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ramunepocky's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.5
The concept and world building was definitely interesting, and I enjoyed the spin on the Arthurian legends. I enjoyed that the book was told in two different perspectives and periods of time, Art from the time his father dies and becomes a reluctant king, showing him coming into his own and learning how to be king and the consequences of that, and Red, a young Godschild desperate to be a knight and for her revenge. I knew that some big event would happen at the end by the countdown of "18 years ago" "two months ago", etc, which also did a good job of showing the passing time and the two different periods coming together, though I hadnt quite predicted what that event would be. I did predict the "twist" though of who Red truly was esp since it was paralled between her and Art. I really enjoyed the queernormative world and the array of queer characters, my favourite of whom was Garad!! Asides from them and a fondness for Art, I didnt really find myself connecting to any characters strongly, which is always a strange experience when reading as I usually get attached to everyone. There was also an unneccessary amount of sex scenes that I just skipped as they didnt add anything to the story and ruined my immersive into the story. I have an ARC of the sequel that Im looking forward to reading, but I genuinely think the story wrapped itself up well, even if its technically a cliffhanger.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Sexual content, and Drug use
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Rape and Infidelity
the rape is just mentioned and not on screenanxiousnachos's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit. THIS BOOK. It is incredible. One of my favourite SFF books of the year, I am calling it now. Think queer Arthurian retelling, but make it cyberpunk (and yes I did read this at the perfect time because my current video game and fanfic obsession is Cyberpunk 2077 and this satisfied that itch *exquisitely*).
Blackheart Knights follows 2 POVs, Art, a reluctant king, the representative of King Arthur in this book, who is just coming into his power. And Red, a sapphic knight in training with a secret. The pacing in this book has to be some of the most brilliant I’ve seen in a long time. The way these two POVs slowly converge, the tension ramping up more and more, making it impossible to put the book down, is just amazing. It is masterfully done. The setting and world are also fantastic and totally satisfied my need to inhale cyberpunk content right now, but with a medieval edge that allowed you to see where the inspiration came from. You definitely don’t need to know Arthurian legend to read this (my knowledge comes from the TV show Merlin), but you can see how the legend inspired certain characters. It is twisty and turny and had me guessing till the last page.
And the QUEERNESS!! There are two fairly major nonbinary side characters and the main character is sapphic (bisexual/pansexual though the exact terminology isn’t used) and there are plenty other instances of casual queerness. And oh my god, it is sexy?! I am so here for SFF but make it just a little bit horny?! There is a sapphic shower sex scene! And a knives at throat sex scene! This book was made for me, I swear.
I have NO FAULTS, I am IN LOVE. Please I beg of you, the sequel.
Content warnings: violence, gun violence, death of parent, death of loved one, grief, rape, sex, sex work, drowning, drug and alcohol use, murder
Blackheart Knights follows 2 POVs, Art, a reluctant king, the representative of King Arthur in this book, who is just coming into his power. And Red, a sapphic knight in training with a secret. The pacing in this book has to be some of the most brilliant I’ve seen in a long time. The way these two POVs slowly converge, the tension ramping up more and more, making it impossible to put the book down, is just amazing. It is masterfully done. The setting and world are also fantastic and totally satisfied my need to inhale cyberpunk content right now, but with a medieval edge that allowed you to see where the inspiration came from. You definitely don’t need to know Arthurian legend to read this (my knowledge comes from the TV show Merlin), but you can see how the legend inspired certain characters. It is twisty and turny and had me guessing till the last page.
And the QUEERNESS!! There are two fairly major nonbinary side characters and the main character is sapphic (bisexual/pansexual though the exact terminology isn’t used) and there are plenty other instances of casual queerness. And oh my god, it is sexy?! I am so here for SFF but make it just a little bit horny?! There is a sapphic shower sex scene! And a knives at throat sex scene! This book was made for me, I swear.
I have NO FAULTS, I am IN LOVE. Please I beg of you, the sequel.
Content warnings: violence, gun violence, death of parent, death of loved one, grief, rape, sex, sex work, drowning, drug and alcohol use, murder
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Gun violence
Moderate: Drug use, Grief, Alcohol, Rape, and Sexual content
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