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bookforthought's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I received an advance review copy of this book for free from the publisher and Wunderkind PR via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Gore, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, and Death
Moderate: War, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Drug use
readingrenbo's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
firefly99's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Vomit, War, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Rape, and Medical trauma
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
distilledreads's review
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Death, Blood, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, Body horror, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Murder, and War
bear_ridge_tarot's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Body horror, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Mental illness
Minor: Drug use, Vomit, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts
ofateaspoon's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
But all that said, definitely check your content warnings. This one is *dark* and could be very triggering to anyone who can’t (or shouldn’t) read about domestic violence, sexual assault, or body horror, among other things.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Addiction
Minor: War and Torture
louisekf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The story follows Dmitri’s efforts to regain control of Novo-Svitsevo. He used to rule Novo-Svitsevo as Tsar, but lost to his husband, Alexey, in a civil war. Alexey is now immortal, having undergone a resurrection/transformation via what he calls the Holy Science, a twisted version of the fictional religion of Ludayzim. Dmitri is in exile now, with a few of his faithful court. The plot took quite a while to take off, but once it did, I was hooked.
Chapters are told from three POVs: Dmitri, Alexey, and Vasily who is Dmitri’s close friend and spymaster. The book design is beautiful, with illustrations at the beginning of each chapter and illustrations of two playing cards that figure in the story.
It’s not an easy read; be aware that there is a lot of violence and gore, body horror, human experimentation, and abusive relationships, among the content warnings. There are also quite a few very explicit MM sex scenes throughout the book. Dark magic pervades the whole story, which includes both angels and demons.
The story talks to us about the long-term effects of abuse and trauma, about deep friendships, facing our faults (and realizing that some things weren’t our fault).
The final chapter hints at the possibility of a sequel. If that happens, I’ll be reading it.
Don’t skip the Author’s Note at the end!
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Canada for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Body horror, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: War and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use
crothe77's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Sexual assault and Domestic abuse
frenchleigh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This book had a really interesting concept, and I don't read or know much about Jewish lore so I was excited for that aspect. I thought it was important that the book showed an abusive relationship between two men, because this is not talked about much and men have unique experiences with DV. That said, I really wish that this part was own-voices and I thought the normalization of queerness in the book kind of prevented a deeper discussion of what that experience and healing means for a lot of people in real life. I also did not like the role of the "best friend" in repeating the sexual trauma of the MC because it was "what he needed." It just felt like trauma was a plot device.
Overall, the book felt repetitive and lacked depth in its characters, world-building and plot. It read like a sequel to a book that would have actually established deep relationships between the characters and relationships between the reader and the characters, but starting "in the aftermath" didn't work in this book in my opinion because the narration doesn't take the time to really show you why you should care. The first half of the book is just expository backstory and the political intrigue wasn't there for me. I didn't think there were enough visual details to feel engrossed in the actual plot whenever there was an actual scene written.
I also thought the relationships between a tsar and his political consort were very oddly intimate and tangled. It doesn't seem appropriate for the main relationship/emotions to be based on deep love and friendship with nothing else. The Jasmine Throne or Black Sun, for example, do a good job of exploring what love and friendships can look like in political alliances that are more nuanced and based on mutual respect and difficult choices--but this book seemed more like a group of teenage friends who we're supposed to believe are competent.
Graphic: Torture, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, War, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship
tonyaf's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
- Alexey reminds me of The Darkling from the Shadow and Bone trilogy.
- There may be a Doctor Who reference.
- There is an asexual character and a non-binary character along with the many same-sex relationships that the book features.
- The whole book is delightfully queer normative with most of the main characters and several side characters being casually queer. There’s no drama or trauma around their identities.
- I also liked how the author wove Judaism into the world.
- Did I mention how much I love Vasily?
- The last 25% of the book is tense, action-packed, emotional, and surprising. It is almost impossible to put down!
- The ending is satisfying while also setting up issues for a future sequel.
Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Sexual content, Murder, Domestic abuse, War, Gore, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Vomit, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Blood