When the Cover has Back-up

Spoilers kind of, but not really.

We have all heard the saying ‘ Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ But let’s be real, we all often do. I know for a fact that there are certain book covers that I greatly dislike and others that pull me in. Now regardless of the cover I’ll always read the blurb and maybe the first few pages to see if this book feels like my thing before I buy it. But there are some books whose covers are just so breathtakingly beautiful that I don’t even read the blurb, I just know I want to read this book. It has happened 3 times. When I saw and instantly bought ‘Daughter of the Moon Goddess’ by Sue Lynn Tan, when I came across and knew I had to have ‘The Goddess with a Thousand Faces’ by Jasmine Elmer and when ‘The Goddess Of’ first came across my Insta feed.* I knew without a doubt that I needed to read this book. I didn’t care what it was about, with a cover that beautiful, that eye-catching, that indescribable I knew this was a story that needed to be read. The cover was perfection and the story within was nothing short of perfection as well.

This incredible story follows Naia, a goddess with no title or powers, who is only useful to her mother because she is the key to breaking a curse. Unwilling to help her mother, who isn’t very nice, Naia makes a deal to escape her mother’s kingdom under the sea, but must accept a curse without knowing what the curse is or when it will take effect. Naia makes her daring escape and ends up meeting the charming Ronin, who offers to help her get to her brother, Finnian, in Hollow City. However Ronin isn't all that he seems, but then again neither is Naia. 

The world building and plot of this story was written beautifully. The change across time was used so well, not only to move the story along, but to give you great insight into how magic and god’s powers work in this world and also a better understanding of the characters, who they are, their personalities, motivations and relationships to one another. I honestly really loved the world building. This was a detailed, believable world that I couldn’t help but be sucked into.

Naia and Ronin, our two main characters, are detailed and have depth. Their chemistry grows as they dance around each other throughout the story, exchanging witty banter and building a slow tension that is so delightful. Each with their own strengths and weaknesses, personality flaws and quirks, that make you fall in love with them both. 

The twists and turns throughout the book were great and honestly don’t see some of them coming especially some of the events near the end. This is a well crafted story. Just like its cover it is absolutely beautiful, the perfect combination of elements, adventure, intrigue, love, spice, I wouldn’t change a thing about this book and I cannot wait to read the next book.

* As I am writing this I realise that all these titles have the word Goddess in them. Not sure what I’m supposed to take from that, but if you all have any insights please throw them at me.