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emerrick's review against another edition
4.0
Fully entertained by this book! I really enjoined the relationship between Teodora and Ceilo as well as he overall story. There were definitely some weak points, like instant love and not super well developed world building but overall, really liked this and can't wait to read the sequel when it comes out
jacquelynjoan's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
A million stars! I have been longing for a book in my favorite genre (fantasy)(about witches) to be set in Italy or prominently feature Italian/Italian-American culture! It's like this book was written for me! Thank you Amy Rose Capetta! I read one of her other books, The Lost Coast, and I liked it and when I read the word "strega" in the description of this, I knew I had to read it! It did not disappoint! I can't wait to read the sequel! (Kind of disappointed it's only a duology, but it's better not to stretch it too thin if that's how it feels right).
So many other great things about this book too, the gender stuff and owning your power and being yourself and carving a place in the world for yourself and figuring out what's right when things seem ambiguous, etc. Really good.
As a mostly cis, mostly straight woman I still highly related to feeling boxed in by the gender expectations on girls and stuff.
So many other great things about this book too, the gender stuff and owning your power and being yourself and carving a place in the world for yourself and figuring out what's right when things seem ambiguous, etc. Really good.
As a mostly cis, mostly straight woman I still highly related to feeling boxed in by the gender expectations on girls and stuff.
macedowitz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
4.0
readyfreddie's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
debsnjules's review against another edition
3.0
I am not sure how I feel about this one. It started off really well and then kinda slowed down in the middle. Then before the end it got interesting again.. but died again at the end. It was eh.
missprint_'s review against another edition
4.0
Everyone in Vinalia knows that magic and the streghe who use it only exist in stories. Or they did before Vinalia's unification under the Capo and rumors that magic has returned to Vinalia.
No one knows that Teodora di Sangro is a strega who can change people into objects. For Teo and her siblings family has always been fate, forcing them into roles they may not want. Teo is proud to belong to one of the Five Families. But she also knows that as a girl she will never truly have a place at the table the way her brothers do.
Desperate for her father's approval, Teo takes it upon herself to address any threats to the family. Instead of killing their enemies, Teo uses her secret strega magic to transform them into objects like music boxes or mirrors that decorate her room.
When the Capo's latest bid for power leaves Teo's father poisoned and the heads of the other families dead, Teo knows she is the only one who can answer the Capo's summons to the capital and find an antidote. But first she will have to transform herself to look the part of a di Sangro heir by becoming a boy.
Unable to learn this new magic alone, Teo enters into a bargain with Cielo, a mysterious strega who can switch between male and female forms as easily as opening a book. Teo's transformation and her journey bring her into the center of Vinalia's sinister politics as she tries to save her family in The Brilliant Death (2018) by Amy Rose Capetta.
The Brilliant Death is the first book in Capetta's latest fantasy duology.
Vibrant imagery and vivid language imbue The Brilliant Death with wonder and intrigue in a world inspired by Italian folklore. In addition to unraveling plots and facing dangerous enemies, Teo explores her gender identity and what it means to be a girl (or not) in her world alongside her sexy genderfluid magic tutor Cielo whose dry wit and charm only increases the chemistry between them.
A highly original magic system and a protagonist who is as ruthless as she is fiery make for a fast-paced adventure. Fans will be eager for the conclusion of this duology.
Possible Pairings: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao, Rule by Ellen Goodlett, The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green, For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig, Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte, Kingdom of Ash and Briars by Hannah West
*A more condensed version of this review was published in an of School Library Journal as a starred review*
No one knows that Teodora di Sangro is a strega who can change people into objects. For Teo and her siblings family has always been fate, forcing them into roles they may not want. Teo is proud to belong to one of the Five Families. But she also knows that as a girl she will never truly have a place at the table the way her brothers do.
Desperate for her father's approval, Teo takes it upon herself to address any threats to the family. Instead of killing their enemies, Teo uses her secret strega magic to transform them into objects like music boxes or mirrors that decorate her room.
When the Capo's latest bid for power leaves Teo's father poisoned and the heads of the other families dead, Teo knows she is the only one who can answer the Capo's summons to the capital and find an antidote. But first she will have to transform herself to look the part of a di Sangro heir by becoming a boy.
Unable to learn this new magic alone, Teo enters into a bargain with Cielo, a mysterious strega who can switch between male and female forms as easily as opening a book. Teo's transformation and her journey bring her into the center of Vinalia's sinister politics as she tries to save her family in The Brilliant Death (2018) by Amy Rose Capetta.
The Brilliant Death is the first book in Capetta's latest fantasy duology.
Vibrant imagery and vivid language imbue The Brilliant Death with wonder and intrigue in a world inspired by Italian folklore. In addition to unraveling plots and facing dangerous enemies, Teo explores her gender identity and what it means to be a girl (or not) in her world alongside her sexy genderfluid magic tutor Cielo whose dry wit and charm only increases the chemistry between them.
A highly original magic system and a protagonist who is as ruthless as she is fiery make for a fast-paced adventure. Fans will be eager for the conclusion of this duology.
Possible Pairings: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao, Rule by Ellen Goodlett, The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green, For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig, Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte, Kingdom of Ash and Briars by Hannah West
*A more condensed version of this review was published in an of School Library Journal as a starred review*
readabookortwo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-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
2.0
I really wanted to REALLY love this book but it was just mediocre for me unfortunately!!
I really loved Luca he was my favourite character and I really liked Cielo too but Teo for some reason I found super frustrating a lot of the time and she just rubbed me up the wrong way and idek why
The plot was so slow moving until the last little bit by which time I didnt really care and was just bored
The writing though was super super beautiful but this is my second by the author and the first I DNF'd and this is a 3* so I'll try the other one i have by them and if I dont like it I'll give up.
I really loved Luca he was my favourite character and I really liked Cielo too but Teo for some reason I found super frustrating a lot of the time and she just rubbed me up the wrong way and idek why
The plot was so slow moving until the last little bit by which time I didnt really care and was just bored
The writing though was super super beautiful but this is my second by the author and the first I DNF'd and this is a 3* so I'll try the other one i have by them and if I dont like it I'll give up.
angnay01's review against another edition
3.0
I found the story of the stregas interesting. Teo's powers at first are a little strange but amusing. They later develop more and are more interesting and complex. The story itself was a little off. It was like a magic filled mafia. All it all, it was an ok read. Not a favorite for me.
Thanks bookishfirst for the advanced copy for my honest opinion.
Thanks bookishfirst for the advanced copy for my honest opinion.
citrus_seasalt's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
2.75 stars. The Brilliant Death was a book that captivated me with its premise, but I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I thought it would. Firstly, I found the way the story tackled gender and identity to be a mixed bag. Gender seemed to be almost intrinsically tied to sex, and with Cielo especially, there was more of an emphasis on that than expression/presentation(which made for a few uncomfortable sentences?). It felt pretty gender norm-y, which I would’ve expected from the macho, sexist dudes of the story but not in regards to the POV of our genderqueer protagonist. (To be fair though, this book was published in 2018, and the author writes under a different name now so I presume from the deadname on the cover they didn’t have as much of an understanding of gender, perhaps their own, and that impacted Teo and Cielo’s characterization.) By the end, though, there was more of a dissection/discussion of gender and I felt it improved.
Magic/power system was basically nonexistent here, too. We got a vague idea of Teo’s limitations(which were improved upon more, oddly, when they got a sort-of-power-upgrade towards the end), and I thought their abilities were silly. I can’t really take seriously a person that points a hand or finger at a foe and poof! now they’re a music box or some other fancy-schmancy object of choice. (If it actually described how a person or entity was altered by it, bit by bit, I probably would’ve been able to take it seriously.)
I was also on-the-fence about the main romance, which was a disappointment because it was actually a factor that drew me in based on what I heard of the book. It was very inta-lust(romantic feelings weren’t developed until later), and as a result I felt Cielo and Teo’s relationship moved a little too quickly until the end. But, there were some sweet moments, I’ll admit: I’m a sucker for love interests who put themselves on the line for whoever they love, and this was no exception. (Cielo was a pretty average “sarcastic, handsome dark-haired love interest” archetype though. To those who love that kind of thing, great, you will absolutely eat this up, but I’m not one of those people. To each their own.)
I also didn’t like the plot. It felt very Typical YA, there wasn’t a single twist I was surprised by and the characters overall fell very flat.
Even with its flaws, though, it was immensely enjoyable and I lost track of my pages until I reached the end and stared at my copy stunned at my progress. So…maybe it’s too harsh to call it a bad book, but don’t call it top-notch fiction either.
Magic/power system was basically nonexistent here, too. We got a vague idea of Teo’s limitations(which were improved upon more, oddly, when they got a sort-of-power-upgrade towards the end), and I thought their abilities were silly. I can’t really take seriously a person that points a hand or finger at a foe and poof! now they’re a music box or some other fancy-schmancy object of choice. (If it actually described how a person or entity was altered by it, bit by bit, I probably would’ve been able to take it seriously.)
I was also on-the-fence about the main romance, which was a disappointment because it was actually a factor that drew me in based on what I heard of the book. It was very inta-lust(romantic feelings weren’t developed until later), and as a result I felt Cielo and Teo’s relationship moved a little too quickly until the end. But, there were some sweet moments, I’ll admit: I’m a sucker for love interests who put themselves on the line for whoever they love, and this was no exception. (Cielo was a pretty average “sarcastic, handsome dark-haired love interest” archetype though. To those who love that kind of thing, great, you will absolutely eat this up, but I’m not one of those people. To each their own.)
I also didn’t like the plot. It felt very Typical YA, there wasn’t a single twist I was surprised by and the characters overall fell very flat.
Even with its flaws, though, it was immensely enjoyable and I lost track of my pages until I reached the end and stared at my copy stunned at my progress. So…maybe it’s too harsh to call it a bad book, but don’t call it top-notch fiction either.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Violence, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexism