Reviews - Even Beyond Death

22 reviews for:

Even Beyond Death

Fiona Melrose

3.96 AVERAGE

pravda_iskra's review against another edition

1.0

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Woof. Bury your gays lives on in 2025 I see.

Unimaginative. Completely and entirely predictable. The main character makes so many stupid decisions knowing

he’s being spied on by his uncle, who is aware that he’s gay and looking for evidence to prove he is.

The main driving romance of the book is literal insta love. On page 47 Jehan declares Kryk his “one, my true, my eternal love”. Mind you they’ve known each other 3 weeks at most. They’ve had one conversation that wasn’t Jehan giving Kryk orders as his valet. The relationship gets more unbelievable from there.

loversache's review against another edition

4.75

emotional funny sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

Content Warnings

lotusirisroos's review against another edition

3.25

dark sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

fullybooked22's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 29%

idk it didn’t grip me. the main character was interesting and funny and i thought having the author being present as the “scribe” was fun but generally i didn’t find the story very compelling and anywhere it was planning on going seemed like it would be pretty depressing and/or secondhand embarrassment inducing

jmatkinson1's review against another edition

3.5

funny lighthearted slow-paced

Jehan de Beaudelaire is a young rich and eligible bachelor, His family and th whole town of Avignon wants him to marry. However, Jehan's passions are not of an acceptable nature for 17th Century France, he is in love with his Dutch valet and faces punishment if discovered.
This is perfectly pleasant book which recounts a story of forbidden love. It is nicely pitched but, for me, I didn't really fall in love with the tale!

earlgrey_andbooks's review against another edition

2.0

emotional funny sad 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: No

Fiona Melrose's Even Beyond Death masterfully revives the 18th-century narrative device of pseudo-documentaty fiction, blending it with a comical, sardonic tone that feels both timeless and refreshingly modern. With biting wit and a narrator who insists on their dubious reliability, the author turns historical storytelling on its head, offering a sharp, satirical journey through love, loss, and the absurdity of human nature. A delightful and clever homage to literary tradition, with a sly wink to the present.

Unfortunately for me, after a few chapters the narrative voice became a tad tiring. So even though the plot of the novel retained its interest - even though, again, personal preference, I would have appreciated more of a historical/p0litical tone rather than such a personal one - I found myself rolling my eyes extensively.

readby_ryan's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

katie_mosscrop's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

rkjreads's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional funny sad

Strong character development: Yes

I know the word romantic gets thrown around a lot when it comes to fiction, but this book is Romantic with a capital R. It’s both humorous and tragic but the undercurrent is pure love and devotion. It’s giving Achilles and Patroclus, Ed and Stede, etc. What an incredible book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC.

Content Warnings

psoup's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Prepare yourself going into this one. It's heartbreaking.

Jehan and Kryk are impossibly lovable but neither is without their flaws. Their story is sweet and moving but ultimately devastating (you shouldn't expect anything less from a book named Even Beyond Death).

Jehan is a wonderful narrator and the way he tells his story through his scribe is very clever. The first half of the book had me laughing on every single page which I honestly didn't expect. It was very funny!

Overall I really loved this book. The ending isn't entirely predictable,

but it's what it had to be. Allowing them to survive would have been a disservice to the reality of the time period, and in terms of the story it would have been an easy way out.

However, Fiona Melrose doesn't leave us without a glimmer of hope - she might be cruel to put us through it but there is a little mercy worth holding out for!

Content Warnings

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