Book Review: Orphanage of the Gods
Title: The Orphanage of GodsAuthor: Helena Cogman
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Publication Date: 21st February 2019 (HB)
Synopsis: Twenty years ago, the humans came for their gods.
In the bloody revolution, gods were all but wiped out. Ever since, the children they left behind have been imprisoned in an orphanage, watched day and night by the ruthless Guard. Any who show signs of divine power vanish from their beds in the night, all knowledge of their existence denied.
No one has ever escaped the orphanage.
Until now.
Seventeen-year-old Hero is finally free - but at a terrible price. Her sister has been captured by the Guard and is being held in a prison in the northern sea. Hero desperately wants to get her back, and to escape the murderous Guardsmen hunting her down. But not all the gods are dead, and the ones waiting for Hero in the north have their own plans for her - ones that will change the world forever . . .
As she advances further and further into the unknown, Hero will need to decide: how far is she willing to go to do what needs to be done?
Review: I was emotionally broken after reading this book, and it's one that I still like to think about. It was deeply
sad and emotional to read, which is just a testament to the strength of the
characterisation and how invested I was becoming in the story. This book was a
gasper, I was like Gollum walking along muttering to myself and gasping,
clutching the hand rail on the trains and whispering soft noooooo’s.
The cover drew me in pure and simple, then you get the title and my brain starts asking...ohh what could this mean. I remember reading the first page on one of those days when you just can't get into any book and being kinda meh BUT I'M SO GLAD I WENT BACK!
The power of power and control.What lengths you will go to for what you think is right? What really are peoples best interests and how do you decided what sacrifices should be made.... I still get tingles thinking about it.
The book starts in one way but grows in a completely unexpected fashion and though it had hints and nods to the traditional structure of a rebellion and uprising story arc it instead focused on the characters. That's where the money was!
The power of power and control.What lengths you will go to for what you think is right? What really are peoples best interests and how do you decided what sacrifices should be made.... I still get tingles thinking about it.
The book starts in one way but grows in a completely unexpected fashion and though it had hints and nods to the traditional structure of a rebellion and uprising story arc it instead focused on the characters. That's where the money was!
It was good to have the multiple narratives because it gave you different flavours of the same story and mixed together to create a tasty dish. It allowed us to explore different elements of the past and present and see how the characters have changed to be who they are. We started with Josh hero and Kestral and though Josh was annoying and petulant but with the strength of his feelings and the determination of his mission to find Kestrel was so focused, but this then really made you feel for Hero and she definitely gave me the awe moments, example A being:
“Please be alive. I don’t know what he’ll do if you’re dead. I don’t know what he’ll do to me, if you’re dead”.
Then we bring in the characters of the Resistance, and this is not longer just a rescue mission, the wider world is here. The personalities were so strong and this specifically made Eliza a complex character but one whose side I never left because she developed and grew and was moulded by the power and you got to see her through different eyes. Raven is that character, (there's always one) that you can’t help but love and want to hug and protect and you will jump into that book and fight for her if you have to so help me! There are so many different strands to the characters that you can;t help but make strong connections.
The Orphanage itself always sat at the back of my mind, and plays a central role in motivations... though its less orphanage more prison where disappearances were commonplace and questions unanswered. It was the 'sweet' to the sour balance of Elida the actual prison where they kept those who had show to have the power of the gods at their testing day and the driving force behind our characters escape and rescue plan.
Writing this review has made me want to go back and read the book again, it was thoroughly enjoyable and I'm very very excited for her next novel The Witchling's Girl out next year!
“Please be alive. I don’t know what he’ll do if you’re dead. I don’t know what he’ll do to me, if you’re dead”.
Then we bring in the characters of the Resistance, and this is not longer just a rescue mission, the wider world is here. The personalities were so strong and this specifically made Eliza a complex character but one whose side I never left because she developed and grew and was moulded by the power and you got to see her through different eyes. Raven is that character, (there's always one) that you can’t help but love and want to hug and protect and you will jump into that book and fight for her if you have to so help me! There are so many different strands to the characters that you can;t help but make strong connections.
The Orphanage itself always sat at the back of my mind, and plays a central role in motivations... though its less orphanage more prison where disappearances were commonplace and questions unanswered. It was the 'sweet' to the sour balance of Elida the actual prison where they kept those who had show to have the power of the gods at their testing day and the driving force behind our characters escape and rescue plan.
Writing this review has made me want to go back and read the book again, it was thoroughly enjoyable and I'm very very excited for her next novel The Witchling's Girl out next year!
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