Title: The Mortal Trials
Author: Casey L. Bond
Genre: New Adult Epic Fantasy
Editor: Stacy Sanford/ The Girl with the Red Pen
Cover: Melissa Stevens/ The Illustrated Author Design Services
Publication Date: Sept. 7, 2026
Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR
Blurb
In a game of gods… If you win, you lose. If you lose, you die.
Callalie Ryan came home from war in pieces—her body broken, her name smeared across headlines, and her family in ruins. When the goddess Morrigan drags her from her desert home and orders her to Olympus, Callalie is forced into The Mortal Trials: five brutal contests staged by gods who find delight in mortal suffering, hosted by Ares, Greek god of war.
With a rusted prosthetic that shrieks with every step and a family the gods use as leverage, Callalie must outlast god-conjured beasts, shifting rules, and posturing pantheons long enough to secure a divine champion. But she’s not the only one paying the price… She soon learns that many of the other contenders have been drawn into the games by their connection to her.
How do you play a game where every victory is a punishment and showing mercy might get you killed? As heroes fall and tentative alliances are tested, Callalie must decide how much of her humanity she’s willing to sacrifice to survive the gods betting on her ruin.
Welcome to The Mortal Trials, where victory is just another kind of death.
Review
There is no better feeling than starting a book that instantly breaks a reading slump.
From chapter one, The Mortal Trials completely hooked me with vivid worldbuilding, seamless pacing, and characters that immediately come to life.
The story follows Callalie, a soldier on leave after losing a limb in battle. When fellow soldier Niall arrives with orders from their commander—the Celtic god Morrigan—we quickly realize he’s the last person Callalie wants to see. However, their personal friction is put on hold when both are drafted into the deadly Mortal Trials and whisked away to a mysterious island off the coast of Olympus on the back of a giant raven 🐦⬛.
This visual had me completely hooked by 27%. Think 'The Hunger Games' meets 'Percy Jackson', with a international cast of Deity's - the glossary and pronunciation list at the front was extremely helpful. Callalie is an incredible FMC —she’s dealing with profound grief over losing her sister, plus the physical trauma, dealing with a prosthetic leg that is second hand and worn out 🦿, Callalie faces impossible odds without ever giving up.
The author has created her characters - Mortal and Deity alike and woven them into the storyline beautifully, as you read on, you begin to learn about the characters and more importantly why they were chosen. Koda quickly became a favorite, also Daedalus, he was definitely dealt a bad hand by Ares! Even several characters who initially hated Callalie ended up growing on me. As the story progresses, alliances are made, and the reason why Callalie didn't want to be around Niall is revealed.
The Villain of the story, Ares has always been portrayed as a brutal, jealous, and unstable deity toward mortals, which has been consistent in Greek literature since ancient times, and the author's depiction was just perfect.
I was as cheering as Callalie continues to thwart his machinations to bend her to his will. The whole story structure keeps you engaged and championing Callalie, August and her allies.
What truly elevated this book for me, though, was the slow burn romance between Callalie and August. Instead of relying on insta-lust which is very popular right now, the author lets their connection grow naturally out of genuine character development, shared trauma, and political tension as the storyline develops.
The Mortal Trials delivers non-stop engagement, rich dynamics, and a heroine you can't help but champion.
I’m ready to volunteer to be a tribute for Book 2, The Mortal Games! 💫🏺📜
Thanks to the author and Lady Amber's Reviews & PR for a copy of the book for my honest opinion.
View all my reviews
Casey Bond lives on a rural farm in West Virginia with her husband and their two beautiful daughters. She writes phoenixes – gloriously flawed and morally gray characters that fiercely rise from the ashes of their circumstances. World building is one of her favorite hobbies, along with stamping metal jewelry, swimming, and enjoying the beauty of nature. She thinks thunderstorms are better than coffee and that watching a meteor shower is the closest thing to magic you might ever see. She’s a firm believer that every amazing book needs a world you want to wrap yourself in, a character you want to win, and a love you would fight for.
Casey is the award-winning author of When Wishes Bleed, Gravebriar, and House of Eclipses.
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