You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
"Farewell, Cas, only Cas, with no other name."
SO!!! WELL!!!! WRITTEN!!!!!!
year of the reaper is a thrilling, action-packed book with enough romance for a hopeless romantic like me to get through it with a smile on my face the whole time. i enjoyed most characters' personalities, and i thought cas and lena were brilliantly written, both as a couple and separately. cas has to be my favorite character here, though. his determination, the way he holds himself despite everything he has been through and everything he's still going to go through, and the loyalty he holds towards his nation and the people he loves... man, i love him. i really do.
i do think some of the resolutions to the main conflicts of the story could have been longer, slower-paced at least, so that we could actually feel like we were in the middle of something undeniably important. this doesn't mean the book doesn't wrap up well!!! it does, it REALLY does, i just wish we had seen more of the process of wrapping it up.
overall a great read, with lovely characters, an antagonist you can actually root for once you learn their motives, and an excellent plot. love it.
SO!!! WELL!!!! WRITTEN!!!!!!
year of the reaper is a thrilling, action-packed book with enough romance for a hopeless romantic like me to get through it with a smile on my face the whole time. i enjoyed most characters' personalities, and i thought cas and lena were brilliantly written, both as a couple and separately. cas has to be my favorite character here, though. his determination, the way he holds himself despite everything he has been through and everything he's still going to go through, and the loyalty he holds towards his nation and the people he loves... man, i love him. i really do.
i do think some of the resolutions to the main conflicts of the story could have been longer, slower-paced at least, so that we could actually feel like we were in the middle of something undeniably important. this doesn't mean the book doesn't wrap up well!!! it does, it REALLY does, i just wish we had seen more of the process of wrapping it up.
overall a great read, with lovely characters, an antagonist you can actually root for once you learn their motives, and an excellent plot. love it.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a lot of fun! This book scratched the itch I had for something speedy, exciting, and was very interesting while still not making me have to use my brain too much. The prose was fairly sparse which at first I didn't love, but it grew on me a lot and I liked the style of leaving a lot unspoken and just letting things be known/assumed. The plot was very fun--I guessed how it was going to all fall out quite early on, but I still had fun watching it unfurl. I do wish a certain white-haired character had been given a bit more development/depth, but for a standalone fantasy Lucier did a totally adequate job and I appreciate she didn't leave a ton of questions unanswered just to leave the possibility of a sequel. The story also dealt with the aftermaths of a plague, and I really was grateful for how it didn't dwell too much on it--I think the author finished it before Covid really hit and the book was published when things were pretty bad. I think it's pretty easy to get maudlin and emotional about things like that even (or especially in) a fantasy story, and I was very grateful this one didn't. Nothing new, but it was a very fun, fast, and enjoyable read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
I bought this book a while ago but I never felt like picking it up; the giant mace on the front cover put me off and made me think that the book was going to be way more violent than it actually is. I eventually started reading it on a whim and I’m so glad that I did because I was really pleasantly surprised!
Honestly, I could take or leave the romance. It was sweet but it didn’t do too much for me. I really loved the relationship between Cassia and Ventillas as brothers though. They were the highlight of the book for me. I’d have loved to see even more of them and I hope that they get their happy ending five years later!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
I absolutely loved this story, with its hopeful but slightly open-ended ending and it’s unfinished character stories. We do not get to know what will happen with the queen, where Ventillas is and what is happening to him, or what the future will be for Cas and Lena. But we do know that these characters are resilient and loving. They strive for a better world in the darkest of times. Their story is nowhere near finished, and that is exactly how it should be.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, War
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death of parent
goood lord
Okay thinking about it more, I don't think this is a five star read. It was the half baked romance that made me think that. I don't think Lena had really anything going for her besides being a historian. Most of the time she was just there and that's quite alright, but a five star read it does not make.
The STORY however, that's a five star story. I love how this man could randomly see spirits and I don't think it was ever fully explained. I liked how this random toll person was like the catalyst for the whole story. I liked that the backdrop was black plague ridden Europe. I liked that there was just a random gay brother. Everything about this was crazy good like each plot twist was GOD TIER. I was literally in shock. I was having so much fun.
Also just wanted to say, there was a thing in here called "Elvira" and every I read that I was like omg like the song "my hearttttsss on fireeeee Elvria"
Okay thinking about it more, I don't think this is a five star read. It was the half baked romance that made me think that. I don't think Lena had really anything going for her besides being a historian. Most of the time she was just there and that's quite alright, but a five star read it does not make.
The STORY however, that's a five star story. I love how this man could randomly see spirits and I don't think it was ever fully explained. I liked how this random toll person was like the catalyst for the whole story. I liked that the backdrop was black plague ridden Europe. I liked that there was just a random gay brother. Everything about this was crazy good like each plot twist was GOD TIER. I was literally in shock. I was having so much fun.
Also just wanted to say, there was a thing in here called "Elvira" and every I read that I was like omg like the song "my hearttttsss on fireeeee Elvria"
Plot twist had me staring at the wall. I wish the story further explained or explored Cas' power though. It felt incomplete when the story didn't explain its origin.