Series Review: Who Let The Gods Out? by Maz Evans

It’s been a while since I posted on a Monday, but I’m back today with mini reviews of one of my favourite Middle Grade series, Who Let the Gods Out? by Maz Evans. I reviewed the first in the series a while ago (you can see that here). Obviously, these reviews might have spoilers for the previous books in the series so read on with caution if you’ve not read these books and spoilers will bother you.

Simply the Quest

It had been a while since I read the first book in this series and I had forgotten how much I loved Maz’s writing style. She is hilarious. I adored Virgo in this book: her freaking out at being made mortal was hilarious, as were her focus on finding a quest to win back her Kardia, and her obsession with what is optimal. She was one of my favourites throughout the series, but I especially loved her in this book. I almost choked laughing when the Queen and the Royal Family showed up and got involved in a battle. This book made me laugh so many times, but it also had some sad moments. Elliott is struggling: his mum is poorly and he finds out exactly why his dad is in prison. He spends a lot of time thinking about his dad as his mother’s illness gets increasingly worse. He wants nothing more than to help his mum. I wanted to reach through the pages and give him a massive hug, because he definitely needs it. This was a brilliant second book in the series with a knock out ending. I couldn’t wait to move on to book three.

Beyond the Odyssey

Beyond the Odyssey kicks off with some useful life advice: “no-one is to froth cappuccinos with a thunderbolt“. There is still a note of humour, but this book is a lot more serious in many ways. There is a welfare team involved in Elliott’s care, and Josie is getting increasingly worse with suspected dementia. At times this made for hard reading. This book would be a great way to explore a difficult illness with children in this age group. In addition to the issues with his mum, his dad is back and he is not at all what Elliott expected. Elliott has to make some difficult choices. I felt so sad for Elliott in this book. Maz still fills the stories with hilarious moments, such as the flight on Don’tcAIR airlines; the humour in this book for adults as well as children is outstanding. My favourite bit of this book was the appearance of Circe. Circe is one of my favourites and I adored her in this book. The ending of this book destroyed me and I don’t think I will ever be over it. I loved this, and immediately picked up the final book.

Against All Gods

Against all Gods has a purple cover and purple sprayed edges, and I loved it. It’s a stunning book on the outside, and the inside definitely did not disappoint. At the start of this, I was still trying to recover from the sadness at the end of the last book. Can any of us recover from that? I think not. Elliott is struggling to accept the loss of his mum, and his desperation to get her back overwhelms him. This is a deeply sad book with some really heartbreaking scenes, but it is also a book that shows the goodness and kindness of humans in difficult situations. Poor Elliott has had so much to deal with and I just wanted our little bean to find some happiness. This book is tense, dramatic and filled with adventure. There is still a lot of humour in the book, with the Royal Family making another hilarious appearance. By the end, I was sad that this book was over, but what a brilliant ending to a fantastic series. This whole series was outstanding and would make a great set of books to read with kids. I can’t wait to share them with my little boy.

Have you read this series? Can you recommend me any similar books?

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