The Heart of the World

The Isles of the Gods #2

by Amie Kaufman

La magia y el sacrificio se entrelazan mientras amantes y dioses, enemigos y aliados luchan por el destino del mundo en esta trepidante secuela de Las Islas de los Dioses.

Cuando Selly y Leander emprendieron el peligroso viaje hacia las Islas de los Dioses, la hija del capitán y el príncipe mujeriego eran completos desconocidos. Pero entre conversaciones sobre la guerra y un ataque mortal a su embarcación, sucedió lo impensable.

Se enamoraron.

El ritual de Leander en el templo de la isla debía evitar una guerra entre dioses. En su lugar, estuvo a punto de costarle la vida y trajo de vuelta a la diosa Barrica de su exilio. Ahora, como su Mensajero, la magia mortal de la diosa fluye por las venas de Leander, y solo Selly puede evitar que ese poder lo consuma.

Sin embargo, Barrica no fue la única inmortal en despertar de su sueño. Una enemiga dada por muerta despertó al dios del riesgo, Macean, y ahora llama a la guerra a través de los mares.

Su lucha por salvar el mundo llevará a Selly y Leander del resplandor dorado del salón de baile del palacio real a los sagrados pasillos de una antigua biblioteca. Se trazarán líneas de batalla y se romperán alianzas.

Con la ira de los dioses y las conspiraciones de los gobernantes ávidos de poder poniendo a prueba su lealtad, ¿podrá su amor resistir las pruebas que les aguardan?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Audiobook, Romance, Young Adult Fantasy, Fiction, Magic

406 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 17, 2024

About the author

Amie Kaufman is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of young adult fiction. Her multi-award winning work is slated for publication in over 30 countries, and is in development for film and TV. Raised in Australia and occasionally Ireland, Amie has degrees in history, literature, law and conflict resolution. She lives in Melbourne with her husband and daughter, their rescue dog, and an extremely large personal library. She is the host of the podcasts Amie Kaufman on Writing, and Pub Dates.

You can sign up for her newsletter to see what she's working on, hear when she releases a new book, and be automatically entered for giveaways: https://amiekaufman.substack.com/

Reviews

[Maryam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come but basically very disappointed after a great first book! This was at best an average ya romance fantasy novel.

[Kiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to wait till JULY to read this????

[Natasha Leighton · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

A gorgeously immersive and intricately woven high stakes sequel, The Heart of The World by Amie Kaufman, had me under its thrall for days, and I loved every second of it!

The first book, The Isles of The Gods literally blew me away when I read it last year, so I literally jumped at the chance to read the sequel. And I’m glad to report it didn’t disappoint!

I was once again obsessed with the prose, which was just as free flowing, evocative and heart poundingly pacy as the first book. And I adored the effortless way Kaufman weaves nuance and complexity through the entire narrative — for me, it really brought all five of our POV characters (Selly, Leander, Keegan, Jude and Laskia) to life.

The depth we explore in each of them, through their insecurities, traumatic experiences (both on and off the page) and the emotions that motivate and guide them was really interesting. And actually contributed to making some of the more morally grey characters (like Jude) feel more relatable. That train scene between Tom and Jude actually had me choking up with emotion, it was that good.

Selly, was still my fave character though! And I loved exploring a more vulnerable side of her. Especially when she realises how out of depth she is in Leander’s world of privilege, and watches her perceptions of the people she holds most dear begin to shatter.

In fact, the depth and intimacy of all the characters (caught in their God’s unrelenting thirst for war) was what really drove the plot along and kept me utterly hooked. With the themes of love, sacrifice and destiny batting for dominance in each of them —readers are certain to find themselves on an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish.

Overall, a really satisfying conclusion but I do hope we get to see more of these characters (even if only in a cameo) in future works.

Also, a huge thank you to Rock The Boat for the wonderful proof!

[Karolina Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is one good plot line in this book. ONE.

We have gods coming back, looming wars and everyone just sits around and talks. There is so much talking. Oh and there is a ball, of course there is a ball.


What happened to Amie Kaufman? Her storytelling was always so good.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I just love this duology and these characters so much! I was so excited for this sequel, and I enjoyed it a lot. I like the first book better, but this one was still so good! The story could be a little slow moving at times compared to the first book, but I love the characters so much that I didn’t mind it. I just wanted to be along on the journey with them.

I said it for the first book and I’ll say it again, Selly is just such a good character. I love her so much, she is one of my favorites. Not only does it help that she loves the sea and sailing, but she also is cute, funny, determined, and loving. She has so many redeeming qualities like not taking crap from anyone but also being caring at the same time. I could gush about her for a while. She was my absolute favorite throughout the book.

I love Leander, he is so charming and funny and has a heart of gold. He annoyed me a little bit in this book, but I understood why he was being the way he was, so I could get passed it. I still love him and Selly together. They are the perfect couple. I loved how touchy they were with each other. They were always holding hands or had their arms around each other, and it was so lovely! They are one of my favorite book couples. I could have used even more scenes of them being together, but I loved what we got considering it was way more than we did in the first book. Though the tension in the first book was amazing.

I love a good non-toxic codependency and that is what they had, even though they couldn’t control it with her being his anchor. That they could feel what each other was feeling and could tell where they were at all times, I was eating it up! They didn’t need that strong connection to be in love, but I loved it all the same.

Jude and Keegan’s POVs were better in this book than the other book, but I’d still rather just have Selly and Leander. It was helpful to get all the different perspectives to see what was going on, but I still got bored at some points. I did like Jude’s journey and wanted him to find peace, and I really enjoy Keegan as a character, but I didn’t super love their sections.

Laskia still annoyed me to no end, I hated every time her chapter came up. I understand why we needed it, I do, but I still have no sympathy for her. I was unsatisfied with her ending, but I enjoyed the rest of the book too much to care.

KIKI!! I love Kiki. Where has she been all my life? I wish she was in the first book too. I could not get enough of her! She was such a girls girl, so funny and sweet. I loved her and Selly’s friendship. Her and Keegan’s banter throughout the book was so funny too.

That is one thing I will say about these books, I loved the found family in them. Their bonds with each other were so strong, you could tell how all of them cared for each other, there was no jealousy or bitter feelings. I really enjoyed that aspect.

I didn’t get a lot from Barrica as a character. As a goddess she was kind of bland. Maybe because I knew what I was going to get from her, but I thought she was pretty insignificant. Macean on the other hand, he I enjoyed. He was awful and you didn’t want to root for him, but there was something about him that was very charming and more enjoyable as a villain. He’s one you love to hate and I thought he was cool.

I thought this was a very solid conclusion. It wrapped everything up so nicely, while also leaving some things open that you can put your own spin on what happens in the future. I would love little novella’s or something to see everyone again, but I am satisfied with what we got! Highly recommend, especially if you liked the first book. If you haven’t read the first book, you have to!! Go get to know and enjoy these characters as much as I did.

[Evita · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Today, we’re remembering that anything—anyone—can flower, under the right conditions. With a little care.”

Since this is a sequel and the duology finale, I’ll keep it short and sweet.

The Heart of the World took Selly, Leander, Keegan, Jude and Laskia through brand new challenges in very different settings. I liked seeing how all these characters adapted to new environments and how they dealt with everything that was happening. I liked the direction the story took and although I found some parts a little slow, it was definitely a book I raced through quickly. I can’t say much more without spoiling something, so I’ll leave it there.

Give this series a try if you like to see:
🔥Seafaring adventures
🔥Multi POV
🔥Wholesome characters
🔥Queernormative worlds
🔥YA romance
🔥LGBTQIA+ rep
🔥People from different places becoming friends agains all odds.

I’m happy with this finale and, as always, excited to read whatever Amie Kaufman writes next.

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this ragtag band sooooo much 😍 Amie is so good at writing found family and this sequel does not disappoint! In this book I found that I fell in love with more of the characters than the last book especially Jude! He is probably my favorite now. I just love his development and him and Tom are adorable! I love getting to know more about the gods and visiting more of the world. Everything came together so well and I’m sad to say goodbye to these characters 😭 I highly recommend this series!!!

[~ bri ~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

masterpiece.
ta książka przypomniała mi jak bardzo kocham fantastykę i morze ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rounded up to 3.5 stars

I wanted to like this more, but it had second book syndrome. There was a lot of talking and plot building but not nearly as much action as book one.

[Kitty Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The romance was so sweet and the audiobook narration was perfection. Considering this has 5 main POVs and I didn’t get a character confused ONCE that’s a major bonus.
I also appreciate that the author had a blurb at the beginning of the book to help me remember what happened in the last one.
All in all a great conclusion to the duology!
“And I realize that I’m not living in the book of stories. I’m the storyteller, leaning in to say, ‘Ah, but that wasn’t the end. There’s so much more to tell.’”

[javurkova_misa · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT THIS FREAKING LONG?????

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
It got a little lost in the middle but Amie Kaufman KNOWS how to write an ending

[Aleksandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Współpraca barterowa]
Znacie jakieś dobre dylogie? Podzielcie się swoimi ulubieńcami!
Ja jestem bardzo zadowolona z dylogii “Wyspy Bogów”. Może nie trafił na szczyt mojej listy ulubieńców, ale to solidna pozycja. Pierwszy tom mi się podobał, ale drugi go przebija!
Nie wiem, czy tak dużo zmieniło to, że już poznałam dobrze tych bohaterów, ich cele i powody do działania, czy po prostu lepiej została tu poprowadzona akcja, ale bardzo trudno było mi się od niej oderwać. Muszę przyznać, że poprzedni tom momentami mi się dłużył, ale tu ani razu nie miałam takiego wrażenia.
Tym razem zeszliśmy na ląd i zdecydowanie mniej czasu spędziliśmy na otwartej wodzie. Pomyślałabym, że to powinien być minus, bo przecież właśnie to podobało mi się w pierwszym tomie, ale jakimś cudem bez tego bawiłam się jeszcze lepiej.
Myślę, że kupiły mnie tu emocje, bo oj było ich baaaardzo dużo. Uwielbiam też to, jak dobrze autorka pokazała różnicę radzenia sobie w podobnej sytuacji dwóch różnych bohaterów. Świetnie opisane jest, jak ogromne znaczenie mają otoczenie i otaczający ludzie. Dodatkowo mam słabość, gdy pojawiają się bogowie i nie tylko wzmianki o nich, ale gdy schodzą do świata naszych postaci i mieszają w akcji. A właśnie to też tu dostałam i podobało mi się, jak zostali przedstawieni. Czułam respekt i autorytet.
Relacje, które powstały w pierwszym tomie, teraz w bardzo fajny sposób zostały pogłębione. A Laskia, chociaż daleko jej do postaci, którą lubię, chyba przez jakiś czas nie wyjdzie z mojej głowy. Bardzo współczuję tej dziewczynie i nie dziwie się, że jej głowa poszła w tak niepokojącą stronę. Bardzo ciekawie mi się to czytało.
Fabuła była poprowadzona świetnie, a autorka cudownie podbijała emocje odliczaniem. Czuć było stres bohaterów, powagę i beznadzieję sytuacji. A sam punkt kulminacyjny? Był jak film. Krótkie fragmenty i skakanie po perspektywach dodały ogromnej dynamiki, co przy tamtych wydarzeniach wyszło fenomenalnie. Nie zabrakło również zabawy sercami czytelników, przez co uroniłam kilka łez.
Wszystkie wątki zostały zamknięte, a zakończeniem jestem usatysfakcjonowana. Czuję, że naprawdę dotarliśmy do finału i nie mam uczucia niedosytu. Lubię takie zakończenia.

[Donna Bull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Alfred A. Knopf Books and Netgalley for the ARC.
4.5/5

I love getting carried away in Amie's stories......it is so easy to find yourself envisioning the world and the characters and never wanting to leave. This story is no different and the conclusion of this duology was just as captivating as the first book. While the first book took place primarily in Selly's world on the sea, this story shifts back to Leander's world and it's Selly who finds herself a fish out of water. Not only does she have to learn how to navigate life at court, but she, Leander and Keegan have to search for a way to prevent the imminent war between Alinor and Mellacea. Meanwhile, Laskia is trying to manage the link between her and Macean while planning how best to attack Alinor. Jude is stuck with trying to help Laskia as well as trying to save Tom and figure out a way to save himself as well.

I listened to the audiobook and it is such a treat to have a different narrator for each of the POV's as it makes it so easy to become attached to the characters. Each of them has different events from their past that they are trying to work through as all these world events press upon them. Found family is one of my favorite tropes and Amie is a master at creating flawed characters who struggle to make the right choices while dealing with the consequences of their actions. Keegan and Jude's journeys were lovely and heartbreaking and my gosh, the scenes with Jude and Tom were some of the absolute best of the book!! I will definitely be counting the days until the next story Amie has for us!!

[Sowmya (bookishelflife) · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a wonderful sequel and a satisfying conclusion to the series. I read it as audio and I really enjoyed it even with multiple POV's(5 main +1 small entry) because it is a full cast and everyone of them did a phenomenal job with narration, I thought knowing the characters better now made me love the multiple POV a bit more. All though it was slower in the middle in comparison to the first book, I had a really good time overall, it is still character driven and Amy Kaufman continuous to impress us with her story telling skills

The story picks up right where The Isles Of Gods ends as Leander and Selly travel back home and try to formulate a plan for dealing with the eminent danger that Laskia is about to bring to their doorstep along with the meddling Gods who has their agenda. I absolutely adored Selly, probably liked her no nonsense character even more in this, Keegan was just as charming BUT for me personally the award winning character is kiki!! she was such a joy to read and wished we could have her POV from the beginning of the book rather than a small epilogue portion. The found family trope in this second book was delightful to read especially when the characters came together as an united front during the time of need

The issue I had was with the middle of the book being real slow and then ending just flew by me, I kept zoning out during the middle of the book. Another thing to point out is that I felt a little underwhelmed by the entire Goddess/God storyline with Barrica & Macean. I expected a little more chaos and clear intentions and Laskia's plight towards the end left me frustrated as she didn't really face much repercussions. However, on the whole this is a fun duology that I'd definitely recommend

[Gaïa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️ - Lecture moyenne
Si j'avais beaucoup aimé le tome 1, j'avoue avoir été un poil déçue par cette suite. Nous avions laissé nos héros à un tournant de leur histoire et j'avais hâte de voir quelles en allaient être les conséquences sur leur vie.

Et au global, il m'a manqué un petit quelque chose pour tout à fait accaparer mon attention : l'histoire n'était pas du tout déplaisante à lire, mais j'ai trouvé le debut assez mou, avec des enjeux un peu trop brouillons pour moi. J'ai beaucoup plus apprécié la seconde moitié, mais j'ai quand même gardé un sentiment d'inachevé tout au long de ma lecture.

Les personnages m'ont heureusement plus séduite et j'ai apprécié de tous les retrouver. L'histoire d'amour principale est plutôt mignonne mais j'avoue que c'est Jude qui a complètement conquis mon petit cœur.

Au global, la conclusion de cette duologie est satisfaisante, mais je ne peux pas m'empêcher de penser que l'autrice aurait pu être beaucoup plus ambitieuse !

[Isabelle✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rtc

Quotes:

"The prince is our Messenger," the priest says quietly.
"But you are his shield. The mark of the goddess is on you, Selly Walker. I meant it when I said you were made for him."

"You should remember that no matter how many times you roll the dice and come out ahead, eventually the house always wins."

Then, like the faintest of lights twinkling on the horizon, I realize that I do know what I want. I've done everything I can for Tom. Now, I'm going to clear my debt to the only other person in my life who truly deserves my loyalty. Leander doesn't know I'm here, and he doesn't know I'm his. But he has a double agent in Laskia's court, all the same.

"This place is often called 'the heart of the world,' for the knowledge we keep here. That is the Mother's domain: knowledge.

Now, it seems to me that the greatest risk of all was always to believe that I am enough.

"I am, Sister," I say quietly. "In the form he takes now, as the god of the lost, I am. And I have been for a long time."

[Aly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still liked this overall, especially the characters and their relationships, but the plot wasn't as fun compared to the first book. There's less adventure and more court politics and arguing about what to do. Selly is still my favorite and she works so hard to keep Leander going. I thought her realization about her relationship with her father was sad, but also helped her understand that her chosen family is what matters.

[Kirsten McScottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need more of my boy Jude <3

[Scar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I AM IN AWE

this was a masterpiece

[Neli · Rating 5 out of 5]

the negative reviews on this are making me question if I read the same book???
Like okay yes the premise was soooo different from the first book
The first one focused on characters and not really plot or politics
This one
All the politics
The wars
And the reason why we needed the character dw elopement so much in the first book
If you can recognise that the first book was just deed setting up this masterpiece, then Amie kaufmans writing is not for you
Because this was fucking amazing
Yes it’s slower paced and not as inclined to focus on the romance
But
The scheming and the reasons and the manipulation and all of it.
Perfection
Like
The plot



THE PLOT
Okay so we begin after Leander and lasika sacrificed themeselves to their gods
So Leander is a messenger for barrica
And selly is his anchor to life
And the lasika is the messenger to macean
And Ruby is her FORCED anchor
So we start
And both have returned home
So Leander and selly are at the palace
And they are living life
Not actually
They both feel like they are dying
But they have Keegan and kiki and all that
However one issue
They all want peace
The queen
Does
Not
So they are trying to find a way for peace
However augusta apparently has it alll figured out
She is going to kill lasika
That doesn’t work
So now war has been commanded
Howeverrrrrrr
Barrica then finds a pathway through Leander to enter the world
And macean does the same through lasika
So now the gods are here
And they are ready to fight
But
Their mother
Aka mother of all gods
Depends they attempt peace
If it doesn’t work
And only if it fails
Are they able to commit to war
So both parties travel to the biblioteck
A place thag is made for the mother and no other
So no influence or whatever
Yk
But while there we can see that macean is taking over and influencing the minds of everyone on his side
His people are becoming more daring
They are taking more chances
They are doing things that are life risking
Things that they wouldn’t before
And these people include lasika and ruby
However
Even worse
Barrica is controlling the minds of her side
So she is making the people think war is the way
She is influencing them to be aggressive
To be angry at the other side
To crave a war
Which is something many didn’t want before
So the gods have hold of everyone’s minds
Everyone excluding
Selly
Keegan
And jude
So yes they have leander
And Augusta
And everyone else
So then it is up to the other three to find a way to essentially get rid of the gods from this realm
And I guess to send them back to where they were
This means
We have to get rid of the connection between messenger and god
Aka somehow lasika and Leander need to be the ones to banish them
This then entails
Thanks Keegan for this
Fhag we need to gather a priest for all the gods
And we need to get people to prey so then the siblings of macean and barrica are the ones to take them back
But one issue
Valus
He has no worshippers because all his people are dead
So when we are in the middle of the fight to take back the world
We figure out
It’s not going to work
So then Jude prays
He is valuses first supporter
And it works
Sort of
Because selly and leander connect minds to save themselves
And lasika detaches herself from her sister to get rid of macean
And this ends in ruby dying
But the other three letting the gods leave their world
So the gods are gone
yay!
Happy endings all over thank god.



CHARACTERS


SELLY
okay I love her
I love how she used barrica advice against her
But also
I felt aooo bad for her
First she lost her dad
Then her crew
Then she got thrust into the world of the royals
Aka so she can become a tools for Leander to use (even tho I ugh he does love her)
Then
Then
She has to fight tooth and nail to get him to see how he has been influenced
And when he doesn’t
She almost lost him as well
Like
Fuck me
But the fact that she was willing to sacrafice so much for live
She was willing to sacrafice because it meant Leander may find a way out
And that’s what she cared about
She wasn’t loyal to the gods
She was loyal to love
And the juxtaposition of her character as an anchor
He willingness
And then ruby
Who wasn’t willing (and who died in the end)
Shows how faith doesn’t have to be in a certain god
But you can put your faith into a person you love and still be strong for it.
I love love love how all the characters in this book show a different standpoint of faith
And how it can change you
But also
I’m so happy for selly
She can finally be who she wants now
She is no longer her dads daughter
She isn’t the messangers anchor
She is selly walker
A sailor



LEANDER
Ughhh
Man I love you so much but fuck me
I was so scared
Like I started to see shifts in his character and I knew something was wrong
We lost who he was slowly
He was no longer the happy
Sort of cocky
Actually very cocky
Funny
But emotionally attached character
But he turned out to be the character who was most deeply influenced by barrica
However
When the time came for him to fight
He didn’t choose his god
Or his magic
Or even his realm
He choose to save selly
Again
His faith may lie in a god
But it is all his heart
The reason he lived in the end
Is because he knew he had somethjng to come back for
He needed to fight
Because if he didn’t how would he ever return to selly?
But also I wish he could fight barrica
I wish he wasn’t stuck to her
I wish he himself was able to find clarity
But whatever’s
He did it
In the end he choose what he choose
He didn’t let her influence him
And now
Now
Hopefully
He will be able to be happy
And even though he and selly have different paths
I think he’ll make it work


KEEGAN
I love you
Genuinely
The fact thag yoh were the one who wanted to escape
And in the end were one of the ones who sacrafice the most for a cause you didn’t care about
Powerful man
Powerful 💥
But like the idea thag you weren’t loyal to a god
But you were again
So loyal to love and knowledge
Was the reason you made it out clearly
You were the reason everyone made it out actually
Without you
There wouldn’t be anyone left
War would have occurred
And death woukd of been inevitable
You were the reason everyone lived
All that knowledge was your power
You didn’t need biceps or a crown to prove your worth
You needed books and a notepad
Another character thag yet again proves
Faith doesn’t have to be in religion
Jt can be in knowledge and academics
I love you so much
I love thag in the end you did get everyone you were fighting for
In the end yoh got to go study
You didn’t have to marry
You got to be who you wanted to be all along


LASIKA
okay
I don’t like you very much
But
BUT
your character
Oh
My
God
Amazing
The idea that you started so loyal
Yoh began so strong and you thought the way to be who you wanted to be was through macean
And then throughout your time as a mess anger
You discovered thag your god wasnt whag yoh needed
What you needed was to find yourself
And you couldn’t
You were trapped
You felt as though you had to constantly impress someone
And thag you had to pretend to be more then you were
When in reality you just strives for love
Not power
You let people influence you so much that you didn’t even know yourself
You let your god take control of you
And that is the only reason you found out
It’s not good to be someone who is reliable
It’s good to be yourself
To be independent
You lost faith in your god
And gained faith in yourself


JUDE
I wasn’t sure of your character in the first book
But you redeemed yourself
The idea that you knew you weren’t loyal to anyone but yourself and some friends
And thag you couldn’t worship a gosh because who would you
You were so full of loss thag no good coukd full thag hole
And then when you magbe coukd have had someone to fill the place of loss
You let him go
Because you knew it was better for him
And then
You fought for Leander
Because you knew it meant having peace
Because your world was so full of ruin you just wanted peace
However
You are the reason that was achievable
Without you finding your faith in valus
The god of loss
This story wouldn’t have been complete
And now thag you have found that loss can be the foundation for something better
You are building up something from whag everyone thought was nothing


HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Kiki - ahhh my girl
You were so loyal
You taught selly that being proud doesn’t have to mean being viewed differently
You showed her how to become someone of power while not losing herself
Because you knew how hard it was to figure that out because you had to do it for yourself
I love you soooo much


Barrica - I hate you with all my heart
You are the reason all of this happened
If you didn’t leave the door akar
If you weren’t controlling everyone movement to ensure you could come back
No one
Including macean
Woukd have coke back
War wouldn’t have even been thought of
I hate you more then macean


Macean - I also hate you don’t worry
Why do you think you shoukd force people to take risks on your behalf
Why should they risk their lives for you
When you have done nothing to make them worship you
You have killed and fought and done nothing of happiness
Worthless
Useless
And uncompassionate


Then a list
Da - I hate you :)
Tom (judes bf)
Ruby
Valus
Coria
That’s it



QUOTES


“I don’t know how to be helped, and it’s too late now to wish”


“I thought you were so sheltered, when we met. I thought you had no idea how the world worded. But now I see it - it’s different here. You’re the one who knows how to swim with sharks, and I’m the one whose drowning”


“I loved you before I ever became barricad messenger, the first boat I made yoh was a promise, and so is those one. Yoh asked me if this - if what we feel - is us, or barrica. I know what’s real”


“Eyes on me, sailor”


“You should remember that no matter how many times yoh roll the dice and come out ahead, eventually the house always wins”


“If Leander the messenger can’t make that choice, what do I owe the boy I fell in love with?”


“The Temple of the Mother, where our bodies are-it's at the center of the Bibliotek. And they call the Bibliotek the heart of the world the very center of it, where wisdom lies.
They're wrong. It's this girl's heart that's at the center of everything.
I cannot let her go.
She is the heart of the world— she's all the love and courage in it.”


time to go cry!

[Pili · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another outstanding book my Amie Kaufman (it's not for nothing she's one of my autobuy and leave everything else I'm doing to read authors) and a perfect closing to a duology. I laughed, I made tea because I was stressed about how the conflict was escalating, I cried and I was deeply engrossed from beginning to end.

[Inkaddict · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 / 5 ⭐️

Pierwszy tom był genialny i oczarował mnie tym morskim klimatem, motywem żeglugi i ogólnego życiu na morzu. 90% książki wokół tego się kręciło i przez to ta książka była taka wyjątkowa. Natomiast tu zupełnie tego nie ma. Autorka pozbawiła ten tom tej ✨wyjątkowości✨ Dla mnie to ogromny minus i największe rozczarowanie. Rozumiem, że autorka już nie mogła sobie na to pozwolić również w tej części ze względów fabularnych, ale rozczarowanie pozostaje.

Słyszałam opinie, że niektórzy nie kupują wątku romantycznego, ale mnie on się bardzo podobał. W tym tomie przybrał on bardziej poważny ton. Zgłębiamy bardziej uczucia i psychikę bohaterów. Dochodzi tu nawet motyw takiej miłości astralnej, duchowej i przeznaczenia. Brakowało mi trochę tych przekomarzań bohaterów, ale i tak uważam, że ich relacja została poprowadzona w ciekawym kierunku.

Zakończenie bardzo mi się podobało. Autorka świetnie domknęła wszystkie wątki i nie zostawiła mnie z uczuciem niedosytu. Finał dość emocjonujący, a ta „skacząca” perspektywa była świetnym pomysłem, bo przez to jeszcze bardziej przeżywałam wydarzenia.

Mimo trochę słabszego drugiego tomu ogromnie polecam wam tę dylogię, bo zdecydowanie jest warta przeczenia. Jeśli lubicie morskie opowieści, stare rytuały i bogów, których lepiej nie budzić to będzie to dla was strzał w dziesiątkę 🔥

[C Miken · Rating 1 out of 5]

Laskia continues to be the freaking worst. Again, not in a cool evil way; I love me a cape-wearing, cackle-laughing, mustache-twirling villain. But Laskia sucks eggs because she's entitled and snobbish and rude and dense like a 50 pound salt block all while lacking any of the pazazz or interesting characteristics to make up for it. And this wouldn't be so bad if she were a side character, but no, I am trapped in her head every 4 chapters or so, screaming to be let out of here like a prisoner in an oubliette filling with water.
I also just cannot wrap my head around how and why backing the gambling god is a good choice or why he is really a threat at all (you won't have to gamble on what his deal is though because you'll be reminded that the gambling god gambles with gambling odds in this gambit of gambles played by gamblers by dear sweet Laskia every five SECONDS). I also don't get why asshat thinks a war is a good idea. One would think that a gambling god would try to do the things that have the best odds, not go for the "random bullshit go" option they seem to favor. Like I mean come on, you didn't win your March Madness bracket by letting your pet chicken choose the teams, you won because you evaluated the playing field and chose the best option. Laskia even says at one point that she will "start a war. Just to see how it plays out". BESTIE THAT'S HOW YOU LOSE YOUR CHILD'S COLLEGE FUND IN RENO. Also, wasn't your original motivation about something something religion something something people aren't going to Sunday school so I'm gonna create a reality so toxic that they'll be forced to pay me attention? I feel like getting you a PR person and a charismatic leader with a wife who sings would've been 10 times more productive than this shit.
It also seems dumb as hell to support a notoriously crooked god. It's like in the Elder Scrolls where Clavicus Vile - god of bad deals - somehow still has followers who keep repeatedly losing their lunch money to him and somehow they keep worshipping him. I mean I guess the sunk cost fallacy is real and pyramid schemes too... Hell, look at me right now, sludging through the second book in this series looking for something that doesn't put me to sleep or give me a tension headache. But at least I'm not putting all my hopes and wishes and dreams on this pony like these people are with their stupid god.
Additionally, the powers that Leander and Laskia have seem to have nothing to do with their respective gods, which just seems boring and lazy. Maybe I wouldn't have been so sick of Laskia and the god of multi-level marketing schemes if she had an actually interesting power, like maybe she could see the odds of any scenario like Vanya in Little Thieves or could see the future and the potential paths like Paul in Dune or maybe was just insanely lucky like Dean in that one episode of Supernatural... oh god I sound like such a nerd... But no, instead she just makes things explode and decay like the world's fastest food dehydrator.
The whole deal with Leander being seemingly lost also gets solved in about 1 chapter, which just makes the whole thing feel like a plot point that was used for cheap shock value and the author never actually intended on following through on. I still think he also deserves to be torn a new one for "I'll get to it later"-ing the end of the world like his mom had asked him to thaw some chicken for dinner that night. I just can't care about Leander and Selly's relationship or their pining or Leander struggling with his new powers when I just want to to see him get gum stuck in his hair and then step on a Lego. Twice.

[Misskaktus · Rating 2 out of 5]

This might have been a separate book and not second in the duology. When there was plenty happening in Isles, nothing in particular happens in this one. Characters got one-dimensional, which left only one plot line moving this thing around. Writing was nice, but all other parts of good storytelling I found lacking.

[thevintagechronicles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libby/audio

Well, this wasn’t for me i guess. I didn’t remember anything about book one, maybe i would have liked this more if i had.
It has themes of religion and politics, which i never like. There are at least 6 POVs, and i only liked about three of those people.
Then we have the somewhat stagnant storyline, where all the characters are sort of standing around talking occasionally.
A few have new mega powers, and are being controlled by gods, but somehow know how to control the powers automatically.
Overall, i was bored. Im glad it’s over. I basically tuned it out, my mind wandered a lot. I just wasn’t in the mood for this, and nothing about it hooked me. I guess this wrapped up the storyline, but i will need to read the duo again to get much from it.
This is probably a me problem. Hope everyone else enjoys it. I love most things by this author.

[real dragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐3.5/5

Przyznam, że bardzo cieszyłam się, że Serce Świata czekało na mnie na półce i od razu, kiedy skończyłam Wyspy Bogów, mogłam na nowo się zatracić się w przygodach odważnej podróżniczki Selly, niepoprawnego księcia Leandra oraz ich przyjaciela i jednocześnie chodzącej biblioteki Keegana. Dynamika między tymi postaciami jest nie do podrobienia i gdyby to była trylogia, a nie dylogia, bez wątpienia sięgnęłabym po kolejny tom, aby dalej móc 'przebywać' wśród tych postaci.

🔥Mój główny zarzut do tego tomu, to fakt, że mam wrażenie, że fabuła, która spokojnie mogłaby rozwinąć skrzydła w trzech tomach, została skondensowana w dwóch częściach. Miałam wrażenie, że bohaterowie przemieszczają się w sposób ekspresowy z miejsca na miejsce, a ja zostałam pozbawiona tego, co w pierwszym tomie tak przypadło mi do gustu, czyli przeprawy naszych bohaterów przez świat. Motyw podróży w fantastyce jest jednym z moich ulubionych i o ile rozumiem fakt, że być może autorka nie chciała powielać tego, co działo się w Wyspie Bogów, to jednak w drugim tomie tego motywu zabrakło, a nie dostałam w zamian właściwie nic konkretnego.

🔥Mam też wrażenie, że wątki zostały rozwinięte trochę zbyt szybko i powierzchownie i chociaż zazwyczaj cieszę się, że w ręce wpada mi dylogia a nie trylogia, tym razem trochę żałuję, że nie dostaliśmy dodatkowej tomu. Mimo wszystko jednak nie mogłam oderwać się od od przygód Selly i jej towarzyszy, a wątek romantyczny między nią, a Leandrem powodował, że momentami uśmiech nie schodził mi z twarzy. 😍🫠 Ogólnie uważam, że jest to godna uwagi fantastyka young adult, która może być świetna na start dla młodszych czytelników, ale też stanowić przyjemna rozrywkę u osób z starszej grupie wiekowej.

Reklama @mlodybook

[Cherie • bookshelvesandtealeaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge thank you to Allen & Unwin for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this! I was hooked from start to finish, absolutely enraptured by this story. It’s even better than the first, with what feels like even more on the line.

I really felt all our POV characters grow so much in this book. All of them really came into their own, reaching for what they wanted for themselves, and I couldn’t be happier for each and every one of them. I’m so dang emotional.

Jude was always a complicated, lost character, but the strength and direction and purpose he found in this book made my heart feel so full. He gave up so much to try and be the kind of person he could be proud to be and he ended up finding so much more than he ever imagined.

Laskia was another whose journey really captivated me in this book. I was so proud of her for finally realising her worth did not depend on the approval of others and I felt a sense of peace in the way her story ended. It was so fitting for her, an angry, fighty, scared character, to finally take a breath and be ready to find herself.

The love and belief Keegan, Selly and Leander had in each other really held their part of the story together and is honestly the beating heart of this duology and I loved the ways it was tested in this book and the fact that they fought for each other til the end.

The plot in this was so fast paced and had such high-stakes I really couldn’t put this one down. A fantastic end to an incredible duology.

[Suzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steam Level: 🔥🔥 (closed door)

The gods have their messengers, and that means the threat of war is looming. As Selly and Leander face the reality of their new bond, they also wonder if they'll both survive the power that links them. Meanwhile, Laskia revels in her new abilities, and Jude struggles with whether to run or continue the path he's been on with Dasriel and Laskia. Will the gods be released back into the world and bring a war that could destroy everything, or will our heroes find a way to bring about peace without sacrificing themselves?

This. Was. So. Good! Book one was good and fine, but this one sucked me in from the beginning and never let go. There were some POVs in the first book that bored me a bit and seemed unnecessary, but this time every character had a purpose and contributed to the storyline in a meaningful way. There was so much tension and conflict throughout, and I never knew what was going to happen next. The characters all had to gamble with their lives and hope that they'd come out alive in the end. There were stronger friendships and more romance, and I wasn't sure if everyone would get a happy ending. I even loved the addition of Kiki's character, even though she didn't get as much page time as she deserved. I should also point out that the first chapter provided a great recap of book 1 for readers like myself who didn't reread before jumping into this one. Whether you enjoyed Isles of the Gods or not, I highly recommend picking up the conclusion to this duology! It definitely made me excited to read more from Amie Kaufman!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[norah · Rating 4 out of 5]

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

⭐️=4.25 | 😘=2 | 🤬=1 | ⚔️=3.25 | 13+

summary: The Isles of the Gods book two

thoughts: I love these characters! and this world! very well-paced as well, and I like where the character arcs (specifically Keegan, Selly, Jude, and Leander’s) ended up. I think Laskia got less attention, or less of a happy ending than I would’ve liked? maybe just… less of an ending. idk. also I want more Kiki content but I think this series should not have any spin offs so idk what to do about that.

my biggest critique (spoiler??): who is Elga?? she literally just showed up out of nowhere and had a couple paragraphs of infodumping and suddenly changed the course of the plot?? like she could’ve been a little more foreshadowed throughout book one.

anyway! overall!! a good time. not as good as book one (tough to beat), but still great! a nice conclusion to it all!!