A review by earth_to_mars
The Sins on Their Bones by Laura R. Samotin

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

Cracks knuckles Alright, let’s do this one last time. 

It has taken me over a month to finish this book, my journal for it is filled with complaints and my friends have not heard the end of it. So, lets talk about Laura R. Samotin’s book, The Sins on Their Bones and everything wrong with it. 

Let’s start with what I liked. It got that .5 from somewhere. And that somewhere was the concept. The concept of an exiled Tzar (after a civil war in his country) battling his mental health rising to the occasion to fight and take down his abusive ex-husband — who seemingly has God on his side — before an all-out war with demons. On top of that, we have found family with his court, where he learns to heal, to manage his mental health and become stronger than he once was. It’s empowering, it’s hopeful to people who have dealt with abusive relationships, whose families are their friends. On top of that, Samotin uses Jewish folklore/mythology, which is rarely used most fantasy novels, and I think could have led to very interesting and unique magic and monsters. This concept had so much promise. 

So, what happened? Why did this fail so badly? 

The short answer: It’s genre, Dark Romantasy. It defaults to the usual tropes and issues most contemporary Romantasy books and Dark Romance books have nowadays that drag it down and ends up not delivering on the promised premise written on the back of the book. 

Long answer: It fundamentally falls short of every single thing that makes a book interesting and well-written, and I’ll be going through each issue in different sections to make it easier for me and everyone else. Let’s begin! Spoilers ahead, there’s too many to spoil so I’m warning you now! 

Before the Book 

My initial gripe (which at first I considered a nitpick) was that the content warning list is not printed in the book and is only on her website. I think this is fairly inaccessible, and not everyone will think to look there before purchasing the book, especially if they’re in a hurry or don’t have access to the internet at that point in time. I see this as irresponsible. 

I do like that the list is treated with seriousness (looking directly at you Brynne Weaver) and is thorough. Except for two major problems. 

One, there is a lot of grooming in this book. Alexey makes it very clear that his only reason to be with Dimitri (initially) is to manipulate him into being exactly the way Alexey wants him to be. He then does the same to Ivan throughout the book. 

To prove my point: 

"And then, when he [Alexey] was twenty-eight, he met his undoing." 

"Dimitri had come with his family on a tour of the region, barely twenty years old and bold and beautiful." 

"And so, when Dimitri was left with him after his family departed, bewildered and naïve but willing, Alexey set about molding him." 

Two, there is a scene in the latter half of the book where (CW: SA)
in a flashback Dimitri and Alexey have a fight, a brutal one that includes physical abuse (hitting, punching, drawing blood, etc.) and after the fight is over, Alexey proceeds to have aggressive, angry sex with Dimitri without a word from Dimitri.
  While her list says all sex scenes are with consenting adults… this isn’t consent and it’s very dangerous to parade this scene as such. No verbal consent/letting Alexey have sex with him does not equal consent. This is dubious consent at best, and a graphic rape scene at worst. And it was not tagged as such. Which I find extremely irresponsible. 

The reason I point this out is because I was — for lack of a better term — triggered by this scene and it caused me to spiral the rest of the day. I suddenly found myself wary of reading the rest of the book, afraid another scene like this would happen (which thankfully it didn’t). 

In tandem with this, on Samotin’s Instagram, she promotes the pre-orders of this book by adding an extra sex scene from Alexey’s and Dimitri’s first night together — smirking devil emoji and all, as if it was something devilishly fun. And, frankly, I wouldn’t have found an issue with this if 

a)      Alexey hadn’t admitted to wanting to groom Dimitri for the throne 
b)      Alexey wasn’t twenty-eight and Dimitri wasn’t (as the book wrote) “barely twenty” 
c)      Laura didn’t put a disclaimer at the beginning of the book claiming to want to portray abuse with the tact and respect it deserves. 

Trying to promote your book by tantalizing your readers with an extra sex scene between abuser and victim rather than oh, I don’t know, the main couple feels disingenuous to the message of wanting to portray dark subject matter with sensitivity. Granted, this is an issue with the majority of dark romance, but most other books don’t claim to want to treat these issues with the sensitivity they deserve and are romanticized for the worst. 

So, with that out of the way, let’s get to the actual book and story. 

The Worldbuilding 

This is where the book is most lacking. Now, not every fantasy book has a map, a glossary or both. And that’s fine. It can work. But it doesn’t work here. We are dropped into the fantasy world of Novo-Svitsevo without so much as an inkling to where we are. To seasoned readers of fantasy, maybe this is a nitpick, but if you do want this book accessible to people outside of fantasy, this doesn’t work. It took me maybe a little less than 40% of the book until I started getting a grasp on the different cities, states, etc. but it wasn’t easy. 

I know Samotin may know her world inside and out — obviously, she worked on it. But I, the audience do not. With little introduction and worldbuilding, it was so difficult to follow along and be immersed in the world of Novo-Svitsevo. 

And this is just a nitpick, but the amount of cursing also took me out of it. People did not curse as freely as they did, at least not royalty. Men would not curse in front of women, women and royalty were most likely taught not to curse at all, so the constant f-bombs were distracting, unnecessary most of the time and didn’t really add anything to the dialogue. 

I find this to be the saddest part, but there was very little Jewish folklore used in this book, especially in the first 50% of the book. And what was used was rather inaccurate. Not once was challah used, they referenced it as ‘braided bread’ but used terms like Rebbe, Kabbalat Shabbat, and Havdalah — albeit very sparingly. Also, a note on Shabbat; according to both my friends who are Jewish, Shabbat is a more modern version of the term Shabbos and that historical Jewish people that did say Shabbat were Arabic Jewish people and not Eastern European Jewish people. In a book like this, that is 19th century Eastern European inspired fantasy, Shabbos would be the correct term and not Shabbat. 

Not only this, but there is also the use of the angel, Qafsiel (Cassiel) and while this was a chance to incorporate Jewish folklore and mysticism, it seems that the angel was invoked completely incorrectly. According to A Dictionary of Angels, Including the Fallen Ones Qafsiel is invoked through a Hebrew charm to tell the one invoking it if their enemies are on the run. In the book, Qafsiel is summoned through stimulants (ingesting cocaine) and used to mind-link Vasily and Dimitri so they can converse through dreams. Perhaps I need to do more digging, but I couldn’t find anything about mind-linking through this angel so maybe Samotin could have created a fictional angel, or a fictional incantation inspired by Talmudic Judaism or Mystical Judaism (which is what I believe she used for the fantasy world in this book). 

It's a little sad though as most of the magic and mysticism and actual fantasy aspects aren’t until the midway point. By the time the actual fantasy was introduced and being used in the book, it became tedious and a little infuriating. But that’s for the next section. 

Plot, Pacing and Overall Writing 

This has the most spoilers, so I won’t be blurring them otherwise that would be really tedious. 

The pacing is actually atrocious, we have two sex scenes before the one-hundred-page mark, but the actual plot doesn’t kick in until page 250 out of 368 (~65% of the book). I can see where Laura’s priorities lie. The sex scenes could have easily been replaced with actual character-building moments or something that could add something relevant to the plot. 

We spend the first half of the book sitting around doing absolutely nothing, watching Vasily and Dimitri go back and forth about Vasily going to spy on Alexey himself or acting more than platonic or flat-out having sex. Alexey, despite how flat he is, is the only one furthering the plot in the first half by looking for people of the bloodline Leyvin and turning them into a half demon hybrid called Zemonyii (which, Samotin… writing a Jewish fantasy novel where the villain wants to create a new race of people by experimenting on them is a fucking YIKES – courtesy of speaking with my friends). 

The writing is boring, lackluster, and very straightforward and very, very redundant. We are told exactly what the characters are going to do, how they feel and immediately after, shown the same thing we were just told about. We are constantly told the same things over and over again. Dimitri is sad, Vasily hates that Dimitri is sad and that Alexey caused his sadness, Alexey is not human, wears black and wants to prove that he is right to Dimitri. Instead of telling me this… show me. How deep in his depression is Dimitri? How angry is Vasily? How deluded and power hungry is Alexey?

For an adult book, the writing is childish and treats its audience like dunces. 

Even the sex scenes evoke nothing but second-hand embarrassment. There is no love between the main couple, Vasily and Dimitri, and their confession at the end is rushed with very little chemistry between them. In fact, I just assumed they were a couple at the beginning with all the looks, the gentle caresses, the kisses, the sex. I assumed Samotin wanted to make them friends with benefits but instead just made them boyfriends without a label. Which, whatever, the love confession felt stupid regardless because I couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough that these two men were even close to in love. But we’ll get to that. 

The plot is bare bones. And look, cliché fantasy plots aren’t bad. Overthrowing an evil Tzar who messed with magic and became immortal isn’t the worst plot and considering how boring the first part of the book was, I was actually enthralled with the magic library and the angel summoning and the plan to sneak into the palace. It was the first ounce of excitement in 200 pages. 

I think the reason it doesn’t work is because it becomes absolutely moot by the end. Sequel bait be damned, when the whole plot is about how Alexey is supposed to die and Dimitri literally summons Gavril, gets his arm opened and his bones written on, fucking dies and his body desecrated by Vasily only for both him to come back to life and Alexey heavily implied, then every. Single. Thing. Does. Not. Matter. There were no stakes. I would have had understood more if Alexey just… managed to get away. But no, either Gavril lied and that will be explored in the sequel (I doubt it) or everyone is just a moron. Alexey should stay dead in the sequel, please. Please let me be wrong. Because otherwise everything that Dimitri and his court have gone through means nothing. And do not tell me that was the point. I think that’s a stupid way to go about it. 

The last thing I’ll say about this is because it ties plot, pacing and the overall writing together. I did not feel like this was the first book in the series. It really did feel like a mid-season drop in to a series I never heard about until now. And I don’t think it was the post-war aspect because there are stories I know that do this well. It’s just how Laura tells me everything that happened before instead of showing me. Show me how Dimitri’s land is broken after the civil war. Show me how the war has affected the people who aren’t rich. Who were just normal peasants. I think we only really get one person, Zora’s point of view, but oh boy… do I have thoughts on that. I’ll get there. 

But yes, Samotin… you said your book reads like fanfiction, and when I first saw that, I wanted to say, ‘Oh don’t say that about your work, I’m sure it’s a lot better than that.’ But I can safely say, it does read like fanfiction in the worst way possible. It’s not a compliment. 

You’re a professional writer, not a hobbyist. Do better. 

Characters 

Oh boy am I going to hate this part. Let’s go. 

Dimitri: Objectively, he is the protagonist. And god I wish he wasn’t. He is boring, and dreadfully so. And I hate saying that! I think the exploration of PTSD and depression and how that affects and deters our protagonist is interesting. I think the idea of learning to manage mental health and healing is hopeful and not explored enough, but God, Dimitri is whiny. He constantly complains about every. Single. Thing. And he does absolutely nothing but sulk for 65% of the book. And look, I also struggle with depression, I still have nightmares of my trauma, and some days I can’t bring myself to get out of bed. I get it. But reading about it for 200+ pages is not interesting or fun, nor does it add anything to his character. Also, in his art, does not look like a depressed man (who — I cannot emphasize this enough — doesn’t take care of himself) in his late 20s-early 30s. He looks like a 20-year-old twink. Clean shaven + struggling with depression to the point of not wanting to take care of yourself does not mix together. He has a 180 when the plot kicks in, which I don’t understand what changed. I don’t know if it’s the medicine because he’s only mentioned taking it once and it doesn’t allude to him taking it on a regular basis. There’s not much else, he’s just boring. I also don’t like how the book tries to absolve him of all fault when it comes to the civil war. He may have been manipulated by Alexey (Honestly, I couldn’t tell you, Alexey manipulated and groomed him in many ways, but it was unclear if he actually made Dimitri start the war and I can’t bother to remember) but the constant dick sucking from his friends about how nothing is his fault robs Dimitri of any sort of agency. 
 
Vasily: Oh, Vasily. Easily could have been the most interesting character but squandered so beautifully it’s a sin (on their bones). I honestly don’t think he cares about Dimitri as much as we’re told in the book that he does. Constantly sick to his stomach because of remembering how Alexey treated Dimitri but doing nothing to aid Dimitri other than sarcastic comments and fucking him. Which, I want to talk about that. Dimitri makes Vasily blindfold him and have sex with him so roughly to remind him of Alexey, and yes I’m very aware that this is Dimitri coping (unhealthily) with his trauma, but Vasily enables it. If Vasily really cared, really loved him, this would be a discussion. Because Vasily doesn’t like doing that. And only does it to make Dimitri happy. That’s not love. I can’t make that clear enough. If he loved him, he would be trying to help him find healthier coping mechanisms, talking to him about his fantasies rather than enabling them because it’s clearly making Dimitri feel worse.  He also falls into the slutty bisexual trope because of course he does. He only thinks how to forward the plot in the context of sex (possibly sleeping with Zora for information, sleeping with Alexey for information, a thought of sleeping with Dimitri’s half-sister… for reasons?) There’s also something to be said about only the darker skinned man being there to only coddle the white protagonist and constantly making passing thoughts about sex (I know CSA can cause hypersexuality and it affects people different, but this is also the only POC in this book.), which again, is a huge yikes. 

Alexey: Alexey is… the Darkling from Shadow & Bone. Or at least an off-brand version of him. The all-black clothing, the black eyes, the knowledge of powers darker than anyone can imagine. With lines like “You dare defy me”, it’s hard to see him as anything but a mustache twirling villain. That is until you get to the parts where he admits in his mind to grooming and abusing Dimitri and eventually Ivan (a twenty-year-old half-brother of Dimitri) — and ends up killing both of them. He is an abuser yet loves his ex-husband Dimitri and uses Ivan as a substitute. And… I wouldn’t have an issue with this. He’s probably the most complex character in the entire book. But this doesn’t work, to me. This idea he regrets hurting Dimitri, including sobbing hysterically when he kills him, doesn’t sit right. This idea that he also didn’t become violent until after resurrecting into something other than human is also poorly executed. I think this sends the wrong message, and teeters on the line of abuser apologia. Alexey was always an abuser and groomer and we, the audience, know this. But we are only told this, while being shown that he has some sort of heart for Dimitri. This is not complex, this is saying ‘b-but he loves him really!’ which it’s not cute, it’s dangerous. 

I shouldn’t be feeling sorry for Alexey when he kills Dimitri. But here we are, watching him sob while I see people shout ‘Toxic yaoi! Toxic yaoi!’. On top of that, like I said earlier, if Samotin really, truly wanted to write an honest and raw and sensitive take on abuse, she wouldn’t have promoted the pre-order with a sex scene between Alexey and Dimitri, rather than the main couple, Dimitri and Vasily. 

Dimitri’s Court: Ladushka, Annika and Mischa, they could never make me hate you. The best characters getting sidelined so hard for the absolute atrocious men in this book is sad. Ladushka, the aroace rep written to watch sex between Vasily and Dimitri is disgusting. She is only used to aid Dimitri and raise him up. Mischa, the only trans (nonbinary) rep is only used when medical information is needed and has a line that if they died it wouldn’t matter, they wouldn’t be remembered (Holy shit?!). And Annika, who the only things I know about her is that she was forced into an army role and shot in the gut and almost died in the civil war. What’s there to say other than their chemistry was the only good part about the book, and we don’t get nearly enough. Squandered for the most boring sex between men. 

Ivan: Plot device. He lives with no personality and dies with no personality. He is only there to be Alexey’s next victim (which is not explored nearly enough) and die so Dimitri can come back to life. 

Zora: Oh Zora, we barely knew ye. She was a woman who shows up twice and never again. Like Ivan, only a plot device. Vasily uses her (of course) to get information about her dead brother so he can pretend to be him in order to spy on Alexey. 

Which, I’ll put this here. Mikhail died of a chronic/invisible illness. It’s not named, but it enflames the joints and Vasily — an able-bodied man — pretends to be him for the majority of the book. With the stigma of invisible illnesses this was a terrible decision on Samotin’s part. There was no reason for this to be there. It’s not discussed and frankly, it’s quite disgusting! 

Other than that, there’s really not much else, so onto the final part. 

Representation 

For a book that is promoted as queer friendly, boy do I have thoughts on that. First off, the one trans character you put in your little trope post is barely in it. Mischa also says, at the end when deciding who to sacrifice in order to bring Dimitri back, that they should be the one to die because no one will remember them, that they are unimportant. Which, oh my god. What the hell? I’m sorry, but you couldn’t come up with any other reason? That’s disgusting on multiple levels, that this is Samotin’s only trans character. 

Talmudic and Mystical Judaism is barely in this book, which is sad considering how little fantasy there is based on anything other than typical white Western European mythology and folklore. I wish there were more fantasy/folklore aspects than there are in this book. 

What’s worse is how women in this book are treated like dog shit, either characterized as incompetent and/or bitches, used as plot devices or there to support one of the three points of view, or they’re dead. No woman is their own character, they are all here to revolve around the men in this book and it’s incredibly misogynistic. Even the two lesbians (or at the very least sapphic). One, who isn’t attached to any man is used once or twice, the other is Dimitri’s half-sister. None of these women, and I mean none of them are treated with an ounce of respect. It’s 2024, Laura. Do better. Check your internalized misogyny because it’s sure as hell showing here  in this book. 

Now, the gay representation. As a gay trans man, I was sorely disappointed. Dimitri is your typical sad boy twink who can’t do shit without his big strong Vasily to do it for him. He’s thin, hairless, small and clean shaven. Vasily, while being the slutty bisexual (I can’t emphasize how wrong that is) — which Laura, you are a queer woman, you should know better — is also your typical rugged, strong man.  This is nothing new, it’s on par with most boy love/yaoi couples, which raises a lot of red flags. It falls into the typical heteronormative, Dimitri is more feminine coded, Vasily and Alexey more masculine coded, type of gay representation I’ve been seeing a lot more of. Gay people are not heteronormative, that’s the whole point! Also, forgive me, but it’s also clear Samotin doesn’t understand sex between two men, using only oil as lube and then going for it, with no other prep. It’s just heterosexual sex but with two men. And again, Dimitri being the clean shaven ‘uwu’ submissive bottom and Vasily the strong dominant top is a very black and white view of sex in a queer setting. There’s so much in between, and the only reason it’s not explored is because of the fear of being anything other than heteronormative. Please, check your internalized homophobia. Because all this comes off as is fetishizing gay men. Every single part, including the extra sex scene between abuser and victim. Actually especially because of that part. 

Final Thoughts 

I hate that I hate this book. Really. I said this at the beginning. It had such promise. But Samotin falls into every single terrible trope that plagues the Romantasy genre. From bland protagonists to barebones plot to make room for sex. It’s a shame because there was such promise in this world. I was so excited, only to be let down so badly I had to write a review so long I wasn’t sure Storygraph would let me post it. 

I hope Samotin writes better books in the future. I hope this story can do better in the sequels, however many there are. I hope she actually gets sensitivity readers too, because there’s too many issues to count. 

And if she doesn’t improve, then she’s fallen into the same rut as most fantasy writers have. If she does improve, that’d be great. I don’t think any writer should have to fall into harmful tropes and bigoted writing to make a book profitable or viral or what have you. 

Either way, whether her writing gets better or worse, I won’t be there to see it. 

 
EDIT Addendum:

Didja miss me? Admit it you missed me. 

Turns out, I have more to yap about, thanks to many discussions and rants and rages with my friends (I love you both pookies <3). 

One, turns out there’s two… count ‘em TWO extra sex scenes between Alexey and Dimitri. Which, uh, hey Laura… if this book is supposed to be a sensitive portrayal of abuse, how come we’re romanticizing the relationship between abuser and victim? Hm? Why was one used to entice readers to preorder and the other one free? Why was it not, oh, I don’t know… the couple we’re supposed to root for? Genuine question, I mean it. 

But then again, I guess this really isn’t a sensitive portrayal huh? With all the interactions you’ve had on Instagram, when people heart-eyes over Alexey you reply with things along the lines of “Sometimes it’s good to be bad”? Is it Laura? Is it? Reblogging/reposting #teamAlexey on your Instagram. Encouraging people to side with the abuser. Laura, that’s not sensitive in the slightest. In fact, neither is your book, because now that I’m back, I have a lot to say, especially about Ivan. Because the absolutely horrid messaging you put in your book is a disservice to victims who don’t have family, or friends, or a support system. Who are alone, like Ivan. 

For one thing, I want to go back to the “queernormative” nature of your book. Because it’s not. Queernormative, but if two kings adopt, that child is legitimate? Queernormative, but it’s suspicious when a woman is seen walking alone? That’s not queernormative. That’s still heteronormative. That a woman must be seen with their spouse, that a royal man or woman must produce an heir all their own. It also sucks for adopted children, to not be seen as part of a family. Did you just not… consider the consequences here? Or is your misogyny so internalized that you didn’t realize that your queernormative world still abides to patriarchal standards? 

Considering the amount of misogyny within the narrative (see the main review), I’m leaning towards the latter. 

Now, for the big one. 

Ivan. Now, when I first read this book, I didn’t think anything of him. He’s a plot device. Nothing but a vessel to show how truly terrible Alexey is. An outlet for Alexey’s abuse. But I started thinking about it. Thinking, and then my friend read it, and we were discussing him. We had a heated conversation about whether or not it was worth Vasily giving up his fake identity to save Ivan and whether or not he would have ratted Vasily out. In the end, we were both wrong, obviously. As Jester_Reviews had put it, Ivan isn’t a character. His trauma doesn’t matter because he’s not Dimitri. 

The only trauma that is explored is Dimitri’s. To an extent, I get it, he’s the main character. But even Vasily, who also has gone through something terrible (something I know very well), is not given the same love and attention. It’s briefly mentioned, which fine. Doesn’t need detail.  But it’s all about Dimitri. He barely does anything to comfort Vasily. You know his partner. Dimitri generally just feels bad about it and then at the end kills Vasily’s abuser. Which, again, good. But like, it doesn’t sell that he actually cares about Vasily. Forget the rest of the court, it doesn’t even matter what they went through even though they’re also ridden with PTSD. I get Dimitri is the main character, I get that when you boil it down, it’s his story. But at least try and pretend you care about your other characters. 

Which, going back to Ivan. I am… close to Ivan’s age. And while never in a relationship as horrid as his, I’ve been groomed before. I have been fetishized before. I have had a self-esteem so low that I felt that the only way I’d feel loved is by someone who saw my identity as a dirty little secret. And I am lucky, because I have friends who love me for who I am, a support system that I can go back to. Ivan did not. So many people, like him, do not. And are alone. And can’t escape and my heart hurts for these people. So, imagine my shock, that the way you portray him is a meek little servant with no personality other than serving for fucking porn fodder, only for him to die brutally and tragically at the hand of his abuser. And you have the gall to post a piece of art of him and Alexey and captioning it “Who’s an Ivan stan? Who loves villains? >:)” I’m sorry, choosing between victim and his abuser is genuinely sick and twisted. Ivan, his lack of character, his death, sends such a bad message to victims who are like him, who don’t have anyone. Dimitri was lucky to have friends. And then, not only that, you Laura, have the absolute lack of foresight to write Vasily saying: 

“‘He was just a kid who was in love with Alexey, who didn’t realize he loved a monster who was treating him ill.’” 

What in the victim blaming bullshit is this? When it’s Dimitri it’s not his fault (and it’s not! He was groomed, and manipulated and abused), but Ivan, who was treated just the same, he should of fucking known better? This is what I mean when I say that this book has serious tunnel vision when it comes to the main character, and double standards too. Vasily did have the ability, multiple times, to speak to Ivan. 

How powerful would it have been, a man isolated from everyone, shunned by his family, brought in by his half-brother and his friends to heal with them together? Sending the messages of healing and found family and learning to love again, both platonically and romantically. How powerful would it be to watch victims of the same abuser rise above and team up together to overthrow him? 

But no. No. How could I be so fucking naïve? Alexey’s just a bad boy you can sexualize because he’s hot and sexy. Ivan’s just a plot device. 

This book was never supposed to be a sensitive portrayal of the worst things a partner can do to their spouse. This, like every other dark romantasy book is just a juvenile excuse to romanticize dark subject matter and the missed opportunity to have a genuine conversation about these subjects makes it all the more disappointing. 

Do. Better. 
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