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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I finally picked this up after seeing it on many 'best' lists and shelves for many years. Beautiful writing style & atmosphere; I'd give it 3.5 or even 4 stars for the highly evocative writing style by itself. Leisurely pace following the early life of the courtesan Phedre in a country where formal prostitution is a religious calling with 13 differently-specialized Houses (and yet, somehow, the word 'whore' is still an insult?). Phedre has the rare gift of feeling sexual pleasure in pain--only not all the time (the author can't seem to make up her mind)--so of course everyone in high places is instantly dying to have cruel, sadistic sex with her. Her owner/patron, a politically savvy poet whose works were all banned in a mysterious scandal, trains Phedre to use her allure to draw information out of her carefully selected high-ranking clients. Phedre does her job gladly and loyally, not knowing her patron's ultimate plans, but the hidden dangers arising from these secret plans--and from Phedre's own proclivities--become increasingly clear.
I'm only 1/4 of the way through (over 250 pages), so my review could change, but at this point I have to vent a few frustrations: if prostitution is a respectable calling, why does everyone treat Phedre and the other courtesans so disrespectfully? Is this really the *national* religion, or a cult specific to the red light district and merely convenient to its clientele? Further, if the motto is "love as thou wilt" and prostitution is all willing & wholehearted, why do the people of the House specializing in sexual submissives hate their work? You'd think if Phedre's gift were so rare, they would not be able to sustain a whole House with such a specialty. Also, why is seemingly half of the country's nobility, male and female, a bunch of abusive sadists? You can be a nasty person without being a sexual sadist, and vice versa. We're not talking a little BDSM play here, we're talking abuse to the point of mutilation. And does Phedre really enjoy all this pain an humiliation or not? Make up your mind!
In summary, so far, a lovely style of writing, decent world-building and plenty of intrigue, but too many little non-sequiturs, too much titillating sexual viciousness (it got boring) and too slow a plot-development--I've enjoyed leisurely paces, but this dragged along at times. It seems to me, at this point, that the story could have worked equally well with a non-masochistic lead, so what was the point of that? Or else if BDSM was taboo in this "love" *cough*sex*cough* society, giving Phedre's situation a whole different angle. I would try other books by this author, if they were set in a different world, but I won't be hunting down the rest of this trilogy.
Update: Things get a lot more interesting once Phedre gets out of the city, but it took over 300 pages to get there. Better, but doesn't quite make up for the long wait, and I found myself skimming pages before the end. Ended with a surprise lead-in to the next book, but I won't be reading that.
I'm only 1/4 of the way through (over 250 pages), so my review could change, but at this point I have to vent a few frustrations: if prostitution is a respectable calling, why does everyone treat Phedre and the other courtesans so disrespectfully? Is this really the *national* religion, or a cult specific to the red light district and merely convenient to its clientele? Further, if the motto is "love as thou wilt" and prostitution is all willing & wholehearted, why do the people of the House specializing in sexual submissives hate their work? You'd think if Phedre's gift were so rare, they would not be able to sustain a whole House with such a specialty. Also, why is seemingly half of the country's nobility, male and female, a bunch of abusive sadists? You can be a nasty person without being a sexual sadist, and vice versa. We're not talking a little BDSM play here, we're talking abuse to the point of mutilation. And does Phedre really enjoy all this pain an humiliation or not? Make up your mind!
In summary, so far, a lovely style of writing, decent world-building and plenty of intrigue, but too many little non-sequiturs, too much titillating sexual viciousness (it got boring) and too slow a plot-development--I've enjoyed leisurely paces, but this dragged along at times. It seems to me, at this point, that the story could have worked equally well with a non-masochistic lead, so what was the point of that? Or else if BDSM was taboo in this "love" *cough*sex*cough* society, giving Phedre's situation a whole different angle. I would try other books by this author, if they were set in a different world, but I won't be hunting down the rest of this trilogy.
Update: Things get a lot more interesting once Phedre gets out of the city, but it took over 300 pages to get there. Better, but doesn't quite make up for the long wait, and I found myself skimming pages before the end. Ended with a surprise lead-in to the next book, but I won't be reading that.
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
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:
Complicated
It’s not every day that a story of a masochistic courtesan caught up in a dense political web is one of the greatest adventure fantasies ever written, but here we are, with the unique unicorn that is Kushiel’s Legacy (and the uniquer unicorn that is Phedre herself).
The worldbuilding is strange and fantastic. Instead of setting her books in an alternate universe they are set in medieval Europe if the dominant religion was an offshoot of Christianity following a group of angles. “Love as Thou Wilt” is the guiding mantra of the kingdom of Elua, whose inhabitants are beautiful, vain and relatively egalitarian, although they’re not perfect - Phedre begins her life as an indentured servant groomed into prostitution from childhood as a religious calling.
Phedre is a unique an compelling protagonist. She’s clever and strong but her skillset is traditionally feminine, using seduction and submission to gather information and outsmart her enemies. “That which yields is not always weak.” She takes her profession as a courtesan spy very seriously and has a somewhat magical proclivity towards enjoying pain, which puts her in very confusing scenarios with her often abusive clients.
This book is refreshingly sex positive, with bisexuality, polyamory, BDSM and sex work being treated with nuance and complexity. There are conversations about consent and safe words and complicated discussions about compatibility.
Despite the sometimes graphic sex, this is not a romance novel. The narrative is dense and complicated and sometimes dark and the sex is often brutal, written more to advance the story than to entice the readership.
The beginning of the novel describes Phedre’s long training, but the second part is where it really soars, taking Phedre and her friends to multiple lands and through multiple hardships, before eventually descending into war.
The characters are diverse and lovable, and even the villain is compelling and complex.
I don’t think it’s for everyone, but I loved this book dearly.
The worldbuilding is strange and fantastic. Instead of setting her books in an alternate universe they are set in medieval Europe if the dominant religion was an offshoot of Christianity following a group of angles. “Love as Thou Wilt” is the guiding mantra of the kingdom of Elua, whose inhabitants are beautiful, vain and relatively egalitarian, although they’re not perfect - Phedre begins her life as an indentured servant groomed into prostitution from childhood as a religious calling.
Phedre is a unique an compelling protagonist. She’s clever and strong but her skillset is traditionally feminine, using seduction and submission to gather information and outsmart her enemies. “That which yields is not always weak.” She takes her profession as a courtesan spy very seriously and has a somewhat magical proclivity towards enjoying pain, which puts her in very confusing scenarios with her often abusive clients.
This book is refreshingly sex positive, with bisexuality, polyamory, BDSM and sex work being treated with nuance and complexity. There are conversations about consent and safe words and complicated discussions about compatibility.
Despite the sometimes graphic sex, this is not a romance novel. The narrative is dense and complicated and sometimes dark and the sex is often brutal, written more to advance the story than to entice the readership.
The beginning of the novel describes Phedre’s long training, but the second part is where it really soars, taking Phedre and her friends to multiple lands and through multiple hardships, before eventually descending into war.
The characters are diverse and lovable, and even the villain is compelling and complex.
I don’t think it’s for everyone, but I loved this book dearly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War
The MC is a masochistic courtesan who is groomed from childhood as an indentured servant and sex worker in training. There is a lot of BDSM as well as sexual slavery and sexual assault, along with the regular fantasy stuff such as war and violence.
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i'm surprised by the other reviews that say that this book gets mentioned in fantasy romance recommendation lists -- it's like 10% BSDM and 90% slow moving political intrigue, not romance. anyway. even though it was slow towards the beginning, it was refreshing to read something published before 'save the cat' plotting took over and, as an enjoyer of both political intrigue and BDSM, i had a good time.
i picked this up partially because i remember continuously seeing it and the others in the series at the library as a teenager. unfortunately, with everything else going on in my life at the time, i didn't have the energy to hide a thousand page book with a half nude woman on the cover from my parents. kind of wish i had checked it out anyway because i would have really loved it back then. the reviews that talk about the main character's age feel silly to me because it's like. you mean to say that your fantasies as a sixteen year old weren't basically this novel?? it's a book, a daydream, not an instruction manual for ethical relationships.
i picked this up partially because i remember continuously seeing it and the others in the series at the library as a teenager. unfortunately, with everything else going on in my life at the time, i didn't have the energy to hide a thousand page book with a half nude woman on the cover from my parents. kind of wish i had checked it out anyway because i would have really loved it back then. the reviews that talk about the main character's age feel silly to me because it's like. you mean to say that your fantasies as a sixteen year old weren't basically this novel?? it's a book, a daydream, not an instruction manual for ethical relationships.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
Still one of my favorites after all these years! Elegantly written, richly detailed. I'd only read the first trilogy, and I look forward to reading the others soon.
Amazing. Epically long, and for good reason. As a first-book-of-the-year, I feel I could not have chosen better. :)
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
I heard this was a classic. This is also a long review so buckle up!
“Love as thou wilt”
I’m annoyed that this series is recommended as a fantasy romance on booktok. This is more like a BDSM Game of Thrones if anything else. Phèdre is a courtesan spy and a damned good one, she’s highly sought out because of her unique..kinks. It was interesting to read about a masochist/submissive inside a fantasy setting. Definitely a unique experience.
Phèdre was 10 years old when she was introduced to this religion/sex cult. This entire world is built on these people believing their gods (in this case, Kushiel and Nammah) want them to always experience sexual pleasure through the exchange of pain. It is a way they worship and practice their religion. R*pe is a crime, they prided themselves on consent. That’s what the phrase “Love as thou wilt” is all about.
The world building is DENSE, and STEEPED in political drama. We don’t get to the actual plot until over 300 pages in. This was kind of a drag to get through tbh. This world’s foundation is sex positivity, but you get the ick because the whole time you’re asking yourself: are these children????
At 16 Phèdre is able to take clients and goes through this very sexually violent experience that pushes her to use the safe word that she never uses. There’s also a sexual relationship between a 16 year old boy and the man who raised him. A LOT OF CHILD GROOMING 🤢. She eventually grows up but I was cringing for a while hoping she would just become an adult already. As for the fmc herself, she was bland and boring.
I’ve heard so many great things about this series but I will not be continuing. This would’ve been an easy 4 stars if the MC and side characters were aged up and if the author toned down the excessive wordiness. And this did NOT need to be 1,040 pages 🙄 maybe the next one’s better?
Includes: child grooming, court politics, espionage, poly relationships, sapphic relationships, bdsm
“Love as thou wilt”
I’m annoyed that this series is recommended as a fantasy romance on booktok. This is more like a BDSM Game of Thrones if anything else. Phèdre is a courtesan spy and a damned good one, she’s highly sought out because of her unique..kinks. It was interesting to read about a masochist/submissive inside a fantasy setting. Definitely a unique experience.
Phèdre was 10 years old when she was introduced to this religion/sex cult. This entire world is built on these people believing their gods (in this case, Kushiel and Nammah) want them to always experience sexual pleasure through the exchange of pain. It is a way they worship and practice their religion. R*pe is a crime, they prided themselves on consent. That’s what the phrase “Love as thou wilt” is all about.
The world building is DENSE, and STEEPED in political drama. We don’t get to the actual plot until over 300 pages in. This was kind of a drag to get through tbh. This world’s foundation is sex positivity, but you get the ick because the whole time you’re asking yourself: are these children????
At 16 Phèdre is able to take clients and goes through this very sexually violent experience that pushes her to use the safe word that she never uses. There’s also a sexual relationship between a 16 year old boy and the man who raised him. A LOT OF CHILD GROOMING 🤢. She eventually grows up but I was cringing for a while hoping she would just become an adult already. As for the fmc herself, she was bland and boring.
I’ve heard so many great things about this series but I will not be continuing. This would’ve been an easy 4 stars if the MC and side characters were aged up and if the author toned down the excessive wordiness. And this did NOT need to be 1,040 pages 🙄 maybe the next one’s better?
Includes: child grooming, court politics, espionage, poly relationships, sapphic relationships, bdsm