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robin1010's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
3.0
Rating might change later as I'm hovering between 3 and 4 stars for this book.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
alienor's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Self harm, and Rape
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Transphobia
ohelloandi's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I generally dislike first-person narratives. It is especially distracting to me switching between character A in first person to character B in the third person. The narrative would have been better off in the third person throughout. POV aside, there were some interesting fantasy elements: actually compelling political intrigue, queer-inclusive fantasy, and the PTSD/trauma was handled respectfully. I also feel that the story could have been tightened up and told in less than 528 pages. Overall, this was an engaging read with interesting worldbuilding and likable characters, but it's unlikely that I will read the sequel
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Rape
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Homophobia
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, and Toxic relationship
hwesta's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
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 environmentsunshinemoth's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Murder, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Rape, Torture, and Homophobia
Moderate: Transphobia, Death of parent, and Xenophobia
jessiereads98's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Rape, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement
Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, Transphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Miscarriage, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
abarnakwn_ourcolourfulpages's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Body horror, Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Blood, Confinement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Deportation, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Misogyny
jkneebone's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? No
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this! If you enjoy slow burn romance and court/political intrigue, definitely give this a try.
The main thrust of the plot is an arranged marriage between two noblemen, Vel and Cae. Vel travels to Tithena to marry Cae, but his arrival sets off a series of attacks against himself and Cae’s family. Vel and Cae must learn to trust each other and work together to try and find out who is behind the attacks, while also working through their personal demons.
Although I had some minor plot and pacing quibbles while reading, on the whole I really liked this novel. Foz Meadows managed to keep me not just interested, but “thinking about getting home to read more while at work” interested for over 500 pages, which is no mean feat. I found both Vel and Cae to be compelling characters, and I really liked the world building of Tithena. The writing was beautiful, and I enjoyed taking my time to savor it. Overall I thought the attack plot line was handled well - even if there were some things I suspected, I was still surprised by how everything turned out. I’m a sucker for a court drama and this delivered in spades.
One word of warning - do be aware of the content warnings. There is some heavy stuff in this book, and it’s quite front-loaded. Even having read the CWs I was a bit taken aback at how quickly and intensely some things happened. Nothing is gratuitous, but there are dark moments an violence throughout the book that readers should be prepared for.
The main thrust of the plot is an arranged marriage between two noblemen, Vel and Cae. Vel travels to Tithena to marry Cae, but his arrival sets off a series of attacks against himself and Cae’s family. Vel and Cae must learn to trust each other and work together to try and find out who is behind the attacks, while also working through their personal demons.
Although I had some minor plot and pacing quibbles while reading, on the whole I really liked this novel. Foz Meadows managed to keep me not just interested, but “thinking about getting home to read more while at work” interested for over 500 pages, which is no mean feat. I found both Vel and Cae to be compelling characters, and I really liked the world building of Tithena. The writing was beautiful, and I enjoyed taking my time to savor it. Overall I thought the attack plot line was handled well - even if there were some things I suspected, I was still surprised by how everything turned out. I’m a sucker for a court drama and this delivered in spades.
One word of warning - do be aware of the content warnings. There is some heavy stuff in this book, and it’s quite front-loaded. Even having read the CWs I was a bit taken aback at how quickly and intensely some things happened. Nothing is gratuitous, but there are dark moments an violence throughout the book that readers should be prepared for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Self harm, Blood, Animal death, Death, Rape, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Homophobia, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
lee_noel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
4.25
This book was everything it claimed to be. While a bit disappointed by another fantasy novel replicating Middle Ages governments and behaviors, it’s clearly marketed as a queer spin on Byzantine politics so I really can’t complain! The characters are compelling, they grow and learn together, and while the mystery reveal is a big, exciting moment, I had inklings of it throughout, which suggests excellent planning. There is a great deal of trauma to sit with in this book, so I don’t recommend it lightly, but the healing and support around the trauma is beautiful. It feels uplifting without being naïve or heedlessly optimistic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Murder, Animal death, Gore, and Outing
Minor: Homophobia and Panic attacks/disorders