Godly Heathens has been on my TBR for a while and I can’t believe it took me so long. This YA fantasy set in our world with old gods will transport you to a world where the past is never truly dead. Keep reading this book review of Godly Heathens for my full thoughts.
Summary
Gem Echols is a nonbinary Seminole teen living in the tiny town of Gracie, Georgia. Known for being their peers’ queer awakening, Gem leans hard on charm to disguise the anxious mess they are beneath. The only person privy to their authentic self is another trans kid, Enzo, who’s a thousand long, painful miles away in Brooklyn.
But even Enzo doesn’t know about Gem’s dreams, haunting visions of magic and violence that have always felt too real. So how the hell does Willa Mae Hardy? The strange new girl in town acts like she and Gem are old companions, and seems to know things about them they’ve never told anyone else.
When Gem is attacked by a stranger claiming to be the Goddess of Death, Willa Mae saves their life and finally offers some answers. She and Gem are reincarnated gods who’ve known and loved each other across lifetimes. But Gem – or at least who Gem used to be – hasn’t always been the most benevolent deity. They’ve made a lot of enemies in the pantheon—enemies who, like the Goddess of Death, will keep coming.
It’s a good thing they’ve still got Enzo. But as worlds collide and the past catches up with the present, Gem will discover that everyone has something to hide.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
One of my favorite themes in Godly Heathens is the ways Edgmon examines immortality and grievances. If we live forever, do the betrayals, the loves we have, fade to nothing? Are we doomed to keep repeating the cycles we find ourselves in? How much can we really change if we have forever? If we keep finding each other again? Godly Heathens explores this juxtaposition between immortality and pettiness. This conflict between revenge for mistakes and betrayals centuries ago with wondering if we can ever truly amend.
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Furthermore, what is monstrosity when it wears so many faces? We can have this idea that either people, and gods, are capable of change or we can think that we are doomed to always fit the same role. If you like these themes, then you have to read Godly Heathens. While the action of the story picks you up, I love how Edgmon always focuses on these themes. There are some truly shocking discoveries! Additionally, I loved witnessing these character growths and the spaces we can create if we think we can still change.
(The audiobook narration from Avi Roque is also fabulous especially as we fall into the memory gaps of Gem. There’s a skill to conveying these gaps, the confusion, the discoveries.)
Find Godly Heathens on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.