Godly Heathens

             

Title: Godly Heathens

Series: The Ouroboros #1

Author: H.E. Edgmon

Published: Wednesday Books, November 28, 2023

Pages: 400

Genre: LGBTQ YA Fantasy

Gem Echols is a nonbinary Seminole teen living in the tiny town of Gracie, Georgia. Known for being their peers’ queer awakening, Gem leans hard on charm to disguise the anxious mess they are beneath. The only person privy to their authentic self is another trans kid, Enzo, who’s a thousand long, painful miles away in Brooklyn.

But even Enzo doesn’t know about Gem’s dreams, haunting visions of magic and violence that have always felt too real. So how the hell does Willa Mae Hardy? The strange new girl in town acts like she and Gem are old companions, and seems to know things about them they’ve never told anyone else.

When Gem is attacked by a stranger claiming to be the Goddess of Death, Willa Mae saves their life and finally offers some answers. She and Gem are reincarnated gods who’ve known and loved each other across lifetimes. But Gem – or at least who Gem used to be - hasn’t always been the most benevolent deity. They’ve made a lot of enemies in the pantheon—enemies who, like the Goddess of Death, will keep coming.

It’s a good thing they’ve still got Enzo. But as worlds collide and the past catches up with the present, Gem will discover that everyone has something to hide.

I'm so in love with how utterly queer this book is. Maybe I'm in love with precisely *how* the book is queer. Queerness is this theme that carries you through the larger story of these gods from another reality, the Ether. 

The mythology and world-building is so interesting. I still have so many questions!! Edgmon has fully embraced the art of teasing out the world-building over the entire course of the novel, and leaving you wanting more at the end. I mean, not to mention the GINORMOUS cliffhanger. 

Gem Echols is our narrator. They are a nonbinary Seminole senior in high school. They spend every day working toward getting the heck out of small-town Georgia, and most nights having nightmares about "their demon." Gem is a very sympathetic narrator for me. I struggle to call them a protagonist though. For the sake of story structure, they absolutely are. But when you consider the connotation of the protagonist being a *hero* they are definitely not. 

But that leads into another of the huge themes of this story. It really explores the nuances of the ideals of justice, fairness, morality, and balance. It made me think about all of the ways these ideas are similar, and it kind of lives in the subtle differences between them. 

Ratings

Stars: 5/5