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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)rcsreads's review
I was really excited to read this but it really needed a good edit. The world building is just poorly written information dump a lot of which doesn't make sense, people constantly have really forced, unnatural conversations which are clearly just there to give me information. The city planet has no sense of scale or geography and seemed to descend down a long way in ruins, it reminded me of mega city 1 but more nonsensical. Also, one district has been lost for like 10,000 years but they somehow haven't changed in anyway and still speak the same language.
The planet is a matriarchy but they've just given the women the most stereotypical toxic male behaviour and vice versa. I think they were trying to be clever and make a point but they have failed.
The sex scenes are badly written and terrible and I think the main character is supposed to be using sex for political purposes but they're really bad at it.
A good premise, badly executed.
The planet is a matriarchy but they've just given the women the most stereotypical toxic male behaviour and vice versa. I think they were trying to be clever and make a point but they have failed.
The sex scenes are badly written and terrible and I think the main character is supposed to be using sex for political purposes but they're really bad at it.
A good premise, badly executed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual content, Sexism, and Misogyny
vaniavela's review
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This was a very heavy read. Throughout it, I didn't feel a connection to the characters, maybe because of how complicated their names were to remember, or simply because there wasn't something that hooked me to them. The plot was very interesting, and I was eager to know this world, but the truth is that I was about 20% into the book and I still didn't understand/enjoy many aspects of it. There were a lot of elements, and perhaps that was one of the mistakes; so much was attempted to be covered that nothing ever came to fruition, and so it all feels half-baked. Hopefully I can pick up this read again in the future, but for now it strikes me as a book with great potential that wasn't fully tapped.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Murder and Death
Minor: Homophobia
anniereads221's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, War, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
5.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Rebellion for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Damn this was brutal, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Y'all this book is incredibly. There is so much going on and I was thrilled by it. But also there are lots of sex scenes and very graphic ones so if that's not your thing, you probably don't want to read this. There is a shit ton of slow moving action, political intrigue, betrayal etc so you will need to strap in for this read. Think in terms of The Unbroken or The Priory of the Orange Tree.
Silk Fire is an epic fantasy world with a matriarchal society. This story follows Koré, a bastard to his aristocratic father. Koré has had to make his own way in a city that caters to the elite and wealthy. Disowned from his biological family, Koré has worked as a sex worker/courtesan and has made a reputation for himself as one of the best. When the Judge of the city begins to fall ill, Koré knows he'll stop at nothing to keep his father from being appointed the next judge. But a chance encounter with a dying god imbues him with magic-breathing powers and Koré finds himself hunted.
This was so good. I cannot sing enough praises about this book. I loved it so much. I will admit it did take a bit to get familiar with the names and the way this society worked. I wish I knew it was matriarchal from the get go, because once I figured that out so many things made so much more sense!!
There was so much betrayal though and damn it hurt me a little bit. I can't believe this is only a standalone. I have so many questions about what happens next. I loved the journey Koré went on with dealing with all the trauma he's suffered. I want to see more of him being happy. His triad makes me so happy and soft. I want more of it.
Also there be dragons here. You're welcome.
Rep: Mainly BIPOC cast. Polyamorous bisexual male MC, female love interest, achillean male love interest, trans female side character, various queer side characters.
CWs from the author: violence against sex workers, including threatened SA, groping, and one scene of dubcon. Discussions of historical colonization and genocide, cyclical violence. Child neglect, emotional and physical
CWs from me: Emotional abuse, sexual content (there are a lot of sex scenes), toxic relationship, violence, sexism, misandry, sexual assault, classism, child abuse, death, sexual violence, death of parent, murder, sexual harassment, war, violence, alcohol consumption, alcoholism, addiction, generalized trauma. Moderate: fire that doesn't burn, infertility, colonisation, genocide, child neglect. Minor: transphobia/transmisia, queerphobia/queermisia.
Damn this was brutal, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Y'all this book is incredibly. There is so much going on and I was thrilled by it. But also there are lots of sex scenes and very graphic ones so if that's not your thing, you probably don't want to read this. There is a shit ton of slow moving action, political intrigue, betrayal etc so you will need to strap in for this read. Think in terms of The Unbroken or The Priory of the Orange Tree.
Silk Fire is an epic fantasy world with a matriarchal society. This story follows Koré, a bastard to his aristocratic father. Koré has had to make his own way in a city that caters to the elite and wealthy. Disowned from his biological family, Koré has worked as a sex worker/courtesan and has made a reputation for himself as one of the best. When the Judge of the city begins to fall ill, Koré knows he'll stop at nothing to keep his father from being appointed the next judge. But a chance encounter with a dying god imbues him with magic-breathing powers and Koré finds himself hunted.
This was so good. I cannot sing enough praises about this book. I loved it so much. I will admit it did take a bit to get familiar with the names and the way this society worked. I wish I knew it was matriarchal from the get go, because once I figured that out so many things made so much more sense!!
There was so much betrayal though and damn it hurt me a little bit. I can't believe this is only a standalone. I have so many questions about what happens next. I loved the journey Koré went on with dealing with all the trauma he's suffered. I want to see more of him being happy. His triad makes me so happy and soft. I want more of it.
Also there be dragons here. You're welcome.
Rep: Mainly BIPOC cast. Polyamorous bisexual male MC, female love interest, achillean male love interest, trans female side character, various queer side characters.
CWs from the author: violence against sex workers, including threatened SA, groping, and one scene of dubcon. Discussions of historical colonization and genocide, cyclical violence. Child neglect, emotional and physical
CWs from me: Emotional abuse, sexual content (there are a lot of sex scenes), toxic relationship, violence, sexism, misandry, sexual assault, classism, child abuse, death, sexual violence, death of parent, murder, sexual harassment, war, violence, alcohol consumption, alcoholism, addiction, generalized trauma. Moderate: fire that doesn't burn, infertility, colonisation, genocide, child neglect. Minor: transphobia/transmisia, queerphobia/queermisia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Murder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, and Infertility
Minor: Transphobia and Homophobia
elizajaquays's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
When I heard bisexual dragon with a poly endgame relationship, I knew I had to pick this book up! It has absolutely gorgeous world-building and a whole cast of morally grey characters trying their best.
This is not a quick-paced action packed read, but rather one where you will need time to immerse yourself into the world. While Koré was quick to throw himself into the action, the book has a slow buildup in tension and I was about halfway in before I was completely hooked and at that point I wasn’t able to put it down.
Silk Fire’s strengths are definitely in the storytelling and the intricate weaving of motivations and goals that shift with every piece of new information. It’s primary weakness would be that the characters feel like cardboard props for the world building for the first third of the novel and the sex scenes manage to be both gratuitous and clinical at the same time.
Overall, I did really enjoy reading it and am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.
This is not a quick-paced action packed read, but rather one where you will need time to immerse yourself into the world. While Koré was quick to throw himself into the action, the book has a slow buildup in tension and I was about halfway in before I was completely hooked and at that point I wasn’t able to put it down.
Silk Fire’s strengths are definitely in the storytelling and the intricate weaving of motivations and goals that shift with every piece of new information. It’s primary weakness would be that the characters feel like cardboard props for the world building for the first third of the novel and the sex scenes manage to be both gratuitous and clinical at the same time.
Overall, I did really enjoy reading it and am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, and Sexism
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Violence, Infidelity, Murder, War, and Alcoholism
Minor: Vomit
lycanhood's review
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Okay, so this cover is incredible! Everything about it is amazing! As soon as I saw it I knew I had to get my hands on this book. The color palette, the dragon scales, the name! It's firing on all cylinders, the cover designer and artist deserve major props.
Unfortunately...I'm sorry to say that the book contained within the cover is a mess 😬 Let's get into it, spoiler-free (unless otherwise stated)...
This book takes place in a grim fantasy world sparkling with a mix of technology and magic, steeped in moral bankruptcy, political scheming, & cruel classism.
This world is divided into those who have and those who have not, and what they have and have not is a magical force called essence, kind of like life-force that all living beings naturally produce but that can also be collected, stolen, hoarded, and freely given between people. This essence enhances an individual's own life-force allowing them to live longer, be stronger, faster, smarter, more beautiful. And so of course it's hoarded by the rich and powerful.
The story's MC, Kore BrightStar, is an illegitimate bastard son living on the edges of this world's most elite society. He is a high-end courtesan that owns his own brothel and uses his unseemly connections & natural charm to politically maneuver revenge against his highborne father.
This book is trying to do ALOT. Probably too much. It is a non-stop political backstabbing twisty turney roller coaster that moves at a nonsensical breakneck pace. Especially in the beginning and the whole second half of this book it is hard to know what is actually going on a lot of the times. It can be difficult to know where you are in terms of setting. Scenes shift as quickly and unpleasantly as loyalties in this book. It's really a problem in terms of storytelling more so than in terms of plot. I think this plot sort of stripped down is not in itself bad, but the way it's being told narratively is unfortunate and frustrating to read.
The author tried to build this hybrid sci-fi fantasy world that mixes technology ancient magic, old feuds ancient myths, gods, rulers, dragons, nacromancers, political Intrigue, romance, flashbacks, sword fights, zombies, magic, daddy issues.... And it's not to say all of these things can't or shouldn't exist within one story or one book. In fact we know that they can and maybe should, BUT this is just things thrown at the wall. I can see how this if it were cleaned up and parsed out and sort of taken by a firm hand might have made a fantastic story and a really enriched kind of unique sci-fi hybrid world... This just isn't it. It's unpolished and confusing to look at. It's hard to have a real sense of the setting or the world outside of Kore's head & the blinding light of his emotions.
Kore is not a bad protagonist though he may come off as a bit overdramatic at times. Flip-flopping from one extreme to the next. But that can be forgiven in an angsty tortured soul protagonist, and he goes through real character development throughout the course of the story. If anything his character arc is the steady line in the storm of this book. The book is about Kore learning his own self-worth, what it means to be loved, and how to recognize that when it comes along.
The romance and the love interests are also not poorly done. In fact I would say if the book had slowed down, pulled back on the political reigns, focused a little bit more on the relationship(s) between Kore & his love interest it would have really benefited an emotional payoff towards the end. His love interests are interesting as complex as the breakneck pacing will allow them to be, noble but not innocent, and distinctly different from one another in a way that gives the polyamorous relationship depth. They both work as good matches for Kore, and I really wish this book had given us more of that and more of the three of them together. Because let's be honest I came here for the polyamory and let's be really honest I stayed here for the polyamory.
The truth is I almost stopped reading this book multiple times. Once very close to the beginning when I just was rubbed entirely the wrong way by the writing style. Because in those first few chapters there is absolutely no hand holding you are thrown into a political shark tank full of fantasy world terms, references, character/place names, and it is a total bombardment. However I stuck with it for the polyamory (and for the promise of dragons). And honestly it got a little bit better and I was genuinely enjoying it leading up to the halfway point, and then there's this big climactic thing that happens around chapter 16 and it honestly felt like the end of the book or a book. And then everything fell apart again and the plot gets really jumbly the pacing gets out of whack again and I had to force myself to finish the second half of the book.
If you're coming here for the dragons you're going to be disappointed. Not going into spoilers so I won't say much more than that but if you're here for the dragons this is not the place to be. If you're here for the polyamory there is that and it's not poorly done but there's not really enough of it. I wanted so much more of it and you have to get through so much political bull and like angsty daddy issue stuff, to get little enjoyable glimpses of the polyamory.
*To confirm, this book does contain a canon polyamorous relationship, between two men and a woman.*
Overall this book was pretty disappointing and right on the verge of DNF territory. I think the author had some really cool ideas for a fantasy world, and I think there is something to be said for the political plot line and intrigue but it's suffocating and overwhelming. The polyamorous relationship and the characters they're in had a lot of potential and we're at times enjoyable but there just wasn't enough of it. I don't think I'll be continuing on with this series if it is supposed to be a series (I have no idea). But I would consider reading this author again if I felt like they had maybe been more heavily edited and polished, because this book just needed a lot more love.
Trigger Warnings: graphic sex (lots of sex like in every other chapter there's sex), violence, War, classism, sexism, sexual violence, degrading sex, sex games, murder, fire, death of a parent, child abuse, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, name calling, gore, brutality
Unfortunately...I'm sorry to say that the book contained within the cover is a mess 😬 Let's get into it, spoiler-free (unless otherwise stated)...
This book takes place in a grim fantasy world sparkling with a mix of technology and magic, steeped in moral bankruptcy, political scheming, & cruel classism.
This world is divided into those who have and those who have not, and what they have and have not is a magical force called essence, kind of like life-force that all living beings naturally produce but that can also be collected, stolen, hoarded, and freely given between people. This essence enhances an individual's own life-force allowing them to live longer, be stronger, faster, smarter, more beautiful. And so of course it's hoarded by the rich and powerful.
The story's MC, Kore BrightStar, is an illegitimate bastard son living on the edges of this world's most elite society. He is a high-end courtesan that owns his own brothel and uses his unseemly connections & natural charm to politically maneuver revenge against his highborne father.
This book is trying to do ALOT. Probably too much. It is a non-stop political backstabbing twisty turney roller coaster that moves at a nonsensical breakneck pace. Especially in the beginning and the whole second half of this book it is hard to know what is actually going on a lot of the times. It can be difficult to know where you are in terms of setting. Scenes shift as quickly and unpleasantly as loyalties in this book. It's really a problem in terms of storytelling more so than in terms of plot. I think this plot sort of stripped down is not in itself bad, but the way it's being told narratively is unfortunate and frustrating to read.
The author tried to build this hybrid sci-fi fantasy world that mixes technology ancient magic, old feuds ancient myths, gods, rulers, dragons, nacromancers, political Intrigue, romance, flashbacks, sword fights, zombies, magic, daddy issues.... And it's not to say all of these things can't or shouldn't exist within one story or one book. In fact we know that they can and maybe should, BUT this is just things thrown at the wall. I can see how this if it were cleaned up and parsed out and sort of taken by a firm hand might have made a fantastic story and a really enriched kind of unique sci-fi hybrid world... This just isn't it. It's unpolished and confusing to look at. It's hard to have a real sense of the setting or the world outside of Kore's head & the blinding light of his emotions.
Kore is not a bad protagonist though he may come off as a bit overdramatic at times. Flip-flopping from one extreme to the next. But that can be forgiven in an angsty tortured soul protagonist, and he goes through real character development throughout the course of the story. If anything his character arc is the steady line in the storm of this book. The book is about Kore learning his own self-worth, what it means to be loved, and how to recognize that when it comes along.
The romance and the love interests are also not poorly done. In fact I would say if the book had slowed down, pulled back on the political reigns, focused a little bit more on the relationship(s) between Kore & his love interest it would have really benefited an emotional payoff towards the end. His love interests are interesting as complex as the breakneck pacing will allow them to be, noble but not innocent, and distinctly different from one another in a way that gives the polyamorous relationship depth. They both work as good matches for Kore, and I really wish this book had given us more of that and more of the three of them together. Because let's be honest I came here for the polyamory and let's be really honest I stayed here for the polyamory.
The truth is I almost stopped reading this book multiple times. Once very close to the beginning when I just was rubbed entirely the wrong way by the writing style. Because in those first few chapters there is absolutely no hand holding you are thrown into a political shark tank full of fantasy world terms, references, character/place names, and it is a total bombardment. However I stuck with it for the polyamory (and for the promise of dragons). And honestly it got a little bit better and I was genuinely enjoying it leading up to the halfway point, and then there's this big climactic thing that happens around chapter 16 and it honestly felt like the end of the book or a book. And then everything fell apart again and the plot gets really jumbly the pacing gets out of whack again and I had to force myself to finish the second half of the book.
If you're coming here for the dragons you're going to be disappointed. Not going into spoilers so I won't say much more than that but if you're here for the dragons this is not the place to be. If you're here for the polyamory there is that and it's not poorly done but there's not really enough of it. I wanted so much more of it and you have to get through so much political bull and like angsty daddy issue stuff, to get little enjoyable glimpses of the polyamory.
*To confirm, this book does contain a canon polyamorous relationship, between two men and a woman.*
Overall this book was pretty disappointing and right on the verge of DNF territory. I think the author had some really cool ideas for a fantasy world, and I think there is something to be said for the political plot line and intrigue but it's suffocating and overwhelming. The polyamorous relationship and the characters they're in had a lot of potential and we're at times enjoyable but there just wasn't enough of it. I don't think I'll be continuing on with this series if it is supposed to be a series (I have no idea). But I would consider reading this author again if I felt like they had maybe been more heavily edited and polished, because this book just needed a lot more love.
Trigger Warnings: graphic sex (lots of sex like in every other chapter there's sex), violence, War, classism, sexism, sexual violence, degrading sex, sex games, murder, fire, death of a parent, child abuse, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, name calling, gore, brutality
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Classism, Death, Violence, and War
rheah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
Updating this because I gave it some thoughts: what I thought was me not understanding the book was a common problem amongst reviewers so hm probably more a flaw of the book that a fault of mine. truth was: I struggled to finish this book and had no idea about the world of what was going on but I thought that I was the one not reading it seriously enough. Turns out probably not me. I've made criticism about the matriarchal society in this book before and others have said it better than me but like it was very not enjoyable and missing the point of gender oppression entirely (like you know there's an economic purpose behind it too right?)
And considering how many top negative reviews of this book say something among the lines of revised/remove due to harassment, please leave me alone.
I will mention but not detail the subtle lesbophobia and transmisogyny of the book (as a consequence of the matriarchal society but given the author's twitter not only that).
3 stars is because of my enjoyment of the book but in terms of quality, it's between 3 and four stars.
Silk Fire has a rich and complex world with a matriarchal society. The main character, Koré, is a sex worker (and yes there are multiple explicit sex scenes) who wants to stop his father from gaining political power. He's a fascinating main character who uses his charms to get what he wants but is full of self-loathing and doesn't believe that he deserves anything. I felt like the narration was a bit heavy-handed with his internal dialogue being "I'm a monster" all the time. It was interesting at first to see what kind of development we would get from this but 80% into the book he was still going on every chapter about being a monster.
This is a book that focuses on the plot rather than on the characters and that was a shame because I couldn't follow the plot at all. I'm used to complex fantasy plots, but I felt stupid reading this because sometimes a thing would happen and I had no idea how we got from point A to point B. I had a hard time tracking who was everyone because I was reading on my phone so I didn't feel like flipping to the glossary every time I couldn't remember a side character. I'm not often thrown off by confusing books, I actually enjoy piecing together the worldbuilding but it felt like this time the fault lied with the book rather than with my own understanding of the story.
However, the writing was gorgeous and the description so lush.
This is a common complaint for me but Koré and another character confess their love about 60% into the book and act all in love during the rest of the book (this is about one of the love interest, the main character ends up in a poly relationship) and at no point I knew why they had feelings to each other. I understand Koré falling for the first person who shows him attention but the other way around? Since this is a very plot-heavy book, I couldn't connect to their relationship at all. because I felt like they almost had none (and the book was long).
One last thing, I do not know about the author's intentions and therefore it's not a judgment of values but I strongly dislike seeing a matriarchal society that is just our sexist society but man swapped for woman. every insults used against Koré is a misogynistic insult which made me super uncomfortable to read given how the writing reminds you all the time that he is a man oppressed by society.
And considering how many top negative reviews of this book say something among the lines of revised/remove due to harassment, please leave me alone.
I will mention but not detail the subtle lesbophobia and transmisogyny of the book (as a consequence of the matriarchal society but given the author's twitter not only that).
3 stars is because of my enjoyment of the book but in terms of quality, it's between 3 and four stars.
Silk Fire has a rich and complex world with a matriarchal society. The main character, Koré, is a sex worker (and yes there are multiple explicit sex scenes) who wants to stop his father from gaining political power. He's a fascinating main character who uses his charms to get what he wants but is full of self-loathing and doesn't believe that he deserves anything. I felt like the narration was a bit heavy-handed with his internal dialogue being "I'm a monster" all the time. It was interesting at first to see what kind of development we would get from this but 80% into the book he was still going on every chapter about being a monster.
This is a book that focuses on the plot rather than on the characters and that was a shame because I couldn't follow the plot at all. I'm used to complex fantasy plots, but I felt stupid reading this because sometimes a thing would happen and I had no idea how we got from point A to point B. I had a hard time tracking who was everyone because I was reading on my phone so I didn't feel like flipping to the glossary every time I couldn't remember a side character. I'm not often thrown off by confusing books, I actually enjoy piecing together the worldbuilding but it felt like this time the fault lied with the book rather than with my own understanding of the story.
However, the writing was gorgeous and the description so lush.
This is a common complaint for me but Koré and another character confess their love about 60% into the book and act all in love during the rest of the book (this is about one of the love interest, the main character ends up in a poly relationship) and at no point I knew why they had feelings to each other. I understand Koré falling for the first person who shows him attention but the other way around? Since this is a very plot-heavy book, I couldn't connect to their relationship at all. because I felt like they almost had none (and the book was long).
One last thing, I do not know about the author's intentions and therefore it's not a judgment of values but I strongly dislike seeing a matriarchal society that is just our sexist society but man swapped for woman. every insults used against Koré is a misogynistic insult which made me super uncomfortable to read given how the writing reminds you all the time that he is a man oppressed by society.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
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