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werewolfhooligan's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
it's been a while since ive read such a dense political fantasy, and this book was like a breath of fresh air. i'm kind of obsessed with it. it was even like a fun challenge to try to parse the pieces of language that we were given without context (though it wasn't as fun trying to remember the names of a ton of characters that ultimately didn't reoccur often enough to justify the effort, or even speak, in some cases). the socio-political environment in the aida felt very monolithic, but i can't fault an author for wanting to write about a social utopia, and it didn't bother me, even if it did feel a little strange. i found the central relationship very sweet, and with just how much happened and happened and just kept happening i could almost forget that they'd only known each-other for about a week! i'm not complaining when i say that this was utter chaos; it just was, undeniably, a book where the hits never stopped coming. i was on the edge of my seat; i was kicking my feet and giggling; i was gasping with shock and awe; i was scrutinizing the clues. a book of all time, frankly, and i love it to death.
as 4 the ending...
what do you meeeaann it was the younger sister (name omitted bc i forgot how to spell it and don't want to check) in a country where women can inherit, her family is in a cold war over naming their successors to avoid hurt feelings, and the brother she's seemingly so threatened by is plainly terrible with politicking????? like is she stupid??? 😫 i knew that the inheritence thread would be involved, but i had hoped that it would be somebody acting in her interest, at least. like, girl be so serious 💀 i thought i was being so smart picking up on all of the times tar raeki didnt catch the suspect or arrested somebody personally or mentioned trying to enforce some element of security that other people just Wouldn't Maintain. that's on me, i guess, but i was looking for clues when meadows just wasn't giving me any
after the big reveal i was disappointed, but hopeful that the next forty-some pages could bring it back, and I'm happy to report that they did. the confrontation felt as satisfying as it could, after... you know, the bit that felt stupid, and the last punch of action was just the surge of adrenaline it needed to wrap up. overall a really wonderful book, even if i wish it had ended differently, and i'll be picking up the sequel!
as 4 the ending...
after the big reveal i was disappointed, but hopeful that the next forty-some pages could bring it back, and I'm happy to report that they did. the confrontation felt as satisfying as it could, after... you know, the bit that felt stupid, and the last punch of action was just the surge of adrenaline it needed to wrap up. overall a really wonderful book, even if i wish it had ended differently, and i'll be picking up the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual violence, Violence, and Suicide attempt
arachnidstardis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Violence
christcooper's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
a complex tale of arranged marriage turning into genuine love between two characters whose slow-building affection for each other is endearing, sweet, and extremely hot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Homophobia
beanieberta's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
This book is... a lot. I do not know where to start exactly. There are two main plots: Velasin's healing journey and the murder mystery.
A fair warning, something fairly traumatic happens to Velasin right at the start, but it will be thoroughly handled and examined in the course of the book. While at first shocking, i think the on page description was necessary to later fully understand the mental struggles Velasin faces.
Then the murder mystery: I love that Velasin is smart, and it's so interesting when he unravels connections, motives and complicated knots both metaphorically and literally.
Cae and Vel are an impressive team right from the start, even if they take a while to realize that on a personal level, too. Cae is a kind-hearted soldier who prefers to think more straight-forward, but he has a tactical mind as well. Velasin is a genius in court intrigue and sees what Cae doesn't. Together, they're a pretty unstoppable force.
The book is written in wonderful, poetic prose, but there is so much action happening that I think I need to read it again so I can appreciate the colorful, beautiful words and world-building. At times, I felt like there was happening too much and I felt a bit overwhelmed. The days are long - the book feels incredibly fast-paced, but a single day covers about 150 pages. But that's because, as I said, there is always happening so much as they rush from one place to another, find another clue, another murder, another lead.
All in all, I loved this book. It's been forever on my tbr pile, and I am glad I finally read it.
A fair warning, something fairly traumatic happens to Velasin right at the start, but it will be thoroughly handled and examined in the course of the book. While at first shocking, i think the on page description was necessary to later fully understand the mental struggles Velasin faces.
Then the murder mystery: I love that Velasin is smart, and it's so interesting when he unravels connections, motives and complicated knots both metaphorically and literally.
Cae and Vel are an impressive team right from the start, even if they take a while to realize that on a personal level, too. Cae is a kind-hearted soldier who prefers to think more straight-forward, but he has a tactical mind as well. Velasin is a genius in court intrigue and sees what Cae doesn't. Together, they're a pretty unstoppable force.
The book is written in wonderful, poetic prose, but there is so much action happening that I think I need to read it again so I can appreciate the colorful, beautiful words and world-building. At times, I felt like there was happening too much and I felt a bit overwhelmed. The days are long - the book feels incredibly fast-paced, but a single day covers about 150 pages. But that's because, as I said, there is always happening so much as they rush from one place to another, find another clue, another murder, another lead.
All in all, I loved this book. It's been forever on my tbr pile, and I am glad I finally read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
pixelateddragon's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.25
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters and the world building were interesting and well-written, and the voice acting in the audio book was absolutely amazing.
I loved the contrast of the queer-normative country with the more typically "medieval European"-esque one and how this was expressed and talked about in the text. (Loved the nonbinary representation btw!)
I knocked off a few points for how graphic the sexual assault was, I won't say it's existence wasn't important to further the conflict of the story but I felt it was in more detail than it needed to be to get the point across. Mind the trigger warnings!!!
And the plot was relatively interesting but a bit predictable, I guessed the twist pretty much as soon as the first attack happened & the MC was introduced tothe ML's sisters & the inheritance situation but it wasn't disappointing.
I loved the relationships between characters especially the platonic & familial ones, they were dynamic and felt so real.
I ended up skipping the sex scenes so I can't really comment on them, because they always ended up playing when I was trying to eat in public (and I didn't bother to go back to them because I'm not terribly fond of having sex narrated to me in general 😅).
But overall the book was pretty enjoyable with a dynamic and rich world and characters with beautiful prose & audio narration but, it was a bit heavy handed and more explicit than needed with a few of the more 'traumatic' parts of the story (& the relationship was a bit rushed, but it's a romance book and that is typical of the genre so I can't complain too much on that), and the mystery was a bit predictable.
I loved the contrast of the queer-normative country with the more typically "medieval European"-esque one and how this was expressed and talked about in the text. (Loved the nonbinary representation btw!)
I knocked off a few points for how graphic the sexual assault was, I won't say it's existence wasn't important to further the conflict of the story but I felt it was in more detail than it needed to be to get the point across. Mind the trigger warnings!!!
And the plot was relatively interesting but a bit predictable, I guessed the twist pretty much as soon as the first attack happened & the MC was introduced to
I loved the relationships between characters especially the platonic & familial ones, they were dynamic and felt so real.
I ended up skipping the sex scenes so I can't really comment on them, because they always ended up playing when I was trying to eat in public (and I didn't bother to go back to them because I'm not terribly fond of having sex narrated to me in general 😅).
But overall the book was pretty enjoyable with a dynamic and rich world and characters with beautiful prose & audio narration but, it was a bit heavy handed and more explicit than needed with a few of the more 'traumatic' parts of the story (& the relationship was a bit rushed, but it's a romance book and that is typical of the genre so I can't complain too much on that), and the mystery was a bit predictable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Torture
robotnik's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.0
This book reminded me of A Taste of God and Iron, though a better version of it with main characters who were vastly more likeable.
The one thing I really feel is this book was far too slow. You probably could have cut anywhere from 100 to 200 pages out of it, and the story could have worked out the same in both character development and plot. I do admit to skimming a bit here and there because there was just so much description dumping that felt unnecessary.
A lot of the tension in the relationship was missing because we got to see both of their POVs (where one was told in first person and the other was told in third person, which was a weird and jarring choice that took time getting used to, tbh). We got to see what both their opinions were on each other and thus there was no real conflict within the romance portion of the relationship.
That being said, the pair are both likeable and the plot was interesting, even if it was vastly on the slow side.
I think I'll give the second book a try sometime, just not any time soon. This book was a little fatiguing because of how long it was, and i need a break from this world.
The one thing I really feel is this book was far too slow. You probably could have cut anywhere from 100 to 200 pages out of it, and the story could have worked out the same in both character development and plot. I do admit to skimming a bit here and there because there was just so much description dumping that felt unnecessary.
A lot of the tension in the relationship was missing because we got to see both of their POVs (where one was told in first person and the other was told in third person, which was a weird and jarring choice that took time getting used to, tbh). We got to see what both their opinions were on each other and thus there was no real conflict within the romance portion of the relationship.
That being said, the pair are both likeable and the plot was interesting, even if it was vastly on the slow side.
I think I'll give the second book a try sometime, just not any time soon. This book was a little fatiguing because of how long it was, and i need a break from this world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
rradujko's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt
readsforlove's review against another edition
4.5
My first question is why are more people not talking about this amazing book? I found it on Audible recs of all places after searching for a similar book to A Taste of Gold and Iron and was quickly swept away. Velasin and Caethari are ... wow. Like. This book is the arranged marriage trope, and while being an asexual makes this concept feel truly straight from a horror novel, the tenderness with which it happened in this book was just so so good. I'm having trouble finding words. They were each so tender and sweet and kind to each other, and there was no unnecessary drama, which I'd honestly been expecting. While things were by no means easy between them, they each went into the situation with grace, care, and honesty, despite there being ample opportunity to create drama. But they were both so refreshingly mature and sweet about everything, it makes me want to dive right back in for a reread from cover to cover.
Instead, I'm diving right into book 2, and I predict I will have the worst book hangover ever when I'm through.
Please do be sure to check content warnings before going into this novel though!! Very heavy topics are addressed and depicted on page, and while it's done with care, it's still important to go into the novel consciously.
Instead, I'm diving right into book 2, and I predict I will have the worst book hangover ever when I'm through.
Please do be sure to check content warnings before going into this novel though!! Very heavy topics are addressed and depicted on page, and while it's done with care, it's still important to go into the novel consciously.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity and Vomit
kristenmarienp's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
stormcatt's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm and Violence
Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Transphobia