Trial of Gods

by Valkyrie Amani

Princess Ayla of Galina was born with the gift of light — a power that could have kept her crown if she’d known how to use it. But when her parents are mysteriously murdered and she is framed for the crime, her uncle seizes the throne. Exiled to the dark and mysterious kingdom of Malefic, Ayla seeks the aid of its cruel king to reclaim her throne. But the price of his help is steep — her hand in marriage. As Ayla trains to master her unique gift, she must navigate a dangerous world of magic, betrayal, and secrets that threaten to consume her. A tale of betrayal, sacrifice and longing desire.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Fantasy Romance, Forbidden Love, Ebooks

404 pages, Paperback

Published September 12, 2025

Reviews

[Anitra · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot was interesting, and I did stick around to see what would happen. But the writing seemed one dimensional, there was a lack of emersion that could have helped to flesh out the story and characters further. The depth needed to help you really see and feel from the character's perspective was missing in most of the book. One of the MMC's describes how he went from never wanting love to suddenly being infatuated with FMC, "But somewhere along the way it became more." That's it, there was no lead up, no angst, no emotional revelations to get to this point, it just suddenly is given to the reader just like that as to how the MMC's attitude changes. FMC, you never get a true sense of her character. Is she a strategist? Is she cunning? Does she love deeply? She never receives any MC defining moments. Trials for her and the other characters are short lived and almost insignificant.

[Seta ❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t usually write reviews, but wow—this book surprised me in the best way. I was first intrigued by the author’s TikTok art for this book, and I’m so glad I picked it up. It has the little quirkssss you sometimes find in a debut so keep that in mind, but I’m still impressed by how much this indie author has accomplished on their own and I’m excited to see their journey!

Can we PLEASE discuss the fact that we were just handed not one but TWO morally gray brunette men who control shadows?? My dark little heart is thriving. There’s a clear winner between them, but honestly…I can’t even hate Emrys (probably says something deeply concerning about my taste in fictional men, I’m well aware).

My sweet, tortured Xavian. Nothing gets me like a man whose entire brand is “I will ruin myself just to be worthy of you.” My man is out here saying:

“I’d endure every form of torture in the world if it meant I could call you mine.” I AM SAT. Where do you find men like this in real life? Oh wait, they don’t exist so my standards are going to continue to be unimaginably unrealistic. Cool.

“I’d do anything for you, including laying down my life if it meant getting you what you desired.” SAY NO MORE.

“I’ve been yours since the moment we met. You own me, princess. The darkest corners of my soul, my body, my mind—this wretched heart I didn’t even know could feel anything like this. And I don’t care how ruined I am. I’ll try. I’ll try to be what you need and what you want. I will never stop trying for you.”

The groveling. THE SACRIFICE. The sheer commitment to bad decisions in the name of love. Which devil did he sign a deal with? What exactly happens in The Pit? WHO CARES. Hand him over. I’ll take him, royal blood or not.

And that ending? No. Absolutely not. I need book two immediately. I’m clearly unwell. GET MY MAN XAVIAN OUT OF THE DAMN DUNGEON. He’s been tortured enough 😭 I also need to learn more about Ayla’s background!!!

I do think the world building needed to be better and include more character depth in terms of the backstory of some characters, but this is their debut and it had a capturing plot!

[Ashleigh Tervit · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️ (kindle)

Loves a forced marriage between princess and king but really falls for the knight instead troupe 🤪 this was a random tik tok find that did not disappoint, however, I need to find out when the next one comes out asap!

“I’ve been yours from the moment we met,” he said. “You own me, princess. Every broken piece. The darkest corners of my soul, my body, my mind—this wretched heart I didn’t know could feel anything like this.”

[Kimber Bond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tried so hard to get into it because booktok. It’s quite disappointing:( The videos/edits the author posted was fire, but this book has no depth. Lack of description to things so it’s hard to picture settings, lack of transitions to settings. Hard to fully get a movie going in the head when you don’t have much to go on. Just felt a bit confused.
I feel like this would be so much better if there was more background to certain things. Just A LOT of details missing.
The dialogue is fire though, the magic/devils,gods etc love that part
Just wish it was written a little better because it would be hard to put down.
I’m only 63% done on kindle but I’m not going to finish.

[Bri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much!! In my opinion it was a very decent flowing pace. Some books are so slow in the beginning and that makes people dnf.
The yearning I have already to go back and read again 😣
If you’re reading this and you haven’t read this book…. GO READ IT!!!

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointment is an understatement. There was no depth of the characters, the fmc seemed plain and more robotic than anything else… Throughout the story I somehow felt like the whole book had been written by an extremely bad KI. The plot was interesting at first, then it got boring. The love trope was poorly written and way too fast, there was love before any character development which makes straight up no sense. Sadly, not only the FMC but also the MMC/S badly disappointed… these days every romantasy sounds the same, it is truly getting boring

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girl I’m torn. Emrys is controlling but I just love him. Xavian too. Like why choose girl? But emrys is entertaining her attraction to xavian like???? Idk I need book two now. Oh also shadow daddies✅ morally grey men✅ amazing marketing on TikTok✅

[Gianna Jolley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 it was okay and why’d they keep hurting my bit xavian

[Sam DeMoss · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book since I follow the author on TikTok. I am not dissatisfied or disappointed though. I’m very excited for the next book but I do think this one should maybe be rewritten? It’s the author’s first book which you can tell and my issue with it is I NEED MORE. I wish we got more descriptions on the setting on this grey world vs the colorful one. I wish we had longer scenes showing her love with Xavian but how she welcomes Emrys as well. A lot of information in a short amount of time just kind of felt scene after scene without placing the setting fully. The War scene was very confusing as well felt like whiplash. I will be reading the second book and I am excited as well.

[Roslyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veryy Intriguing

Really enjoyed the plot and I feel like there is so much potential no matter the direction the storyline goes. New characters coming into the picture makes me excited… I need book #2 already.

[Vesouli · Rating 1 out of 5]

⭐️ 1 star

I really wanted to love this book, but from the very first chapters it was obvious that the writing feels heavily AI-written or AI-refined. The language is flat, generic, and never once pulled me into the story.

Which is honestly a shame, because the idea itself has a lot of potential. In books like Throne of Glass or Harry Potter, the world feels alive. You can picture the creatures, feel the magic, and actually believe you’re there. Here, that never happens. Instead, a lot of pages feel like filler added to reach a word count rather than meaningful world-building.

The story reads like a rough draft rather than a finished book. The characters are inconsistent, the chemistry feels random, and the romance has no buildup at all. One character is against love and then suddenly in love with no real development in between. It’s rushed, unconvincing, and lazy.

What really drops this to one star is the writing style and lack of originality. There are way too many dashes, the prose feels overly processed, and several lines and ideas feel far too close to other popular books to ignore.

I pushed to around 40% before DNFing.

That one star is purely for the ideas. The rest didn’t work for me at all and needs a lot more editing, rewriting, and development. I hope the author keeps writing, because the ideas are there, but this was not ready to be published.

[Mar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trial of Gods by Valkyrie Amani
Book Review:
★★★★★
Trial of Gods was a fantastic debut and an easy five-star read for me. I chose to read this after seeing some character art of the MMC and just knew I was going to get hooked. This book kept my interest from start to finish, and I quickly became invested in the characters and their journeys. The world-building was well written and perfectly paced, making the story easy to follow while still feeling rich and immersive.
The trials were engaging and high-stakes, and the relationships developing throughout the story really drew me in. I'm especially excited to see where those relationships go in the next book. Overall, this was a strong, enjoyable fantasy debut that left me eager to continue the series.

Tropes
• Trials / competitions
• Gods and divine influence
• Chosen protagonist
• Slow-burn tension
• Dark fantasy / adult romance
• Magical abilities
• Morally grey mmcs

Trigger warnings
- Murder
- Torture
- Explicit sexual content
- Mentions of rape
- References to trauma, grief and loss
- Strong language
- Reference to sexual assault involving a minor (off-page)

[Kenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF'd

I made it about five chapters in before I had to stop. The pacing felt extremely rushed and lacked depth. Conversations often began abruptly and didn’t flow naturally, making it difficult to stay immersed in the story. By chapter 3 (if I’m remembering correctly), the plot had already advanced as far as many novels would take fifteen chapters to reach. While fast paced storytelling isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it needs to be balanced with stronger world building and character development both of which felt largely absent here. I genuinely tried to give this book a fair chance, but it ultimately reminded me of the wattpad stories written by 6th graders I used to read around 2010. It also seemed to be either written or edited by AI as the paragraphs felt short and lacked emotion. Also, there were numerous editing errors throughout, which made the reading experience even more frustrating.

I had high hopes.

[BersBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow what a read!! I am dying for book 2 already.

The world and the complex magic and political systems are just getting started and I can tell this could shape into an amazing series!

Following FMC Ayla and her journey to try and reclaim her stolen throne. I found myself sympathising with her. Wanting to shake her to make her see sense and wanting to give her a telling off!!

Xavien ofcourse everything you look for in a MMC, tall brooding and an absolute sucker for Ayla!

I’m begging for him to get his happy ending. 4 star read for sure and can’t wait for book 2

[Doubravka Veselá · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw this book on TikTok and had fairly high expectations because it’s a genre I usually love. I’ve read quite a lot of books in this category, and while I wouldn’t say this one was terrible, I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters.

The only reason I finished it was to find out how it would end. The plot felt disjointed, the main characters weren’t very compelling, and many parts seemed unfinished or underdeveloped.

Honestly, I’m disappointed. I was really looking forward to this book, but in the end it just felt like a waste of time.

[Sydney · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I didnt hate the book but I was very disappointed. the characters felt kind of bland. I felt like I needed "more" from them to gain a connection. the plot was interesting, but again, everything just felt "flat". I'm glad I read it but I probably won't read it again, nor will I read any book that may follow. It's one of those reads that I will likely forget the details of in a month or so.

[Laura Joanna Kuus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Im about 20% in and it is really feeling like AI was used to write this… Dnf. Feels boring and repetitive and really just overall not great. Maybe I’ll eat my words one day and try reading it again but after just finishing acotar, it is bad in every aspect: world building, characters, wording.

[Alyssa McNatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book but needed a little more

Overall it was a good book with an excellent story line. I did feel like it was a little too fast paced and rushed so I never really felt a truly deep connection to the characters but it kept my
attention.

[Kati.readsss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely ate this book up. 🤩 I loveeee the plot we got going and the tension between characters!!! Left me on a spot on the end where imma need book 2 asap plz🙏🏻 plzzz read this book it will bless your eyes and mind

[ANGIE · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was AMAZING and it honestly surprised me w it's plot n everything. It IS something new and I loved it so much. Only thing I don't like is it's a love triangle, bcs I literally am obsessed with both male love interests n want her to end up w both of them🩷

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING, this book completely took me out of my slump, the magic in it is phenomenal! I picked it up thinking it was a completed series but now im just on the edge of my seat waiting for more !

[Greta Van Dyck]

dnf @ 51%

[Rosanan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had potential. The main character Ayla is so insufferable she ruined the book for me.

[Diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 20%. Wanted to like this book, it has potential but if feels very AI, there is no emotion, it felt flat and I couldn’t connect or care about any of them

[Maddy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf 10%

[LexiRaffles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good! Very intriguing and different. Some grammatical errors here and there but overall a good read. Interested how the next book will go because the ending left on quite the cliff hanger!

[Fatima · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read 50% of the book and it was so boring. Had to make myself push through it. But decided it’s not worth it

[Hayley Vonka · Rating 2 out of 5]

shit

[jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

the king’s bride and the knight. so good.

[Florettahab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it for what it is