clemslibrary's reviews
290 reviews

i absolutely loved the development we get from all the characters in this, as the second book in a trilogy (i believe) it really strengthens the character relationships and adds to the world!!

the story revolves around all the characters moving and working towards coming together at the end, which i really enjoyed as we explored new relationships as well as expanding on ones formed in the first book. because the book revolves around all this movement, it can feel slow at times and the pacing did drag a couple of times, but i still really enjoyed seeing the characters come together and be one big group at the end

we do also see more on the relationships within this, they are a subplot but they do help make the slower scenes feel like they have more significance, and i love barsilay and naftaly together

the world and magic in this are so cool, and i can’t wait to see how everything culminates in the final
book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an arc!

an impressive and compelling climate fantasy mixed with politics and a multi-pov narrative!!!

lots of tension and emotion, an impressive welding of characters and motivations - they’re messy and complicated, but the culmination of their efforts is so cool. everything leads up to a very dramatic moment, and is fuelled by the hate and desire for calor, making for some very intriguing moments and movements within the world!

with the characters all having such vastly different backstories it meant that they all brought something different to the story, especially with how they view power and money

a powerful and gut-punching climate fantasy highly focusing on the misuse of power and the destruction it can bring!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an arc!

such a fun and well written story with a narrative and structure that i loved!!

the way the story is told was definitely the highlight for me, it was so engaging and i loved how much we learnt about vitrine and the angel. this falls more into the lyrical prose/vibes category than focusing on different people, and instead we follow vitrine and the grief that she feels - it’s so poignant and beautiful to see her feel so much for the city she created and loved so deeply

seeing the many generations of people was so touching, you see how grief flows and ebbs and vitrine felt so real, although her decisions as a demon could be considered questionable, she feels so deeply which just made me fall in love with her city

the unconventional enemies to lovers (angel x demon) was slowburn heaven, she curses him for being a part of her city’s destruction, and he cannot return to his home, and instead must accept vitrine and grows to lover her. i loved the ending, it wraps up their story together so beautifully and made the multi-generation focus on love and life so poignant

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an arc!

this was such an intriguing story filled with monsters and secrets stored in the world of paris!

sam and gel’s foray into paris to uncover the truth about murders taking place was so fun, their dynamic and intensity kept me so hooked, especially with the sherlock holmes x dracula vibes. sam grows as a person so much, learning more about her channeling as well as coming to understand the power that women can have (and starting to unravel her own misogyny due to the way society has functioned - cue hel wearing suits 24/7, how sexy). the world of monsters and beasts is so intriguing, a monster that kills men, devious men and the secret networks of women made for such a great time!

i was absolutely rooting for sam and hel, and whilst it is a subplot and we barely see them together in the romantic sense, the pining and working together just ramped up the tension and desire to see them get together!!!!

i did love the exploration of paris in this, the different worlds that exists within it and how everyone interacts together (there are quite a few phrases in french that could do with having a translation next to them, as a french person i understood them but can see people having an even better understanding should a translation be there)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an arc!

okay so maybe i have a thing for men in books inspired by polish folklore, leave me alone.

i loved this. it was so fun and all of the characters are so entertaining to read about. the main trio of characters are such enjoyable characters to follow, seeing them work and grow together, with the cherry on top being the polyamorous hints between them (i am vaguely upset that we didn’t see them more together - i hope that there is a sequel to this as i would LOVE to read more about them!!!!!). the differences between them just added to the ambiance and story, a water nymph who needs to be kissed to come back to life, a very grumpy exorcist (he’s actually a sweetie) and the man who she wants to kiss who has more to him than meets the eye. and let’s be honest they’re all so sexy

the world is so lush, the magic and atmosphere are stunning and seeing kazik grow as a person within his beliefs, i loved it!!!! the different mythological creatures/beings are all so cool, and the way they’re interwoven with the real world makes for such a fun time!

this definitely falls into the tropes i love, grumpy x sunshine, slow burn, flirty banter when they’re supposed to hate each other, so it’s absolutely no surprise that i loved this!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy!

a story filled with lush folklore and sapphic pining (one of those people being incredibly unaware of her own feelings) and a quest-like journey to find a magic lake that could change people’s lives!

allison saft is a master at creating relationships that i fall head over heels in love with, and i can never get enough of the worlds she creates and the people im made to feel for (and having read all her other books this fits perfectly in line with the other romances that im obsessed with)

i’m a sucker for a group in forced proximity having to work together, especially when the group doesn’t get along/the people are flawed. the development and understanding of the characters as the journey continues was intriguing, characters didn’t end up being who i thought they were, resulting in some very interesting reveals. the main cast of characters are highly flawed, which did make them unbearable at times but with good reason, and seeing them work together with their own personal ambitions created so much tension. 

i loved the folklore in this (i would have adored having even more to be fair) and the characters individual interests in magic were so cool. the interweaving of magic, folklore and stories made this so intriguing, and really highlighted the differences in everyone and how stories are so individual to us. 

and the sapphic pining cannot be forgotten. it definitely falls more as a subplot throughout most of the story, but really kicks in at the 60/70% mark!! i loved them together, the growth they both go through and moments where they are forced to work together made it that much better (can you tell i like rivals to lovers??). i do wish we had seen them together more than we did, and the ending did leave me wanting more, but i adored them together and seeing lorelei feel safe and have her faith and identity not be seen as monstrous

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me a copy!

metal from heaven is a whirlwind of a story on queerness and revenge and identity!!

the prose in this is so intriguing, the narration is both engaging and confusing, as though we are in marney’s mind as she is exploring the world and how to act within it. i did have moments of confusion because of it, with a certain chapter obviously meaning to do that (i sat there for a while very confused) but i absolutely loved it. the storytelling is so lush and moving, i really felt for marney and wanted them to succeed 

the magic (if you can call it magic) is super interesting but i would have enjoyed some more exposition on it to truly get to grips on the way that marney was affected by it

the character dynamics and relationships are excellent, it all feels so very real and made me even more invested into the story and world itself. there is the feel of a found family and scenes with all of them together were definitely my favourite

i do wish there had been more action scenes, there was so much potential for explosive scenes and for me there was a lack of it

the queerness being tied with religion was super interesting, and marney herself was such an interesting character to follow through their struggles and growth as a person struggling with herself. can never go wrong with sapphic and political fantasy really

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an arc!

a dramatic fantasy sequel with complex relationship dynamics and chaos?? absolutely. 

we really see an expansion of the world, the magic system and the characters within this which i absolutely loved!! also the new pov’s added so much and i enjoyed reading from different people so much (although i still hate that one character but she is so interesting to read from) and i found that the group dynamic grew as we had new characters introduced as well as new relationships. 

honestly i will always enjoy political fantasy and this leans into it but as the book progresses there is a larger focus placed on the military side, which was cool to see everyone in the same setting and being forced the work together to come to their goal

the twists in this. crazy. i was not expecting that jesus and the last few chapters have left me so excited to see where this series keeps going!

Thank you to the author for sending me a copy pre-publication!