Scan barcode
happybirb's review
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
This book has such an interesting premise and summary that you think it can’t possibly be boring. Then you start reading it and it’s about 400+ pages of this kid talking about how he’s a monster, no really, there’s a darkness inside him you really wouldn’t get. I skimmed the last 100 pages because I just wanted to know what happened.
Characters: interesting! I like the three main characters, even despite what I just said about kore. I liked watching them orbit each other and their interactions and relationship growth did feel very natural. We love a polycule, and this one actually seemed healthy so pop off.
Plot: I lost the plot. Not really, bc I kept being beat over the head with it, but my god. The more interesting necromancer plot was relegated to b plot while “I’m trying to get an endorsement for this politician” was 2/3 of the book. Slow. I didn’t really care about it
Writing: overall pretty good, I appreciated the attempt to use the matriarchal society to highlight how stupid some fantasy books sound in regards to female characters, but this was just too heavy handed. It came off very “and now a word from our sponsors: feminism”. I do think there’s an interesting discussion to be had here though about deconstructing thoughts that a matriarchal society would be a wonderland of loving equality, but I don’t think that’s what this book was trying to do.
Side note: the sex scenes were fine. Which honestly is pretty good, they weren’t horrible to read, even if I was jumpscared by the first one bc I didn’t expect this book to have multiple intense sex scenes in it.
Overall: 1.5 stars. I wouldn’t read it again and I wouldn’t recommend it to any one. Might rant about it while drunk at midnight
Characters: interesting! I like the three main characters, even despite what I just said about kore. I liked watching them orbit each other and their interactions and relationship growth did feel very natural.
Plot: I lost the plot. Not really, bc I kept being beat over the head with it, but my god. The more interesting necromancer plot was relegated to b plot while “I’m trying to get an endorsement for this politician” was 2/3 of the book. Slow. I didn’t really care about it
Writing: overall pretty good, I appreciated the attempt to use the matriarchal society to highlight how stupid some fantasy books sound in regards to female characters, but this was just too heavy handed. It came off very “and now a word from our sponsors: feminism”. I do think there’s an interesting discussion to be had here though about deconstructing thoughts that a matriarchal society would be a wonderland of loving equality, but I don’t think that’s what this book was trying to do.
Side note: the sex scenes were fine. Which honestly is pretty good, they weren’t horrible to read, even if I was jumpscared by the first one bc I didn’t expect this book to have multiple intense sex scenes in it.
Overall: 1.5 stars. I wouldn’t read it again and I wouldn’t recommend it to any one. Might rant about it while drunk at midnight
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Kidnapping
Minor: Drug use, Infertility, Genocide, Pregnancy, Stalking, Medical trauma, and Torture
thebackcatalogue's review
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Zabé Ellor’s first foray into Adult SFF is an overly ambitious novel of revenge that doesn’t quite hit the mark. Characters often flip-flop between motivations, and his world overstuffed with elements. Silk Fire is a confusing read that doesn’t live up to the author’s ambitions. — Full Review on thebackcatalogue.substack.com
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, and Violence
Graphic: Sexual Content, Rape, Sexual Assault Depicted: Violence, Homophobia, Gendered Violence (on Men), Sexism, Gender Essentialism Mentioned: Forced Marriage (Male to Female)bkwrm1317's review
Big thanks to NetGalley + Rebellion Publishing for giving me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Really interesting premise with a beautiful cover (dragons + dinosaurs + spaceships? + matrilineal/matriarchal society + political intrigue + polyamory + trans folk + sex work + magic of a sort + lots more) and interesting universe. Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me due to pacing + muddled narrative (some chapters kept me on the line/made me turn the page, but then I'd stumble into one that felt chaotic and incredibly difficult to follow). This is an ambitious book whose execution felt lacking for me and/or could benefit from intensive editing for greater clarity for the reader.
Some additional that had me struggling with this read included:
- lots of info dumping that didn't end up providing clarity about the universe or setting (as a reader I want to know the things I need to know, and am happy with unfamiliar/universe-specific words for things that I'll figure out with context but that balance was off with this one)
- execution of the gender role reversal bit (love the concept here, but the execution felt like a simple 180 of clichéd understandings of gender roles for this reader)
Also note: not for the faint of heart (please read TWs before picking this one up), but potentially the right fit for folks who enjoy heavier SFF and are comfortable with the type of content covered by TWs.
Really interesting premise with a beautiful cover (dragons + dinosaurs + spaceships? + matrilineal/matriarchal society + political intrigue + polyamory + trans folk + sex work + magic of a sort + lots more) and interesting universe. Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me due to pacing + muddled narrative (some chapters kept me on the line/made me turn the page, but then I'd stumble into one that felt chaotic and incredibly difficult to follow). This is an ambitious book whose execution felt lacking for me and/or could benefit from intensive editing for greater clarity for the reader.
Some additional that had me struggling with this read included:
- lots of info dumping that didn't end up providing clarity about the universe or setting (as a reader I want to know the things I need to know, and am happy with unfamiliar/universe-specific words for things that I'll figure out with context but that balance was off with this one)
- execution of the gender role reversal bit (love the concept here, but the execution felt like a simple 180 of clichéd understandings of gender roles for this reader)
Also note: not for the faint of heart (please read TWs before picking this one up), but potentially the right fit for folks who enjoy heavier SFF and are comfortable with the type of content covered by TWs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Murder
Sex worker protagonist, lots of consent + sexual violence issues (not implied with a sex worker protagonist obvi, but was of issue in Silk Fire).
More...