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sorayah11's review
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Physical abuse, Stalking, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Transphobia, War, and Classism
sammuraichan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Body shaming, Misogyny, Vomit, and Sexism
ramintah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Gore
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Death, Rape, Violence, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gaslighting, Self harm, Animal death, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Ableism
Minor: Vomit and Blood
abarnakwn_ourcolourfulpages's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Body horror, Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Blood, Confinement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Deportation, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Misogyny
jkneebone's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The main thrust of the plot is an arranged marriage between two noblemen, Vel and Cae. Vel travels to Tithena to marry Cae, but his arrival sets off a series of attacks against himself and Cae’s family. Vel and Cae must learn to trust each other and work together to try and find out who is behind the attacks, while also working through their personal demons.
Although I had some minor plot and pacing quibbles while reading, on the whole I really liked this novel. Foz Meadows managed to keep me not just interested, but “thinking about getting home to read more while at work” interested for over 500 pages, which is no mean feat. I found both Vel and Cae to be compelling characters, and I really liked the world building of Tithena. The writing was beautiful, and I enjoyed taking my time to savor it. Overall I thought the attack plot line was handled well - even if there were some things I suspected, I was still surprised by how everything turned out. I’m a sucker for a court drama and this delivered in spades.
One word of warning - do be aware of the content warnings. There is some heavy stuff in this book, and it’s quite front-loaded. Even having read the CWs I was a bit taken aback at how quickly and intensely some things happened. Nothing is gratuitous, but there are dark moments an violence throughout the book that readers should be prepared for.
Graphic: Violence, Self harm, Blood, Animal death, Death, Rape, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Homophobia, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
lee_noel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Rape, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Murder, Animal death, Gore, and Outing
Minor: Homophobia and Panic attacks/disorders
ciebrie's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia
Minor: Gore and Violence
booksthatburn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
There are two major countries, one of which is barely shown but heavily felt (Ralia), and the other is where almost all of the story takes place (Tithena). That means the reader's main understanding of Ralia is through Velasin's recollections and Tithenai gossip. The story's focus on Velasin's arranged marriage to a man, combined with Ralian homophobia, means that most descriptions of Ralia are unflattering, focusing on much that Velasin was unable to freely do in his former country. Most of the story is set in Tithena, in or around Caethari's home (now Velasin's new home). This allows the opportunity for both the official Tithenian line and the reality to appear side by side in a way that doesn't happen for Ralia. It makes it clear that even though Tithena is more egalitarian in many respects,
Velasin and his soon-to-be husband, Caethari, are the two narrators. I love Velasin and Caethari, both separately and together. However, unlike most books with dual narrators, this gives each narrator several chapters in a row before switching to the other. This helps with immersion into each man's perspective, and means that in this emotionally fraught story based on a colossal and nearly catastrophic misunderstanding, the reader doesn't get an immediate narrative resolution merely by switching to the other person. They're very different people, something which really gets to shine when Velasin gets more comfortable and begins turning his people skills and political mind to the mystery at hand.
We meet Velasin on the road, almost immediately reaching his father's home after fleeing his unfaithful partner (and accompanied by Markel, his servant and friend). Upon his arrival he's notified by his father of his impending arranged marriage to a Tithenai woman. Moments later his former partner arrives, having pursued him, then assaults him. After his father and the Tithenai envoy walk in on them (not understand that it was rape), the envoy offers him a marriage to a man instead. He accepts with as little consent as was involved in the former arrangement, and then travels to Tithena, where the rest of the plot unfolds.
Markel is Velasin's servant and best friend. He's mute, using signs, writing, and other non-verbal signals to communicate with Velasin (and anyone else who'll learn). I like Markel, and he gets a lot of space in Velasin's thoughts, but not quite as much in the actual narrative (as he spends much of it recovering from a very serious injury). He's very important to the story, playing much more of a role before he's attacked and after he's mostly recovered.
Caethari wasn't expecting to be the one getting married, since Ralia's endemic homophobia is well-known in Tithena. Tithenia as a country is so casually queer that saying it's more accepting of queerness than Ralia does a disservice in the comparison. It is not, however, free of other problems. Before Caethari can greet Velasin, the incoming party is attacked and their introduction is made under rather stressful circumstances.
The rest of the plot weaves together a series of strange and possibly politically-motivated attacks, investigations of the same, Velasin's internal struggles, Caethari's attempts to help, and many long conversations about cultural differences which range from extremely serious to mere curiosities. There's also the lingering threat that Velasin's attacker might pursue him further, a (not unfounded) worry which complicates his recovery. I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters, but I'm generally terrible with names and was still able to track most of what was happening. Much of the narrative is structured like a mystery, where they're trying to figure out the person or group behind the attacks and don't know who they can trust. This is interwoven with Velasin and Caethari getting to know each other, and Velasin's introductions to Caethari's family and a few other important persons.
Read this for a kind of mystery story, full of political machinations, focused on recovery from trauma in a situation where bad things are still happening.
Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Violence, Homophobia, Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Animal death, Self harm, Rape, and Murder
Moderate: Gore, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Kidnapping, Confinement, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Ableism, and Infidelity
Minor: Pregnancy, Bullying, Torture, Alcohol, Transphobia, Miscarriage, Child abuse, and Alcoholism
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Animal death, Gore, Sexual content, Homophobia, Blood, Violence, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Vomit, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Outing
Minor: Abandonment, Medical content, Transphobia, Ableism, Infidelity, and Self harm