This book has potential it just doesn’t live up to. I really enjoyed the romance between the two main characters as well as the characters themselves. Velasin’s journey of acceptance and healing is also well handled and realistic. However, I went into this book expecting politics to play a much bigger role than they did. This book is more of a mystery than a political fantasy. I was disappointed that magic didn’t play a bigger role throughout the book as well. There were also times where the prose and dialogue felt clunky, awkward, and out of place. The occasional lecture-like dialogue from Velasin just seemed out of place with the style of the rest of the dialogue and came across as the author spoon feeding us her point. I found myself getting bored in parts and think this could’ve been shorter. There was a lot of mentions of the moons and religion which didn’t really go anywhere, along with mentions of Velasin’s siblings which served little to no point. I wish we had heard more about Riya and Laecia or other present side characters which would’ve been more relevant to the story. I personally also found the ending disappointing. Unsure if I will pick up the sequel to continue with the characters and romance and see if the promise of politics develops more. 

I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did. I picked it up after hearing it recommended for fans of Winter's Orbit and I had pretty high hopes.

I will say that I did very much enjoy Meadows' prose and dialogue. I also think their characters themselves felt quite fleshed out and a ton of them were even very likable. Velasin definitely stands out as the strongest character with the clearest voice and motivation. I've seen a few reviews from people saying they found him standoffish and therefore unlikeable, but I think that's a bit silly considering the circumstances he's in. Of course he's going to be standoffish. That's also what made him feel real! He reacted to his circumstances like a real person, flaws and all. I loved Caethari and Velasin's relationship overall and found myself really rooting for them.

Unfortunately none of this was able to make up for the faults, at least to me. To start with, I am not at all the kind of person who feels that all difficult topics are off limits to explore in fiction. However there wasn't really a reason for

Velasin's sexual assault

to happen in detail on page. I do give Meadows and the publishing team kudos for putting a trigger warning on the first page of the book! That was an excellent idea and I'd love to see it more often. 

The most jarring problem for me was that this book is written in two different points of view. Velasin's chapters are in first person and Caethari's are in third person. It was incredibly distracting. I spent the entire book trying to figure out any artistic reason why the choice was made to write it this way and I came up blank.

Despite being a little put off I continued reading anyway because I did really enjoy the writing itself and the characters. The mystery was engaging enough that I wanted to see where it was going. Unfortunately the culprit ended up being quite literally the most obvious choice possible. Like, I had initially written this character off because I thought it would be too obvious. 

I might have been able to roll with that, even if it was a little disappointing, but the real kicker was that the mystery wasn't even solved through any actual investigative work in the end! They'd chased multiple false leads over the course of the story but when it came time for them to check out the lead that would actually get them somewhere they just so happen to stumble across the culprit detailing their evil plan! I would have loved to see them cut one of the earlier false leads and actually follow this one to it's conclusion. 

Overall I would probably give any future books by Foz Meadows a try and I think they're a promising author, but I would have liked to see some more discerning editing. 

A STRANGE AND STUBBORN ENDURANCE is one of my favorite things I’ve read all year, in a year where I’ve already read more than two hundred books. It might be my favorite arranged/political marriage book, if it’s not the winner it’s at least in good company. It’s instantly achieved the rank of my favorite fantasy book dealing with rape (a strange category to have, but as I make a podcast dealing with fictional depictions of trauma, an almost necessary category to be aware of).  If you’re uncomfortable with that content, please choose another book, with my best wishes, as this deals with the actual event and long aftermath of a (graphic but brief) sexual assault by someone who until very recently was the victim’s romantic partner. 

There are two major countries, one of which is barely shown but heavily felt (Ralia), and the other is where almost all of the story takes place (Tithena). That means the reader's main understanding of Ralia is through Velasin's recollections and Tithenai gossip. The story's focus on Velasin's arranged marriage to a man, combined with Ralian homophobia, means that most descriptions of Ralia are unflattering, focusing on much that Velasin was unable to freely do in his former country. Most of the story is set in Tithena, in or around Caethari's home (now Velasin's new home). This allows the opportunity for both the official Tithenian line and the reality to appear side by side in a way that doesn't happen for Ralia. It makes it clear that even though Tithena is more egalitarian in many respects, 

Velasin and his soon-to-be husband, Caethari, are the two narrators. I love Velasin and Caethari, both separately and together. However, unlike most books with dual narrators, this gives each narrator several chapters in a row before switching to the other. This helps with immersion into each man's perspective, and means that in this emotionally fraught story based on a colossal and nearly catastrophic misunderstanding, the reader doesn't get an immediate narrative resolution merely by switching to the other person. They're very different people, something which really gets to shine when Velasin gets more comfortable and begins turning his people skills and political mind to the mystery at hand.

We meet Velasin on the road, almost immediately reaching his father's home after fleeing his unfaithful partner (and accompanied by Markel, his servant and friend). Upon his arrival he's notified by his father of his impending arranged marriage to a Tithenai woman. Moments later his former partner arrives, having pursued him, then assaults him. After his father and the Tithenai envoy walk in on them (not understand that it was rape), the envoy offers him a marriage to a man instead. He accepts with as little consent as was involved in the former arrangement, and then travels to Tithena, where the rest of the plot unfolds. 

Markel is Velasin's servant and best friend. He's mute, using signs, writing, and other non-verbal signals to communicate with Velasin (and anyone else who'll learn). I like Markel, and he gets a lot of space in Velasin's thoughts, but not quite as much in the actual narrative (as he spends much of it recovering from a very serious injury). He's very important to the story, playing much more of a role before he's attacked and after he's mostly recovered. 

Caethari wasn't expecting to be the one getting married, since Ralia's endemic homophobia is well-known in Tithena. Tithenia as a country is so casually queer that saying it's more accepting of queerness than Ralia does a disservice in the comparison. It is not, however, free of other problems. Before Caethari can greet Velasin, the incoming party is attacked and their introduction is made under rather stressful circumstances.

The rest of the plot weaves together a series of strange and possibly politically-motivated attacks, investigations of the same, Velasin's internal struggles, Caethari's attempts to help, and many long conversations about cultural differences which range from extremely serious to mere curiosities. There's also the lingering threat that Velasin's attacker might pursue him further, a (not unfounded) worry which complicates his recovery. I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters, but I'm generally terrible with names and was still able to track most of what was happening. Much of the narrative is structured like a mystery, where they're trying to figure out the person or group behind the attacks and don't know who they can trust. This is interwoven with Velasin and Caethari getting to know each other, and Velasin's introductions to Caethari's family and a few other important persons. 

Read this for a kind of mystery story, full of political machinations, focused on recovery from trauma in a situation where bad things are still happening.

overall i supremely enjoyed this book for so many reasons. it brought me a lot of joy as a bi + nonbinary person. i think there’s a lot of merit in the author’s portrayal of certain themes (such as trauma, growth, and self-love) as well as her specific writing talents which i felt lied strongly in worldbuilding and depictions of platonic + romantic relationships. my main issues with the book come from the ending, and the feeling that there was a lot more potential to make more interesting decisions plot-wise, at the risk of turning this book into another tome of high fantasy. that said, i REALLY found myself enjoying the surprises that we got, and i was overjoyed for my expectations of this new release to be fulfilled. though this book is presumably a standalone, i think i’d like to see more from this universe, if not featuring the same cast.

Thank you endlessly to TOR for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Screaming. Crying. Throwing a tantrum. This was absolutely delicious. If this book was a meal my plate would be licked clean right now.

This emotional, healing-centered romance was essentially Winter's Orbit-but-make-it-fantasy. And moons, was I here for it. It's chalk-full of political intrigue, mystery, an arranged marriage, slow burn romance, SO MUCH hurt/comfort, and romantic lines that were SO UNNECESSARILY BEAUTIFUL AND WANTED TO MAKE ME RIP OFF MY FACE IN PASSION.

Also like Winter's Orbit, this book centers healing from trauma as not only a primary theme, but as a force that drives character development. Though where WO leans on miscommunication (in a good way! truly! I love idiots that are struggling to communicate themselves), A Strange and Stubborn Endurance leans on open communication. The honesty and mutual respect between the main characters IS the foundation of the story. (I just love them so fucking much!!!!) As a heads up: the narrative starts out INCREDIBLY dark (check CW/TWs), but the healing that comes from the MC's connection and from the systemic and personal support systems that emerge is beyond heartwarming. I'm in general a huge fan of books navigating the way trauma and mental health can impact relationships - romantic or otherwise - and deeply appreciated the way it was applied here. It was not treated as an obstacle or a problem, but just as a present factor of perspective and experience, which I thought was incredibly realistic and honorable.

I'm just obsessed and wish I could more eloquently express my unhinged emotional investment in this book. And again, can NOT stress enough that if you liked Winter's Orbit, you’ll go feral for this one.

CW/TWs: rape (onscreen p. 19-23, discussed further throughout the book), suicidal ideation (graphic), self-harm, trauma, violence, medical content, blood, death, death of character, animal death, abusive parent (emotional, physical [mention]), homophobia, transphobia, misgendering, emesis, alcohol consumption, loss of sibling, parental death, infidelity (past)