Arian’s band of allies has remained united. Yet now, the group seems to be fracturing. To continue the fight, Arian must make a dangerous journey to a distant city to recruit new allies. But instead of her trusted friends, she is accompanied by associates she may no longer be able to trust.

Building on the brilliance of The Bloodprint and The Black Khan, this third volume in the Khorasan Archive series ratchets up the danger, taking the conflict to a darker, deadlier place, and setting the stage for the thrilling conclusion to this acclaimed #ownvoices fantasy. From The StoryGraph

My other reviews of The Khorasan Archives Series:
The Bloodprint | The Black Khan

WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features racism, violence against women, and male rape.

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Review: The Black Khan by Ausma Zehanat Khan

The Black Khan by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Published: 11th July 2019 | Publisher: HarperVoyager | Source: Bought
Ausma Zehanat Khan's Website

To fight against the cruel and superstitious patriarchy known as the Talisman, members of the resistance group known as the Companions of Hira have risked their lives in a failed attempt to procure the Bloodprint--a dangerous text that may hold the secret to overthrowing the terrifying regime. Now, with their plans in ashes, the Companions of Hira have scattered, and the lives of two brave women at the center of the plot--Arian and Sinnia--face unprecedented danger.

Yet a spark of hope flickers in the darkness--the Bloodprint has survived. It is hidden in Ashfall, the seat of Rukh, the Black Khan, whose court is ruled by intrigue and conspiracy. Treacherous enemies ruthlessly maneuver for power behind the throne, including the autocratic Grand Vizier; the deadly and secretive Assassin; the Khan's deposed half-brother; and the commander of Ashfall's army, who is also Rukh's oldest friend.

The Companions of Hira must somehow reunite, break through Talisman lines, and infiltrate Ashfall. A master of treachery himself, the Black Khan joins forces with these powerful women to manipulate them for his own ends. But as Ashfall comes under siege, he is forced to make a deadly calculation... one that could cause irrevocable damage to the Companions and their fight for freedom. From The StoryGraph

My other reviews of The Khorasan Archives Series:
The Bloodprint

WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features graphic descriptions of blood, consuming blood, violence against women, torture, forced drug use, threat of sexual violence, and homophobia.

Continue reading Review: The Black Khan by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Review: The Bloodprint by Ausma Zehanat Khan

The Bloodprint by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Published: 19th October 2017 | Publisher: HarperVoyager | Source: Blogger book swap
Ausma Zehanat Khan's Website

A dark power called the Talisman has risen in the land, born of ignorance and persecution. Led by a man known only known as the One-eyed Preacher, it is a cruel and terrifying movement bent on world domination—a superstitious patriarchy that suppresses knowledge and subjugates women. And it is growing.

But there are those who fight the Talisman's spread, including the Companions of Hira, a diverse group of influential women whose power derives from the Claim—the magic inherent in the words of a sacred scripture. Foremost among them is Arian and her apprentice, Sinnia, skilled warriors who are knowledgeable in the Claim. This daring pair have long stalked Talisman slave-chains, searching for clues and weapons to help them battle their enemy’s oppressive ways. Now, they may have discovered a miraculous symbol of hope that can destroy the One-eyed Preacher and his fervid followers: The Bloodprint, a dangerous text the Talisman has tried to erase from the world.

Finding a copy of The Bloodprint promises to be their most dangerous undertaking yet, an arduous journey that will lead them deep into Talisman territory. Though they will be helped by allies—a loyal ex-slave and Arian’s former confidante and sword master—both Arian and Sinnia know that this mission may well be their last. The StoryGraph

I received this proof in a book swap with a fellow blogger.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features blood, death, racism, slavery, discussion of paedophillia/child abuse, discussion of the rape, discussion of forced dependency on drugs, torture, and an execution.

Continue reading Review: The Bloodprint by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Review: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Published: 5th September 2019 | Publisher: Orion | Source: Bought
Diane Setterfield's Website

Everybody has a story...

Angelfield was once home to the March family: fascinating, manipulative Isabelle; brutal, dangerous Charlie; and the wild, untamed twins, Emmeline and Adeline. But the house hides a chilling secret which strikes at the very heart of each of them, tearing their lives apart...

Now Margaret Lea is investigating Angelfield's past, and its mysterious connection to the enigmatic writer Vida Winter. Vida's history is mesmering - a tale of ghosts, governesses, and gothic strangeness. But as Margaret succumbs to the power of her storytelling, two parallel stories begin to unfold...

What has Angelfield been hiding? What is the secret that strikes at the heart of Margaret's own, troubled life? And can both women ever confront the ghosts that haunt them...?

The Thirteenth Tale is a spellbinding mystery, a love letter to storytelling, and a modern classic. From The StoryGraph

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features dementia, self-harm, abandoned children, child neglect, violence against women, rape, incest, violence, murder, and arson.

Continue reading Review: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Review: Hall of Smoke by H. M. Long (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Titan Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Hall of Smoke by H. M. Long

Published: 19 January 2021 | Publisher: Titan Books | Source: NetGalley
H. M. Long's Website

Epic fantasy featuring warrior priestesses and fickle gods at war, for readers of Brian Staveley's Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne.

Hessa is an Eangi: a warrior priestess of the Goddess of War, with the power to turn an enemy's bones to dust with a scream. Banished for disobeying her goddess's command to murder a traveller, she prays for forgiveness alone on a mountainside.

While she is gone, raiders raze her village and obliterate the Eangi priesthood. Grieving and alone, Hessa - the last Eangi - must find the traveller, atone for her weakness and secure her place with her loved ones in the High Halls. As clans from the north and legionaries from the south tear through her homeland, slaughtering everyone in their path, Hessa strives to win back her goddess' favour.

Beset by zealot soldiers, deceitful gods, and newly-awakened demons at every turn, Hessa burns her path towards redemption and revenge. But her journey reveals a harrowing truth: the gods are dying and the High Halls of the afterlife are fading. Soon Hessa's trust in her goddess weakens with every unheeded prayer.

Thrust into a battle between the gods of the Old World and the New, Hessa realizes there is far more on the line than securing a life beyond her own death. Bigger, older powers slumber beneath the surface of her world. And they're about to wake up. The StoryGraph

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features blood, self-harm, description of wounds, animal cruelty, animal sacrifice, person attacked by a dog, abduction, slavery, discussion of trading sex for survival, murder, a massacre, and description of corpses.

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