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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
dark
slow-paced
dark
emotional
tense
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
(I received a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.)
While the worldbuilding was fascinating (far beyond the not!France of Soleterea, the not!Russia of Mortos, and - rather less strongly in every direction - the not quite not!Japan or not!Scandinavia of Odaka, merely mentioned), and managed an excellent balance of continually learning new things without feeling groundless (even with the high numbers of foreign words), the story unfolding within the framework made it a little more difficult to sink into.
Almost none of the characters are likeable, and the overarching, international drama is tense and sharp - but as there is no quarter to turn to for hope of better, it leaves me rather less attached to it, no matter how intense. Should I hope for one implacable horror to win over another?
Yes, Mortos is full of horrific things - for example a practise of regularly culling sentient citizens (though of another species) to sacrifice their souls and turn their bodies into necromantically-animated servants - but Soleterea, beneath its gilded and rosily beautiful aesthetic, is not particularly better - for example they rule over another species, as implemented clearly by divine right; they use mind rape and coercion on prisoners in the name of reform. Willing sacrifice is used as a price (a life given for a life's imprisonment) to exile prisoners into exile between dimensions.
The Rex of Mortos holds his son's face in the fire as punishment for speaking out of turn/telling him things he didn't want to hear; reminds his son that he will never be heir, even if his brother is gone never to return (not that it seems important as the Rex intends not to die or abdicate ever). The Impératrice of Soleterea administers electric shocks to her daughter as punishment to correct lack of poise or grace (as she has for her daughter's whole life), and reminds her daughter that she may be heir for now but that is not assured, and that she is forever a disappointment, falling short of expectations, and will never earn trust or faith from her mother.
(Which one I hated more tended to change depending on which one was on page at the time.)
The description promises
The description promises
Beneath its light, romantic and whimsical veneer, you can expect darkness, brutality and passion.
. . .well that is certainly borne out.
Also the promised, supposed romance left me not only cold but cringing. One would assume, given the description, it would be between Laila and Dominus, the creature she awakened from the ice, and that is not incorrect . . . somewhat. Of course his half brother has his part to play as well, and Laila lives up to what we have come to expect from the Soleterean, the solarite, way, perhaps - while she may be tempted or even fond, mostly she seems to be incredibly self-centred, toying with both of them and with others along the way.
Of course, Dominus is a product of his country and his family, cruel and more so callous to any outside his circle; of course the citizens are culled every year, but it's all right - they use every part of their bodies and souls.
Darius is no less, merely hidden under a more adeptly harming mask; unlike his brother he understands at least some of what would offend or distress foreigners and takes care to conceal much of it.
Such as his murders of them (on his father's orders, somewhat), his eating them to gain knowledge and similar, and his torturous experiments that apparently outpace even the expected and regular necromancy in his country.
. . .much like my hatred of the respective rulers depending on which one was in front of me being horrible, which one of the brothers I liked tended to vary by which one was showing his flaws at the time.
Though on a note in the romance side, I was rather pleasantly surprised; I've never read a generally het romance with so little penetrative sex in the smut. I was a little less enthused with how that changed, particularly the second time. While the main focus of the romantic angles is definitely het, one way or another, that is not the only one given page time (Laila has taken what seems to be many lovers in the past, none of them male; Lyra it seems specifically only takes female lovers; Darius entertains male and female lovers happily).
The book continually constructs this opposition as chaos vs. creation, but that seems not quite to fit to me - chaos vs. order, as is more traditionally known, might fit better. Chaos does, in this book, create - the occassi themselves, even, were created be chaos - and for all the distracting softness of them, the solarites are very much about things being in their place - to make the best showing, or appeal to the other senses, for all manner of other purposes.
The book does not shy away from acknowledging that what one might have assumed to be the 'good' side is in its own way just as harsh - and perhaps in some ways worse. The occassi revel in hunting and blood; when the solarites turn their weaponry loose, the light sears the targets out of very existence.
One feels sorry for the humans and other 'lesser' species in this world - not that we meet more than a handful, only one of which survives to the end of the book. (Of course, rather a lot of our characters don't make it out alive. I do wonder at the sequel for a number of reasons, that among them.)
I also didn't expect vore (the kink) to make an appearance, but there's an early on sex dream that is very much that. (Laila dreams herself as a rabbit and Dominus as a wolf eating her alive, 'sweetly', and longs to remain in that dream.)
The language is often flowery and layered with complexity, but it very much suits the narrative - though there is the occasional misstep of words or phrases misused.
(The EPUB also makes some accessibility missteps - the text is locked to display as black, no matter what, making it impossible to read in any manner of darkmode; the 'volume' covers are images which warp with resizing, and also contain the title and epigraph along with imagery, none of which is presented in text elsewhere, and there is no alt text.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Abandonment
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
There is so much potential, I wanted to like it so much... but it felt like a fanfiction in that it was as if I was supposed to already know these characters and this world. The characters themselves are very 2-dimensional and only one of them really has any details or growth by the end. I know more about the food and set dressing than I do the characters or the world.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
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:
No
I'm DNFing this (I skimmed to the end) without a rating
I could never get into the writing and I don't think this is my kind of story at all. I was just blinded by the fact this is tagged as gothic (hmm, don't know about that) fantasy. I do hope this book finds its audience because it was not objectively bad at all, just... not my thing
I could never get into the writing and I don't think this is my kind of story at all. I was just blinded by the fact this is tagged as gothic (hmm, don't know about that) fantasy. I do hope this book finds its audience because it was not objectively bad at all, just... not my thing
The magical system within this world was lovely, the Solaritees was such a cool thing to read about; what they were and the culture of their lives. Such a cool fantasy realm that I have yet to encounter within my worlds of fantasy reading.
The characters weren't my favorite but I feel they have room to grow and with some growth and depth added to their stories, it will definitely get better.
The characters weren't my favorite but I feel they have room to grow and with some growth and depth added to their stories, it will definitely get better.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wasn’t interested, writing style was odd making so many references to flowers it was overwhelming
I always thought that the people in the Anne of Green Gables series who criticized Anne Shirley for her flowery language and lack of substance were just being mean. I totally get it now...
Maybe the violet prose was meant to distract from a subpar writing ability, or perhaps the author was simply trying their best to paint a rich world for us. Regardless of the reason, there was no balance in the storytelling at all. We get colorful descriptions of meals, garments and hair care routines; while the more important aspects of the narrative, such as the driving plot, are given only the bare minimum to poke the story forward.
I felt absolutely zero investment in any of the characters. The scientists from the very beginning of the book had the potential to be fascinating side characters but they are tossed aside nearly as soon as they are introduced. The FMC's personality was flimsy at best. Other than being frequently reminded of how pretty and graceful she is, and maybe hinting at some unresolved mom issues, we got nothing.
The nail in the coffin for this was when the FMC hops in her super handy airship to search for the scientists who's ship was assumed lost at sea. Why did we not send the scientists on said airship to begin with??????
I really really wanted to like this duology and I truly tried to at least get through the first book before tossing it in the garbage. The writing style and the vapid characters were just too much for me.
Maybe the violet prose was meant to distract from a subpar writing ability, or perhaps the author was simply trying their best to paint a rich world for us. Regardless of the reason, there was no balance in the storytelling at all. We get colorful descriptions of meals, garments and hair care routines; while the more important aspects of the narrative, such as the driving plot, are given only the bare minimum to poke the story forward.
I felt absolutely zero investment in any of the characters. The scientists from the very beginning of the book had the potential to be fascinating side characters but they are tossed aside nearly as soon as they are introduced. The FMC's personality was flimsy at best. Other than being frequently reminded of how pretty and graceful she is, and maybe hinting at some unresolved mom issues, we got nothing.
The nail in the coffin for this was when the FMC hops in her super handy airship to search for the scientists who's ship was assumed lost at sea. Why did we not send the scientists on said airship to begin with??????
I really really wanted to like this duology and I truly tried to at least get through the first book before tossing it in the garbage. The writing style and the vapid characters were just too much for me.
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Whilst the writing was absolutely beautiful and the world building interesting, I couldn't connect with the characters and I'm not really sure what the stakes were? Everything seemed a bit too easy and I kept waiting for some incredie twist that never came, it had so much potential. I also still have no idea what an occassi is or what they look like? I don't particularly like Laila either.