City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

More info*

Publication date: 2014
Publisher: Broadway Books
Pages: 452
My rating: 2 stars
Ages:18+

Seventy-five years after the last of the gods disappeared, the people of the Continent are still discontent with their new life. When a foreign professor is killed, Shara Thivani is sent to the capital city to discover what happened. While she's there, strange things start happening--things that hint that the gods might be returning.

I didn't finish this book. I very rarely do that--especially when I know that I'll be writing a review. But I had to force myself to read it, I never felt drawn in, and it got to the point where I told myself that I had to at least read half of it in order to give any sort of honest review.

I was only partially drawn into this book when I read the synopsis, but it seemed like it could be interesting. Unfortunately, in the 200 or so pages I read, I never felt that interested. And then there was the hard language and sex. It was more the way that these two things were approached more than that they were used, I think. It was the casual, almost tainted way that it was talked about. I've mentioned before that I'm a bit more conservative when it comes to those kinds of things, though.

I did think that the world and mythology building was amazing and full of depth. Bennett obviously put a lot of thought and effort into creating the gods and the stories surrounding them; I almost feel as if he must have studied many different religions and peoples, because I could pick out little things that reminded me of things I had learned in history classes, or religion classes. For someone interesting in those kinds of things, who isn't as sensitive about language as I am, and possibly those who like writers like Brandon Sanderson, this might be a book you would really enjoy.

Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me.

*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.