The Games Gods Play
Books | Fiction / Fantasy / Romance
4.4
Abigail Owen
THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERHOLT Medallion award winner for Speculative Romance of 2025Goodreads Choice Awards Romantasy nominee of 2024“This story is my latest obsession.” —USA Today bestselling author, Devney PerryThe gods love to play with us mere mortals. And every hundred years, we let them...I have never been favored by the gods. Far from it, thanks to Zeus.Living as a cursed office clerk for the Order of Thieves, I just keep my head down and hope the capricious beings who rule from Olympus won't notice me. Not an easy feat, given San Francisco is Zeus' patron city, but I make do. I survive. Until the night I tangle with a different god.The worst god. Hades.For the first time ever, the ruthless, mercurial King of the Underworld has entered the Crucible—the deadly contest the gods hold to determine a new ruler to sit on the throne of Olympus. But instead of fighting their own battles, the gods name mortals to compete in their stead.So why in the Underworld did Hades choose me—a sarcastic nobody with a curse on her shoulders—as his champion? And why does my heart trip every time he says I’m his?I don’t know if I’m a pawn, bait, or something else entirely to this dangerously tempting god. How can I, when he has more secrets than stars in the sky?Because Hades is playing by his own rules...and Death will win at any cost.
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More Details:
Author
Abigail Owen
Pages
592
Publisher
Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published Date
2024-09-03
ISBN
1649376588 9781649376589
Community ReviewsSee all
"Ending felt rushed quite honestly but loved the cliff hanger. The world building and games were really fun but almost dragged on in the end but rushed the major plot point going with Hades especially the romance if that made sense? I’ll be reading book two for sure and it got the full 4 stars because it hit the hunger games x Percy Jackson vibes I was looking for going into the read."
Maria Seay
"Lyra was like my favorite thing ever and boone was the sweetest lil guy like ughhhhh in the best of ways. It didnt really feel very greek myhtology oriented in the sense that the gods felt more like modern caricatures of their older counter parts. Lyra and how she chose to deal with the challenges and the other contestants is why I enjoyed this book so much to be honest."
Sarah
"Great plot- but poor character development and illogical plot points- rushed ending"
Krista Jenkins
"This book is sooo good I love the plot and the Fmc definitely one of my favorites."
Lucy A
"Amazing"
Colton Phelps
"Looking back, I’m thinking this may be more of a 3.5 ⭐️ book. But in this moment, 4 ⭐️ is also appropriate. The concept and plot are solid. The execution could’ve been better. <br/><br/>It starts with Lyra who has a curse and accidentally gets roped into a competition on behalf of Hades. I was not surprised to see Hades and Lyra develop an attraction/feelings for each other. But her curse being broken at the end in a very “swept under the rug” type manner and the loopholes throughout the book don’t add up. <br/><br/>It also seems like Lyra has some connection to the gods/goddesses that we haven’t learned yet, like when she ended up being swallowed by Styx but faced no repercussions. <br/><br/>Some of the ways the chapters were broken up were odd too. Like the conversation would stop halfway through and then continue in the next chapter. What was the point of that?? <br/><br/>The epilogue was intriguing tho. Like damn, all this, and now poor ma’am is stuck in Tartarus with Boone and Cronos while Hades is probably gonna burn down the world to get her back. I’m not obsessed with this series, but that trope has definitely peaked my interest. <br/><br/>Not my favorite, but I didn’t hate it either"
Maya Berg
"Incredible! Kept me on the edge of my seat! The adventure, action and romance all tied in so well.
I want Hades to unleash all kinds of havoc on a certain person in my life 🤭 Goodness…I can’t wait for part two! "
BluDragonfly
"I ate this book up! Can’t wait for the next book and I was sad to find out after I finished it that it literally just came out less than a month ago. "
Lilogin
"ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. Never a dull moment in this book. Hunger games meets fourth wing meets greek mythology. No spoilers but the ending left me in shambles!!!! Best part is this will be a series!!"
Jordan Thompson
"I was going to give this book 4 stars. I really was. I was planning on rounding up from 3.5, but the last 60 or so pages made me change my mind.
I liked the majority of this book, except for Lyra, who annoyed me most of the time. She kept saying over and over that she’s a failed thief, but she’s killing it in all these obstacles and challenges that really should’ve made her a great thief.
Absolutely hated the last 60 pages. The ending (not the epilogue) was not great in my opinion. The epilogue showed some promise for the next book, but the ending of this one was just not it. I’m not eager for the next book, and I don’t even know if I’ll read it."
Mad
