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wardenred's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A man could be good, but a prince? A prince could only be good enough. He could, if he tried his utmost, meet expectations. But they were far, far too high for anyone to be able to exceed them.
Well, this was an interesting experience! I really, really loved the romance and the two leads' character arcs. These parts of the books were handled absolutely beautifully. The slow burn? The gradual growth fueled by all the realizations? The way Kadou and Evemer just worked together? The themes of fealty? The way Kadou's anxiety was handled? Evemers entire personality? Aspects of so many of my favorite tropes woven together into one glorious tapestry, from enemies to lovers to bodyguard romance to fake dating? Perfection, really. In terms of all this, the book hit all of my buttons.
Everything around the romance, though... The more I read on and the closer I looked at the other aspects of the novel, the more weirdly artificial everything around the two main characters looked. On the surface, the Ottoman-inspired setting was brimming with detail, from infodumps about currency to the smaller stuff like all the descriptions of food and clothes. But somehow, most of it felt like digging deeper would reveal a glaring void rather than a larger iceberg. And hey, you know what, that is often indeed the case with SFF novels that aren't *about* worldbuilding! Half the magic of writing sometimes is about arranging the stuff you have in a way that makes readers feel that it goes so much deeper than it does. But here, those tricks just felt strangely obvious. Like almost everything about the setting mattered inasmuch as it affected the main characters and their budding relationship.
There were two aspects of the worldbuilding that I found genuinely interesting and thought-provoking. One, in a good way: the way inheritance works, the whole deal with body-fathers, how female rulers don't need to marry because everyone already understands their children are their own/belong to the dynasty, whereas male rulers have to marry to have the legal claim as fathers. This here is a lot of cool stuff. The other aspect, I'm more on the fence about, although I appreciate it: the active inclusion of nonbinary characters, or rather, the way it was handled. On one hand, it was incredibly cool that there were so many, that society is fully accepting of nonbinary characters, that there's an accepted third set of pronouns, etc! I love this! On the other hand, as a nonbinary person I disliked how all of them were basically shoved into the same category. There are men, women, and there's a third gender. Here are three boxes to sort yourselves into instead of two. Um. Call. What if someone doesn't fit into any of the boxes regardless? What about genderfluid people? It's inclusive on one hand, and constraining on another in a way I feel the treatment of nonbinary identities just shouldn't be. Idk. I'd rather stand under an umbrella than live in a box, personally.
Then there's the external plot, and, my. That's the whole reason this could never be more than a four-star read read for me. It was just so utterly shallow and at times silly! Even more so than with the worldbuilding, every bit of it glaringly, obviously, starkly existed to allow for hitting the romance plot beats at the right times. The villain might as well have been walking around with a big neon sign, "HELLO I'M THE BAD GUY," and the fact it took hundreds of pages to uncover the whole mystery/conspiracy says nothing good about plenty of the characters. In fact, it completely ruins the initially strong characterization of the female characters—Zeliha and Eozena—which is a damn shame. With Zeliha in particular, it's just so frustrating. She initially looked like a strong, capable, complex woman juggling a lot of important threads, but apparently, she just needed to listen more to her younger brother early on and the fact she didn't paints her in a rather strange light at the end. I kept waiting for some twist to occur and prove to me that the "big neon sign" was in a fact a red herring, but noooo.
The romance, though. The romance and its development. That sure deserves all the stars, just as the deep delves into both leads' inner worlds (I come from fanfic, okay, I'm a sucker for 500-pages character studies) and Rowland's amazing prose. So all in all, I liked the time I spent with the book—and picking apart all of its element to see the purpose of each was fun and educating in its own way!
Well, this was an interesting experience! I really, really loved the romance and the two leads' character arcs. These parts of the books were handled absolutely beautifully. The slow burn? The gradual growth fueled by all the realizations? The way Kadou and Evemer just worked together? The themes of fealty? The way Kadou's anxiety was handled? Evemers entire personality? Aspects of so many of my favorite tropes woven together into one glorious tapestry, from enemies to lovers to bodyguard romance to fake dating? Perfection, really. In terms of all this, the book hit all of my buttons.
Everything around the romance, though... The more I read on and the closer I looked at the other aspects of the novel, the more weirdly artificial everything around the two main characters looked. On the surface, the Ottoman-inspired setting was brimming with detail, from infodumps about currency to the smaller stuff like all the descriptions of food and clothes. But somehow, most of it felt like digging deeper would reveal a glaring void rather than a larger iceberg. And hey, you know what, that is often indeed the case with SFF novels that aren't *about* worldbuilding! Half the magic of writing sometimes is about arranging the stuff you have in a way that makes readers feel that it goes so much deeper than it does. But here, those tricks just felt strangely obvious. Like almost everything about the setting mattered inasmuch as it affected the main characters and their budding relationship.
There were two aspects of the worldbuilding that I found genuinely interesting and thought-provoking. One, in a good way: the way inheritance works, the whole deal with body-fathers, how female rulers don't need to marry because everyone already understands their children are their own/belong to the dynasty, whereas male rulers have to marry to have the legal claim as fathers. This here is a lot of cool stuff. The other aspect, I'm more on the fence about, although I appreciate it: the active inclusion of nonbinary characters, or rather, the way it was handled. On one hand, it was incredibly cool that there were so many, that society is fully accepting of nonbinary characters, that there's an accepted third set of pronouns, etc! I love this! On the other hand, as a nonbinary person I disliked how all of them were basically shoved into the same category. There are men, women, and there's a third gender. Here are three boxes to sort yourselves into instead of two. Um. Call. What if someone doesn't fit into any of the boxes regardless? What about genderfluid people? It's inclusive on one hand, and constraining on another in a way I feel the treatment of nonbinary identities just shouldn't be. Idk. I'd rather stand under an umbrella than live in a box, personally.
Then there's the external plot, and, my. That's the whole reason this could never be more than a four-star read read for me. It was just so utterly shallow and at times silly! Even more so than with the worldbuilding, every bit of it glaringly, obviously, starkly existed to allow for hitting the romance plot beats at the right times. The villain might as well have been walking around with a big neon sign, "HELLO I'M THE BAD GUY," and the fact it took hundreds of pages to uncover the whole mystery/conspiracy says nothing good about plenty of the characters. In fact, it completely ruins the initially strong characterization of the female characters—Zeliha and Eozena—which is a damn shame. With Zeliha in particular, it's just so frustrating. She initially looked like a strong, capable, complex woman juggling a lot of important threads, but apparently, she just needed to listen more to her younger brother early on and the fact she didn't paints her in a rather strange light at the end. I kept waiting for some twist to occur and prove to me that the "big neon sign" was in a fact a red herring, but noooo.
The romance, though. The romance and its development. That sure deserves all the stars, just as the deep delves into both leads' inner worlds (I come from fanfic, okay, I'm a sucker for 500-pages character studies) and Rowland's amazing prose. So all in all, I liked the time I spent with the book—and picking apart all of its element to see the purpose of each was fun and educating in its own way!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Confinement and Violence
mollybear888's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was an odd mix of romance, politics, world building, and economics- and it was great! The main character is relatable and his struggles with panic attacks vividly depicted. I liked how the magic elements were interwoven with the world and how the culture of the country was so unique.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Violence
kal517's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Sexual content and Violence
kimschouwenaar's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
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? Yes
3.25
Is the story plausible? Not exactly.
Is it historically accurate? Probably not.
Is it enjoyable? Yes, but I will not be re-reading, and this has not become one of my favourite reads.
Besides the fact that I just could not connect to the two main characters, the pacing is off. Some scattered moments were exciting, but overall I was a little bored. Then there is the wording and dialogue, which was a peculiar mix of historical and modern speech. For some it might work, but for me it was confusing.
Additionally, I simply do not understand why in such a seemingly modern and advanced society, there is such an ignorance towards mental health issues. There are multiple characters using neo-pronouns (a fact I absolutely ADORE), they seem to have equal rights for men and women, and the sultan is a woman with a new-born (!!!!) (Zeliha and Eyne were an absolutely delightful addition to the story). Also, there was an aro-ace character that uses çe/çem/çir!
It could have been great, but to me it wasn’t.
Is it historically accurate? Probably not.
Is it enjoyable? Yes, but I will not be re-reading, and this has not become one of my favourite reads.
Besides the fact that I just could not connect to the two main characters, the pacing is off. Some scattered moments were exciting, but overall I was a little bored. Then there is the wording and dialogue, which was a peculiar mix of historical and modern speech. For some it might work, but for me it was confusing.
Additionally, I simply do not understand why in such a seemingly modern and advanced society, there is such an ignorance towards mental health issues. There are multiple characters using neo-pronouns (a fact I absolutely ADORE), they seem to have equal rights for men and women, and the sultan is a woman with a new-born (!!!!) (Zeliha and Eyne were an absolutely delightful addition to the story). Also, there was an aro-ace character that uses çe/çem/çir!
It could have been great, but to me it wasn’t.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Blood, Violence, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gore
Moderate: Alcohol, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, and Grief
discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-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
3.25
This was a beautiful story. I have such a soft spot for serious, measured, bodyguard-type love interests. And I’m not someone who suffers from panic attacks, but I thought the depictions of Kadou’s anxiety disorder were handled well.
This is entirely personal preference, but I would’ve liked if the pacing of the romance was a bit quicker. I understand it’s a slow burn, but this was a SLOOWWWWW burn, lol. Again, totally personal preference. It was still a joy to read.
This is entirely personal preference, but I would’ve liked if the pacing of the romance was a bit quicker. I understand it’s a slow burn, but this was a SLOOWWWWW burn, lol. Again, totally personal preference. It was still a joy to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Confinement, Drug use, and Kidnapping
itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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
3.5
I originally rated this at 4 stars but after some reflection I bumped it down to 3.5.
Pros
Pros
- I could relate very well to Kadou's panic attacks - especially the fatigue that comes afterwards and engaging in small but not overtly noticeable self-destructive behaviours
- Evemer is now one of my favourite comically serious characters in fiction. His journey of self-discovery and self-actualisation was a good chunk of the reason I kept reading tbh
- I forget the exact name of the gender identity used but I liked the inclusion of non binary people as characters
Cons
- The plot stopped towards the end to focus on the romance and wrapped up too easily compared to conflict earlier in the book
- I don't really like how there wasn't a solid breakup between Tadek and Kadou, they just kind of... stopped being lovers/friends with benefits
- Was a bit dense and wordy at the beginning which made it a bit of a struggle to get into but I loved the characters enough to persevere
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Sexual content
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
tofi_15's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Grief, Violence, and Death
Minor: Sexual content
shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Death
Minor: Death of parent and Vomit
iaraya's review
emotional
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Kidnapping, Death, and Sexual content
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
Minor: Classism, Confinement, Cursing, and Animal death