Gameboard of the Gods introduced religious investigator Justin March and Mae Koskinen, the beautiful supersoldier assigned to protect him. Together they have been charged with investigating reports of the supernatural and the return of the gods, both inside the Republic of United North America and out. With this highly classified knowledge comes a shocking revelation: Not only are the gods vying for human control, but the elect—special humans marked by the divine—are turning against one another in bloody fashion.
Their mission takes a new twist when they are assigned to a diplomatic delegation headed by Lucian Darling, Justin’s old friend and rival, going into Arcadia, the RUNA’s dangerous neighboring country. Here, in a society where women are commodities and religion is intertwined with government, Justin discovers powerful forces at work, even as he struggles to come to terms with his own reluctantly acquired deity.
Meanwhile, Mae—grudgingly posing as Justin’s concubine—has a secret mission of her own: finding the illegitimate niece her family smuggled away years ago. But with Justin and Mae resisting the resurgence of the gods in Arcadia, a reporter’s connection with someone close to Justin back home threatens to expose their mission—and with it the divine forces the government is determined to keep secret.
Firstly before I get into this review I have some news! At the start of The Immortal Crown a bit of my review of Gameboard of the Gods appears at the start! Now I don't know how this happened but I can't believe it and I never thought something I wrote would ever end up in a book, especially a Richelle Mead book!
Now the review! What a fantastic squeal to Gameboard of the Gods! As soon as I was approved for this book I was reading it and being amazed, shocked and jumping up and down all in one from Mead's writing. The Immortal Crown just added to everything that we have already learnt from Gameboard of the Gods and just turned everything upside down and inside out.
Last book we were taken into the provinces of RUNA, this time around we get the world building of Arcadia, a place where women are treated horribly and pretty much only used for cleaning, cooking, sex and providing children. Just to even get Mae into this country she has to pretend that she is Justin's "concubine" which is what they call these women. I just loved how much their relationship has changed since the start of the first book to now the end of the second book.
Mae: Mae's mission in Arcadia has a dual purpose since she found out that her niece is more than likely where she is going and Mae being Mae wants her back. You get to see a lot of Mae's interaction with her new god as she tries to find out where her niece is. The interactions between them is showing us that Mae is now slightly accepting that her god can help her in ways that she needs the god to do.
Justin: We learnt of his predicament in Gameboard of the Gods and now it is even more than before because it's Mae. His god is on his back to finally accept him & for him to give in to the agreement that they have for him to be bonded. Justin's powers develop a lot which is great because he is slowly accepting his fate & the fact that also like Mae he can help others with these powers.
Tessa: After changing into a new school Tessa is trying to find her calling, and she thinks that it could be journalism. The journalist that Tessa is with will do anything for a story and I am not a fan of her. After recent events Tessa has a bodyguard whilst Mae and Justin are out of town and I really liked him because he was helping Tessa understand not everyone has good intentions like she believes them to have.
Overall The Immortal Crown is just the beginning of what is to come in this world of Gods & Goddess playing chess with the Elect with Mead's writing anything can happen between the characters and the world that they are apart of. The cliffhanging ending is a sure way to be desperate for the next instalment of the Age of X series because what happens will make your head spin.
Thanks Penguin Australia for the E-ARC on Netgalley!
Rating: 4.5/5
Keely xxx
