I always get suckered into thinking ‘killing a god’ books are going to be epic, but man, I have really had a rough go with these particular stories lately. So much so that I’m developing an aversion to them. The Lost Reliquary by Lyndsay Ely initially started off strong with its vulgar and unrefined main character, but as the story dragged on, it quickly became clear that it would not go much deeper than irreverent jokes on a never-ending journey to kill a god.
The only way Lys can escape her service as one of the Tempestra-Innara’s blessed Chosen is to kill the goddess. And that is no easy feat. Until one day, a heretic gets too close to the deity and finds a way to harm Tempestra-Innara. As one of the witnesses, Lys is overjoyed to learn there is a way to earn her freedom, but her joy wanes when she is called by Tempestra-Innara to locate more of the powerful weapon that was almost their undoing. Partnered with Nolan, an overwhelmingly devout Chosen, Lys sets out across the country to trace the heretic’s supporters and find the god-killing weapon. However, Lys will struggle to hide her true feelings from her traveling partner and the world as she desperately searches for salvation and her ticket to freedom.
The entire story is centered around Lys’s desire to kill her goddess, yet the story has zero tension surrounding her being a non-believer in a world dominated by the goddess’s faith. This aspect is so disappointing, especially when the author makes it a point to show how pervasive the belief system is across the continent. Lys’s inner monologue will highlight the fact that she needs to keep her true feelings hidden, but they never spill out onto the page. I wanted to feel anxious about this lone non-believer going on a quest that is supposed to help her deity. I wanted her to slip up and navigate interactions with the devout without revealing herself and her true mission. But no dice. And let me tell you. The meandering, slow plot could have benefited greatly from playing with this secret that Lys so desperately needs to hold on to.
The Lost Reliquary’s core themes are choice, powerlessness, and loss of bodily autonomy. We learn early on that Lys was forced against her will to become one of the goddess’s Chosen. It’s her motivation to find a way to kill the goddess so she can ultimately earn her freedom. However, the story runs into the same problem of not exploring this in depth, and it robs the reader of what could have been a brutal internal war within Lys as she tries to free herself while struggling against the pull of the goddess’s blood in her veins. The most we get from this is an incessant aching tug in her body whenever Lys is too far from the goddess. Disappointing. The book also sows a small amount of fear around body autonomy, as the goddess lives on by taking new avatars and overpowering the person they once were. This was not explored too deeply in book one, but hints toward being important for the sequel.
It may not be surprising to learn that this book is all plot and no substance. This is especially true when looking at our two main characters, Lys and Nolan, whom I know absolutely nothing about besides one being a hidden heretic and one, a devout follower. At the beginning of the book, Lys’s voice seems interesting and crass, and it did catch my interest for a bit. The problem is, neither Lys nor Nolan ever beefs up in the character department beyond sarcasm and big tantrums. They are like walking, talking avatars that constantly annoyed me. Their dialogue is stilted and awkward. Their reactions feel chaotic and all over the place because I don’t understand them as characters. It just makes it hard to pin them and their motivations down when they feel so intangible and flat.
The Lost Reliquary is a series that plans to continue on, but luckily, I am not one of the Chosen and can easily take my leave from this story.
Rating: The Lost Reliquary – 4.0/10
-Brandee
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The thoughts on this story are my own.
