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ofateaspoon's review
dark
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
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! It’s a story of healing from trauma and abuse, healing from loss of loved ones and loss of self, and it’s a story about redemption, and love, and faith in oneself and a higher power. The treble POV made it particularly interesting because though the villain is undoubtedly villainous, you also see his motivations and how very clearly *wrong* he is in his beliefs while not apologizing for him at all. On its face, it’s a dark fantasy novel with an Excellent found family, but at its core, it’s a story of self-forgiveness and resilience.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
basementofbooks's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug use, Violence, Sexual content, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual assault, War, Murder, Rape, Vomit, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
mollyelyn's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
"It's Alexey who was the idiot, to not know what he had. He was a man holding a diamond in his hand, ignoring the way that it sparkled in the light, thinking it was nothing more than glass."
The Sins on Their Bones is a haunting, beautiful story about love, power, and war. It follows Dimitri, who is the former Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo (a fictitious version of Russia), and is now in exile with his court after losing a war against his estranged husband. The events that led up to the war and the war itself all take place prior to the start of the book, and the characters we meet are broken and traumatised, with Dimitri dealing with PTSD and depression. The backstory and story details are slowly revealed to the reader throughout the book, and I did like the decision to do it this way, however these events could also have easily been a book of itself, as so much has happened prior to the book starting. I think for the story Samotin wished to tell, starting it where it is worked really well, as mental health and the recovery journey from physical and mental abuse are key themes of the novel.
The book is definitely slow-paced and character-driven, with not much action happening in the first half of the novel. This worked rather well, mainly due to the strong characterisation of the three narrators. The reader empathises heavily with Dimitri, as he deals with the loss of his husband to a force worse than death, and other narrator Vasily is charming, witty, and very tragic. What actually intrigued me the most about the book was how a third of the chapters are actually written from Alexey, the new Tzar and Dimitri’s abusive husband’s, perspective allowing readers to see how he justifies his twisted actions to himself. He is a truly wicked character, and I despised him instantly. He is a very well-crafted villain.
I found the writing really good, and felt really immersed in the story. I enjoyed the magic system and demons as well. The central romance between Vasily and Dimitri was really sweet and I loved seeing their support and love for each other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Vomit, Gore, Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Rape
Minor: Death of parent
frenchleigh's review
dark
slow-paced
- 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
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC! CW: domestic and sexual violence, trauma, substance use, war.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, War, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship
peacheyprince's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
5.0
I was fortunate to be able to read this as an ARC through netgalley, and for that, I am greatful. When I began reading this novel, I began writing down every thought I had to be able to compose this review. Straight away, I adored the art at the front of the copy, thinking about how I would buy them as prints, as well as the etchings on the chapter title pages. I love that the author has chosen to add content warnings before the beginning (and on StoryGraph). This is something that is all too overlooked in media today. Upon reading the words, I straight away fell in love with the imagery used within the writing, and if this was a physical copy I'd have been marking every few pages to return to. However, my attention to detail quickly fell away as I became entirely entranced within this novel.
The plot is captivating, almost from the start. I have seen other reviews, and I can understand how it may be slower for some people, but, in my opinion, this is down to a matter of one's personal likes, rather than writing skill. I loved the fact the plot picked up from the back-end of a major tragedy - it wrote into the characterisation of Dimitri, and it provided a backdrop to build the world around. But above all, I fell in love with the characters, quickly, and there may lie bias in how well a queer-normative world was built up (to even see this representation at all!), but the introduction of a non-binary character, with neutral pronouns, so casually, just existing, was truly beautiful to read, despite the affliction the plot is built upon.
From here on I may spoil some parts of the novel. I will try to be as ambiguous as possible, but please read on with concern if the novel is unread for you.
All the reveals within this novel, every single one, struck me, such as finding out what the illustrations in the front of the novel are, and how this so subtly, but so wonderfully, revealed the relations from Vasily towards Dimitri, for example. But also finding out what Alexey has done - I don't know if I can say all of it was a shock, as you gradually learn enough of his character to predict the actions he is capable of, but it was still done so well, and with care. There lies concern writing from the point of view of a manipulator, or a villain, and particularly with one of Alexey's demise, but I think the author has done this brilliantly. Firstly, even balancing all three perspectives was seamless, and there was no hitch or break in the story telling that you can sometimes find in multiple-pov novels. But even so, reading Alexey's pov in particular, you understand his thinking, you understood his motivations, so well that it wasn't question, and yet it was still obvious that he was the villain, the manipulator (with the author even explicitly using words such as this) without ruining the character of his point of view.
Some of the moments in particular which got me, that I was present enough to stop and write down in my notes, include: the end of chapter 7, where I have written how happy I was, and how the author has already managed to create such strong connections to the characters; how i already was emotional with tears within the first one hundred pages of the book; and then a jump to the end of chapter 32, because I become so enhanced with the plot and characters, where, and i quote my own notes, 'i am screaming'; the transmission to the next chapter... it was captivating.
I think the only hinderance I held throughout the plot was in chapter 34, following Alexey and Ivan's following interactions, there is a sentence that reads on p. 336 immediately following the scene break, the illicit use of this word, made me believe a major plot point which, actually, never happened. Considering his character, this was entirely believable to me, and this may fully be a reflection of me finishing this novel late at night, because I went back and reread this paragraph when I realised. It did not dictate from the story, and nor did it ruin the unveiling of events in any way, but I wish to include it in an honest review. Nevertheless, for a debut novel, I have fallen in love, and I truly truly look forward to (what I hope will be!) the second instalment in this series. And finally, I admired the explanation at the end, and I respect the choice to include the further reading. This book was an easy five stars, no questions asked.
The plot is captivating, almost from the start. I have seen other reviews, and I can understand how it may be slower for some people, but, in my opinion, this is down to a matter of one's personal likes, rather than writing skill. I loved the fact the plot picked up from the back-end of a major tragedy - it wrote into the characterisation of Dimitri, and it provided a backdrop to build the world around. But above all, I fell in love with the characters, quickly, and there may lie bias in how well a queer-normative world was built up (to even see this representation at all!), but the introduction of a non-binary character, with neutral pronouns, so casually, just existing, was truly beautiful to read, despite the affliction the plot is built upon.
From here on I may spoil some parts of the novel. I will try to be as ambiguous as possible, but please read on with concern if the novel is unread for you.
All the reveals within this novel, every single one, struck me, such as finding out what the illustrations in the front of the novel are, and how this so subtly, but so wonderfully, revealed the relations from Vasily towards Dimitri, for example. But also finding out what Alexey has done - I don't know if I can say all of it was a shock, as you gradually learn enough of his character to predict the actions he is capable of, but it was still done so well, and with care. There lies concern writing from the point of view of a manipulator, or a villain, and particularly with one of Alexey's demise, but I think the author has done this brilliantly. Firstly, even balancing all three perspectives was seamless, and there was no hitch or break in the story telling that you can sometimes find in multiple-pov novels. But even so, reading Alexey's pov in particular, you understand his thinking, you understood his motivations, so well that it wasn't question, and yet it was still obvious that he was the villain, the manipulator (with the author even explicitly using words such as this) without ruining the character of his point of view.
Some of the moments in particular which got me, that I was present enough to stop and write down in my notes, include: the end of chapter 7, where I have written how happy I was, and how the author has already managed to create such strong connections to the characters; how i already was emotional with tears within the first one hundred pages of the book; and then a jump to the end of chapter 32, because I become so enhanced with the plot and characters, where, and i quote my own notes, 'i am screaming'; the transmission to the next chapter... it was captivating.
I think the only hinderance I held throughout the plot was in chapter 34, following Alexey and Ivan's following interactions, there is a sentence that reads on p. 336 immediately following the scene break, the illicit use of this word, made me believe a major plot point which, actually, never happened. Considering his character, this was entirely believable to me, and this may fully be a reflection of me finishing this novel late at night, because I went back and reread this paragraph when I realised. It did not dictate from the story, and nor did it ruin the unveiling of events in any way, but I wish to include it in an honest review. Nevertheless, for a debut novel, I have fallen in love, and I truly truly look forward to (what I hope will be!) the second instalment in this series. And finally, I admired the explanation at the end, and I respect the choice to include the further reading. This book was an easy five stars, no questions asked.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Gore, and War
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