Inanna

Interesting world building with the retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the myths of Inanna. Set in the ancient world of Sumer (now modern day Iraq), we get a glimpse at the first hero of literature, every day life in Mesopotamia, and the added lore of the gods, the Annunaki!

We get 3 different POVs from our main characters who are all different but connected which kept me intrigued. I enjoyed the first and last thirds the best, they were well paced and kept me more engaged. Although it was easy to read and engaging enough to finish, I had a lot of issues with it that make me not want to continue the series:

-The characters are pretty flat-we don’t get to know them all that well, and I know it’s book 1 of a trilogy but for a 400+ page book, I feel like we should know a little more about them by the end
-The dialogue is stilted and unnatural, it felt so disjointed and forced at times.
-Too much telling over showing and repetitive
-The grooming and SA was poorly handled and shouldn’t have even happened
-Finally, I found out from reviews upon finishing; the trans/queer rep from the original texts has been removed from the novel (which to each their own). But the author kept only part of it in which she demonizes the androgynous/gender non-conforming nature of the minor characters, which is untrue based on the OG texts so of all the things to fictionalize she chose something hateful?!

Overall it was disappointing and poorly written, I won’t be reading anymore from the author or recommending this book. I know I usually post positive reviews and recs, but occasionally I will read a dud and always want to share my honest opinions, especially for a book with hateful rhetoric that I don't see talked about enough. Everyone can make their own decisions on what to read but want to warn readers who wish to avoid this type of content!