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A review by shrikebait
Fiorenzo by Sebastian Nothwell
5.0
Delightful!
While I was initially hesitant to pick up a romance of this many pages...I am so glad I went for it. These two are cute. I mean CUTE. They have wonderful chemistry, a bit of will-they-won't-they, and intimacy that feels natural.
The setting is a lot of fun. Nothwell does a lovely job of introducing the world's culture and language in a way that is easy to follow. I especially liked how interwoven the setting is with the plot...you really can't divorce one from the other.
My third favorite part of this book is the casual LGBTQ+ representation. Yes, this is a M/M romance, but it goes beyond this. This book depicts a society in which queer love is normalized alongside heterosexual love. This society also has marked gender equality, with most titles being gender-neutral and no incidents of gender-based discrimination. Very refreshing.
The only issue I have does involve a potential spoiler, so I'll keep it vague. The characters wait a weirdly long amount of time after a horrific attack to seek justice. The perpetrator is free to do as they please for months. While this does happen in the real world, I would have loved some exploration into why our protagonists choose to wait. Do they feel there's nothing that can be done? Are they paralyzed by trauma? Are they simply too busy recovering to think about it? It isn't clear.
Overall, I loved this book. I'll be on the lookout for a print copy if the author ever chooses to release one.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord.
While I was initially hesitant to pick up a romance of this many pages...I am so glad I went for it. These two are cute. I mean CUTE. They have wonderful chemistry, a bit of will-they-won't-they, and intimacy that feels natural.
The setting is a lot of fun. Nothwell does a lovely job of introducing the world's culture and language in a way that is easy to follow. I especially liked how interwoven the setting is with the plot...you really can't divorce one from the other.
My third favorite part of this book is the casual LGBTQ+ representation. Yes, this is a M/M romance, but it goes beyond this. This book depicts a society in which queer love is normalized alongside heterosexual love. This society also has marked gender equality, with most titles being gender-neutral and no incidents of gender-based discrimination. Very refreshing.
The only issue I have does involve a potential spoiler, so I'll keep it vague. The characters wait a weirdly long amount of time after a horrific attack to seek justice. The perpetrator is free to do as they please for months. While this does happen in the real world, I would have loved some exploration into why our protagonists choose to wait. Do they feel there's nothing that can be done? Are they paralyzed by trauma? Are they simply too busy recovering to think about it? It isn't clear.
Overall, I loved this book. I'll be on the lookout for a print copy if the author ever chooses to release one.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord.