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A review by bkwrm1317
Silk Fire by Zabé Ellor
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.
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).