Thank you to Harper360YA for sending a copy of this book to me in exchange for an honest opinion (ad-gifted).
Goodreads Synopsis
Ash is descended from a long line of gladiators, and she knows the brutal nature of war firsthand. But after her mother dies in an arena, she vows to avenge her by overthrowing her fire god, whose temper has stripped her country of its resources.
Madoc grew up fighting on the streets to pay his family's taxes. But he hides a dangerous secret: he doesn't have the earth god’s powers like his opponents. His elemental gift is something else—something that hasn't been seen in centuries.
When an attempted revenge plot goes dangerously wrong, Ash inadvertently throws the fire and earth gods into a conflict that can only be settled by deadly, lavish gladiator games. The fights put Madoc in Ash's path, and she realizes that his powers are the weapon her rebellion needs—but Madoc won’t jeopardize his family, regardless of how intrigued he is by the beautiful warrior.
But when the gods force Madoc’s hand, he and Ash uncover an ancient war that will threaten more than one immortal—it will unravel the world.
Review
Set Fire to the Gods was one of my anticipated reads for 2020 from the moment I read the synopsis. Gladiators, elemental gifts, revenge plots and forbidden feelings - this book had me wanting to love this book so much and maybe that was the problem. Maybe I put too much pressure on this book to be absolutely perfect because the moment I finished this book I felt disappointed but before we go into what didn't work well for me, let's talk about what did work/
The premise of this book was amazing and honestly, I loved the idea that people had elemental powers and the different gods in this world. This was a very well thought out story with interesting plot lines and hidden secrets. The action scenes were detailed and I could clearly envision their movements and the arena. There were other sections of this book that I liked but can't talk about for spoiler reasons!
The story is told in dual perspectives, which I love because it honestly makes the story more developed and you get to see how different Madoc and Ash have grown up. However, these characters fell flat for me. I lost interest in the two very quickly and was more interested to see where the story progressed. I didn't care about their individual missions and by the end of the book I just didn't care at all.
There were a lot of side characters in this book to the point that I found myself starting to get confused as to who everyone was and what part they played in this story. It has been a few days since I finished this book and I cannot remember anyone of the side characters names and what made them unique to this book.
There was also a lack of fighting. For a book about gladiators I would have loved more action scenes, which I mentioned earlier as being something I enjoyed in this book. I understand that other plot lines took precedence but I found that a few of the matches were just complete ignored and I would have loved to have read them.
Overall this was a solid story that I'm glad I did read however I'm not sure if I'm going to be continuing on with this story. We'll have to see...
Rating: 2.5 stars