Champion of the Gods

by Julie L. Kramer

The fate of the kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young warrior touched by the gods…which prince will she choose?

Ilia is Gods Touched, a young warrior who has spent her entire life sequestered behind the walls of the temple of the goddess of war. The goddess herself brought her there, leaving her in the care of two other misfits, with only the warning that her visions of the future would put her in the path of the gods. Now, so many years later, that prediction has come true.

Prince Aristo has been raised to be king, but when his parents put together a tournament for the eligible young ladies of the kingdom to fight for his hand and an unlikely enemy appears instead, will Ilia’s help be enough to spite the gods and help Aristo keep his kingdom, or is there something deeper at play?

140 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 16, 2022

Reviews

[Eve Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really love the idea behind this story. There are lots of interesting concepts, and I'm sure there's plenty of readers that will appeciate having a strong female MC and a soft male MC.

"I didn't want to marry him, but he was right that I had been forced into this. But in a way, so had he. Whether it had been the gods or his parents, we had both been forced into a situation that we would both have to fight, in my case literally, to get out of."

Sadly, the writing style was not for me. I frequently felt like there was something missing. Sometimes it even felt like there were sections missing as it was unclear how we got from one scene to another. As for the relationship development... I definitely missed that.

[nico · Rating 2 out of 5]

Champion of the Gods follows Ilia, blessed by the gods who after receiving a vision from them, feels obliged to fight in a tournament for the prince's hand.

I will start by saying that when I read the synopsis of this book, I was very intrigued but sadly, I was disappointed.

The writing style felt like I was reading a very long summary or essay. Little description, limited dialogue and long paragraphs were probably the reason for that. I couldn't tell the difference between the characters' voices. It felt like they all talked the same way.

Also, I found Ari's POV unnecessary. The majority of the book is told by Ilia's POV and should have been that way. Aristo offered little as a POV and could have worked better as an MC from Ilia's POV.

The story moved way too fast with no time for us to get to know and connect with the characters. The romance was... eh... At one chapter she tolerates him and in the next suddenly she loves him. We would have died for each other plss you know each other a week.

[Coral Hopwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 22%

[Debbie Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG this was such a good read! Straight off the bat I found myself sucked into this incredible world created by this author. With an exciting and gripping storyline we found ourselves on one hell of an adventure with a Demi goddess and a prince! Fantastic kick ass characters that you can’t help but cheer on as they stand together and a story of mystery, intrigue and let’s not forget a growing romance!

[Amanda Schumacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had the pleasure of being an ARC reader for this book, I absolutely love it!

A Prince? A Demi-Goddess? A battle for the throne.. the Prince is a young man who doesn’t want the throne but is the heir, sneaking out and meeting a daughter of a goddess of war who fights fiercely. Does this story have a happy ending? You’ll have to read it for yourself…

[Brittany Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ilia is touched by the gods, fated to see bits of the future at the will of the gods and to do their bidding. She is a young warrior who has spent her entire life sequestered behind the walls of the temple of the goddess of war. The goddess brought her there and left her in the care of two women who become Ilira's world. She was given a warning that her visions of the future would put her in the path of the gods, but that was all the help she would get. Now, so many years later, that prediction has come true.

Prince Aristo has been raised to be king; he knows he needs to marry but is very set against the ways his parents go about it. His parents get an idea to put together a tournament for the eligible young ladies of the kingdom to fight for his hand and they each pick their champion to compete.

However, an unlikely enemy appears instead, will Ilya’s help be enough to spite the gods and help Aristo keep his kingdom, or is there something deeper at play?

This book has a fresh outlook and original plot lines to carry the reader to an ancient time. The gods are new- as in not the Greek/Roman/Egyptian ones that we are used to reading about. There is great promise to an exciting series tied up in this book.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I got a free copy in exchange for an honest review*
This was the first book by this author that I had ever read and after finishing it I can safely say that she is on my must-read list! Her character descriptions, plotlines, and tropes were all perfectly executed.
Ilia and Ari meet through circumstances that are far from ideal and immediately get stuck together for this amazing and epic journey of battling for his hand in marriage due to his parents' decision. God-touched Ilia has no control over her destiny but when a vision tells her she must compete she does, risking her life for something she never got to choose. Ilia is fierce and strong and a true warrior but that doesn’t stop her from growing emotions as the story continues.
Ari’s parents never listened and as he’s forced to watch women battle for the chance to marry him he resigns himself to his fate. His nightly escapades help the reader fall more in love with him and his personality.
I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone who likes reluctant allies tropes or strong female mc’s.

[Beba Andric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, enjoyable story. What I liked was that it had a different spin on a brewing romance. Not your typical MC, Ilia is s fierce warrior, abandoned by her mother, who is, wait for it, a Goddess! Not only that, but she's godtouched as well. Ari, a prince who's parents are adamant he must marry, concoct a bizarre fight competition, the winner will be his bride. The unintentional encounter between Ari and Ilia has them being tasked by both the gods and Ari's mother, who incidentally, has some nefarious intentions! I really enjoyed Ilia's POV, it shows how vulnerable she actually is, no matter her tough exterior. I liked how protective she is of her friends and her sense of right. The romantic element is realistic, more a falling into the realisation than the insta love some books describe. With just the right amount of intrigue, the right amount of mystery, this book develops well and keeps one guessing what next.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

140 pages Champion of the Gods by Julie L. Kramer was received through BookFunnel and I am now giving an honest review. I enjoyed reading this book and want to read more from this writer. One of the things I enjoyed in this book is getting to know the characters. In this book Ilia is Gods Touched who has spent her entire life behind the walls of the temple of the goddess of war, with her having been the one to bring her there. One of the ''gifts'' she has is visions of future. Meanwhile Prince Aristo has been raised to be king but his parents put together a tournament to fight, literally, for his hand in marriage and an unlikely enemy appears instead. Will Ilia's help be enough to help Aristo to keep his kingdom or is there something deeper at play. This book is available on Amazon

[Claudia · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story wasn’t bad but I wasn’t a fan of the writing style.

I think it needed a bit of an edit as I felt a lot of the information was repetitive, telling rather than showing, and a bit dump-y in some cases that it made it difficult to follow.

There was also a couple of times it jumped forward in time that I wish had a better gap. Like it would be talking about an event and then in the next paragraph be several hours later which you only knows because the character told you it’d been a few hours. This got confusing and distracted from the plot.

I also don’t know how I feel about the relationship between the two main characters, (perhaps because I was frustrated in deciphering where we were in the plot), but I didn’t see the connection between the two of them.

[Monique De Villiers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this story.

I'm always down for a bad ass Female lead who basically comes to the rescue every time. I do not so much enjoy timid Male leads but this one at least had some brains and some sass even though some dumb discussions got him into some dumb situations.

This story definitely has a lot of potential, its a quick read and I was really sad when it ended.

[Allyssa Painter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the ides of this one but it was underdeveloped with a lot of mistakes. There were contradictory things and plot holes. I feel like with a good developmental editor and then a copy editor it would be a great read, but as it is, it feels more like a rough draft than a published book.

[Riniya · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing is poor and the pacing is all over the place. There is no character development and not enough time to attach to the characters.

The idea/premise has such promise but the execution is lacking.

[Ursala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot was good. Fresh ideas on familiar concepts

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review coming

[Janie Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt really rushed, and the story was confusing.

[Antonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Final book of 23! Book 201 (even if Goodreads doesn't count 2 of my read just yet!)

[Mettesknit · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf 71%
To save my Kindle from mortal damage, I had to dnf this book.