Gods & Monsters by Amber V. Nicole – Series Review

Series Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

Books in the Series:

• The Book of Azrael

• The Throne of Broken Gods

• The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

• The Wrath of the Fallen

• The Fall of the Crowned King (Coming Soon)

Best Book: The Book of Azrael (Book 1)

Genre: Adult Fantasy Romance

Spice: Hot

Summary:

The Universe used to be ruled by the Gods , but a thousand years ago the Gods War seemed to end their rein. Their descendants, the Celestials, came to the mortal world of Onuna fleeing their destroyed world. Soon after, a plague spread through the mortals on Onuna, killing Dianna’s parents and bringing her sister, Gabby, to death’s door.

In desperation, Dianna begged any being that would listen to help save Gabby.

Kaden, a darkly powerful being, offered to save Dianna’s sister in exchange for changing Dianna into a monstrous, powerful Ig-Morruthen. Since, Dianna has been by Kaden’s side using the immense power he gave her to enforce his rule over the Otherworld creatures on Onuna while he holds Gabby’s safety over her head. Although Kaden treasures Dianna’s power and demands her devotion, Dianna knows he doesn’t truly love or even care for her, making her feel all the more monstrous.

Samkiel, or Liam as he prefers to be called now, is still technically the King of the Gods, but he’s been hiding in isolation ever since the Gods War destroyed his home world. Known to history as the World Ender, Liam is haunted by his violent past and his part in the death of the Gods. For a thousand years, he’s left the Celestials to run things as they see fit, but when a member of the Hand, his closest Celestial supporters, is killed, he’s pulled from his self-imposed seclusion. Arriving on the world of Onuna, he’ll have to try to overcome his fears and depression to take control of the chaos.

Dianna and Liam are on a collision course as Kaden searches for a powerful God relic called the Book of Azrael, and a critical choice will force Gods & Monsters to work together to try to save Onuna from destruction.

Reaction:

I started the Gods & Monsters series because it was super popular on social media, and I wanted to see what everyone was talking about. Reading the first couple of books, I could see what people loved so much about this series, like Dianna’s brash, unapologetic personality, the romance, and a unique extensive universe. But there were some things that held me back from loving it. By the third installment I saw those same things happening repeatedly and decided to put the series down in favor of something I might enjoy more. So, my review should only be considered a review of the first three books in the series.

I thought from a high-level, each book had a focus for the plot, but it took a lot of repetition to get there. There were times I felt like I’d read the scene before, and it didn’t bring any new plot or emotional developments. And when these books are 500-700 pages long, that repetition impacts the length of the novel in a negative way. I also thought they might have benefited from separating into parts, making the stories more structured and signaling to the reader when there was a major shift in the plot. But overall, I thought each book focused on themes that made sense and the plot accomplished exactly what it set out to do.

The world building was probably my biggest pain point with this series. On Onuna, it was relatively easy to understand what was happening because it was a contemporary world similar to our own, and most of the creatures are borrowed from established lore such as vampires, witches, werewolves, etc. But as soon as the book started veering into the wider universe and the original magic systems of the gods, I got confused because it seemed like there were no rules, or the rules were never well established in the narrative. Unfortunately, every time I felt like I was catching up on this wider universe, something new was thrown in and I was confused again. So, while this universe is expansive and complicated and I usually love that, I never fully grasped it.

There were things I liked about the main characters. Dianna is an unapologetic bad-ass, Samkiel turns out to be noble and devoted, and they have great character development through the first two novels. Their stories highlight themes of grief and isolation that I thought were really well done. But in the third novel, I felt a huge disconnect. Their characters were very one-note, and I didn’t understand why they weren’t exploring certain feelings after what had happened in the prior novel. I also thought Dianna was at times very immature for a creature who had lived thousands of years and occasionally lacked an empathy that I value in an FMC. I enjoyed it when other POVs were introduced because they were interesting, conflicted supporting characters. Contrary to a lot of the comments I saw, I actually wanted more side character POV.

I loved the romance in the first book! Like others, I was pulled in by the slow burn enemies to reluctant allies to friends to lovers’ storyline. I thought the contrasts and similarities between Dianna and Samkiel in their temperaments and past romantic partners were brilliant and presented a realistic path to find a connection. After the first book there were gems of true connection that I really enjoyed, but sometimes they came off as just horny, and started having sex in completely illogical places. Like I’m all for being horny in books, but not when you’re trying to escape from bad guys, maybe wait until later.

The books in the Gods & Monsters series are big and epic with extensive plots and settings. I can totally see why so many people love this series. It’s very character and relationship driven, with minimal politics, religion, etc. involved. I enjoyed the romance and some of the themes that came into focus, but ultimately the world building and the character development made me decide to stop reading the series for now. Maybe I will pick it up again in the future and update this review.

What I enjoyed:

·       Themes of grief, love, and redemption were so realistic. Nothing happens quickly, and the characters give each other space and room to process their feelings in a way that I thought was a great example.

·       There are so many betrayals that occur in these books. It makes things exciting and keeps you guessing about what character will flip sides next.

What I didn't enjoy:

·       Dianna’s character was ultimately what made me stop reading. She always came across immature at times, and unempathetic. But ultimately, I got tired of her lying to, not confiding in, the people she loves.

·       The books seemed to be one-track. There would be a major focus on action with a lack of emotional growth, then a switch would flip and suddenly there was no action with just chapters of emotional processing. That made it really hard to keep my focus sometimes.