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The God Key
You have the power to make everyone in the world a good person. All it costs is the love of your life. Which do you choose?
At university they were best friends and boyfriends - Gabriel, a charming telepath obsessed with saving the world; Isaac, a lonely magnifier who quadruples the superpowers of anyone he touches.
It's happily ever after until Isaac fakes his death.
Five years later, a villain is bringing everyone's worst nightmares to life and Gabriel learns that Isaac is still alive. Isaac, who he never stopped loving. Isaac, with his secrets and strange connection with their dreamweaver enemy. Isaac, who might yet be the key to everything that Gabriel ever wanted...
Whether he wants to be or not.
At university they were best friends and boyfriends - Gabriel, a charming telepath obsessed with saving the world; Isaac, a lonely magnifier who quadruples the superpowers of anyone he touches.
It's happily ever after until Isaac fakes his death.
Five years later, a villain is bringing everyone's worst nightmares to life and Gabriel learns that Isaac is still alive. Isaac, who he never stopped loving. Isaac, with his secrets and strange connection with their dreamweaver enemy. Isaac, who might yet be the key to everything that Gabriel ever wanted...
Whether he wants to be or not.
366 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 13, 2022
10 people are currently reading
322 people want to read
About the author
Simone King
3 books296 followersSimone is the author of The God Key. You will also often find her writing online under the pen name the-modern-typewriter.
She graduated from the University of East Anglia with a degree in Literature and Creative Writing, and since then has shamelessly indulged her love for writing about magic and monsters. She adores a great villain and is passionate about creating more LGBTQ fantasy fiction that involves them.
She graduated from the University of East Anglia with a degree in Literature and Creative Writing, and since then has shamelessly indulged her love for writing about magic and monsters. She adores a great villain and is passionate about creating more LGBTQ fantasy fiction that involves them.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
October 1, 2022
With the boom of the Marvel-verse, the word ‘superhero’ has been on everyone’s lips for years. The thought that one person can change the universe for good with the aid of his or her superpowers is universally appealing. We all want to be that person.
The God Key asks what would really happen if messed up young adults took the world into their hands. The answer is not pretty. Gabriel, a young telepath decides he can make the world a better place. The only thing he needs is for his boyfriend Isaac to use his own power to magnify his telepathy to cover the whole world. Simple.
…It’s not simple. The messy romance is an absolute delight, a clash between two deeply troubled young men who have to navigate a world afraid of their powers. The story goes to some dark places - suicide, kidnapping - as a supervillain capable of bringing nightmares to life closes in on the already troubled situation.
In any other story Gabriel would be the hero, so his deconstruction into a more villainous figure here is very interesting. The novel is adept at digging into genre mainstays and giving them a fresh, cynical makeover. It’s largely character driven, with the core focus being the relationships between the main cast of heroes and how having super powers has ruined their lives. In addition to Gabriel and Isaac, we get Gabriel’s superhero gang which include a woman with a healing touch and one who can control plants. Plus the Dreamweaver and her terrifying nightmare creatures…
Each drama stacks into a many-layered chaos which all ends in a delightful bang. It’s a compelling read with many interesting ideas about heroism, justice and ‘doing the right thing’. Read this if you want to see superhero characters in a darker light.
The God Key asks what would really happen if messed up young adults took the world into their hands. The answer is not pretty. Gabriel, a young telepath decides he can make the world a better place. The only thing he needs is for his boyfriend Isaac to use his own power to magnify his telepathy to cover the whole world. Simple.
…It’s not simple. The messy romance is an absolute delight, a clash between two deeply troubled young men who have to navigate a world afraid of their powers. The story goes to some dark places - suicide, kidnapping - as a supervillain capable of bringing nightmares to life closes in on the already troubled situation.
In any other story Gabriel would be the hero, so his deconstruction into a more villainous figure here is very interesting. The novel is adept at digging into genre mainstays and giving them a fresh, cynical makeover. It’s largely character driven, with the core focus being the relationships between the main cast of heroes and how having super powers has ruined their lives. In addition to Gabriel and Isaac, we get Gabriel’s superhero gang which include a woman with a healing touch and one who can control plants. Plus the Dreamweaver and her terrifying nightmare creatures…
Each drama stacks into a many-layered chaos which all ends in a delightful bang. It’s a compelling read with many interesting ideas about heroism, justice and ‘doing the right thing’. Read this if you want to see superhero characters in a darker light.
October 21, 2022
Wow. I don't even know where to start. The concept, the characters, and most of the plot deserve a solid 5 star rating. The only reason I have to bring it down to a 4 is because I found myself thinking several times that the story could have used one more round of editing. It's also hard not to compare this novel to Schwab's "Vicious" and Stiefvater's "The Dreamer Trilogy," which is a double-edged sword. If you're a fan of Schwab and Stiefvater, I can almost guarantee that you'll enjoy "The God Key," but you might end up with a 4 star rating just like me. Parts of the previously mentioned works explore the same concepts and themes as "The God Key" but in a much more polished way.
So, let's start with the 5-star worthy stuff:
- The concept. We're bombarded by stories about superheroes these days, but finding books that focus on the people behind the superpowers is still pretty tricky. Not too long ago, these stories were pretty much limited to snippets on tumblr, so I'm extremely happy that they're finally finding their way into the public eye. This is not a story about superheroes fighting a big, bad alien trying to take over the world. This is a fast-paced Urban Fantasy novel about flawed human beings who happen to have superpowers. Most of all, it's a story about love. Dark, twisted, heartbreaking love.
- The plot. I knew just by reading the premise that I would enjoy this book, but I honestly, the premise doesn't do it justice. I'm not going to go into spoilers, but there's a certain twist in the middle of the book that completely blindsided me. In hindsight, I should have seen the possibility of this nightmarish twist coming, but I didn't. It was absolutely terrifying. Well done, King. Anyway, this is nothing like the superhero stories you get from MCU and DC. This is an exploration of the extremely narrow gray zone separates good from evil for people who knows they're powerful enough to change the world.
- The protagonists. This is where King truly shines. It's a strong ensemble in general, but Isaac and Gabriel are on a completely different level. We've got Gabriel, a man who can't stop himself from always wanting to make things better, and Isaac, a man who's always terrified of making things worse. They're characters with superpowers, but they still feel painfully real, and so does their relationship. Even though they once broke each other beyond repair, their love is an unstoppable force that permeates every aspect of the book. Their relationship is an intricate mess of emotions and trauma, and it's explored beautifully.
- The "true" villain. I won't elaborate on this too much because I want this review to be spoiler free, but holy hell did that villain terrify me. King really gave us the perfect example of how good intentions can create an absolute monster.
- The prose. I've followed King on tumblr for ages, so it didn't come as a surprise to me that I would enjoy her writing style. This novel had some sentences that made me pause just to reread the whole paragraph. She has a way with words that reminds me of Schwab and Stiefvater. It's poetic, but it never slips into purple prose.
- The utilization of superpowers. The superpowers themselves were intriguing enough, but King really showed how powerful her imagination is when she started combining them. The way those powers could either strengthen, weaken, or create something completely new when used together was well thought out and extremely fascinating to read about.
- Queer representation. At its core, "The God Key" is a story about two broken men who love each other more than anything. It's raw, it's real, and it's good. Really, really good.
Okay, so let's proceed to the less-than-5-star stuff that lowered the rating for me:
- The editing. This novel could have used a bit more copy editing but also some line editing. There were missing punctuation and quotation marks here and there, but I didn't mind that too much. What bothered me more was how certain scenes were either too long or too short to fit the pacing. In some places, someone should have brought out the scissors, and in other, someone should have told King to elaborate. The rest of my not-quite-five-star comments could probably have been solved by this.
- The pacing. The book consists of two parts, and it in many ways, they're like two novellas put together into one full-length novel. The tone changes drastically once we move over from Part 1 to Part 2, and since some story arcs end in the first part while others continue into the second, the structure of the novel as a whole becomes a little unstable. Like I previously mentioned, King sometimes lingers on some scenes for too long, nearly pausing the plot completely. This mostly happens during moments between Isaac and Gabriel, where I sometimes felt like the story briefly turned into a character study instead of an actual novel. The quality of those scenes are still spectacular, but they do slow down the pacing. Other times, King rushes through scenes so fast that I had a hard time visualizing what was actually going on. You don't always have to follow the three arc structure to write a novel, but sometimes, "The God Key" feels more like a sequence of events than a structured story.
- The world-building. The book takes place in Cambridge, and in Part 1, the rest of the world is barely mentioned at all. This wouldn't be a problem if it hadn't been because of the... issues... happening in Cambridge during that time. What's going on in the rest of the world? What's going on in the rest of UK? Where's the media outrage, the evacuation projects, the quarantine efforts? And what about concerned loved ones from outside the city, trying to reach their children or siblings or parents? King is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to snippets and short stories, but this might actually have worked against her here. In a snippet, you don't have to deal with things happening outside the scene you're describing, but novels are different. In Part 1, the plot seems to take place in a bubble, and it sadly affected my suspension of disbelief.
- Things left unexplained. It's always up to the author whether or not to keep things vague, but I have to admit that even after going back and rereading some chapters, I'm still confused about some plot points. I'm left with a lot of questions, and most of them start with a "how". The confusion wouldn't have bothered me as much if it had just been about minor details, but unfortunately, some of the things that could have used a bit more explanation or elaboration were connected to major plot points - including the ending.
- The deep third point of view. I never thought I'd ever bring that up as a negative thing, but on some occasions, I felt like I was actually too deep inside the character's head. When the character's thoughts are given to you word for word, the writing comes across as a little juvenile. I firmly believe that "show, don't tell" is a guideline and not a rule, but in this case, the prose sometimes delved a little bit too far into "tell" territory.
Conclusion
For a debut author, this is one hell of a story. It has its weak spots, but I really enjoyed reading it. 4 stars.
-
So, let's start with the 5-star worthy stuff:
- The concept. We're bombarded by stories about superheroes these days, but finding books that focus on the people behind the superpowers is still pretty tricky. Not too long ago, these stories were pretty much limited to snippets on tumblr, so I'm extremely happy that they're finally finding their way into the public eye. This is not a story about superheroes fighting a big, bad alien trying to take over the world. This is a fast-paced Urban Fantasy novel about flawed human beings who happen to have superpowers. Most of all, it's a story about love. Dark, twisted, heartbreaking love.
- The plot. I knew just by reading the premise that I would enjoy this book, but I honestly, the premise doesn't do it justice. I'm not going to go into spoilers, but there's a certain twist in the middle of the book that completely blindsided me. In hindsight, I should have seen the possibility of this nightmarish twist coming, but I didn't. It was absolutely terrifying. Well done, King. Anyway, this is nothing like the superhero stories you get from MCU and DC. This is an exploration of the extremely narrow gray zone separates good from evil for people who knows they're powerful enough to change the world.
- The protagonists. This is where King truly shines. It's a strong ensemble in general, but Isaac and Gabriel are on a completely different level. We've got Gabriel, a man who can't stop himself from always wanting to make things better, and Isaac, a man who's always terrified of making things worse. They're characters with superpowers, but they still feel painfully real, and so does their relationship. Even though they once broke each other beyond repair, their love is an unstoppable force that permeates every aspect of the book. Their relationship is an intricate mess of emotions and trauma, and it's explored beautifully.
- The "true" villain. I won't elaborate on this too much because I want this review to be spoiler free, but holy hell did that villain terrify me. King really gave us the perfect example of how good intentions can create an absolute monster.
- The prose. I've followed King on tumblr for ages, so it didn't come as a surprise to me that I would enjoy her writing style. This novel had some sentences that made me pause just to reread the whole paragraph. She has a way with words that reminds me of Schwab and Stiefvater. It's poetic, but it never slips into purple prose.
- The utilization of superpowers. The superpowers themselves were intriguing enough, but King really showed how powerful her imagination is when she started combining them. The way those powers could either strengthen, weaken, or create something completely new when used together was well thought out and extremely fascinating to read about.
- Queer representation. At its core, "The God Key" is a story about two broken men who love each other more than anything. It's raw, it's real, and it's good. Really, really good.
Okay, so let's proceed to the less-than-5-star stuff that lowered the rating for me:
- The editing. This novel could have used a bit more copy editing but also some line editing. There were missing punctuation and quotation marks here and there, but I didn't mind that too much. What bothered me more was how certain scenes were either too long or too short to fit the pacing. In some places, someone should have brought out the scissors, and in other, someone should have told King to elaborate. The rest of my not-quite-five-star comments could probably have been solved by this.
- The pacing. The book consists of two parts, and it in many ways, they're like two novellas put together into one full-length novel. The tone changes drastically once we move over from Part 1 to Part 2, and since some story arcs end in the first part while others continue into the second, the structure of the novel as a whole becomes a little unstable. Like I previously mentioned, King sometimes lingers on some scenes for too long, nearly pausing the plot completely. This mostly happens during moments between Isaac and Gabriel, where I sometimes felt like the story briefly turned into a character study instead of an actual novel. The quality of those scenes are still spectacular, but they do slow down the pacing. Other times, King rushes through scenes so fast that I had a hard time visualizing what was actually going on. You don't always have to follow the three arc structure to write a novel, but sometimes, "The God Key" feels more like a sequence of events than a structured story.
- The world-building. The book takes place in Cambridge, and in Part 1, the rest of the world is barely mentioned at all. This wouldn't be a problem if it hadn't been because of the... issues... happening in Cambridge during that time. What's going on in the rest of the world? What's going on in the rest of UK? Where's the media outrage, the evacuation projects, the quarantine efforts? And what about concerned loved ones from outside the city, trying to reach their children or siblings or parents? King is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to snippets and short stories, but this might actually have worked against her here. In a snippet, you don't have to deal with things happening outside the scene you're describing, but novels are different. In Part 1, the plot seems to take place in a bubble, and it sadly affected my suspension of disbelief.
- Things left unexplained. It's always up to the author whether or not to keep things vague, but I have to admit that even after going back and rereading some chapters, I'm still confused about some plot points. I'm left with a lot of questions, and most of them start with a "how". The confusion wouldn't have bothered me as much if it had just been about minor details, but unfortunately, some of the things that could have used a bit more explanation or elaboration were connected to major plot points - including the ending.
- The deep third point of view. I never thought I'd ever bring that up as a negative thing, but on some occasions, I felt like I was actually too deep inside the character's head. When the character's thoughts are given to you word for word, the writing comes across as a little juvenile. I firmly believe that "show, don't tell" is a guideline and not a rule, but in this case, the prose sometimes delved a little bit too far into "tell" territory.
Conclusion
For a debut author, this is one hell of a story. It has its weak spots, but I really enjoyed reading it. 4 stars.
-
January 21, 2023
What have I just read? What were those 366 pages?
My heart bleeds, my heart laughs.
This book played with my mind and the characters burned themselves into my soul. Jesus.
The narrative pace was way too fast for me personally. I would say this book told a story that others would have covered in a trilogy. But somehow that was okay? Because in the end, maybe it wasn't about the escalating plot at all, but about character development, about human interaction. I had goosebumps, I wanted to cry and scream; I loved.
This book ... did a lot to me - it asked questions about good and evil and humanity. Searched for courage and fear ... has ... somehow turned black and white into colourful grey.
Thank you.
My heart bleeds, my heart laughs.
This book played with my mind and the characters burned themselves into my soul. Jesus.
The narrative pace was way too fast for me personally. I would say this book told a story that others would have covered in a trilogy. But somehow that was okay? Because in the end, maybe it wasn't about the escalating plot at all, but about character development, about human interaction. I had goosebumps, I wanted to cry and scream; I loved.
This book ... did a lot to me - it asked questions about good and evil and humanity. Searched for courage and fear ... has ... somehow turned black and white into colourful grey.
Thank you.
March 9, 2025
(DNF) I would have enjoyed this a lot more if it wasn't so full of torturous BICKERING between characters. Not every messed-up decision warrants six pages of argument
February 21, 2024
To put it plainly, I'm in love.
We've been watching the slow but steady corroding of the superhero genre through endless cinematic disappoints (ahem, not naming names) for so long now that I honestly pretty much lost faith in the thing entirely. And wasn't this a step in another direction entirely.
This book is incredibly character driven and with that, also by their relationships to one another, primarily of course that of Isaac and Gabriel. Former boyfriends (somewhat on hiatus considering one of them fake-died) turned adversaries-but-not-really?
And in all honesty, I think that's the main reason this kept me captivated. I've always loved character-driven stories, but especially within the superhero genre, strong characters have pretty much disappeared. Instead of the same flat stereotypes, we get fully fleshed out characters with flaws, faults, mistakes, you name it. We also get to see their attempts to redeem not just themselves but others, too, realising that love may also be the opposite of control.
I don't want to get into the story too much, but especially Gabriel is such a complex and compelling character, driven by his goals and his beliefs of a better world, yet also deeply marked by his innate desire to keep everyone around him pleased even if they should despise his actions. His scenes together with Isaac are so beautiful and I went over them multiple times.
Especially because I loved these scenes so much, I just kept wishing that there were more of them. More of it all. I didn't mind the fast pace while reading because it really got me out of a slump and the quick proceedings were crucial to that. But honestly? This could have been longer. More detail on Isaac's fight for himself, more of Gabriel and the Archangel, more of Mona!! Especially Mona.
I also think this book could have used one more round of editing, though if you don't take apart every single sentence for sheer want of more, you probably won't notice.
All in all, this was beautiful work and I really look forward to the author's future projects.
We've been watching the slow but steady corroding of the superhero genre through endless cinematic disappoints (ahem, not naming names) for so long now that I honestly pretty much lost faith in the thing entirely. And wasn't this a step in another direction entirely.
This book is incredibly character driven and with that, also by their relationships to one another, primarily of course that of Isaac and Gabriel. Former boyfriends (somewhat on hiatus considering one of them fake-died) turned adversaries-but-not-really?
And in all honesty, I think that's the main reason this kept me captivated. I've always loved character-driven stories, but especially within the superhero genre, strong characters have pretty much disappeared. Instead of the same flat stereotypes, we get fully fleshed out characters with flaws, faults, mistakes, you name it. We also get to see their attempts to redeem not just themselves but others, too, realising that love may also be the opposite of control.
I don't want to get into the story too much, but especially Gabriel is such a complex and compelling character, driven by his goals and his beliefs of a better world, yet also deeply marked by his innate desire to keep everyone around him pleased even if they should despise his actions. His scenes together with Isaac are so beautiful and I went over them multiple times.
Especially because I loved these scenes so much, I just kept wishing that there were more of them. More of it all. I didn't mind the fast pace while reading because it really got me out of a slump and the quick proceedings were crucial to that. But honestly? This could have been longer. More detail on Isaac's fight for himself, more of Gabriel and the Archangel, more of Mona!! Especially Mona.
I also think this book could have used one more round of editing, though if you don't take apart every single sentence for sheer want of more, you probably won't notice.
All in all, this was beautiful work and I really look forward to the author's future projects.
October 6, 2022
This is a fast-paced urban fantasy, often gripping, that isn’t afraid to dig deep into the relationship between the two lead characters. The dialogue is snappy, the plot has some devious turns, and the whole thing is steeped in a moody gothic aesthetic.
When we first meet Isaac he is already in a fraught situation, suddenly confronted by his dangerous ex-boyfriend who believed him to be dead – and to make things worse, the world has been struck by a sleeping sickness, where people stop waking up.
The rest of the premise unfolds quickly (oh, they have X-Men powers? Got it!) and from there it rarely slows down, except to focus on the romance plotline. This is not a fantasy with a romance subplot thrown in; the relationship is front and centre here. Isaac and Gabriel’s complex past combined with their twisted (and possibly problematic) power dynamic provide plenty of meat to get stuck into. The two are in love but have issues with trust – and rightfully so in this book, where you’re just as likely to get stabbed in the front as in the back.
The story revels in its own darkness, stepping firmly into horror territory at times. It’s rare to find a book that keeps me guessing as much as this, and rarer to find one that spans and blends genres in a way that feels natural. As a gothic superhero story it’s reminiscent of Watchmen, but with less politics and more kissing people you probably shouldn’t. And yes, it’s just as fun as that sounds.
When we first meet Isaac he is already in a fraught situation, suddenly confronted by his dangerous ex-boyfriend who believed him to be dead – and to make things worse, the world has been struck by a sleeping sickness, where people stop waking up.
The rest of the premise unfolds quickly (oh, they have X-Men powers? Got it!) and from there it rarely slows down, except to focus on the romance plotline. This is not a fantasy with a romance subplot thrown in; the relationship is front and centre here. Isaac and Gabriel’s complex past combined with their twisted (and possibly problematic) power dynamic provide plenty of meat to get stuck into. The two are in love but have issues with trust – and rightfully so in this book, where you’re just as likely to get stabbed in the front as in the back.
The story revels in its own darkness, stepping firmly into horror territory at times. It’s rare to find a book that keeps me guessing as much as this, and rarer to find one that spans and blends genres in a way that feels natural. As a gothic superhero story it’s reminiscent of Watchmen, but with less politics and more kissing people you probably shouldn’t. And yes, it’s just as fun as that sounds.
December 23, 2022
this was such an amazing take on the super hero genre! i loved it so so so so so much!!!!!! having been a fan of the the-modern-typewriter blog for ages it was such a treat to be able to read a full novel from her! i loved every single bit of it <333
January 18, 2024
The God Key by Simon King - 3.35 stars
Review Summary:
A certain amount of critique has been reserved since this is a self-published novel by someone who is not a seasoned longform writer and did not publish traditionally.
The God Key is a compelling novel that explores the hypothetical: If you could snap your fingers and force the world to be good, would you? How would that look in little, everyday actions — the ability to nudge the chemistry of someone’s brain to cure their depression, or command a room full of people to move for you? What if you could go bigger? What if you could eliminate evil?
This is a topic with a lot of potential, and The God Key explores it with varying success. At times, the story grips readers with horror as its on-cast telepath hurdles toward the event horizon. Other times, the story gets lost in the weeds of over-explaining its characters, causing the story to drag. The 10-60% portion of the book is an agonizing slog where the author fails to bridge the gap between a stellar introduction and a dramatic mid-climax.
However, I’m glad I stuck it through. Simone King is good at drumming up suspense and raising the stakes. I personally feel like The God Key is one of the few stories that gets the horror and mundaneness of casual mind control right. Isaac, the superpower magnifier, can never be certain what thoughts, actions, or memories are his own. The ways he combats this are a very entertaining read.
The main romance of the book might squick some readers, however. Content warning for violation of (non-sexual) consent.
I would recommend this book with reservations and warnings. Its deficiencies don’t ruin the best parts of the book, at least in my opinion.
Exhaustive Review (spoilers):
World/System/Premise
The setting/location/time, the magic system(s), story premise, etc
Examples: “London, 1881”, “magic utilizing tarot cards”, “a world ruled by necromancers”
Was it engaging / interesting?
Rating: 3 - The world/system/premise had high potential, but the implementation was lackluster.
The God Key is set in the modern world, where superpowered beings have just recently started popping up in the world. Because of how new this new status quo is, there aren’t a lot of institutions in place to limit our characters. However, this fact is revealed a little too late in the book. By the time I got to it, I was already rolling my eyes at how much our cast was able to get away with without any government oversight.
How fleshed-out was the worldbuilding?
Rating: 3 - The world/system/premise was somewhat fleshed out, with a few gaps/inconsistencies that affected understanding of the world/system/premise. It felt like the author just didn't think about some things.
Superpowers have been around a minimum of 25 years in this world. Had there been NO other catastrophes? Laws hadn’t changed? No famous superpowered folks? The book only seemsed to mention minor criminals that are backstory decoration. The world felt empty and lackluster with only our main cast interacting with it. At times it felt like a doll house where only the in-text statement that an outside world existed was our only confirmation that it did.
However, it wasn’t bad, and the microcosm our main cast existed within was compelling enough.
Writing Style / Prose
Sentence structure, vocabulary, style of prose, and overall accuracy and readability of the writing itself.
Spelling / grammar / formatting errors
Rating: 1 - Many inexcusable errors. Was there even an editor?
I did want to be nice in my review summary since this is a non-traditional author who wasn’t traditionally published, and likely did not have a proper editing team. However, there were still an inexcusable number of spelling and grammar errors. There did not seem to be more than one proof-read of the final draft.
Vocabulary and Sentence Structure
Rating: 3 - The writing voice is inconsistent. Often a little too verbose / simplistic. Sometimes the sentence structures didn't make sense.
I went back and forth on this. On one hand, Simone King has a strong descriptive voice that finds evocative ways to show readers what our cast is thinking and feeling. The description at the beginning of the book of Gabriel flipping through Isaac’s sketchbook, likening it to the casualness with which he reads his mind — *chef’s kiss*
However, the 10-60% slog I mentioned dropped this rating down by a lot. I feel like the author was trying to use a specific style of writing voice to simulate the characters’ sleep deprivation, but it was severely overused. Certain thoughts and arguments were cyclical, happening over and over again until I just started skimming through to get done with it all. It was like the author took, “The poison for Kuzco, Kuzco’s poison” as literary advice.
Additionally, there were multiple points where I kept getting lost because a sentence didn’t run like my brain expected it to. Characters would suddenly end up going places or doing things without explanation, and I’d have to reread 2-3 paragraphs to make sense of the scene again.
Internal / External Dialogue
Rating: 2 - Dialogue comes across as fanfic-ish / wattpad-ish. There was a lot of (unnecessary) internal / external dialogue.
During the 10-60% slog, any time anything interesting happened whatsoever, the book had the characters talk and introspect about it for five million years.
Emotional Impact
Rating: 3 - Some emotional scenes felt forced or unearned, but not all of them.
Simone King is good at drumming up excitement and dread. The mid-climax was very impactful, hitting me with all the emotions that had built up so far in the story. The beginning was also stellar, making me care for Isaac immediately while also getting right to the point of why he was trying to run away from his boyfriend. It almost made the 10-60% slog worth it.
Almost. Being constantly jerked out of the action to introspect with the characters made a lot of the in-between scenes feel tedious. Stop repeating how they feel about a situation for the fifth time in a row, show me what they’re gonna fucking do about it!
Plot Flow
Pacing, plotline, scene structure, act structure, approach to climax, etc.
Pacing
Rating: 2 - Extremely slow at any part of the book that strongly affects enjoyment. DNF considered.
Have I complained about the 10-60% slog enough yet? As I mentioned, any time anything interesting happened during this time, the book had the characters talk and introspect about it. It felt like the author wanted readers to get to know the characters, and allow the characters to get to know each other. This isn’t a bad thing to do, per se, but it’s more economic to show us how characters tick while they’re doing something.
I almost DNF’d the book because of this period, but I was ultimately glad I stuck it out.
Scene Structure
Rating: 4 - Mostly clear path between scenes; sometimes got lost.
While I often got lost in the scenes themselves due to poor sentence structure, the paths between the scenes were crisp. Almost a little too crisp. I could practically see the sticky notes on the vision board. “Scene 1” and “Scene 2” and “Gabriel Gaslighting Isaac #37”.
Not bad, though. Just notable.
Plot vs. Character Interaction
Rating: 4 - There is mostly a balance between the characters affecting the plot and the plot affecting the characters. One or two things might be contrived to move the plot forward.
The God Key is extremely character driven. Our main cast pulls all the weight of the plot; nothing really happens without some other character’s influence. This leads to a lot of fun and exciting interactions, that I personally believe were handled really well.
Approach to Climax
Rating: 5 - Easy to identify rising action and climax. The plot drums up anticipating for the resolution ("Pageturner").
Once I got through the slog, it was smooth sailing to the mid-climax, part two, and the real climax. All the pieces were finally set, and the stakes were so, so high. I felt excited to get to the resolution, because I could see everything our characters were stacked up against and I wasn’t sure how they were gonna pull off a win.
The Ending
The conclusion of the story, including climax, post-climax, and epilogue.
Satisfaction
Rating: 3 - Slightly fumbled ending; poor implementation, but it doesn’t ruin the whole book.
This was almost a 4 or 5, to be honest. But all external concerns over the characters’ actions were thrown out the window, and Gabriel’s Big Character Development was dropped on the floor like a wet hot dog for no reason.
However, I liked the books approach to the philosophy of “feeling pain is part of the human experience”. I feel like a lot of stories that try to explore that fumble because they just make the characters happy at the end. “Wow, I sure am glad I have free will, which has no consequences whatsoever!” Not The God Key. The characters who benefited most from having their bad feelings suppressed are downright miserable, but they choose free will anyway. Because it’s their bad feelings, goddamnit. They don’t have an easy time of it either; one character, arguably the worst off, shows hints of wanting the old status quo back. I find this to be a compelling and satisfying ending.
Loose Ends
Rating: 4 - Misses one or two loose ends. If a series, the loose ends aren't reliant on an ongoing plot / mystery.
The God Key wraps up most of its loose ends in a pretty little bow. However, it does posit the idea that the world government(s) might come after them for their involvement, but then just… says that doesn’t happen, thank goodness. Phew! We almost had external consequences for a moment!
Characterization
The handling of characters, their personalities, motivations, and relationships to each other
Personality, Goals, and Motivations
Rating: 4 - The characters’ goals, motivations, and personal feelings are mostly clear. Readers get a good image of who the characters are, with one or two inconsistencies.
Characterization was this book’s strong point. I got a strong image of what each character wanted, who they were as people, and how they approached their goals. I took a point off, however, for the excessive internal dialogue. It felt like the author wasn’t confident in the characters’ abilities to speak for themselves through their actions, rather than endless introspection.
Relationships
Rating: 5 - The relationships between the characters are compelling, complex, and used by the plot to their full potential.
Because of how character-driven the book was, the relationships between everyone was the primary plot-driver. Dahlia with her sister, Sanna with her dependence on telepathy, the team’s god worship of Gabriel, and — of course — the tension between Gabriel and Isaac. Mona was a fun monkey wrench in those gears.
~Vibes~
The atmosphere of the book, that je ne sais quoi.
Connection To Readers
Rating: 4 - Resonant at many parts with readers.
I’d cross Gabriel’s event horizon far faster than he ever could.
Originality
Rating: 4 - Feels relatively unique. It might have been done before, but it’s an interesting take
Bumped up from a 3 because I honestly haven’t seen someone handle the everyday horrors of telepathy quite this well before.
The Itch
Rating: 3 - Whets the palate, but leaves readers wanting “something”.
If Simone King had had a seasoned mentor author and a stronger editor, this book could have been really solid.
Romance
For the record, I hate romance
Enjoyment
Rating: 2 - The romance is unpleasant with multiple “icks”.
This could have been a 4. Gabriel violated Isaac in multiple ways, but I felt like he got a lot of comeuppance. However, at the very very end, Gabriel violates Isaac all over again by using telepathy on him again — after all the lessons he learned, after all the ways he was violated by Archangel himself. This made me extremely frustrated that Isaac was still amicable toward him. The only saving grace was that Isaac technically didn’t get back with Gabriel — but he still kissed him.
Romance vs. The Plot
Rating: 4 - Mostly well-paced, but sometimes takes the spotlight over the plot.
The whole premise was that the key to Gabriel’s evil plan was his boyfriend’s superpowers, so it was hard for the romance to overshadow the ongoing plot. In fact, it was such an inherent part that I found myself compelled by how it affected Isaac and Archangel’s interactions. However, the need for the main pair to kiss and make up detracted from some of the plot.
Development
Rating: 4 - The love is tangible and mostly believable; a little fast.
The characters were established exes, and The God Key does a good job hitting the ground running with them. The betrayal, the pain, the fear, the guilt — it’s all very palpable. I would argue Isaac was amicable toward Gabriel way too easily.
Score: 3:35
There’s No Accounting For Taste!
The bonus round where I arbitrarily add or take away points based on my own personal preferences ;3
Pros:
Queer main characters — +2
Iconic character — +1
Sanna was a tall, muscular goth girl with PTSD and was unilaterally considered the best character morally by her teammates. I love her.
There’s a bastard (extremely subjective, but loosely defined as a smug asshole who is personally attractive to me) — +1
Archangel is just my type. I love a man with a god complex.
Main characters older than 21 — +1
Cons:
Unrepresenting Representation — -1
Compared to the other characters, Dahlia is just described as… Asian. We don’t know anything else about how she looks other than the fact she’s young and has flower tattoos. Page 161 has an odd quote that doesn’t seem to realize that white is the color of death for a lot of Asian cultures, including the ones Dahlia is likely part of (we don’t even get a country).
Forgiveness comes too easily — -2
Come on, Isaac. Grow a spine.
5 for, 3 against. That’s not enough for an additional star, but thanks for playing, The God Key!
Review Summary:
A certain amount of critique has been reserved since this is a self-published novel by someone who is not a seasoned longform writer and did not publish traditionally.
The God Key is a compelling novel that explores the hypothetical: If you could snap your fingers and force the world to be good, would you? How would that look in little, everyday actions — the ability to nudge the chemistry of someone’s brain to cure their depression, or command a room full of people to move for you? What if you could go bigger? What if you could eliminate evil?
This is a topic with a lot of potential, and The God Key explores it with varying success. At times, the story grips readers with horror as its on-cast telepath hurdles toward the event horizon. Other times, the story gets lost in the weeds of over-explaining its characters, causing the story to drag. The 10-60% portion of the book is an agonizing slog where the author fails to bridge the gap between a stellar introduction and a dramatic mid-climax.
However, I’m glad I stuck it through. Simone King is good at drumming up suspense and raising the stakes. I personally feel like The God Key is one of the few stories that gets the horror and mundaneness of casual mind control right. Isaac, the superpower magnifier, can never be certain what thoughts, actions, or memories are his own. The ways he combats this are a very entertaining read.
The main romance of the book might squick some readers, however. Content warning for violation of (non-sexual) consent.
I would recommend this book with reservations and warnings. Its deficiencies don’t ruin the best parts of the book, at least in my opinion.
Exhaustive Review (spoilers):
World/System/Premise
The setting/location/time, the magic system(s), story premise, etc
Examples: “London, 1881”, “magic utilizing tarot cards”, “a world ruled by necromancers”
Was it engaging / interesting?
Rating: 3 - The world/system/premise had high potential, but the implementation was lackluster.
The God Key is set in the modern world, where superpowered beings have just recently started popping up in the world. Because of how new this new status quo is, there aren’t a lot of institutions in place to limit our characters. However, this fact is revealed a little too late in the book. By the time I got to it, I was already rolling my eyes at how much our cast was able to get away with without any government oversight.
How fleshed-out was the worldbuilding?
Rating: 3 - The world/system/premise was somewhat fleshed out, with a few gaps/inconsistencies that affected understanding of the world/system/premise. It felt like the author just didn't think about some things.
Superpowers have been around a minimum of 25 years in this world. Had there been NO other catastrophes? Laws hadn’t changed? No famous superpowered folks? The book only seemsed to mention minor criminals that are backstory decoration. The world felt empty and lackluster with only our main cast interacting with it. At times it felt like a doll house where only the in-text statement that an outside world existed was our only confirmation that it did.
However, it wasn’t bad, and the microcosm our main cast existed within was compelling enough.
Writing Style / Prose
Sentence structure, vocabulary, style of prose, and overall accuracy and readability of the writing itself.
Spelling / grammar / formatting errors
Rating: 1 - Many inexcusable errors. Was there even an editor?
I did want to be nice in my review summary since this is a non-traditional author who wasn’t traditionally published, and likely did not have a proper editing team. However, there were still an inexcusable number of spelling and grammar errors. There did not seem to be more than one proof-read of the final draft.
Vocabulary and Sentence Structure
Rating: 3 - The writing voice is inconsistent. Often a little too verbose / simplistic. Sometimes the sentence structures didn't make sense.
I went back and forth on this. On one hand, Simone King has a strong descriptive voice that finds evocative ways to show readers what our cast is thinking and feeling. The description at the beginning of the book of Gabriel flipping through Isaac’s sketchbook, likening it to the casualness with which he reads his mind — *chef’s kiss*
However, the 10-60% slog I mentioned dropped this rating down by a lot. I feel like the author was trying to use a specific style of writing voice to simulate the characters’ sleep deprivation, but it was severely overused. Certain thoughts and arguments were cyclical, happening over and over again until I just started skimming through to get done with it all. It was like the author took, “The poison for Kuzco, Kuzco’s poison” as literary advice.
Additionally, there were multiple points where I kept getting lost because a sentence didn’t run like my brain expected it to. Characters would suddenly end up going places or doing things without explanation, and I’d have to reread 2-3 paragraphs to make sense of the scene again.
Internal / External Dialogue
Rating: 2 - Dialogue comes across as fanfic-ish / wattpad-ish. There was a lot of (unnecessary) internal / external dialogue.
During the 10-60% slog, any time anything interesting happened whatsoever, the book had the characters talk and introspect about it for five million years.
Emotional Impact
Rating: 3 - Some emotional scenes felt forced or unearned, but not all of them.
Simone King is good at drumming up excitement and dread. The mid-climax was very impactful, hitting me with all the emotions that had built up so far in the story. The beginning was also stellar, making me care for Isaac immediately while also getting right to the point of why he was trying to run away from his boyfriend. It almost made the 10-60% slog worth it.
Almost. Being constantly jerked out of the action to introspect with the characters made a lot of the in-between scenes feel tedious. Stop repeating how they feel about a situation for the fifth time in a row, show me what they’re gonna fucking do about it!
Plot Flow
Pacing, plotline, scene structure, act structure, approach to climax, etc.
Pacing
Rating: 2 - Extremely slow at any part of the book that strongly affects enjoyment. DNF considered.
Have I complained about the 10-60% slog enough yet? As I mentioned, any time anything interesting happened during this time, the book had the characters talk and introspect about it. It felt like the author wanted readers to get to know the characters, and allow the characters to get to know each other. This isn’t a bad thing to do, per se, but it’s more economic to show us how characters tick while they’re doing something.
I almost DNF’d the book because of this period, but I was ultimately glad I stuck it out.
Scene Structure
Rating: 4 - Mostly clear path between scenes; sometimes got lost.
While I often got lost in the scenes themselves due to poor sentence structure, the paths between the scenes were crisp. Almost a little too crisp. I could practically see the sticky notes on the vision board. “Scene 1” and “Scene 2” and “Gabriel Gaslighting Isaac #37”.
Not bad, though. Just notable.
Plot vs. Character Interaction
Rating: 4 - There is mostly a balance between the characters affecting the plot and the plot affecting the characters. One or two things might be contrived to move the plot forward.
The God Key is extremely character driven. Our main cast pulls all the weight of the plot; nothing really happens without some other character’s influence. This leads to a lot of fun and exciting interactions, that I personally believe were handled really well.
Approach to Climax
Rating: 5 - Easy to identify rising action and climax. The plot drums up anticipating for the resolution ("Pageturner").
Once I got through the slog, it was smooth sailing to the mid-climax, part two, and the real climax. All the pieces were finally set, and the stakes were so, so high. I felt excited to get to the resolution, because I could see everything our characters were stacked up against and I wasn’t sure how they were gonna pull off a win.
The Ending
The conclusion of the story, including climax, post-climax, and epilogue.
Satisfaction
Rating: 3 - Slightly fumbled ending; poor implementation, but it doesn’t ruin the whole book.
This was almost a 4 or 5, to be honest. But all external concerns over the characters’ actions were thrown out the window, and Gabriel’s Big Character Development was dropped on the floor like a wet hot dog for no reason.
However, I liked the books approach to the philosophy of “feeling pain is part of the human experience”. I feel like a lot of stories that try to explore that fumble because they just make the characters happy at the end. “Wow, I sure am glad I have free will, which has no consequences whatsoever!” Not The God Key. The characters who benefited most from having their bad feelings suppressed are downright miserable, but they choose free will anyway. Because it’s their bad feelings, goddamnit. They don’t have an easy time of it either; one character, arguably the worst off, shows hints of wanting the old status quo back. I find this to be a compelling and satisfying ending.
Loose Ends
Rating: 4 - Misses one or two loose ends. If a series, the loose ends aren't reliant on an ongoing plot / mystery.
The God Key wraps up most of its loose ends in a pretty little bow. However, it does posit the idea that the world government(s) might come after them for their involvement, but then just… says that doesn’t happen, thank goodness. Phew! We almost had external consequences for a moment!
Characterization
The handling of characters, their personalities, motivations, and relationships to each other
Personality, Goals, and Motivations
Rating: 4 - The characters’ goals, motivations, and personal feelings are mostly clear. Readers get a good image of who the characters are, with one or two inconsistencies.
Characterization was this book’s strong point. I got a strong image of what each character wanted, who they were as people, and how they approached their goals. I took a point off, however, for the excessive internal dialogue. It felt like the author wasn’t confident in the characters’ abilities to speak for themselves through their actions, rather than endless introspection.
Relationships
Rating: 5 - The relationships between the characters are compelling, complex, and used by the plot to their full potential.
Because of how character-driven the book was, the relationships between everyone was the primary plot-driver. Dahlia with her sister, Sanna with her dependence on telepathy, the team’s god worship of Gabriel, and — of course — the tension between Gabriel and Isaac. Mona was a fun monkey wrench in those gears.
~Vibes~
The atmosphere of the book, that je ne sais quoi.
Connection To Readers
Rating: 4 - Resonant at many parts with readers.
I’d cross Gabriel’s event horizon far faster than he ever could.
Originality
Rating: 4 - Feels relatively unique. It might have been done before, but it’s an interesting take
Bumped up from a 3 because I honestly haven’t seen someone handle the everyday horrors of telepathy quite this well before.
The Itch
Rating: 3 - Whets the palate, but leaves readers wanting “something”.
If Simone King had had a seasoned mentor author and a stronger editor, this book could have been really solid.
Romance
For the record, I hate romance
Enjoyment
Rating: 2 - The romance is unpleasant with multiple “icks”.
This could have been a 4. Gabriel violated Isaac in multiple ways, but I felt like he got a lot of comeuppance. However, at the very very end, Gabriel violates Isaac all over again by using telepathy on him again — after all the lessons he learned, after all the ways he was violated by Archangel himself. This made me extremely frustrated that Isaac was still amicable toward him. The only saving grace was that Isaac technically didn’t get back with Gabriel — but he still kissed him.
Romance vs. The Plot
Rating: 4 - Mostly well-paced, but sometimes takes the spotlight over the plot.
The whole premise was that the key to Gabriel’s evil plan was his boyfriend’s superpowers, so it was hard for the romance to overshadow the ongoing plot. In fact, it was such an inherent part that I found myself compelled by how it affected Isaac and Archangel’s interactions. However, the need for the main pair to kiss and make up detracted from some of the plot.
Development
Rating: 4 - The love is tangible and mostly believable; a little fast.
The characters were established exes, and The God Key does a good job hitting the ground running with them. The betrayal, the pain, the fear, the guilt — it’s all very palpable. I would argue Isaac was amicable toward Gabriel way too easily.
Score: 3:35
There’s No Accounting For Taste!
The bonus round where I arbitrarily add or take away points based on my own personal preferences ;3
Pros:
Queer main characters — +2
Iconic character — +1
Sanna was a tall, muscular goth girl with PTSD and was unilaterally considered the best character morally by her teammates. I love her.
There’s a bastard (extremely subjective, but loosely defined as a smug asshole who is personally attractive to me) — +1
Archangel is just my type. I love a man with a god complex.
Main characters older than 21 — +1
Cons:
Unrepresenting Representation — -1
Compared to the other characters, Dahlia is just described as… Asian. We don’t know anything else about how she looks other than the fact she’s young and has flower tattoos. Page 161 has an odd quote that doesn’t seem to realize that white is the color of death for a lot of Asian cultures, including the ones Dahlia is likely part of (we don’t even get a country).
Forgiveness comes too easily — -2
Come on, Isaac. Grow a spine.
5 for, 3 against. That’s not enough for an additional star, but thanks for playing, The God Key!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2025
Wow, I thought I already rated this, whoops. This was amazing and I wish more people knew about it. It is a train wreck almost the entire time. The tension is so high and stressful and amazing. I was bouncing on my seat there was so much tension.
January 10, 2025
First, the writing is good (barring a few minor typos as a self-published book). I was already familiar with Simone King's writing on her tumblr a few years back and wanted to give her first novel a try. I liked the idea of exploring telepathy from a moral standpoint. Unfortunately...I had a number of character and plot issues.
The first 1/3 was exciting and tense and had my hackles raised against Gabriel being the manipulative POS he really is, and how Gabriel maddeningly saw his actions as good deeds because good intentions. He was literally manipulating people's minds--tracked down and commanded Isaac, his ex-boyfriend (who had to commit suicide to get away from Gabriel), to not run, then kidnapped him, then used him as a car battery to amplify his own powers and just kept saying "this is all for world peace and making people happy and defeating the enemy." Isaac, understandably, was terrified of Gabriel and loathed him because Gabriel was constantly messing with people's heads and emotions, casting serious doubt on the integrity (and consent) of their previous relationship. Gabriel's entire personality made me hopeful for either his death, or one hell of a character redemption/development arc where the lightbulb comes on and we realize what we've been doing is terrible.
Then the middle was a SLOG, with a lot of internalization. Skipped and skimmed quite a bit because I nearly DNF'd twice from boredom. Worse, Isaac at one point suddenly decided he felt bad about having doubts about Gabriel and apologized for his behavior. They literally had an argument where Isaac pointed out all the messed up shit Gabriel was doing, Gabriel got defensive, then wiped Isaac's memories to end the conversation. This is never brought up again.
In the final 3/3, it is revealed that another person's powers unintentionally created a doppelganger of Gabriel, which becomes the new Bad Guy. Gabriel got to watch his own actions and ideals play out in front of him instead of coming to a personal realization, and any character hatred towards Gabriel was redirected towards the doppelganger. Quite frankly, it felt like a cop-out to give the story a dummy to hate versus fixing the actual manipulative character. Isaac STRONGLY hated Gabriel from the start, for many, many justifiable reasons, then out of nowhere has a change of heart and the two are a couple again after defeating the Big Bad. Just left a really bad taste in my mouth.
The first 1/3 was exciting and tense and had my hackles raised against Gabriel being the manipulative POS he really is, and how Gabriel maddeningly saw his actions as good deeds because good intentions. He was literally manipulating people's minds--tracked down and commanded Isaac, his ex-boyfriend (who had to commit suicide to get away from Gabriel), to not run, then kidnapped him, then used him as a car battery to amplify his own powers and just kept saying "this is all for world peace and making people happy and defeating the enemy." Isaac, understandably, was terrified of Gabriel and loathed him because Gabriel was constantly messing with people's heads and emotions, casting serious doubt on the integrity (and consent) of their previous relationship. Gabriel's entire personality made me hopeful for either his death, or one hell of a character redemption/development arc where the lightbulb comes on and we realize what we've been doing is terrible.
Then the middle was a SLOG, with a lot of internalization. Skipped and skimmed quite a bit because I nearly DNF'd twice from boredom. Worse, Isaac at one point suddenly decided he felt bad about having doubts about Gabriel and apologized for his behavior. They literally had an argument where Isaac pointed out all the messed up shit Gabriel was doing, Gabriel got defensive, then wiped Isaac's memories to end the conversation. This is never brought up again.
In the final 3/3, it is revealed that another person's powers unintentionally created a doppelganger of Gabriel, which becomes the new Bad Guy. Gabriel got to watch his own actions and ideals play out in front of him instead of coming to a personal realization, and any character hatred towards Gabriel was redirected towards the doppelganger. Quite frankly, it felt like a cop-out to give the story a dummy to hate versus fixing the actual manipulative character. Isaac STRONGLY hated Gabriel from the start, for many, many justifiable reasons, then out of nowhere has a change of heart and the two are a couple again after defeating the Big Bad. Just left a really bad taste in my mouth.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 12, 2022
So I’ve been following King on tumblr for quite a while and I couldn’t get enough of their writing so when I saw they had published a book I immediately had to buy it.
I came into this book with high expectations and all of them were fulfilled to the highest marks!
Firstly, the superhero premise was immaculate. I love that it wasn’t some black and white hero and villain and that we saw the lightest and darkest aspects of every character. The way Gabriel was a good person one minute and then completely ignoring Isaac’s boundaries and using his powers the next minute, my god. This book was really dark, the villain was actually terrifying and his motivations even worse, and the way King went with the second half was so different and so good.
The two main protagonists had me hooked, we’ve got Isaac who is a man constantly scared of his abilities and has faked his death and Gabriel who is a telepath who’s obsessed with being a hero. Now this relationship had me hooked but Christ it was so twisted. On one hand we have Issac who faked his own death and put Gabriel through anguish, but on the other hand we have Gabriel who actually made me feel uncomfortable at points. The way he was just using Isaac’s power for his own gain at some points, or the bit where he just erased his memory of an argument had me so uncomfortable. And that’s not even mentioning the archangel project! Also the way Isaac grows throughout the book and the little ways he fought back against archangel and how he changed his whole mindset to control his powers, it has so much depth and was written beautifully my god. There are some truly dark aspects of this book that made me queasy but they were so good to read.
I truly love the way King writes characters like I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a persons writing style more. I loved the side characters just as much, I loved Dahlia and just watching how she changes from her sisters death and then her defeating the main villain twice I love it. Also Sanna was so badass and i do wish we had more of her tbh. I also do want some more about Morphina and her backstory because she was so interesting!
Overall more people need to read this book! It was absolutely phenomenal front to back and I feel like its going to be a while before i read a book this good again.
I came into this book with high expectations and all of them were fulfilled to the highest marks!
Firstly, the superhero premise was immaculate. I love that it wasn’t some black and white hero and villain and that we saw the lightest and darkest aspects of every character. The way Gabriel was a good person one minute and then completely ignoring Isaac’s boundaries and using his powers the next minute, my god. This book was really dark, the villain was actually terrifying and his motivations even worse, and the way King went with the second half was so different and so good.
The two main protagonists had me hooked, we’ve got Isaac who is a man constantly scared of his abilities and has faked his death and Gabriel who is a telepath who’s obsessed with being a hero. Now this relationship had me hooked but Christ it was so twisted. On one hand we have Issac who faked his own death and put Gabriel through anguish, but on the other hand we have Gabriel who actually made me feel uncomfortable at points. The way he was just using Isaac’s power for his own gain at some points, or the bit where he just erased his memory of an argument had me so uncomfortable. And that’s not even mentioning the archangel project! Also the way Isaac grows throughout the book and the little ways he fought back against archangel and how he changed his whole mindset to control his powers, it has so much depth and was written beautifully my god. There are some truly dark aspects of this book that made me queasy but they were so good to read.
I truly love the way King writes characters like I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a persons writing style more. I loved the side characters just as much, I loved Dahlia and just watching how she changes from her sisters death and then her defeating the main villain twice I love it. Also Sanna was so badass and i do wish we had more of her tbh. I also do want some more about Morphina and her backstory because she was so interesting!
Overall more people need to read this book! It was absolutely phenomenal front to back and I feel like its going to be a while before i read a book this good again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2025
3.75 stars
An interesting book about a boy who’s confident he can save the world and a boy who is terrified he’ll destroy it. The dichotomy between these two characters was very intriguing and I loved reading about how they were two faces of the same coin, even though they appear so different on the surface.
I’ve watched this author on social media for a long time now so I was excited to read her first properly self-published novel and I can say I did enjoy it! It definitely needed another run of edits before being published I think, as there were mild punctuation errors and sometimes spelling mistakes (car break instead of car brake, for example) but I was still willing to look past these for the sake of the story.
The start was definitely the strongest point of the story and then it picked back up again towards the end, but sometimes I felt like the middle was maybe just a little too slow?
I did enjoy having an MC who was truly convinced that he was doing what was best for the world even though it’s pretty clear as the reader that he’s not. He wasn’t the ‘villain’ per se, but he was someone who’s train of thought I could actually fully understand and follow, but still felt gross about when seeing what actions he was willing to take to get to his end goal.
“We want world peace” yippee!!
“I’ll remove everyone’s free will to achieve this” oh.
I did feel sometimes it was maybe tooooo convenient that the two main mc’s didn’t have any communication with their immediate family, and that the rest of the world didn’t seem to really react to whatever was happening in Cambridge, at it seemed like maybe it was just easier to ignore these issues rather than work them out in the text? Idk if what I even wrote made sense but whatever lol.
I think I’m gonna have to make a new goodreads shelf titled “MC’s who wear gloves because they’re terrified to touch people.” It may also be my new favourite genre.
An interesting book about a boy who’s confident he can save the world and a boy who is terrified he’ll destroy it. The dichotomy between these two characters was very intriguing and I loved reading about how they were two faces of the same coin, even though they appear so different on the surface.
I’ve watched this author on social media for a long time now so I was excited to read her first properly self-published novel and I can say I did enjoy it! It definitely needed another run of edits before being published I think, as there were mild punctuation errors and sometimes spelling mistakes (car break instead of car brake, for example) but I was still willing to look past these for the sake of the story.
The start was definitely the strongest point of the story and then it picked back up again towards the end, but sometimes I felt like the middle was maybe just a little too slow?
I did enjoy having an MC who was truly convinced that he was doing what was best for the world even though it’s pretty clear as the reader that he’s not. He wasn’t the ‘villain’ per se, but he was someone who’s train of thought I could actually fully understand and follow, but still felt gross about when seeing what actions he was willing to take to get to his end goal.
“We want world peace” yippee!!
“I’ll remove everyone’s free will to achieve this” oh.
I did feel sometimes it was maybe tooooo convenient that the two main mc’s didn’t have any communication with their immediate family, and that the rest of the world didn’t seem to really react to whatever was happening in Cambridge, at it seemed like maybe it was just easier to ignore these issues rather than work them out in the text? Idk if what I even wrote made sense but whatever lol.
I think I’m gonna have to make a new goodreads shelf titled “MC’s who wear gloves because they’re terrified to touch people.” It may also be my new favourite genre.
November 7, 2022
A beautiful story that pulled me right in.
Mix together some large doses of gay pining and and moral uncertainty, against a backdrop of an eternally sleeping city and a masquerade. All together it's a powerful combination.
Simone King in general writes exceptional characters, and this book has an amazing collection. I left the story wanting to know more about every side character. And the leads, and their very different perspectives on the same events, are fascinating.
I think my only complaint about this book is that I wanted more of it. As the story progresses, it touches on so many powerful emotions and ideas: loss and grief, the things we fear about ourselves, guilt, whether forced peace is really peace, whether the ability to do good means you have an obligation to try... I think you'd need a series, rather than a novel, to explore all of those ideas in real depth. And I think the particular plot of 'The God Key' does work really well as a standalone novel. But I think this book evokes a lot of emotions and questions in passing, and might have been more powerful if it picked one or two to linger on.
Overall, a wonderful book. I'd say I was glad I picked it up, but I've been following this author for years so the chances of me not giving it a try were pretty slim.
Mix together some large doses of gay pining and and moral uncertainty, against a backdrop of an eternally sleeping city and a masquerade. All together it's a powerful combination.
Simone King in general writes exceptional characters, and this book has an amazing collection. I left the story wanting to know more about every side character. And the leads, and their very different perspectives on the same events, are fascinating.
I think my only complaint about this book is that I wanted more of it. As the story progresses, it touches on so many powerful emotions and ideas: loss and grief, the things we fear about ourselves, guilt, whether forced peace is really peace, whether the ability to do good means you have an obligation to try... I think you'd need a series, rather than a novel, to explore all of those ideas in real depth. And I think the particular plot of 'The God Key' does work really well as a standalone novel. But I think this book evokes a lot of emotions and questions in passing, and might have been more powerful if it picked one or two to linger on.
Overall, a wonderful book. I'd say I was glad I picked it up, but I've been following this author for years so the chances of me not giving it a try were pretty slim.
May 17, 2023
WOW. not totally sure what the hell happened in this book. it was a lot. and also a little confusing at times. and it definitely could've used a few more rounds of editing.
i really, really liked that the focus of the story was on the complex character relationships and the questions of morality. king explores so many interesting dynamics that go beyond black and white and really make you think! as a result, i do think some other things (worldbuilding, plot, pacing) were underutilized or less refined, but luckily that was not what i cared about most. just... ugh. wow. who is doing friends-to-lovers-to-exes-to-enemies-to-tense-allies-to-betrayal-to-idekwhatelse like isaac and gabriel?? maybe People With History is one of my new favorite tropes. fuck the meet-cute; give me people who know each other so well that it makes everything hurt 10x more. ahhhhh.
also, the prose! again, it definitely could've used more editing, but since i've seen snippets of king's writing on tumblr before (lol) and really enjoyed the writing style, i also really liked it here. it's just so compelling and captivating. this book wasn't entirely what i expected (plot-wise), but still really interesting and a cool read!
i really, really liked that the focus of the story was on the complex character relationships and the questions of morality. king explores so many interesting dynamics that go beyond black and white and really make you think! as a result, i do think some other things (worldbuilding, plot, pacing) were underutilized or less refined, but luckily that was not what i cared about most. just... ugh. wow. who is doing friends-to-lovers-to-exes-to-enemies-to-tense-allies-to-betrayal-to-idekwhatelse like isaac and gabriel?? maybe People With History is one of my new favorite tropes. fuck the meet-cute; give me people who know each other so well that it makes everything hurt 10x more. ahhhhh.
also, the prose! again, it definitely could've used more editing, but since i've seen snippets of king's writing on tumblr before (lol) and really enjoyed the writing style, i also really liked it here. it's just so compelling and captivating. this book wasn't entirely what i expected (plot-wise), but still really interesting and a cool read!
August 16, 2024
As a person who was looking forward to reading this book for years I struggle with what I actually got.
Isaac, Gabriel, the base idea was amazing! *but* there was this middle bit that just felt really flat and not equal to what Simone King normally writes (on tumblr at least) leaving me searching for more then what was given,
As well as the grammar/some dialogue that felt like nonsensical gibberish? It definitely needed a few more rounds of editing.
HOWEVER the last 100 pages were really good (plus the first scene) <3 so merging my love with what I hoped for to what I got, 3.5 (rounding up)!
Isaac, Gabriel, the base idea was amazing! *but* there was this middle bit that just felt really flat and not equal to what Simone King normally writes (on tumblr at least) leaving me searching for more then what was given,
As well as the grammar/some dialogue that felt like nonsensical gibberish? It definitely needed a few more rounds of editing.
HOWEVER the last 100 pages were really good (plus the first scene) <3 so merging my love with what I hoped for to what I got, 3.5 (rounding up)!
March 27, 2023
Very interesting and captivating. However, I had a very hard time believing that Issac and Gabriel could somehow end up together. The breach of Issac’s boundaries and horrible things he had to endure because of Gabriel’s actions truly ruined any chance of redemption. The characters were really interesting and I finished the book in one night because I had to know what happened. The character dynamics especially between Archangel and Issac drove the story. Overall, a very cool and unique debut novel that brought me right back to my hero and villain phase
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2024
I feel like it could have used just a little polishing. The action sequences were a little confusing and I found myself having to stop and reread sections to understand the wording. But over all, I loved the characters and their relationships. So much drama and morals, and I never could predict where the story would go next. It's left open-ended to maybe fit a sequel. But, I doesn't really need one. The characters all end with their flaws intact, but they are aware of them and actively trying to better themselves. A beautiful but slightly bitter ending.
April 10, 2023
excellent premise but i felt the beginning of the novel focused too much on jumping into the action without properly introducing the setting & conflict. i thought the conflict eventually developed into something really interesting, and i thought the scenes with archangel and isaac were really well done. i will say i had a hard time w the resolution for isaac and gabriel, but aside from that i def enjoyed the exploration of the ethics of telepathy and mind control
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2023
A Well-Woven Tale of Unquestioned Fears and Ambitions
Simone King has woven a complex and captivating tale exploring morals, love, emotions, and self-assigned obligations. Isaac and Gabriel come alive on the page with their own dreams and flaws, as we learn the full impacts of how even the best of intentions can turn to nightmares, when fears and ambitions mix together in a world still adapting to a generation of superheroes.
Simone King has woven a complex and captivating tale exploring morals, love, emotions, and self-assigned obligations. Isaac and Gabriel come alive on the page with their own dreams and flaws, as we learn the full impacts of how even the best of intentions can turn to nightmares, when fears and ambitions mix together in a world still adapting to a generation of superheroes.
October 19, 2023
A fast, cool, dark twist on the mutant/superhero story. The characters are complex, hard to like without reservation but easy to root for. The story takes some unexpected turns that I really enjoyed, and I would definitely pick up another book in this world or following these characters. TW — There is a fair amount of explicit suicide imagery in the book. It was a lot for me and it’s not a trigger for me, so be aware!
June 23, 2024
Absolutely loved this book. Lots of character development for Isaac, Gabriel, Dahlia and Sanna. I love it when a book brings in morality to a situation we can experience only as a what-if (thank goodness) and examples of that what-if are laid bare and even those initially for it begin to see it wasn't such a good thing. Characters aren't perfect in it, but they are honest and seeking a greater good in whatever way is more practical. I'll be reading more book by this author.
December 30, 2022
Loved this book! Super enjoyable read, and I loved the characters. The only reason this gets a 4 star instead of 5 is that there were a few grammatical/punctuation errors that I noticed. Though later on I stopped noticing them, either because I was so engrossed in the story or there weren't anymore.
January 4, 2023
This book shook me to my core. I didn't expect most of the things that happened at all, and I absolutely loved every single thing about it!!! I fell in love with the characters just a few pages after their first introduction and could barely put the book down in the two days since I started it.
Absolutely brilliant <3
Absolutely brilliant <3
October 3, 2024
THIS BOOK WAS INCREDIBLE!!!! I can’t even begin to describe it my heart has been pulled out of my chest and crushed and then shoved back in and wrapped with duct tape — I adored every morsel, once I started I couldn’t stop thinking about it even when I had to put it down I WAS STILL WONDERING WHAT WOULD HAPPEN
10/10
No, 100000/10 aaaggghhh so good
10/10
No, 100000/10 aaaggghhh so good
March 15, 2023
It was so well written and by the end of it, it felt as if i had known all the characters personally. It put me through a rollercoaster of emotions and kept me so hooked that I finished it in one sitting. 10/10 would reccomend reading
February 16, 2023
man this book was so fucking cool… i’m a little in shock. the characterization and dynamics are so so good … these guys are just a little bit fucked up for sure ^-^ but i’m obsessed with them
August 15, 2023
I loved this book so much! I couldn't put it down at all, I love how complicated the relationship is between the two main characters and the exploration of concepts like consent and free will.
January 14, 2024
Torn between a 3 and a 4, I feel like it solidly falls into the middle.
Some of the problems I had involved a few typos, treatment of the asian character in the main cast compared to the white characters, and a fluctuation of opinions on the relationship between Isaac and Gabriel. I will say parts of the novel genuinely read almost as if it was a psychological horror due to certain conflicts, which was impactful but had me cringing (in stress, not as internet slang).
Ultimately, I'm glad to own it and have it on my shelf. I'll probably revisit sometime.
Some of the problems I had involved a few typos, treatment of the asian character in the main cast compared to the white characters, and a fluctuation of opinions on the relationship between Isaac and Gabriel. I will say parts of the novel genuinely read almost as if it was a psychological horror due to certain conflicts, which was impactful but had me cringing (in stress, not as internet slang).
Ultimately, I'm glad to own it and have it on my shelf. I'll probably revisit sometime.
January 6, 2023
This book was great. The writing was compelling and descriptive. The characters were well-developed, and I loved the relationships! Especially between Isaac and Gabriel. It was complex, and I wasn't sure what to think of them at times. They were the definition of meet-cute, had evident chemistry, and obviously cared for each other, but the ending! My goodness.
It was an enjoyable book, and I read through it quickly.
I do think that a lot of things were plainly told to us when they could've been shown. There were no subtle hints to pick up on, because it was all just given to us. The idea was interesting (having a clone of yourself and having to confront how other people see you), but I feel like there wasn't a lot of room for nuance or interpretation.
But I did enjoy the story, and if King were to publish another book, I'd definitely read it!
It was an enjoyable book, and I read through it quickly.
I do think that a lot of things were plainly told to us when they could've been shown. There were no subtle hints to pick up on, because it was all just given to us. The idea was interesting (having a clone of yourself and having to confront how other people see you), but I feel like there wasn't a lot of room for nuance or interpretation.
But I did enjoy the story, and if King were to publish another book, I'd definitely read it!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2022
The God Key by Simone King was an enjoyable read.
The characters are well developed, and the set ups have the pay-offs you expect. The story itself is very character driven, and while not the kind of narrative I usually read but the world created within the book was so immersive that I managed to binge the entire book over an afternoon.
The shift from the first part of the to the second did have quite a shift in tone, but the characters were alive enough for the different perspective to be interesting and enjoyable.
The characters are well developed, and the set ups have the pay-offs you expect. The story itself is very character driven, and while not the kind of narrative I usually read but the world created within the book was so immersive that I managed to binge the entire book over an afternoon.
The shift from the first part of the to the second did have quite a shift in tone, but the characters were alive enough for the different perspective to be interesting and enjoyable.
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