Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - A Strange and Stubborn Endurance

Lovely, imaginative book about QPOC fantasy romance with great mutism and sign language representation, but BE SURE TO CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS. The subjects are handled well, but they are handled explicitly.

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zed_dog's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.0

I would recommend this book more widely and wholeheartedly, but I hesitate because of the very, very prominent description of sexual violence and the associated physical and mental trauma. It's ultimately a hopeful book about resilience (and healthy romantic relationship negotiation, empowerment, and political intrigue), but there is certainly no flinching from the disturbing content.

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epsyphus's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Recommended by a friend who loves the arranged marriage trope— I loved it.

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albernikolauras's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

An emotional queer romance that will put you through the ringer as you follow the main character (Vel) and his love interest (Cae) as they navigate their somewhat unplanned marriage and try to figure out who is trying to kill Vel.

This book has everything - great friendships, adorable romance, some fun politics to explore (and main characters who aren't very good at politics), and a murder mystery. It was a great book to read amongst the middling books around it.

Note - This story starts out with an extremely violent scene (check trigger warnings), and for a large part of the book, a character is dealing with the repercussions of that act.

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mallorypen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

AHHHHHH this was SO GOOD.

The politics - fascinating, well developed and understandable.
The cultural differences - gripping, relevant and dynamic.
The process of healing after trauma - told with kindness, honesty and hope.
The plot twists - OH MY GOD. I was along for the ride with only guesses about the perpetrators, and each twist surprised and delighted me.
The relationships - obviously I was THIRSTY for the connection between Cay and Vel, but the friendships with Markel, the family dynamics of the Idurials, the guards and soldiers, the librarian … everything felt believable and fully formed.
The romance - again, I was thirsty thirsty THIRSTY for this romance. I am a sucker for Yearning™️ and arranged marriages that lead to love (and lust) and when there is open and honest communication that builds to spine-melting UST … and then the resolution of said UST … god.
The treatment of gender identity - definitely a key pillar of the novel, and done in a way that felt a little in your face with Ralia’s differences to Keketai, but in the end I felt the representation was lovely. I also loved the way Markel’s disability was handled; the story didn’t shy away from his hardships, and it didn’t strip him of characteristics outside of his disability.

All in all, this was a fucking treat to enjoy just like one of the cook’s little suns. So much so I will forgive the death of Quip, though that was by far the absolute worst.

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bookswithjk's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The book started off brilliantly - the prose was smooth, the pacing just fast enough to keep you drawn in. However, towards the middle/end, the story started to drag. The story jumps from crisis to crisis in a formulaic manner. Crisis #1 happens, then we get a sweet moment, and then Crisis #2, followed by another sweet moment, and so on. The world building and character backstory, while very interesting, are built into the dialogue, so sometimes whole chapters act as a massive info-dump. The villain of the story, for me, came out of the blue, and I would have preferred more hints sprinkled throughout the text.

Also, it ended rather neatly, so I’m not sure how this will be a series.

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