Review – Set Fire to the Gods (Set Fire to the Gods, Book 1) by Sara Raasch, Kristen Simmons (2/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 432 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: August 4, 2020
ISBN-13 : 978-0062891563
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Set Fire to the Gods series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 2/5 stars
“Ash is descended from a long line of gladiators, and she knows the brutal nature of war firsthand. But after her mother dies in an arena, she vows to avenge her by overthrowing her fire god, whose temper has stripped her country of its resources.
Madoc grew up fighting on the streets to pay his family’s taxes. But he hides a dangerous secret: he doesn’t have the earth god’s powers like his opponents. His elemental gift is something else—something that hasn’t been seen in centuries.
When an attempted revenge plot goes dangerously wrong, Ash inadvertently throws the fire and earth gods into a conflict that can only be settled by deadly, lavish gladiator games, throwing Madoc in Ash’s path. She realizes that his powers are the weapon her rebellion needs—but Madoc won’t jeopardize his family, regardless of how intrigued he is by the beautiful warrior.
But when the gods force Madoc’s hand, he and Ash uncover an ancient war that will threaten more than one immortal—it will unravel the world.”
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Set Fire to the Gods series, I borrowed this from the library.
Story (2/5): I really liked Raasch’s last series but this one just fell completely flat for me. The first few chapters are just a huge info dump. The only high point for me was that the arena fight scene in the second chapter was well done. I stop reading this about 50 pages in.
Characters (2/5): The characters were flat and hard to engage with. We switch POV between Ash and Madoc and I thought they both acted selfish and stupid, I pretty much instantly disliked them.
Setting (2/5): I didn’t enjoy the world, it felt so one-dimensional and overdone. There is a lot of info-dumping early on about the world and how it works; it was tedious and confusing to read.
Writing Style (2/5): The writing style was a bit off for me, I kept having to reread things and found the world to be a bit confusing despite its lack of depth. The pace and cadence of the writing were just really off-putting. I actually came on Goodreads and read some reviews to see if it gets better…and it sounds like the beginning is better than the mid part of the book…soooo….that was that.
My Summary (2/5): Overall I didn’t like this and opted to stop reading it. I have a lot of books to read right now and don’t really have time to read one that I am so completely ambivalent about and have such strong negative feelings to, so quickly. I started reading the next chapter and putting the book down and then picking it up and re-reading and putting it down again…then just decided enough was enough. I usually give a book 50-100 pages to grab my attention before I give up; this book never grabbed my attention even a little bit. Not recommended.
