Review of The God King by Adrian Mallabo

Description (From Amazon)

Cover links to amazon

His one ally, a Monster older than time.

A commercial flight crashes after being torn apart by a terrible storm. Bram wakes up on an unknown island to tragedy and loss. Only he and a few survivors remain to pick up the pieces of their ruined lives. They all think that they’re alone on the island, lost in the middle of nowhere with little hope of ever going home. It doesn’t take long for the island’s original occupant to reveal its presence to Bram. There is an old and dark entity who lives there, and it wishes to use Bram’s pain and twist his soul. It wants to convince him that some of the others might not deserve to live.

My Review

The concept for The God King is a great one, with the potential for some truly terrifying and creepy scenes. Unfortunately, it didn't quite deliver.

I could not get to like the main character or really feel connected to him in any way, and the whole book read like a first draft. Sometimes things were repeated in the very next paragraph (or even sentence in some cases), with only slightly different wording. At one point the main character's name changed from Bram to Adam and had me confused as to who they were talking about. Another character who isn't introduced until the final quarter of the book changed gender more times than I can count, and yes, even in the same sentence! In one paragraph alone she changed gender four times.

It's a shame really, this writer does have talent. There is a solid structure in place and the idea for the novel is a great one, I think it just needs a few more drafts and some serious editing.

I give The God King 2 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating System:

1 star: I will never post a 1 star review because this means it was so bad I couldn't finish it, and I don't won't publicly rate a book I haven't read all the way through.

2 stars: I may have liked the story but it was badly written or it may have been a boring story well written. Something about it kept me reading but I didn't enjoy it.

3 stars: A good, enjoyable read. If the description appeals to you I'd recommend reading it.

4 stars: A really good book that I thoroughly enjoyed and may even read again. I will want to read other books by the same author. Highly recommend.

5 stars: Reserved for books that blew me away and whose characters I can't get out of my head. These are books that I will definitely read again, possibly several times. If I read an e-book version I may even have to go buy a hard copy for my shelves. Why are you still here? Go read this book right now.