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Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
This is a dark, dark story. Evermore and Bomardi have been at war for years. Briony is the princess of Evermore, and when the Bomardi army swarms her family's castle, her brother is killed (her father was assassinated early in the war and her mother died in childbirth), and she and others are taken into captivity. Evermore is known for its mind magic, while Bomardi is known for its heart magic, which often requires an external source like an animal familiar (the two magics are explained in much more detail in the book of course). The Bomardis come up with a truly horrifying plan to auction off Evermore people with mind magic so that they can use them as external sources of power (they call them heartsprings) and as servants and sex slaves. As the princess of Rosewood, Briony sells for an astonishing amount to her once-crush Toven Hearst. She is absolutely terrified of what is to come, but things are not exactly as they seem.
The beginning of this book is a little slow, but it has a lot of world-building and scene-setting that is incredibly important and interesting. Once the auction takes place, things really start to happen. I appreciated that there was no attempt to sanitize the Bomardis' war crimes, sex slavery, and every kind of horrible interpersonal violence imaginable. Briony is saved from experiencing much of those horrors directly, but she bears witness to her friends, family, and other people from her kingdom enduring violation after violation, and it's really hard to read but also essential to the plot. This book doesn't shy away from the grief and the rage and the disgust and the helplessness Briony feels, but it also highlights her determination and that hope comes from the most unlikely places, so it wasn't as depressing as I feared initially.
Julie also crafts the dynamic between Briony and Toven beautifully, which of course is central to a good fantasy romance. Toven resists the Bombardi's war crimes as much as he can, which I appreciated because it would have been really hard to root for him and Briony if he was unredeemable. Obviously he isn't all good, but he constantly tries to respect Briony and stave off his "friends'" attempts to humiliate her and sexually assault her, and there's an explanation for everything he does that seems off. We also occasionally get chapters from when Briony and Toven were together at school, which provide helpful context and make it seem more realistic that Briony is willing to trust Toven even a little. This book is extremely steamy in such a creative way - Toven is very careful not to initiate physical intimacy with Briony for the most part, but Julie creates tons of opportunities for Briony and Toven to feel the attraction between them and imagine acting on them. The sexual tension is absolutely delicious.
The world is also interesting, and it left me wanting to know more about how the different types of magic works, which is always fun. I am devastated I can't read the sequel until next summer!!!
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Infertility, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Some of the character name changes were a little silly. Veronika Mallow? VM? Really? Plus Briony and Rory same suffix, different spelling. Soto really did her best to keep the same amount of syllables for the same characters which I think was an interesting choice.
But the story itself? The magic system and world divide was imaginative and lush with possibility. I especially love that twist ending. It has the potential for what I had always hoped The Auction would—
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Confinement, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Animal cruelty, Pregnancy
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Slavery, Trafficking
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Infertility, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, War
Minor: Rape, Death of parent
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Xenophobia, War
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Trafficking
Moderate: Death, Gore, Rape
Minor: Death of parent, War
Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War
Minor: Bullying
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Murder