It's the two leads that made this work: their emotional connection, handling each other gently, and some of the very important relationships and friends too (I LOVE both Markel and Liran). I appreciated that Vel and Cae communicated and that the plot did NOT revolve around them hurting each other needlessly (despite plenty of opportunity to hide or misunderstand). Mostly external enemies, and when it's their own fears that hold them back, they talk about it. Refreshing. It made the romance sweet and delicious and easy to love.

So clearly I had a lot of fun reading this, but the plot was fairly repetitive. An awkward mix of unexplained deaths and palace pageantry, where it seems like the same things keep happening over and over again? I toughed it out and the plot aspects got tighter in the last quarter, the finale worthwhile. The writing overall is a bit plodding and sometimes drags on, leaving me wondering why the scene hadn't already ended, and the magic was... thin. Sometimes I don't mind that but in this case it was a bit draining.

Better to focus on the romance aspects than the plot/fantasy elements. The romance was very good.

I am not in the headspace right now for this book. I may pick it up again later if that changes! Beautiful writing. 

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is told in both first (Vel) and second (Cae) person, swapping between the perspectives of the two man characters - Velasin and Caethari. Both of them are highborn men in a pseudo-medieval setting who are fairly educated, which is reflected in the writing style. This is especially apparent in Velasin's sections. The sentence structure and wording takes time to adjust too and may not work for some readers. It's important to note though, this a clear and deliberate choice by the author, not just bad writing. The style makes sense for the character even if it's a bit disorienting.

The novel as a whole takes place over a relatively short period of time and a lot happens within its pages. While I wish there were points where things slowed down and there was time to digest, I didn't think it was too over the top, and the progression of events made sense. I appreciated that the main characters were given a chance to somewhat (again, very short timeframe) organically find their way to each other instead of instalove. We get to enjoy those almost moments instead of diving in head first.

I thought motive behind the unravelling events was very interesting and I liked the way it played out. I also appreciated that there were real consequences for character's actions, which we don't always see.

I know that one major deterrent for some readers will be the r*pe scene early on. Reviews I've seen call it "extremely graphic" and make it seem very excessive, but I disagree with that.

It does play out on the page, but the emphasis is more specifically on the coercion of the main character and their feeling of helplessness at the hands of somebody they trusted. It talks about the conflicting signals between their body and their mind, as well as the humiliation of their body's reaction in the moment.

This is not something that happens just for a throwaway plot point to add drama. There is a genuine motivating factor and the character effected spends the rest of the book dealing with the trauma from it.

I would never advocate for someone to read something that makes them triggered or uncomfortable but I think it's important to shed light on the author's representation of the act, instead of immediately assuming the worst because of what it is.