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

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 to

the 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.

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sardonisms's review against another edition

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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

4.75

This is a very, very good book. I picked it up because I love fantasy political drama and I was looking for queer romantasy. It did not disappoint. The plot keeps moving so that a 500+ page book still feels like a fast read. Foz Meadows is ruthless in their pacing, methodically alternating low and high tension to give both the plot and characters space to develop and flourish. The characters are all distinctive and shine with personality, even if they appear only for one scene. Any of them feel like they could pick up the mantle and tell a compelling story in their own right. The reveal, when it comes, hits like a truck, and makes a horrible sense the more is unraveled. There's one piece of it that I'm not sure had a foundation laid previously in the book, but I may have missed it, because I definitely did completely skate over another piece of the puzzle that was casually dropped earlier.

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readsforlove's review against another edition

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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.

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seashel's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

A wonderful husbands-to-friends-to-lovers

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gondorgirl's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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kathyq10's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.0

Overall I enjoyed this read a lot. The relationship between Cae and Vel is so sweet and lovely. The development is well written and a delicious slow burn, so much so that when they first HUG it feels huge and incredibly intimate. In turn their first kiss and first other things are a culmination of all that steamy and emotional buildup, plus healthy communication!! Gasp! The worldbuilding is well done in terms of the creative gender and sexuality norms—super refreshing in fantasy novels that are usually very binary—but I found the magic system a bit boring, underdeveloped, and underutilized. I thought this book was going to be a fantasy, but the magic feels like an afterthought and only really comes up as a plot point (rather conveniently) towards the end. The more fantastical element is really the progressive society, and I would’ve been just as happy without the magic at all.
As for negatives, the pace was slooooow. The bulk of the book takes place over like a week and a LOT happens each day. The characters acknowledge the density of the action, though, which makes it a bit better I guess. I just wanted it to move along at a faster clip. But then the solving of the mystery, reveal of the big baddie, and the consequences to them all happen pretty quickly and didn’t resolve in a satisfying way to me. I don’t think it did justice to the complexities of that character’s motivations. I cared much more about the main romantic relationship, Cae’s and Vel’s relationships with their respective close friends, and character development overall than the plot or the intrigue, so I honestly skipped some of the parts where they were bouncing around the town trying to solve the mystery of it all.
MAJOR CW for sexual violence and attempted suicide right from the very beginning of the book. The author puts this in a CW at the start but I didn’t expect it all to happen quite so fast. As the author says, though, it is a story about healing from the initial trauma.
Finally shoutout to MARKEL, Vel’s bestie and the absolute best supporting character. Markel is an icon and a messy bitch and I hope we get more of him in the sequel. His friendship with Vel was the second best part of the book; I love to see an unselfconscious portrayal of male friendship and intimacy. Plus the integration of the fact that he speaks sign language felt very natural and something I’ve never seen in a fantasy novel like this before.
Thank you Foz!!

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lalesbianlune's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was very compelling, but slightly hard to read. The trigger warnings should be paid close attention to as the book not only includes but focuses on hard topics. The friendship between Markel and Velasin was definitely my favorite part, although I’m always a fan of a gay arranged marriage. I did guess the plot twist/villain, but still thought it was fairly well done. I wish the ending felt less rushed, but overall an intriguing read.

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cristina_margarita's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.75

This is a stunning work of political fantasy! Foz has created such a lush world with Tithena; the level of detail and thought put into every aspect of the culture was palpable. The fantastical touches to the world are done so lightly but so deftly, the world is believable & well crafted. There was particular attention/explanation given to non-cisgender characters in a way that felt natural & was very interesting. There were a few copy editing slip-ups when it came to the non-binary characters that weren’t great but such is life. I also enjoyed the treatment of Markel’s muteness & sign language.

Additionally, Foz’s writing is beautiful. Both points of view felt unique & didn’t blend together; partially due to Vel’s part being in first person & Cae’s in third. All of the characters (that are meant to be) are lovable! I loved Cae & Vel but was also very fond of Markel & Liran. There were two characters mentioned who never showed up & that felt odd to me: Cae’s mother & Riya’s wife. I didn’t expect either of them to be significant to the story but it was still weird.

As for the story itself, I found the political intrigue to be gripping. The stakes were just right & the husbands’ involvement felt plausible. The pacing was also excellent, fast while also giving the reader enough time to digest information. I will be interested to see what the next book holds because as much as I loved the characters, the story was self concluding, it doesn’t require or even really ask for a sequel. I

I struggled greatly with the first part. What Velasin goes through is so raw & felt so realistic to me that it made it difficult to keep reading. (I was warned about & prepared for the rape, which didn’t make it any less upsetting or jarring, but was unprepared for the suicide attempts.) Having said that, I am immensely glad I pushed through. As the trigger warning states, this is a story about healing & I am very interested to see Vel continue to heal in the next book.

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