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jennybugg's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
biblionerdrflxn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
***Thank you to Bramble for providing an early copy of Swordcrossed via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***
I'm going to rip the Band-Aid off here at the start. I did not love Swordcrossed as much as Marske's last series. It took me a while to get into this book because there wasn't a whole lot going on at first. The cover was not lying when it advertised the book as low stakes, which made it difficult for me to stay engaged with the story. Luckily, the characters were great, and the story did pick up some as it went along, especially once all the secrets started coming out. By the end, I was having a great time and enjoying all the schemes and humor.
The world-building in Swordcrossed was a mixed bag. I loved all of the detail explaining the fabric industry and the role of sword dueling in this fantasy world, and the queer normative culture was fun to explore. The political system, however, could have been clearer. There were guilds, houses, councils, and multiple cities/states. I never got a great sense of how it all fit together. It was convoluted, and a bit more information early on would have been helpful in parsing it all out.
The real draw of Swordcrossed, and all of Marske's work, was the characters. She did such a fantastic job of bringing Matti and Luca to life. They each had their issues and well-developed personalities. Matti was obsessed with duty and bringing his house back into prosperity at the cost of his own health and happiness. Whereas, Luca was just a mess. He was a con man, a criminal, and an absolutely dashing rogue with secrets galore. They complemented each other really well and pushed each other in ways that led to quite a bit of growth. The supporting characters also had depth despite not having as much page time, and they each added something special to the story.
The romance between Matti and Luca was sort of enemies to lovers, with its start in a con and blackmail, and all of their secrets caused a ton of problems for their relationship. They had an instant attraction, but they also slowly developed intimacy as their relationship deepened and their layers were peeled back. There was so much yearning in Swordcrossed, which eventually led to some pretty hot sex scenes. The heat wasn't as high as I'd expected, though, and it does take the characters quite a while to get physical. So, if you are looking for tons of super explicit scenes, you might be disappointed, but there were lots of clever sword-play innuendos that had me cackling.
Overall, Swordcrossed was not my favorite book by Marske, but I still had a great time with it. Once the plot kicked into gear and I became attached to the characters, I rarely wanted to put the book down. The romance had a lot of humor and plenty of sexual tension, and I enjoyed seeing how Matti and Luca impacted each other's lives, both inside and outside of the bedroom. Therefore, I give Swordcrossed a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.
I'm going to rip the Band-Aid off here at the start. I did not love Swordcrossed as much as Marske's last series. It took me a while to get into this book because there wasn't a whole lot going on at first. The cover was not lying when it advertised the book as low stakes, which made it difficult for me to stay engaged with the story. Luckily, the characters were great, and the story did pick up some as it went along, especially once all the secrets started coming out. By the end, I was having a great time and enjoying all the schemes and humor.
The world-building in Swordcrossed was a mixed bag. I loved all of the detail explaining the fabric industry and the role of sword dueling in this fantasy world, and the queer normative culture was fun to explore. The political system, however, could have been clearer. There were guilds, houses, councils, and multiple cities/states. I never got a great sense of how it all fit together. It was convoluted, and a bit more information early on would have been helpful in parsing it all out.
The real draw of Swordcrossed, and all of Marske's work, was the characters. She did such a fantastic job of bringing Matti and Luca to life. They each had their issues and well-developed personalities. Matti was obsessed with duty and bringing his house back into prosperity at the cost of his own health and happiness. Whereas, Luca was just a mess. He was a con man, a criminal, and an absolutely dashing rogue with secrets galore. They complemented each other really well and pushed each other in ways that led to quite a bit of growth. The supporting characters also had depth despite not having as much page time, and they each added something special to the story.
The romance between Matti and Luca was sort of enemies to lovers, with its start in a con and blackmail, and all of their secrets caused a ton of problems for their relationship. They had an instant attraction, but they also slowly developed intimacy as their relationship deepened and their layers were peeled back. There was so much yearning in Swordcrossed, which eventually led to some pretty hot sex scenes. The heat wasn't as high as I'd expected, though, and it does take the characters quite a while to get physical. So, if you are looking for tons of super explicit scenes, you might be disappointed, but there were lots of clever sword-play innuendos that had me cackling.
Overall, Swordcrossed was not my favorite book by Marske, but I still had a great time with it. Once the plot kicked into gear and I became attached to the characters, I rarely wanted to put the book down. The romance had a lot of humor and plenty of sexual tension, and I enjoyed seeing how Matti and Luca impacted each other's lives, both inside and outside of the bedroom. Therefore, I give Swordcrossed a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.
and9591's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
booksandbreadcrumbs's review against another edition
4.0
While I didn't like this quite as much as The Last Binding Trilogy, I still really enjoyed this and found the world very interesting. I definitely look forward to whatever Freya Marske writes next.
smokedshelves's review against another edition
4.0
spent the whole book highlight every double entendre about sword fights and iām not ashamed about it.
isarob705's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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
4.5
kaecho's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
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? Yes
4.0
thank god for books where the protagonists aren't smarter than me but aren't completely brainless they do so much for me.
this would be considered a historical fantasy i guess?? there are swords and trading guilds but no magic so it's like okay cool good reminder that that kind of fantasy worldbuilding exists. that said i really enjoyed this and the dynamic between matti and luca as well as what i can only describe as the textile industry insider trading drama. there's a twist that's a little predictable if you have any sort of gaydar but even if you guess what it is early on, catching the vibe doesn't ruin the reading experience at all.
genuinely so glad this is a standalone, but if freya markse decides to write another book set in this universe i'll absolutely read it. also i need a map. im begging for a map.
this would be considered a historical fantasy i guess?? there are swords and trading guilds but no magic so it's like okay cool good reminder that that kind of fantasy worldbuilding exists. that said i really enjoyed this and the dynamic between matti and luca as well as what i can only describe as the textile industry insider trading drama. there's a twist that's a little predictable if you have any sort of gaydar but even if you guess what it is early on, catching the vibe doesn't ruin the reading experience at all.
genuinely so glad this is a standalone, but if freya markse decides to write another book set in this universe i'll absolutely read it. also i need a map. im begging for a map.
definestrange's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Violence
ditten's review
adventurous
lighthearted
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? Yes
4.0
Swordcrossed by Freya Marske is a fun, hot, low fantasy romp set in a queernormative world āļø
Matti has to hire a dualist for his upcoming marriage into a rich family which has been arranged to save his family's failing wool business. His bride-to-be has a very insistent admirer who may challenge Matti to a duel at the wedding, and so hiring a competing dualist who's good with a sword is crucial. The only person he can afford though, is Luca, the man who scammed Matti just the day prior. With no other choice, Matti pays (and blackmails) the mysterious, new-to-town Luca into becoming not only his dualist but also his new sword-fighting instructor.
Their mutual attraction that neither initially plan on acting on only grows stronger the more time they spend together which is frankly incredibly inconvenient since Matti's set to be married. While this arrangement was only meant to be one of business, soon Luca and Matti are falling into bed together, and Luca starts helping Matti trying to figure out if his family's business failing might be due to sabotage rather than accidents while also desperately trying to keep his own past a secret.
Swordcossed is full of hot, flirty fun between Matti and Luca while also diving into lots of schemes and secrets - from multiple sides. There are crushes, sword-practice used as foreplay, trickery, arranged marriage where neither party's particularly into it, complex family dynamics, honour, and quite a bit of insight into the wool trade š
Matti's a gentleman, comes from a fancy family, and has the burden of running an entire business on his shoulders. Luca is chaotic af, impulsive, has forever unruly hair, a mysterious past he'd prefer to not get into, and a giant crush on Matti. Which is great since Matti crushes right back though he's more reluctant to act on things. Once he does though? Phew, these two get hot and heavy, and there's some kink that's juuust out of reach but definitely implied. It felt a bit like kink-teasing to be honest š
I really liked the characters, and the plot was interesting but a little overly into descriptions of the intricacy of the wool trade at times.
Overall, a very enjoyable book with a hot, fun romance, great characters, and a plot with mysteries and schemes.
Thanks to Bramble, Macmillan, and Edelweiss for the ARC. Swordcrossed is out October 8