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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Took way too long to finish. I'm not sure what I think of this book. The plot was excellent and intricate, but since I was listening in an audiobook I found the politicking hard to follow at times. The sex in it seemed logical and not contrived-- in fact, the synopsis is much saucier than the book, IMO. I'll keep reading the series, but when I'm going through Game of Thrones withdrawal, and not when I'm looking for a sexy romp.
The premise of this book (prostitute-spy and warrior-priest save the nation!) is so frickin cool. This book has many plot points and tropes familiar to me, but it is unlike any other ‘romantasy’ book I have ever read.
This is no ‘light’ reading. Don’t start it if you are in the mood for easy, cheesy, entertainment. I am not sure I would’ve been able to get through it if I had not listened to the audiobook. But, if you listen to the audiobook, you might need to draw your own map and family trees, and write your own glossary.
The world is detailed and the story is politically complex. I honestly had little-to-no understanding of what was happening and who was who much of the book. I still enjoyed it, and I think I will enjoy it even more on a reread. (Reading “Cassiel’s Servant” which is the same story from another perspective made a huge difference)
Although the main characters fall in love, there’s hardly any ~romance~. The fmc is a highly trained sex-worker so she’s not gasping for breath every time a man gives her a flirty glance.
Be warned: The only graphic sex scenes were the ones with violence. Graphic violence and torture have a much larger presence in the book than romance and ‘steam.’
By the end of it, I am a fan and will probably be reading the rest of the books.
This is no ‘light’ reading. Don’t start it if you are in the mood for easy, cheesy, entertainment. I am not sure I would’ve been able to get through it if I had not listened to the audiobook. But, if you listen to the audiobook, you might need to draw your own map and family trees, and write your own glossary.
The world is detailed and the story is politically complex. I honestly had little-to-no understanding of what was happening and who was who much of the book. I still enjoyed it, and I think I will enjoy it even more on a reread. (Reading “Cassiel’s Servant” which is the same story from another perspective made a huge difference)
Although the main characters fall in love, there’s hardly any ~romance~. The fmc is a highly trained sex-worker so she’s not gasping for breath every time a man gives her a flirty glance.
Be warned: The only graphic sex scenes were the ones with violence. Graphic violence and torture have a much larger presence in the book than romance and ‘steam.’
By the end of it, I am a fan and will probably be reading the rest of the books.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Very disturbing subject matter. But very well written and couldn't put it down
The world building was phenomenal, the story minus the sex was awesome... The author is a great writer, it was never quite boring... but the sadomasochism... I would have never picked it up if I knew what it contained, I can handle prostitute, I can even take a prostitute spying, somewhat, though I don't think most people would share their deep dark secrets with a woman they paid to spend the night with, but whatever. It becomes totally unbelievable when that person is prostitute that willingly seeks abuse from multiple men because she was born to do it (obviously a Darwin award winner there), oh yes, she also so happens to be owned by a man that enjoys spying and intrigue, and then there just happens to be so many of these men and women, that want to pay to both abuse her and share their secrets while they're at it. It totally ruined the book for me.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Trafficking
Minor: Religious bigotry
This was a tricky beast. I like the idea of fantasy that is mostly about intrigue (less battle, more thinking and politicking) and is sex positive to boot, but I had some issues with this book nonetheless.
I'm not bothered by the BDSM, but I am bothered by the Night Court adepts being born/sold into sexual slavery as very young children. It's lightly touched upon with Alcuin, that he would go to some measures to get out of it, but it's not quite enough to make me comfortable with the concept. The difference between less lucky (and successful) courtesans (with less benign masters than Delauney) and the Skaldi slaves seemed to be quite small. If you're not successful you'd never be able to make your marque, and if you never made your marque you'd be stuck as a courtesan until you got too old for patrons to want you, and then where would you be? I suppose it could be "fixed" by the Deus Ex Machina-y idea of all d'Angelines being beautiful and everything about Terre D'Ange being wonderful (which also grated on my nerves, but I'm not a Francophile, so the failing might be mine), but I'm not convinced.
I also dislike the first person narrative format where Phèdre's voice is very visible. I find the narrator retelling their life story format to be troublesome in and of itself, since you know the protagonist made it through well enough to live and tell, which stops me from being fully immersed in the story, especially if the narrative voice is very present. It also didn't help that the first 300 pages had far too many "if I had but known what would happen that fateful day"-type injections, sometimes for things that didn't seem particularly dire, so that once something dire did happen I was so annoyed by yet another ominous injection that it lost a lot of its impact. This is probably (hopefully?) First Book Syndrome, but I do wish Carey's editor had remove most (or all) of them.
I think Kushiel's Dart was well worth a read, but it could've easily been split into 2-3 books and I'm not sure I'm enamoured enough with Terre D'Ange and Phèdre to continue reading the rest of the series. If I could give it 3.5 stars I would, because it's not cookie cutter and bits are quite interesting, but I can't with good conscience give a book 4 stars if I feel it unlikely I'd like to re-read it.
I'm not bothered by the BDSM, but I am bothered by the Night Court adepts being born/sold into sexual slavery as very young children. It's lightly touched upon with Alcuin, that he would go to some measures to get out of it, but it's not quite enough to make me comfortable with the concept. The difference between less lucky (and successful) courtesans (with less benign masters than Delauney) and the Skaldi slaves seemed to be quite small. If you're not successful you'd never be able to make your marque, and if you never made your marque you'd be stuck as a courtesan until you got too old for patrons to want you, and then where would you be? I suppose it could be "fixed" by the Deus Ex Machina-y idea of all d'Angelines being beautiful and everything about Terre D'Ange being wonderful (which also grated on my nerves, but I'm not a Francophile, so the failing might be mine), but I'm not convinced.
I also dislike the first person narrative format where Phèdre's voice is very visible. I find the narrator retelling their life story format to be troublesome in and of itself, since you know the protagonist made it through well enough to live and tell, which stops me from being fully immersed in the story, especially if the narrative voice is very present. It also didn't help that the first 300 pages had far too many "if I had but known what would happen that fateful day"-type injections, sometimes for things that didn't seem particularly dire, so that once something dire did happen I was so annoyed by yet another ominous injection that it lost a lot of its impact. This is probably (hopefully?) First Book Syndrome, but I do wish Carey's editor had remove most (or all) of them.
I think Kushiel's Dart was well worth a read, but it could've easily been split into 2-3 books and I'm not sure I'm enamoured enough with Terre D'Ange and Phèdre to continue reading the rest of the series. If I could give it 3.5 stars I would, because it's not cookie cutter and bits are quite interesting, but I can't with good conscience give a book 4 stars if I feel it unlikely I'd like to re-read it.
The people and politics is such drivel through a teenage child perspective ugh I gotta go.