Fallen Gods (Fallen Gods 1) by Rachel Van Dyken-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 2, 2025

hey said the Gods were myth. That the Giants were only stories told around dying fires. They lied.

The Gods aren’t dead—they’re only sleeping, locked in mortal bodies, scattered across the world, waiting for the right spark to wake them. And my father is the most ruthless of them all.

He raised me to obey. To bleed. To be his blade when the time came. Now he’s sending me to Endir University, a place filled with ancient bloodlines and deadly secrets, to steal back Mjolnir, the hammer of legend. If I fail, everyone I love dies.

But Aric Erikson wasn’t part of the plan. He’s the enemy’s heir. Distant. Dangerous. And…the one person I can’t afford to fall for. He’s closed himself off completely behind a wall of ice, but the more I’m ordered to unravel him, the harder it becomes to remember where the lies end and I begin.

There’s only a mission I never chose—and a man I was never meant to love—standing between me and a war that will decide the fate of the world.

But if I’m the spark, maybe he’s the fuse. And the Gods? They’re about to wake up angry.

•••••

REVIEW:FALLEN GODS is this first instalment in Rachel Van Dyken’s contemporary, new adult FALLEN GODS fantasy, romance series, loosely based on Norse Mythology. This is Rey, daughter of Odin, and Aric Erikson’s story line.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story ine premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Rey and Aric) FALLEN GODS follows Rey as she has been enrolled in Endir University, wherein she has been ordered to find Mjolnir, Thor’s missing hammer. Her target is Aric Erikson, a young man whose family controls Endir University, and a man who, two years earlier, humiliated our heroine, in front of family and friends. Aric and Rey despise one another but are forced to endure a series of tests, tests that will reveal the runes of power, revealing the gods and giants who have been hidden for so long.Realizing the tepid friendship barely hides a palpable sexual attraction our couple realize they have been played by everyone in their lives, pawns to be used as a means to regain power and control.

The world building is detailed and complex as the story line is woven with Norse mythology, and modern day criminal underworld, blending folklore and fantasy in a world created to tell a story of betrayal and love.

The relationship between Rey and Aric is tempestuous at best: enemies to friends to lovers in a story blending Norse gods, giants, and dysfunctional family dynamics. As Rey and Aric work together in an effort to reveal the hidden runes, a familiarity and friendship leads to love and acceptance. The $ex scenes are limited but intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful, questionable and energetic secondary and supporting characters many of whom are not as they appear to be. Odin is determined to take back Thor’s hammer but there are other waiting on the sidelines to reclaim what rightfully belongs.

FALLEN GODS is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, secrets and lies, family and obsession, mythology and folklore, acceptance and love. The character driven premise is intriguing, magical and dramatic yet reminds me of the author’s Eagle Elite series. ; the romance is fated and edgy; the characters are animated, brooding, determined and stubborn. FALLEN GODS ends on a happily ever after-for now, there is must more story to tell.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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To learn more about Rachel & her books, visit here!

Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she’s not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.

She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband, adorable son, and two snoring boxers! She loves to hear from readers!