Love Struck

'The Gods of Love' by Nicola Mostyn

I laughed when I saw the tag 'Bridget Jones meets Neil Gaiman' on the cover of 'The Gods of Love' by Nicola Mostyn, but it left me intrigued enough to borrow it when it appeared on the shelves of my local library.  I'm so glad that I did.

Frida is a cynical divorce lawyer, independent, self-assured and, above all, great at her job.  When the world's top tech company, NeoStar, invites her for a job interview, she sees it as the biggest opportunity of her career.  But the day before the appointment, a stranger, Dan, bursts into her office, warning of a prophecy and insisting that she should stay away from NeoStar at all costs.  Frida dismisses the bizarre visitor, unnerved but no less determined to go ahead with the meeting.  When things don't turn out anything like she expected, however, she finds herself slipping into an alternative reality of terrifying gods, parallel dimensions and a conflict dormant for 3000 years.  As the end of the world approaches, does Frida have what it takes to save us all?


This is a really interesting piece of work.  On the one hand, it's written in the breezy style of chick lit and has a female protagonist.  On the other, it's an exciting, perilous, edge-of-your-seat adventure story which gripped me from beginning to end.  'The Gods of Love' is genre-defying and trend setting and I hope that it shows that there is a market for books where modern female characters actually do something other than worry about their relationships or perceived flaws.  I've always loved adventure stories and it was a revelation to finally read something where a woman took the lead.

Don't get me wrong, this book isn't without it's flaws.  I'm not sure how comfortable I am with how Dan's marriage failed and the ending somehow didn't feel quite as strong as other points in the book, but these are minor quibbles compared with the overall achievement.  When you're pushing boundaries, some things will work, some things won't.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what Mostyn does next.  I've read that she will be writing a sequel, but I hope that's not all she's going to do.  I want to see what else she can do and don't relish the thought of this being the start of a series rather than the start of a whole new way of thinking about books for women.

Overall, 'The Gods of Love' is a great read for anyone who likes action and adventure, who can suspend their disbelief and just go with the flow.  Just let Mostyn lead the way.

(By the way, I was enjoying 'The Gods of Love' so much that I bought a copy when another borrower requested it and the library wanted it back.  I've also started buying copies for other people.  So there to all the authors who begrudge the existence of this valuable service.)

Now, what next...

'The Gods of Love' by Nicola Mostyn was published in February 2018 by Piatkus.  This review is based on the paperback and ebook editions.