Wow. 
 This book really surprised me! 
 Which is weird to say because I went in thinking it was going to be good, and the first half was kind of good but the second half was great. 
 He made a face. "So much for my illusion of omnipotence. You're still impressed with me, right?" 
 The first half drags a tiny bit, the lore is really interesting and well done but the character depth is not quite all there. But the second half introduces us to a lot of new characters, well-developed side characters that I became invested in. 
 The lore expands and so many things are revealed, and a whole other culture is introduced which was really intriguing. 
 So the world - clans of desert people living in, well, the desert. Once every hundred years their gods choose a young person to become their vessel, displacing their soul to spend one lifetime per century with their clan to improve life for them using magic. Filling wells etc. The basis of the story line you can see in the blurb. It was so interesting to see the depth of the belief of these people, how much they trusted their gods and the extent to which they would go to stay in their favour. It was also great to see things as the gods do via Liyana's interaction with them. 
 I loved Liyana, in the first bit you won't see it and in the second half it is often subtle, but she is a pretty strong lady with willpower of steel and is loyal to a fault. Needless to say, I really enjoyed her as our main character! She has a goal in mind and doesn't allow anything to change her focus. 
 The plot had so many layers, and it really doesn't go where you expect it to. Like at all. Man, when I finished I kind of just stared at Benjamin (my kindle) with my mouth a tiny bit open, because I was really impressed with where Durst took that ending. And I liked it! Benjamin said he knew it was going to end like that, but I think he was lying. 
 There are friendships, humour, an adventure/urgent mission and some subtle romance. A really good read that I would definitely recommend!