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localmalewife's review against another edition
4.0
This book!!!
I still can't believe it wasn't on my radar and I had never heard of it until my best friend gifted it to me and I held it in my hands. Basically it is my dream come true, and I wasn't disappointed.
In all honesty, I do really wish it might have been a duology - the world building is so intriguing and I loved this world that fostered loyalty to family above all else, that reverred forgotten magic and hunted every inkling of it in the present. So much happened and I would have loved to stay with Teo and Cielo for even longer and watch their story unfurl a little more slowly.
But god damn. I really, really loved this book and I still can't believe it is real and on my shelf. I was worried that - as so often - form-changing magic would raise some gross points about trans identity, but how wrong I was.
IN THIS HOUSE WE STAN A TRANS POWER COUPLE is a sentence I never thought I'd be able to write about a novel so soon, and fuck am I grateful for that.
I still can't believe it wasn't on my radar and I had never heard of it until my best friend gifted it to me and I held it in my hands. Basically it is my dream come true, and I wasn't disappointed.
In all honesty, I do really wish it might have been a duology - the world building is so intriguing and I loved this world that fostered loyalty to family above all else, that reverred forgotten magic and hunted every inkling of it in the present. So much happened and I would have loved to stay with Teo and Cielo for even longer and watch their story unfurl a little more slowly.
But god damn. I really, really loved this book and I still can't believe it is real and on my shelf. I was worried that - as so often - form-changing magic would raise some gross points about trans identity, but how wrong I was.
Spoiler
I loved watching Teo settle into her own skin, accept herself, learn her own power, and become stronger for it. I loved her understanding Cielo so deeply, and how both of them were able to see each other, not as man or as woman, but as people, as souls that had too many facettes to be pinned down into one. As someone with a fluid identity, who can't seem to settle into just one thing, this was such a breath of fresh air.IN THIS HOUSE WE STAN A TRANS POWER COUPLE is a sentence I never thought I'd be able to write about a novel so soon, and fuck am I grateful for that.
templetoncecelia's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
cardsbycourt's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, way more than I expected. I mean I knew it was a queer fantasy book but I didn't think I would enjoy this as much as I did. It took me about 50-75 pages to get super engaged and then I finished it within a day. This was super fun and unique, it was a both political and fantastical novel and it did not really feel like formulaic of boring. I loved how the shapeshifting and magic system was done because it was so based in self love and acceptance and that gender does not matter. The way that this book dealt with changing genders really showed me how so many other books that I've read have been questionably transphobic or just not super considerate when having characters shift genders. But this book was really good about this and ensuring that even though society had certain feelings about gender, the characters did not mirror this (I also think this is because it is Own Voices, I'm pretty sure). My one complaint (and the main reason that this is not a 5) is that the world building felt a little lazy at some points and sometimes it felt like more telling than showing with the magic system and world building. But, this really is the dream, a more diverse fantasy novel that is still fresh and engaging.
jennifrencham's review against another edition
3.0
What I Liked: lyrical writing; queer characters
What I Didn't Like: This story took a very long time to get interesting enough for me to want to read it, and I think the lack of significant action/plot at the beginning will make it difficult to hook my teen patrons as well.
What I Didn't Like: This story took a very long time to get interesting enough for me to want to read it, and I think the lack of significant action/plot at the beginning will make it difficult to hook my teen patrons as well.
franks1's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book however the fast paced lost me a little and at times I had to go back and forth. I also got confused by some of the background characters.
I loved her the author intertwined gender roles/conformity into the book. Teo and Cielo, two of the main characters were both able shapeshift between genders. It was clear from the start that there was going to be a romantic connection between them. I liked this connection between Teo and Cielo however felt rushed and evolving adventure to save Teo’s family was confusing.
I loved her the author intertwined gender roles/conformity into the book. Teo and Cielo, two of the main characters were both able shapeshift between genders. It was clear from the start that there was going to be a romantic connection between them. I liked this connection between Teo and Cielo however felt rushed and evolving adventure to save Teo’s family was confusing.
sheepishly_sarah's review against another edition
4.0
I really really enjoyed the second half of this book. It had Teo really growing into herself and who she was always meant to be. The reveals we got about a lot of characters were exciting and super interesting. However, the first half journey to get there was not interesting. The prologue was good but after such a strong introduction of Teo and her father what we got in the actual beginning of the story was a bit bland. The family dynamics felt old and tired. To be honest, I didn't like Cielo when we first meet the character. The first introduction was just too much and it felt a bit like the author was trying too hard. The character was always going to be interesting but the way the first conversation was framed with Teo and the whimsical(?) way Cielo spoke was just overkill for me. I loved the different ways the strega's powers manifested. They possessed some really unique powers like one who could show you someone else's memory in a dream and another who could turn fears to stones. I really enjoyed how Teo and Cielo's relationship developed. Cielo became a much more enjoyable character for me after that first introduction. I would have liked to see a bit more from the other mafia family's. One, in particular, had a nice line towards the end of the book that opened up new ideas for how things could have gone differently for Teo and her family. I'm not sure if this book is part of a series or not. It wrapped up nicely but I would enjoy seeing more from this world.
kathrinreads's review against another edition
4.0
Apart from the slow start, at least for me, I really liked the book and the story.
Can't wait for the next one :)
Can't wait for the next one :)
emtees's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
3.75
The Brilliant Death is an Italian-inspired fantasy that follows Teodora DiSangro, daughter of a mafia-like family, as she battles political intrigue, unique and creative magic and cultural sexism in her quest to save her family. When her father is poisoned by the Capo, the would-be leader of the united realm of Vinalia, Teo sets out with her brother Luca to find an antidote to the poison and the deal with the political consequences. But while the patriarchal culture of Vinalia means that quiet, studious Luca is automatically seen as the appropriate representative of their family’s interests simply because he is a boy, it is Teo who has studied at their father’s side to understand the politics of the realm and the actions the DiSangros must take to maintain power, and it is Teo who has used her secret magical abilities to protect their family’s interests. So rather than accompany Luca on his journey, Teo is determined to find a way to transform herself into a boy and take her brother’s place. Enter Cielo, a genderfluid strega whose power means he is sometimes a boy, sometimes a girl, sometimes a bird or other creature. Cielo can teach Teo how to take on a male form herself, but in the process of developing a relationship with the other strega, Teo also begins to question the world in which she was raised and the priorities it taught her.
“This face belonged to me. Other people believed it was me, but it could change by tomorrow.
I had already been a screaming baby, torn from her mother too early. An uncertain little girl, watching Father from the shadows. A di Sangro daughter who did not always feel like a daughter but would never be a son. A young woman hiding a knife in her sleeve and magic in her heart.
I was all those things, and I would be more.”
The best part of this book is its handling of gender and gender identity. I am always a little cautious when it comes to explorations of gender identity in a traditional fantasy world, because many authors struggle with handling a modern concept of gender in a world where sex restricts characters to a much greater degree than it does in ours. But Capetta makes a few really smart decision that make their handling of the topic shine. For one, there is more than one character dealing with gender identity issues. Cielo, a strega whose power grants them the ability to change their own body, can look like a boy or a girl for reasons of convenience, but it goes much deeper than that - whether by their own nature or because of their power, Cielo feels like both a boy and a girl. A genderfluid identity is inherent to who they are. As they say, they think to restrict themselves to one thing would be intolerable. Teo, on the other hand, has a different attitude, which brings me to the other smart thing Capetta is doing - they are engaging directly with the trope of the girl who disguises herself as a boy to have adventures or escape sexist restrictions on their freedom, a trope with a very long history in fantasy that is rooted in a rejection of patriarchy but also has resonance for trans and nonbinary readers. Teo is a character who would probably describe herself as “a girl, but not just a girl.” Some of her discomfort with her female gender identity is rooted in cultural reasons - she wants her father’s respect, she wants to be able to take her place as a member of her family with more to offer than just marrying and having children. But in other places it is clear that her identity, too, goes deeper than convenience - early on, she mentions how much she loves her masculine nickname (Teo is a boy’s name), and while she never embraces her ability to change her body physically into that of a boy the way Cielo does - it is clear that her female body always remains the one that feels most her - she nonetheless does come to see that form as also hers, and to love the way it allows her to transcend the limits of female identity. These differences of experience between Cielo and Teo, as well as the acknowledgement that Teo is both living in a sexist society and desires a more fluid identity for reasons that go beyond sexism, made Capetta’s handling of a “magical transgender” story feel more believable than most.
There were other things I liked about the book. The magic system was interesting, though we clearly don’t know everything about it yet. The world, though clearly very heavily based on historical Italy, is rich and interesting. I liked most of the characters and thought they were fleshed out well. Teo is an excellent protagonist. I love how ruthless she was; for all that she was a somewhat sheltered country girl, while Cielo was the independent traveler, it was Teo who felt like the harder character and Cielo who seemed softer and more vulnerable. The way they each developed, and the influence they had on each other, really got me invested in their relationship. Sometimes when you have a POV protagonist who is going to go through a radical change in their worldview over the course of the story, the love interest can get annoying because it seems like they are just there to facilitate that change. But Cielo changed just as much due to their journey and their relationship with Teo and I liked that.
Unfortunately there were a few things that pulled down the book for me. While the prose was mostly serviceable, it got muddled and confusing at times. In particular, Capetta seemed to struggle with the most emotionally intense sceneslike Luca’s death or the big confrontation between the Capo and Cielo ; I think at times they were going for a shocked/numb reaction from Teo but it often felt like the emotion of these scenes was just missing completely. And a lot of the backstory and magical worldbuilding seemed like it was explained in the most confusing way possible. I hope some of that will be improved on in the sequel.
“This face belonged to me. Other people believed it was me, but it could change by tomorrow.
I had already been a screaming baby, torn from her mother too early. An uncertain little girl, watching Father from the shadows. A di Sangro daughter who did not always feel like a daughter but would never be a son. A young woman hiding a knife in her sleeve and magic in her heart.
I was all those things, and I would be more.”
The best part of this book is its handling of gender and gender identity. I am always a little cautious when it comes to explorations of gender identity in a traditional fantasy world, because many authors struggle with handling a modern concept of gender in a world where sex restricts characters to a much greater degree than it does in ours. But Capetta makes a few really smart decision that make their handling of the topic shine. For one, there is more than one character dealing with gender identity issues. Cielo, a strega whose power grants them the ability to change their own body, can look like a boy or a girl for reasons of convenience, but it goes much deeper than that - whether by their own nature or because of their power, Cielo feels like both a boy and a girl. A genderfluid identity is inherent to who they are. As they say, they think to restrict themselves to one thing would be intolerable. Teo, on the other hand, has a different attitude, which brings me to the other smart thing Capetta is doing - they are engaging directly with the trope of the girl who disguises herself as a boy to have adventures or escape sexist restrictions on their freedom, a trope with a very long history in fantasy that is rooted in a rejection of patriarchy but also has resonance for trans and nonbinary readers. Teo is a character who would probably describe herself as “a girl, but not just a girl.” Some of her discomfort with her female gender identity is rooted in cultural reasons - she wants her father’s respect, she wants to be able to take her place as a member of her family with more to offer than just marrying and having children. But in other places it is clear that her identity, too, goes deeper than convenience - early on, she mentions how much she loves her masculine nickname (Teo is a boy’s name), and while she never embraces her ability to change her body physically into that of a boy the way Cielo does - it is clear that her female body always remains the one that feels most her - she nonetheless does come to see that form as also hers, and to love the way it allows her to transcend the limits of female identity. These differences of experience between Cielo and Teo, as well as the acknowledgement that Teo is both living in a sexist society and desires a more fluid identity for reasons that go beyond sexism, made Capetta’s handling of a “magical transgender” story feel more believable than most.
There were other things I liked about the book. The magic system was interesting, though we clearly don’t know everything about it yet. The world, though clearly very heavily based on historical Italy, is rich and interesting. I liked most of the characters and thought they were fleshed out well. Teo is an excellent protagonist. I love how ruthless she was; for all that she was a somewhat sheltered country girl, while Cielo was the independent traveler, it was Teo who felt like the harder character and Cielo who seemed softer and more vulnerable. The way they each developed, and the influence they had on each other, really got me invested in their relationship. Sometimes when you have a POV protagonist who is going to go through a radical change in their worldview over the course of the story, the love interest can get annoying because it seems like they are just there to facilitate that change. But Cielo changed just as much due to their journey and their relationship with Teo and I liked that.
Unfortunately there were a few things that pulled down the book for me. While the prose was mostly serviceable, it got muddled and confusing at times. In particular, Capetta seemed to struggle with the most emotionally intense scenes
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia
stateofdreamingg's review against another edition
2.0
I didn’t really enjoy this all that much, but I didn’t hate it either so that’s why I gave it 2 stars. The idea of the book is original and the reason why I finished it.
The plot was uninteresting and the writing style wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters at all, but there were some parts of it that I rather liked. Probably won’t be reading the next book.
The plot was uninteresting and the writing style wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters at all, but there were some parts of it that I rather liked. Probably won’t be reading the next book.
llyrrhiannon's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyable fantasy-mafia-lgbtq romance novel. Excellent characters. I was hoping this would be a start to a series.