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andromedace's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
kirstenf's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Ableism, and Homophobia
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Physical abuse, Grief, Ableism, Sexism, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Transphobia and Vomit
thindbooks's review
4.0
*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*
This is an amazing debut! It's about a queer trio who want to live a reckless life of their choosing. When it comes to historical books, I'm not a huge fan of it unless it's an adult historical romance. After reading the summary of this one, I knew I had to check it out also the cover is very promising that it would be a great read. I enjoyed most parts of the writing where I really thought the old fashioned type writing was amazing but also very difficult at times to understand. It does give it the historical fiction vibe but for some readers like me, it could be hard to understand or slow. Well for me it wasn't slow as the pacing was great with all conflicts and actions thrown in at the right time. The plot was well structured and very original. This book is written in Asta and Erlend's pov which was hard to figure out as my copy didn't have the narrative names at the top of the chapter.
One of the great factors I enjoyed about this book was that all the main characters were queer and disabled. I have never seen a combination of both in a character in a book and it shows we need more books like this. There are three main characters: Asta, Erlend, and Gunnar who are all different and unique. Each character has an amazing character development and I loved going on a journey with them. There were also some great side characters but not many and I wish there were especially some diverse characters as I thought there will be some in this book. There is LGBTQ+ romance between certain couples but I didn't really enjoy it. It felt a little forced to me. I did enjoy the main character friendship group but the romance was not it.
The ending was well done and expected. This book was overall a great read with a few minor problems. I really enjoyed the queer and disabled characters in this book who weren't that perfect character we always read in books but had a different journey. This book didn't disappoint and I really enjoyed having the opportunity to reading this book. I can't think of any books like this from the top of my head but I can say it's kind of perfect for fans of A Spindle Splintered and Cemetery Boys.
This is an amazing debut! It's about a queer trio who want to live a reckless life of their choosing. When it comes to historical books, I'm not a huge fan of it unless it's an adult historical romance. After reading the summary of this one, I knew I had to check it out also the cover is very promising that it would be a great read. I enjoyed most parts of the writing where I really thought the old fashioned type writing was amazing but also very difficult at times to understand. It does give it the historical fiction vibe but for some readers like me, it could be hard to understand or slow. Well for me it wasn't slow as the pacing was great with all conflicts and actions thrown in at the right time. The plot was well structured and very original. This book is written in Asta and Erlend's pov which was hard to figure out as my copy didn't have the narrative names at the top of the chapter.
One of the great factors I enjoyed about this book was that all the main characters were queer and disabled. I have never seen a combination of both in a character in a book and it shows we need more books like this. There are three main characters: Asta, Erlend, and Gunnar who are all different and unique. Each character has an amazing character development and I loved going on a journey with them. There were also some great side characters but not many and I wish there were especially some diverse characters as I thought there will be some in this book. There is LGBTQ+ romance between certain couples but I didn't really enjoy it. It felt a little forced to me. I did enjoy the main character friendship group but the romance was not it.
The ending was well done and expected. This book was overall a great read with a few minor problems. I really enjoyed the queer and disabled characters in this book who weren't that perfect character we always read in books but had a different journey. This book didn't disappoint and I really enjoyed having the opportunity to reading this book. I can't think of any books like this from the top of my head but I can say it's kind of perfect for fans of A Spindle Splintered and Cemetery Boys.
iam's review against another edition
4.0
I was brought to this book by a rather misleading route, so it wasn't quite what I expected- however, the main reason I read it was because there were supposed to be horses in it, and there were, so I am happy.
This historical story ended up charming me despite its simplicity. It's about a group of young people with strong romantic, platonic and familial ties between that weather the misfortune thrown at them again and again together.
Otherness, through queerness, religious non-conformity and disability was at the center of this novel. It was wonderfully handed from my (limited) perspective, and according to the afterword, a lot of the disability representation is based on the author's own experiences as well as research. The asexuality rep was wonderful to me as an ace reviewer, and I adored the queerplatonic relationship as well.
Equally well handled was the horse stuff. I am by no means an expert on horses, but I do love them and have my fair share of experience with handling them, and while I cannot speak on realism it sure seemed believeable and satisfying to me as a never-recovered horse kid.
This historical story ended up charming me despite its simplicity. It's about a group of young people with strong romantic, platonic and familial ties between that weather the misfortune thrown at them again and again together.
Otherness, through queerness, religious non-conformity and disability was at the center of this novel. It was wonderfully handed from my (limited) perspective, and according to the afterword, a lot of the disability representation is based on the author's own experiences as well as research. The asexuality rep was wonderful to me as an ace reviewer, and I adored the queerplatonic relationship as well.
Equally well handled was the horse stuff. I am by no means an expert on horses, but I do love them and have my fair share of experience with handling them, and while I cannot speak on realism it sure seemed believeable and satisfying to me as a never-recovered horse kid.
lukevirgo's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
madzie's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
4.0
craftymxlibrarian's review
5.0
While it can feel a bit formulaic at times, this is still a sweet, heart-wrenching, hopeful story with amazing representation. It's the first time I've seen a sex-positive ace represented!! It's also obvious, even before reading the authors note at the end, that the author endeavored to accurately represent both the disabilities and sexual identities of her characters and how they would have been perceived in the time in which this book takes place. It's this sensitivity and beautiful representation that takes this from 4 stars up to 5.
crocus's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
nightjar656's review
3.5
3.5 stars, rounded down
When I saw that this was historical fiction with ace rep and a qpr in it, I was pretty much immediately excited. It lived up to the hype on some of those things but I feel like it fell short with a couple others.
To start off, a couple things I liked: I loved the ace rep in this! In general, Asta is an absurdly loveable character and I was really invested in her- she was definitely my favorite out of the main cast. Her exploration of her identity was something that really hit home a few times and I really love that aspect of her character. Also, the found family in this is great- the interactions between the three as their bonds strengthen are really good and I was really invested in their little family. A lot of the side characters were really interesting, like Oskar, and Fred was an amazing guy overall. The conflict of conformity v individualism and them going against the norms of the town and the lives that they’re supposed to lead was fun to read, I’m always a big fan of stuff like that.
The things I didn’t like: I feel like this could’ve really benefited from a Gunner POV. Not knowing what’s inside gunner’s head was almost frustrating at times, as we saw conflict through Erland and Asta but we didn’t get that extra layer of depth with Gunner. In addition, I felt that there were a few pacing issues and it felt like some conflict was just kind of brushed over and never addressed (the most noteable example being when Erland and Asta fight and he says she’ll never understand Gunnar like he does, and it’s just never addressed again), likely due to time skips. Lastly, I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the ending- it made sense and I didn’t hate it but it felt like things were wrapped up a little too neatly? But I wouldn’t say that it’s an awful ending, it’s just kind of ok.
This was pretty good overall, but I doubt I’ll revisit it.
When I saw that this was historical fiction with ace rep and a qpr in it, I was pretty much immediately excited. It lived up to the hype on some of those things but I feel like it fell short with a couple others.
To start off, a couple things I liked: I loved the ace rep in this! In general, Asta is an absurdly loveable character and I was really invested in her- she was definitely my favorite out of the main cast. Her exploration of her identity was something that really hit home a few times and I really love that aspect of her character. Also, the found family in this is great- the interactions between the three as their bonds strengthen are really good and I was really invested in their little family. A lot of the side characters were really interesting, like Oskar, and Fred was an amazing guy overall. The conflict of conformity v individualism and them going against the norms of the town and the lives that they’re supposed to lead was fun to read, I’m always a big fan of stuff like that.
The things I didn’t like: I feel like this could’ve really benefited from a Gunner POV. Not knowing what’s inside gunner’s head was almost frustrating at times, as we saw conflict through Erland and Asta but we didn’t get that extra layer of depth with Gunner. In addition, I felt that there were a few pacing issues and it felt like some conflict was just kind of brushed over and never addressed (the most noteable example being when Erland and Asta fight and he says she’ll never understand Gunnar like he does, and it’s just never addressed again), likely due to time skips. Lastly, I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the ending- it made sense and I didn’t hate it but it felt like things were wrapped up a little too neatly? But I wouldn’t say that it’s an awful ending, it’s just kind of ok.
This was pretty good overall, but I doubt I’ll revisit it.