Review: Goddess in the Machine

Author: Lora Beth Johnson

Publication Date: 30 June 2020

Publisher: Razorbill

Page Count: 400

Reading Method: Physical [Buddy Read; OwlCrate Backlog]

Dates Read: August 21 – 24

Synopsis: 

When Andra wakes up, she’s drowning.

Not only that, but she’s in a hot, dirty cave, it’s the year 3102, and everyone keeps calling her Goddess. When Andra went into a cryonic sleep for a trip across the galaxy, she expected to wake up in a hundred years, not a thousand. Worst of all, the rest of the colonists–including her family and friends–are dead. They died centuries ago, and for some reason, their descendants think Andra’s a deity. She knows she’s nothing special, but she’ll play along if it means she can figure out why she was left in stasis and how to get back to Earth.

Zhade, the exiled bastard prince of Eerensed, has other plans. Four years ago, the sleeping Goddess’s glass coffin disappeared from the palace, and Zhade devoted himself to finding it. Now he’s hoping the Goddess will be the key to taking his rightful place on the throne–if he can get her to play her part, that is. Because if his people realize she doesn’t actually have the power to save their dying planet, they’ll kill her. 

With a vicious monarch on the throne and a city tearing apart at the seams, Zhade and Andra might never be able to unlock the mystery of her fate, let alone find a way to unseat the king, especially since Zhade hasn’t exactly been forthcoming with Andra. And a thousand years from home, is there any way of knowing that Earth is better than the planet she’s woken to?

Review: 

I read Goddess in the Machine as part of a buddy read with my pal Kim (@novelhaus on Instagram – go check her out!).  We have been on a mission to read one of our backlog books each month and this month’s choice was the OwlCrate edition of Goddess in the Machine.  Which is great timing since the second book either releases soon or has recently released.  And I NEED IT NOW. 

Okay – so I won’t lie… this one took me a hot minute to get into because they use a made up, futuristic form of speaking that took me longer than I’d like to admit to pick up on.  I mean, contextually it makes sense (for the most part) but there were some words that I just could not figure out.  But once you adapt to their way of speaking, it all starts moving and grooving so much faster.  Honestly, I really love the attempt to create a new(ish) language.  It’s not something you see every day.  In fact, the last book that comes to mind for me is The Uglies series.  

Anyway. Moving on.  Andra wakes up in the future and absolutely nothing is as it is supposed to be.  Her entire family, and countless others, were supposed to wake up on a new planet and start a new life.  But when she wakes up, everyone is referring to her as a goddess and expects her to perform magic.  Zhade takes her to Eerensed to take his place on the throne, and things start to spiral. 

This book was so so good!  There were so many unexpected twists and turns.  It’s impossible to know who you can trust (though some VERY clear contenders for who NOT to trust).  Andra is on a mission to try to get back to Earth and figure out how she came to be here alone in the first place.  Zhade instructs her in the ways of being a goddess while simultaneously using her to achieve his own goals.  Underground cities, advanced technology, and the truth behind the magic.. this book – UGH.  I loved it.  I am in desperate need of the sequel immediately.