The Gods Below is the first book in a fantasy trilogy. There's an original and unique fantasy world here. The plot is already super twisty with lots of unresolved plot points, and there's still another two books to be released, so I know I'll be surprised by whatever happens in the rest of the series.

The Gods Below follows 5 POVs, however it mixes the use of first and third person in a way that I haven't seen before. The two sisters, Hakara and Rasha, have their POVs in first person, whereas Mull, Sheuan and Nioanen's POVs are in third person. Switching between them was definitely noticeable to me - perhaps that's just something specific to my brain and wouldn't bother most people.

I'm intrigued to know where the story goes next, since the unpredictable, twisty plot is the highlight of book one to me. I have so many questions!

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy from Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley but this is my voluntary and honest review.

Sadly this was a DNF for me. I enjoyed the beginning very much, with lots of action, stakes and a great sisterly relationship that I was enjoying. Then things started to jump around, and the times, locations and perspectives had me confused - it was hard to keep up with what was going on when and where. I may well try again in future but not right now. Apologies.

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this eCopy to review

Set in a world ravaged by divine war and reshaped by a god named Kluehnn, The Gods Below follows Hakara, a young woman desperate to reunite with her sister Rasha after they’re separated during a magical “restoration” that transforms people into altered beings—or kills them. Hakara discovers she can channel the power of magical gemstones and is drawn into a rebellion against the gods. Meanwhile, Rasha, now altered, becomes a godkiller in service of Kluehnn. Their diverging paths form the emotional core of the story.

Other POV characters include:
-A disgraced noblewoman trying to restore her family’s honour through political scheming.
-A man journeying to the gods’ domain to save a dying friend.
-A god in hiding, offering a glimpse into the divine perspective.

🧱 What Worked
World-Building: Stewart’s imagination is on full display. The concept of a god reshaping the world, the altered beings, the magical gems—it’s all incredibly inventive. The lore snippets at the start of each chapter were a nice touch.

Themes: The book explores desperation, transformation, and rebellion in a world where survival often means surrendering your humanity.

😕 What Didn’t Work (for Me)
Pacing: The book starts strong but quickly loses momentum. After the initial separation of the sisters, the plot meanders through dense exposition and character setup. It felt like a long prologue to a story that never quite began.

Characters: Despite the emotional stakes, I struggled to connect with anyone. Hakara’s impulsiveness grated on me, and Rasha’s transformation into a godkiller felt rushed. The supporting cast felt more like chess pieces than fully realized people.

Romance: There are two romantic subplots—one sapphic, one heterosexual—but both felt underdeveloped. The emotional payoff just wasn’t there, and the relationships didn’t feel earned.

Overstuffed POVs: With so many perspectives, some storylines felt neglected. I often found myself impatiently waiting to return to the main plot.

🧾 Final Thoughts
I admire Stewart’s ambition, and I’m intrigued by the world she’s created. But The Gods Below felt more like a setup than a satisfying story in its own right.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for approving me to read this book, I’m rating it 3.25 stars.

I’ve had this one on my list for a long while to read, and I’m on the fence with how much I enjoyed it. There were elements I loved like the multi POV as I tend to prefer this for its well rounded story and fleshed out characters. The world building is interesting and I feel like there’s more to understand about the restorations, and altered.

Now for the bits that had me on the fence, the story felt a little dense and slow in parts, but a lot is happening from multiple different povs, the story does intertwine as paths align. The betrayals are to be expected as everyone seems to be out for themselves which made most of them fairly unlikeable.

The story does do a good job of pulling at your heartstrings through family ties and it does this fairly on, so I felt like the emotional connect with the characters dwindled as we got further into the story. The last few chapters do manage to draw you back in emotionally which definitely was a highlight for me. If there’s a 2nd book I would pick it up to see what happens next because of the ending.

3.75 stars

Overall, I really liked "The Gods Below", but there were some things that could be improved on in my opinion.

The magic system and world building was quite interesting, and I quite enjoyed the general plot and the characters.

My main problem was with the relationships between the characters: most felt rather rushed, especially the romantic relationships.

I clicked this so fast because I thought it was the sequel.
Loved this book though, would recommend!

Wow—this book really pulled me in. The Gods Below has that perfect mix of action, emotion, and just the right amount of weird, creepy gods-in-the-dark stuff. Andrea Stewart’s worldbuilding is super cool and felt really unique without being confusing, and the pacing kept me hooked the whole way through.

The characters are what made it really shine for me. They’re flawed in all the right ways—like, they mess up, they grow, they feel real. I got super invested in their journeys and loved how their personal struggles tied into the bigger story with all the divine chaos happening around them.

Also, I appreciated how it didn’t feel predictable. There were a couple of “wait, what?!” moments that caught me off guard—in the best way. And the ending? Satisfying but left me thinking (and low-key wanting more).

If you’re into dark fantasy with heart, cool mythology, and strong characters, definitely give this a go. It’s one of those books that sticks with you after you’re done.

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Andrea Stewart has delivered again, I absolutely loved The Drowning Empire and was anxious at the concept of a new world, but I need not have worried. The world-building is epic, detailed and full of messy characters. There are multiple POVs and how the stories join together and develop the world and plot is simply masterful. The stakes are so high in this book, it’s an actual whirlwind to read but in the best way. In this book there is a lot of action, political intrigue, magic, Gods and cats. There are also side romances, some I enjoyed but one I felt was a bit insta love/lust for me personally, but I appreciated the adding in of a bit of romance as a break from everything else. We do get some animal companions in the form of cats, this added lighter elements into the story and really balanced it out. I can’t say I had a favourite character as I enjoyed all the POV and that is rare! Definitely a book I would recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

It's very obvious that Andrea Stewart put thought into this: into the magic, into the mythology, the world, the roles of the characters. There was a lot of care put into crafting this book - I only wish that I had cared about it more, but I was never able to fully connect with the story as a whole.

The magic system was so creative and unique! I definitely have never read anything quite like that, and I loved the fusion of science/geology with the god gems, and how Hakara was able to use them like some kind of video game character. The whole world felt full and well plotted, and I really liked the myths and getting to know more about the former gods and the rise of Kluehnn. I could have probably taken a whole book of the gods' initial war with Kluehnn, to be honest, and more of their backstories as I think the hints we got were wonderful. The whole mythology was rather tragic, but in a way that begged to be explored more - or maybe it's just me begging for that, since I did really enjoy the mythology.

I found Mull's expedition intriguing, and kind of reminiscent of some kind of sci-fi horror exploration, but with less horror (sadly?). That said, he didn't really fit into the narrative as neatly as the other POV chapters and while his chapters were sometimes the most interesting to me, he felt like the odd man out.

Which segues neatly into what left me a bit cold about this book: the characters. All of them felt fairly one-dimensional, they each had a single motivation. And there were so many chances for the secondary characters to be built up, but the chances just were not taken. Alifra and Dashu each were given a single bit of development, with each getting a backstory, but I don't feel like we ever got to see their personalities, and Naatar and Khatuya didn't even get that. Which I could have forgiven, having five POV characters, had I felt any sort of connection to the five POV characters. Hakara and Rasha should have been the emotional backbone to the entire story, and yet I just could not engage with them. Sheuan started out with the most promise but never truly delivered, though Mull and Nioanen did get some emotional beats and good storytelling at the end of their arcs - but it wasn't nearly enough because by that time, I didn't really care deeply about them.

Ultimately, I wish there was more time spent with the characters and expanding them. I also feel like the writing, while serviceable as a whole, did the characters a disservice as all of the POVs had the same voice (though some in first person and some in third person, and I do wish Andrea Stewart would commit to third person as I think it's the stronger for her in both this book and her previous trilogy). This all sounds fairly damning, but I do think this had a good story and a lot of truly good bones to it! I just never got fully attached, which made it difficult to love.

Andrea Stewart excels at imagining detailed worlds, mythologies, and magic systems, and blowing your mind a bit with the creativity of it all, and this book is absolutely no exception. If only I could actually care more about the story she puts those great ideas into and especially the characters, but alas.

Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, and to NetGalley for the ARC.