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anewlens's review
dark
sad
tense
fast-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Genocide, Sexism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Death, Gore, Alcoholism, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Racism and Sexual assault
chrschn's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
This is for sure going to be a clunky review, it’s super late and my eyes hurt and I dislike this book for reasons that are difficult to put into words. As a disclaimer though I will say that I’m very likely not the target audience for this one because most of what I disliked about this book are the same things that make it successful at what it was trying to do.
Between Two Fires reads appropriately for its subject matter, in as much as it’s reminiscent of biblical writing. It’s oddly paced, moving glacially most of the time and then extremely quickly at others. It feels feverish and everything has a dreamlike quality, never sitting quite right, which I assume was intentional but didn’t make it any more endearing. People’s words, their actions, everything feels weirdly performative and ethereal and like you’re reading a parable. Appropriate, I guess. The book is somewhat episodic and doesn’t connect the pieces well, while at other times fails to adequately describe what it intends to, which left me feeling confused more than I expect I was supposed to, which took me out of the story a fair bit. This was only made worse by how frustratingly anachronistic the book was at times.
The world in BTF is filthy, cruel, and full of bad people, our protagonist included. Every character is unlikable, but there are moments of decency when the story calls for it. I never did really warm to anyone in the book, but found them a bit more sympathetic by the last 30 pages, having experienced at least some growth. There’s a really creepy fascination withrape, particularly centered around the pre-teen deuteragonist which was handled very poorly. The character in question never is SA’d in the book, but the subject is approached an uncomfortable amount, and never well. At one point the primary protagonist resists demonic influence to rape his adolescent surrogate daughter, and upon successfully fighting it off, the book treats it like it’s a bonding moment for them, going so far as to have another character be jealous over the newfound closeness the two share over the ordeal. Felt very fucking gross on the author’s part. Above all though, for the handful of very interesting and creepy ideas it has, everything feels just kind of pointless. Things happen just to happen. There’s a difference between establishing how fucked the world is and just throwing in a creepy idea you had without knowing how to tie it to anything significant. There’s not really a reason for most things that take place, and events don’t have much bearing on the central story. There’s a character that’s introduced later in the book that could have been removed entirely and nothing would have been different.
My dislike for the book wavered slightly throughout, losing its intensity somewhat as we went on but never managing to go away. I will give BTF one full star for managing to finish on a high note with a well crafted ending. Still feel like I need to brush my teeth after the whole thing though.
Between Two Fires reads appropriately for its subject matter, in as much as it’s reminiscent of biblical writing. It’s oddly paced, moving glacially most of the time and then extremely quickly at others. It feels feverish and everything has a dreamlike quality, never sitting quite right, which I assume was intentional but didn’t make it any more endearing. People’s words, their actions, everything feels weirdly performative and ethereal and like you’re reading a parable. Appropriate, I guess. The book is somewhat episodic and doesn’t connect the pieces well, while at other times fails to adequately describe what it intends to, which left me feeling confused more than I expect I was supposed to, which took me out of the story a fair bit. This was only made worse by how frustratingly anachronistic the book was at times.
The world in BTF is filthy, cruel, and full of bad people, our protagonist included. Every character is unlikable, but there are moments of decency when the story calls for it. I never did really warm to anyone in the book, but found them a bit more sympathetic by the last 30 pages, having experienced at least some growth. There’s a really creepy fascination with
My dislike for the book wavered slightly throughout, losing its intensity somewhat as we went on but never managing to go away. I will give BTF one full star for managing to finish on a high note with a well crafted ending. Still feel like I need to brush my teeth after the whole thing though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Body horror
joblo's review
adventurous
dark
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
5.0
Absolutely incredible. Took me quite a while to read bc I get spooked easily (and I couldn’t read it during meals bc of the subject matter lol) but I absolutely loved it and will be rereading.
The characters are so good, the plot is incredible, and buehlman’s writing is top-tier. Chills the last few chapters, teared up at the ending. Definitely one of those books that I just have to sit back and “WHEW” after I finished, lol.
The characters are so good, the plot is incredible, and buehlman’s writing is top-tier. Chills the last few chapters, teared up at the ending. Definitely one of those books that I just have to sit back and “WHEW” after I finished, lol.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Gore
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Homophobia
Minor: Pedophilia
totemofundrying's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
What a wonderful book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Body horror, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Murder, Homophobia, Death, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, and Violence
Minor: Rape, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
polygonia's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Body horror, Rape, War, Genocide, and Sexual assault
cold_boy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What a strange and original horror novel. You often see Christianity influencing the horror genre, but I've never seen the religion used in a way that's quite this pervasive, effective, and unique. Buehlman leans into the bizarre and often surreal parts of Christian mythology on both the demonic and angelic sides, to great effect. The setting is probably my favourite aspect, especially the way he presents plague-era France as a truly apocalyptic place, with the emptiness and paranoia reminiscent of zombie movies.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Body horror, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Torture, Misogyny, Homophobia, and Sexual violence
emergencily's review
5.0
This book was such a page turner for me - I finished the whole thing in about 3-4 hours.
It takes place during the Black Plague in France and follows the mysterious, holy journey of a young girl with unexplained spiritual powers and prophetic visions. She is accompanied by a disgraced, aged old knight who’s made it his sworn duty to guard her on her journey, and a gay priest ostracized by his own flock seeking a reason for his faith.
Absolutely loved the fantasy/historical setting with the Black Plague, the inquisition, war, and total social upheaval ravaging Europe -- all the while, metaphysical wars are waged between heaven and hell in dimensions beyond human comprehension, holding human life on earth as collateral in the balance. The settings were perfectly complementary, with the body horror of the Black Plague & the violations of humanity's self-destruction amid total social collapse juxtaposed against the unknowable, unexplainable vengeful violence of god's angels and hell's monsters. I'm a sucker for historical fiction with a fantasy twist.
The ending was perhaps a bit cliche, but by then the main characters have suffered so much that you don't even care that it's a bit cliche, you just want to see them have a modicum of any kind of peace.
It takes place during the Black Plague in France and follows the mysterious, holy journey of a young girl with unexplained spiritual powers and prophetic visions. She is accompanied by a disgraced, aged old knight who’s made it his sworn duty to guard her on her journey, and a gay priest ostracized by his own flock seeking a reason for his faith.
Absolutely loved the fantasy/historical setting with the Black Plague, the inquisition, war, and total social upheaval ravaging Europe -- all the while, metaphysical wars are waged between heaven and hell in dimensions beyond human comprehension, holding human life on earth as collateral in the balance. The settings were perfectly complementary, with the body horror of the Black Plague & the violations of humanity's self-destruction amid total social collapse juxtaposed against the unknowable, unexplainable vengeful violence of god's angels and hell's monsters. I'm a sucker for historical fiction with a fantasy twist.
The ending was perhaps a bit cliche, but by then the main characters have suffered so much that you don't even care that it's a bit cliche, you just want to see them have a modicum of any kind of peace.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Homophobia, War, and Pedophilia
storyorc's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
If the Souls games were set in medieval France during the Black Death. Hideous, but imbued with great sense of purpose and poetry. The characters mostly feel very real despite being quite archetypical. A very immersive feeling of pilgrimage; no idea if it's actually historically accurate but it feels right. The climax was stretched a little too long for my taste however - after a certain event, the momentum took a stumble. The final confrontation was biblical and worthy, yet I enjoyed the journey most, if enjoyed is the right word when there are Elden Ring bosses in the rivers and ruins around every corner.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Body horror
Moderate: Ableism, Rape, Animal death, and Child death
nanthills's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Gore, Pedophilia, Death, and Sexual assault
emimli's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I absolutely adored this book. A must-read for fans of medieval horror, religious history, Old Testament angels, and the found family trope.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Grief, Medical content, War, Homophobia, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Body horror, Religious bigotry, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, and Rape