Reviewed by Marcella
TITLE: Sympathy for the Gods
SERIES: Briar Constance
AUTHOR: Tallie Rose
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 263 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 29, 2023
BLURB:
With the death of Eliana, Briar had hoped the danger for her and her friends had passed, but killing a Goddess comes with consequences.
As Briar struggles to deal with her new life and responsibilities as conduit, Bastianna rallies others to try to destroy everything she is working for. A group of fanatics, known as Believers, want Briar to pay for her sins. Meanwhile, Eliana’s father Ivian wanders the earth as a fallen God. When he joins the Believers, lured by their promise of revenge, everyone Briar loves is in danger.
Will her new powers of Conduit be enough to keep them safe? Can Briar once again defeat a God?
REVIEW:
I had the privilege to read all three of the Briar Constance books, which, if you have read my reviews of the other two, shows that there have been high expectations for this third part. I was happy to see that this book, like the previous two, had me hooked from the start. With the pretty open ending of the second book, I was happy to see that there would be a third book, which picks up not that much later after the second book ends. The four main characters are once again the main characters in this book as well, but with some new faces, mostly amongst the gods now that they are permanently back.
The addition of the new gods really helped with giving the whole world more depth. It showed that there is more out there that still has to be discovered. It also brings along quite interesting questions, such as the ones causing political conflicts: Do we even want the gods amongst us? Do they bring the desired outcome we wanted? Were we better off without them? This brings more intrigue and conflict to the book, being one of the red threads throughout it.
It also shows that Tallie Rose’s world-building only continues. The Fae and Witches are no longer divided, now it’s the opinion on the gods and whether Briar is actually a conduit or not, giving more depth to the world she created. The fact that the group, Briar, Lillia, Soren, and Fauna, travel to another country as well shows even more of the world, how thoroughly detailed she created it with every book new things, places, and people, which interest and pull you into the world further.
Briar’s point of view was the one the reader followed most of the time. This gave way for plenty of character development on Briar’s side. She didn’t just grow for the sake of being with Lillia, she grew as a person herself, and it’s just great to see this finally change after being a puppet for the gods in the previous two books.
Just as in the previous book, Soren had chapters from his point of view as well. I’m always happy to see that man get his spotlight, but with the growing relationship between him and Fauna, it was the best choice the author could have made. This way, the reader continues to follow the main storyline but also the side stories, the things Soren and Fauna have going on, as well. It adds to the experience and only makes my enthusiasm for those two grow.
All in all, I once again utterly adored her book and I recommend anyone who likes to read about magic, lesbian sex (because yes, the spice was great again in this book as well), gods, and political intrigue to read this book.
RATING: 
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