[ARC Review] Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

Publisher's synopsis: You are not welcome here, godkiller.

Kissen's family were killed by zealots of a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing gods, and enjoys it. That is until she finds a god she cannot kill: Skedi, a god of white lies, has somehow bound himself to a young noble, and they are both on the run from unknown assassins.

Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, they must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favour.

Pursued by demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning - something is rotting at the heart of their world, and only they can be the ones to stop it.  

My thoughts: A godkiller, a god, a young girl, and knight walk into a bar. . . amongst other places. 

But truly, Hannah Kaner's debut shines with what Kissen, Inara, Skedi, and Elo do while in those places. 

Sometimes, it takes me a bit to truly get into fantasy stories. Learning new worlds isn't always easy. But I could easily and immediately envision the world that Kaner created. Kaner's details were lush and vivid, and it like I was right there with Kissen as her path was set before her and through every choice she made during the journey. 

Kissen was by far my favorite character throughout the story. I liked all four of the main characters - all for very different reasons - but I thought Kissen was the most compelling and complex. She was definitely multi-dimensional; she was fierce, she was flawed, she was a godkiller who had been both saved and forsaken by the gods. She is the strong, queer adventurer with a take-no-prisoner's attitude that I wish led the group in the fantasy books I read when I was younger. 

This tale wouldn't have shone so brightly if it weren't for the rest of the group, though. All four of the main characters were so wonderfully developed, yet Kaner left me wanting to know them even more. Skedi, our little god of white lies, had a smaller yet just as powerful character arc that truly has the power to wreak havoc in future books. Inara really started to grow into her character by the end, evolving from the young and helpless archetype into a braver warrior. And last but not least, our knight Elo had to endure some hard lessons and even harder truths on his journey Blenraden; when the person you thought you knew the best turns out to be a stranger, all bets are off. 

For all four of these characters, they thought their journey ended in the land of the wild gods. But it was just getting started. 

With strong writing and storytelling, Godkiller captivated me from the first chapter and kept me turning the page to find out what happens next. I truly can't wait until the next book to find out where the story goes next. 

[I received an advanced copy of this title for free; I am leaving this review voluntarily.]

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Release date: 1/19/23
Format: eARC
eARC provided via: NetGalley