*shakes head* Gameboard of the Gods.. how disappointing and long and excruciating you turned out to be. I was SO happy when I got a review copy from Penguin Canada and I couldn't wait to dive in. Yes it is a hefty book, but who cares? the synopsis sounded fantastic and it is Richelle Mead for God's sake! The reason why I opted for a mini review instead of a full one is because I have so much to complain about and it isn't really effective for me to whine so I'll just summarize all the problems I had with this book to make it in the end a not so happy reading experience. This is an NA book, however with the graphic and descriptive scenes I felt it is more adult, and I didn't appreciate the careless nature the main characters had in regards to their love life, or more like lust life. Justin was such a womanizing Jerk while Mae was just void of any emotional depth. All Justin thought about was women and drugs while Mae basically felt like a robot to me. Then there was the actual plot which was basically a mind melting one, not the good kind. I just felt that we were left in the dark for too long and I didn't appreciate not knowing what the hell was going on. At times I had to go and read reviews just to understand some aspect of the world building because it was so confusing. Also, the plot promises a murder mystery investigation but so much happened in this book, the deities and religions, the dystopian world, the murder, the supposed romance, and the promise Justin has to fulfill. It was a bit too much to take for a single book and while the plot had a lot going for it, most of the time I was pretty bored. I personally wouldn't recommend it to anyone because this book put me in a reading slump and I managed to read it in around 8 days. If you know me, that is pretty bad since I usually finish a 500 page book in two days maximum. All in all, this book won't shape my opinion of Richelle Mead and I do intend on reading her VA and Bloodline series, but just not this one.