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sammuraichan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Body shaming, Misogyny, Vomit, and Sexism
morebedsidebooks's review
5.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Vomit, Blood, Confinement, Homophobia, Animal death, Murder, Death, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Ableism, Infidelity, and Misogyny
From the author: A Strange and Stubborn Endurance contains on-page depictions of rape, suicidal ideation, and self-harm. While the narrative arc is one of healing, readers should nonetheless be aware of this content in order to engage with it on their own terms.discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This is a beautiful story for a number of reasons. I appreciated the focus on healing from the trauma of sexual assault, and on letting go of learned lies about oneself and one’s worth. The relationship between Vel and Cae was so tender and sweet that it had me grinning so hard my face hurt on more than one occasion.
The politics in general, but especially where it pertained to the question of inheritance, kind of went over my head, but it didn’t cause me to enjoy the book any less. This was a treat to read.
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Self harm, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Blood, Death, Homophobia, and Outing
Minor: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship
robin1010's review
- 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
3.0
First and foremost, like a lot of other reviewers have addressed, there is a sexual assault scene and more than one scene of self-harm/suicidal intentions. There is a warning at the start of the book regarding these scenes. They're definitely very graphic, and if you're worried about them at all I would skip this book. That aside, even though the scenes were quite graphic, the author never used language that made them feel gratuitous, like a lot of the fantasy genre does.
I'll address the characters first. I liked Vel, most of the time he felt like a likeable and understandable character, and his eventual recovery felt realistic but also quite hopeful. The author also writes his intelligence well. I did feel that the mention of who he was in the past (very non-committal, party type) didn't really gel with how he acted in the present. While I understand he faced a major upheaval, his whole personality seemed more studious and responsible than the kind of person he was describing of his previous self. Cae honestly felt a little bit bland, most of his characteristics were very generically 'wholesome love interest', and I think he could have done with some more fleshing out, especially in terms of flaws. The moniker 'the Wild Knife' felt a little weird too. The side characters were by and large fun, I especially enjoyed the Yasa, as a powerful older woman isn't a character that often crops up in fantasy with the same subtleties. The addition of a non-binary gender and several non-binary characters treated with dignity and some amount of depth was also much appreciated.
The romance was decent enough, and the mutual pining was fun for the bits where it happened. I think it would have benefited from a slower burn, but that's more a general comment on the pacing of the book that I'll get into later.
The writing was honestly lovely, way above what I expected. There were several occasions where I just stopped to appreciate the prose. Environments and characters were described with detail, but not to a boring extent. The character's dialogue also felt natural but also suited to the setting, and most felt distinct from one another. The world building was worked in very naturally, for the most part, and there was only here and there an occasion of almost info-dumping.
The rest of this review discusses the plot.
The plot was honestly a little messy. The timeline was incredibly fast, with the events of the book happening over a number of days. I think the book could have used some slower pacing, even if just in the frame of time skips. Some bits showing actual down time without interruptions or with having Vel getting used to everything would have really helped, but instead every time we get a brief second of slower pacing there's an immediate urgent interruption. In more than one case this is a murder or attempted-murder, which becomes borderline comedic by the end. The plot events became formulaic: Normal, calm, possibly sweet moment between some combination of Vel and Cae, which was then jarringly interrupted with either a murder, attempted-murder, or someone here to deliver news of the investigations of said murders.
The way the author treated the suspects for everything was also very strange. They immediately introduced Laecia as a possible suspect, then spent almost the rest of the book trying to discredit her as a suspect, only to reveal that it was her all along. It felt very strange; why not leave the evidence of her competition for inheritance to the end? Or shroud it in more mystery and draw it out more than the reveal in a single paragraph? And after all that they discover her involvement entirely by accident.
Laecia's confession was so weird and disjointed, set up almost like the end of a Poirot novel, where everybody meets not once but twice to discuss all the events and the evidence and hear the murderer's monologue. It's also incredibly out of place outside of a detective novel - we get repeated instances of outright fast paced combat in this book but suddenly all the protagonists and antagonists are going to sit down and calmly explain their motives and methodology? In the first occasion there's a brief moment of tension where we think the protagonists might have to work with her as she's blackmailing them, but they immediately dismiss the threat and it has no hold over them. Why bring it up at all then? There were also several occasions of Laecia or another character actively explaining or monologuing the plot rather than letting it reveal itself naturally, which was very strange. The inclusion of Laecia's magic was an interesting choice, which I can't tell if I liked or not. On one hand it did make her an intimidating opponent, on the other hand I think I would have liked to see her use more political or social maneuvering to trap our protagonists, because we get far more exposition regarding her political ambition than her desire to do magic.
The whole plot/who dunnit was frustrating and unrewarding to follow, and more than once the only thing keeping me going through it was the hope that the author would masterfully tie it all together, which it didn't really feel like it did.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape
hannahfarn's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Animal death and Death
Minor: Violence
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Death, Rape, Violence, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gaslighting, Self harm, Animal death, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Ableism
Minor: Vomit and Blood
fl0tsam's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
It feels like a queer dream come true as in the main character is saved from his rigid homophobic, heteronormative and misogynistic country of origin. Instead he gets the chance to start a life in a queer dream come true country which is much more accepting and diverse.
Tragedy is followed by hope. The mysterious going ons will have you on the edge of your seat.
It's a really good mix of feelings and character development and enticing plot.
I couldn't stop and I'm in love.
Graphic: Rape, Death, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
orchidd's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Murder, Homophobia, Sexual content, Racism, and Toxic relationship
yomuyomub's review
2.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Stalking, Transphobia, Death, Emotional abuse, and Violence
hwesta's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Death, Suicide attempt, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Blood, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Self harm, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol
The book opens with one of the main characters being raped, but follows his healing in a supportive environment