Do you enjoy getting upset at divine beings and how they manipulate mortals? Well, then you’re in for a treat with Divine Blessings.
The book starts off fairly slow and hopeful, but soon many (mostly bad) things happen to our protagonists (as is to be expected in a Fantasy novel) and they need to find their way out of a mess mostly not of their own making and back to each other.
Unfortunately, the plot was predictable in a way that made the book less enjoyable for me, as it clearly tried to have many twists and turns, yet none of them were in any way surprising.
I adored both main characters a lot and loved seeing their story unfold and their characters develop. Three-dimensional and relatable, imperfect and loveable, they are strong protagonists to carry this story and manage to put their own twist on everything despite the entire world seemingly teaming up against them. Elara and Nsiria have very distinct voices and personalities that shine through in each chapter, so it is easy to distinguish between them.
I also rooted for their love story the entire book.
The side characters were three-dimensional as well and made me very emotional at times.
So, overall a very good read that I can highly recommend.

2.5/5
I didn't hate this book but there were parts that made me knock down my rating.
Likes:
Magic System - Fairly simple, seven different deities, seven different powers you could receive from being blessed. The book frames blessings as this rare phenomenon but we meet several characters who have powers throughout the book. Even so, this magic system opens the way for some pretty interesting uses of magic, and even with how much magic talk was done and the amount of magic used, I still felt like the different possibilities could've been used more.
Characters - These characters became more endearing as the book went on. I actually felt sad about the death of one of the characters and I liked the backstories given to our main ones, even if they come off as a little cliche.
Dislikes:
Characters - That being said these characters overall read as flat. From memory, Elara should be between 19-21 but she read like a young teen. Even with the context of her backstory, she doesn't act like a grown adult and some of her dialogue and actions left me cringing. No one else was this bad and Nsiria actually felt more rounded out, even if she made some weird decisions (like blabbing to Nsiria as soon as she got blessed).
Prose and Dialogue - The writing of the prose felt clunky, but not terrible and definitely fine for a first novel. There was a lot of tell not show, and it made the world building and certain scenes hard to get through. The dialogue felt unnatural and there was literally a scene of the villains explaining their evil plan to the main characters.
Overall this book isn't terrible and decent for a first book. I actually ended up getting semi-invested and would pick up book two if the summary sounded interesting.
Review posted to Goodreads on 5/21/2025

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC for Divine Blessings and overall I enjoyed it!

This is definitely a young adult fantasy, don’t be thinking you’re getting a rated R adult fantasy! But don’t let that stop you from reading!

I loved the development of Nsiria and Elaras relationship throughout the book. It was a beautiful portrayal of an LGBTQ relationship, especially for young readers who might be looking for more representation in their books.

The world building was easy to follow along with and very interesting! This book definitely kept me hooked!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of Divine Blessings!

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going in, but I was pleasantly surprised by the book’s gentle pacing and thoughtful reflections. There were aspects that really resonated with me, and others that I felt could have been more refined.

Pros: The story strikes a nice balance between the grounded and the mystical, and Thompson’s voice comes through as warm, sincere, and reflective. The themes are heartfelt, and the LGBTQ representation is a welcome and meaningful touch.

Cons: At times, the writing felt a bit heavy and clunky. Some sections could have benefitted from tighter editing to enhance the overall readability and flow.

All in all, Divine Blessings is a solid debut that offers insight, heart, and a unique voice.

One of my favourite reads of 2025 and I really look forward to reading the next two books in the trilogy when they come out! Nsiria is a wonderful protagonist, I enjoyed how messy she was, I enjoyed her darker vengeful arcs, I fully enjoyed following her story and her journey. The plot twists of this book kept me guessing every turn, I guessed nothing and was taken by surprise so many times - this is truly a must read for everyone looking for their next sapphic fantasy read! The suspense left me on the edge of my seat and the story just kept taking my breathe away. I loved it so much!

Loved it! Elara and Nsiria are a couple I enjoyed reading about. An awesome debut novel and a bonus for me is that it part of a trilogy (my fav) so I can't wait to continue the series!

3.5 stars! a girl loving another girl can really save you… i’m interested to see what will happen next with this story and these characters!!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this ARC.

I was highly interested in this novel because of it being a sapphic fantasy story.

I think this is a very good first novel for an upcoming series. Nsiria and Elara were so fleshed out and complex, which is important to any novel. Furthermore, the world-building felt natural and was paced well, to me. The only issue with the world-building was that a lor of it was told to us rather than shown, which is not the greatest. I really enjoyed the plot around there being seven deities in this world and they can bestow blessings upon people, with each blessing having a certain power depending on the deity. I liked how both Nsiria and Elara got a blessing from a deity because it made each of their character arcs interesting and their relationship to each other with blessings furthermore interesting. I love the class divide plot, as well, because it is timely and something to always think about and important to discuss in books. I think adding real-world issues is always a good idea when making books because it helps promote commentary and establish some sort of relatability to a book that is in a fantasy world.

A big thank you to NetGalley and the author, K R Thompson for this EARC!

2.5 stars rounded up.

Upon reading the blurb I was super excited for Divine Blessings - it promised fantasy, romance, magic and a sapphic pairing!
Unfortunately this was not the book for me, I found it super hard to get into at first, and when it did get going I found myself irritated by the characters and sometimes confused by the deities and who belonged to who/what they believed in etc. Reginald the talking hat just annoyed me no end too, sadly.

There was a lot of world building which is expected for the first book of a trilogy but it felt like I was being told rather than shown for the most part.

The foundation for something great is there, but it just needs some reining in!

Divine Blessings by K.R Thomson is a wonderful teen exploration of magic, love and emotions with cosy aspects like a witty talking hat, pastries, comedy and adventures that all age ranges would love. 

Thomson used beautifully simple methods of capturing the stories and themes within the book. I do think that because of this it should be marketed as teen and not lower YA, as it is much more fitting to this range.

This is a book I would have needed when 12 year old me was coming to terms with my sexuality. From a YA perspective, the romance and connection felt quite flat. For a younger audience, it would be perfect - subtle, clear and sweet (bittersweet at times).

A lot of the world-building was told to us, rather than us learning through experiences, descriptions and engaging methods. The same goes for the magic system. I also have to note in terms of the magic system and the deities how we were told a huge chunk of information at once and then expected to remember it. This felt a little hard to follow along and created a disconnect. Despite that, the magic system and the concepts of the gods was fun and unique with a secret society, deception and a range of abilities and concepts.

Nsiria and Elara both had intriguing character arcs with well-written development. They were complex in their own ways, so different yet the perfect balance for each other. I do feel as though we got a lot of description about Elara’s physical appearance, such as her beautiful her and how she braids it as well as repeated mention of her dresses, but we got little of this about Nsiria. I understand this showcases the differences between them, but it made it hard to connect to the core of Elara in contrast to the mental and emotional insights we got into Nsiria.

Overall, Divine Blessings was a warm and adventurous read with a strong focus on emotional storytelling. Thomson tells an engaging tale of deities, feelings, overcoming the past and finding the good and the hope when it seems impossible.

'Divine Blessings' is a nice ya fantasy, easily enjoyable for adults.

What had me really invested in the story was the world and the plot. The deities as magical elements were really interesting. Half of the worldbuilding was given nicely, the other half was delivered in a basic way (a teacher). But, once you've been given all the information, you can kind of see where the story is going, making you even more interested. I rather liked the setting of the library ; the descriptions really made it feel real, like the only peaceful place in a bustling city.
Concerning the characters : I didn't feel attached to any of them. I thought there were nice, and acted "correctly" for their age, but nothing more.
About the end : I predicted a couple of plot twists, but a couple others took me by surprise.

In summary, it is a good book, perfect for a summer read.

A rather good debut novel!
I would say it's a YA fantasy read.
Good world building, cute romance aspect, great FMC's.
Really enjoyed!

An intriguing magical world meets adorable queer romance!
I really enjoyed reading this, and while it took me a second to get used to the systems of the world, I eventually got used to the world and understood it more.
My biggest qualm is I didn't really enjoy the writing style a lot. It wasn't bad per se, but there were some sections that were kind of hard to follow and that seemed a little stiff.

If you're looking for a strong hit of nostalgia, id really recommend picking up this book.
It is a gripping story, i found the different gods and the blessings they bestow unique / interesting. The characters are very lovable and quirky - Elara and Nisira are the sweetest but i will say that the side characters do not disappoint either. Plot wise, i think it is a really strong idea and will be keeping my eye out for book 2!

I really enjoyed this book, although the fact that it took so long for what I will say is the main conflict of the novel to be resolved was somewhat disheartening. I knew that since it was a YA book, there would be a pretty happy ending though so that was what kept me going. I think that Nsiria and Elara, our two MCs have had some good growth over the course of this book and definitely have some ways to go. While I felt like the story dragged in a couple of places and I was very confused after a certain chapter (10), it cleared up a couple of chapters later. Overall, it was a good time and I enjoyed the book and cannot wait for the next one.

One of the things that I did not like but also made it more realistic was the foreshadowing and Nsiria’s realizations about things way after the reader realizes them. There is/should be a learning curve with any new ability and so while I would have liked for her to realize the mayor’s identity or potential blessing sooner, it also would have completely changed the plot for her to have that knowledge any sooner than she did. It is much more realistic this way which is why even if it was a little irksome waiting for her to figure it out, I did actually like that element of the story the more that I think about it.

I will be posting a review on Goodreads in the next couple of days.

I expected big things from this but honestly this read was kind of lacking.

Nsiria is a homeless girl in the middle of a big city who gets powers bestowed upon her by a powerful deity. When something happens to her best friend/love interest she falls into despair and gets swept up by a different, vengeful deity. Chaos ensues.

The writing style was not my favourite, it was very clunky? I dunno it just didn’t flow very well. The dialogue seemed a bit off - quite detached and awkward. It kind of read a bit like a kids book to be honest.

I did like the idea of the characters and the story in itself was good but the writing wasn’t really pulling me in.
I also enjoyed the way the magic system was set up and the deities themselves, as well as the sapphic representation -more books need this!

Thank you Relaxed Scribe LLC and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC early.

This story truly hooked me from the start. The characters were so engaging, and the way the plot developed kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't put it down!

Title: Divine blessings
Author: K. R. Thompson
Genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy, Teens, YA, LGBTQ+
Release Date: 27 of May of 2025
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Thank you to Relaxed Scribe LLC and NetGalley for the ARC.
Debut author K. R. Thompson delivers a powerful fantasy full of forbidden love, divine intervention, and the cost of vengeance in this new up and coming fantasy sci-fi book.
When noble-born Nsiria is exiled for a forbidden kiss, she finds unexpected solace with Elara in a sanctuary for the city’s outcasts. But as Nsiria gains magical powers from a god of wisdom, love, grief, and fury collide—threatening to unravel her destiny and shake the divine realm itself.
Divine blessings by K. R Thompson was a very unique book. From its articulate and clean writing helping us understand the world to its special and distinctive plot that grasped your attention right away. I loved how the author was able to cooperate themes of LGBTQ without straying too far from the main plot. This book gave a perfect introduction to what im sure would be an amazing start to a fantasy, sci-fi series.
Although this book was unique and alluring i did feel it fall short for me as i noticed myself getting a bit bored in some parts of the book. In addition, i wish that we got to see more of some characters and seen them develop throughout the book.
In conclusion, I truly believe this is for fans of fantasy who want a fresh look into a new world. With strong LGBTQ+ representation, a compelling main character, and rich worldbuilding, Divine Blessings brings something meaningful and magical to the genre. Will definitely keep an eye out for the next book in the series!

I absolutely loved this book “Divine Blessings” by K.R Thompson.
I adored the relationship between Nsiara and Elara, both friendship and more..
Adored the shift within their newfound abilities, fantastic fantasy book!
A complete page turner.
Can’t wait for more from this author.
5 🌟
- Anna J Grant

Just finished my ARC of Devine Blessings by K.R. Thompson, courtesy of NetGalley, and wow—what a gem of a middle grade read!

This story shines with heartfelt LGBTQ+ representation and an unexpected twist that had me flipping back pages like wait, what just happened?! The magic system took me a little while to settle into, but once the pieces fell into place, it all clicked beautifully. The world is rich, the characters are lovable, and the mystery at its core totally caught me off guard—in the best way.

If you're into magical adventures with emotional depth and queer joy, definitely keep an eye out for this one!