Scan barcode
A review by rwxtd
Beyond the Black Door by A.M. Strickland
4.0
My feelings about this book changed so drastically from chapter to chapter. There was a lot of stuff that I really liked about it, but there were a few things that just drove me up a wall. The things I was most frustrated by:
1. Kamai makes some...decisions. There were a number of points where I was tearing my hair out because I was so incredibly frustrated with her course of action, because her reasoning was stupid or because she was keeping secrets and lying about things that she absolutely did not need to be lying about. Also, she changes her mind about lying/secret keeping like halfway through the book. There are reasons for it, but it's very abrupt, and I wish it were less sudden.
2. Kamai's and Vehyn's relationship is so absolutely screwed up. (I actually don't believe "screwed up" is a strong enough phrase, but I can't remember if I'm allowed to swear in these reviews.) I just... I can't. I can't with those two
That being said, there is a reason that this book gets four stars! (The reason is that I really liked it.)
1. I would die for Nikha
2. The representation was actually quite good, in my opinion. Primarily it was ace representation, because Kamai is ace, although there was also some trans representation and plenty of wlw and mlm scattered around as well. They used something called a "soul chart" to discuss sexuality/gender identity, and while it was a somewhat simplified explanation of an extremely complicated topic, it was a good way to address something that was important and deserved attention, but wasn't the main focus of the plot. It was a simplified explanation, but it was still a pretty good explanation, at least in my opinion.
3. I wasn't ever bored- there was always some question that I wanted to know the answer to, and there weren't really any plot points that I didn't care about. Even when Kamai was being foolish, I still wanted to know what happened.
4. Lots of feminism, even though they live in a very sexist society, gotta love feminism
5. Again, I would die for Nikha
I did really like this one! Even if the main character made some very questionable decisions. Love to see some good LGBTQIA+ representation. The actual plot itself is good and intriguing, and includes secret societies, political intrigue, mythology, and magic. If you're looking for ace representation in particular, this is a good book for that!
1. Kamai makes some...decisions. There were a number of points where I was tearing my hair out because I was so incredibly frustrated with her course of action, because her reasoning was stupid or because she was keeping secrets and lying about things that she absolutely did not need to be lying about. Also, she changes her mind about lying/secret keeping like halfway through the book. There are reasons for it, but it's very abrupt, and I wish it were less sudden.
2. Kamai's and Vehyn's relationship is so absolutely screwed up. (I actually don't believe "screwed up" is a strong enough phrase, but I can't remember if I'm allowed to swear in these reviews.) I just... I can't. I can't with those two
That being said, there is a reason that this book gets four stars! (The reason is that I really liked it.)
1. I would die for Nikha
2. The representation was actually quite good, in my opinion. Primarily it was ace representation, because Kamai is ace, although there was also some trans representation and plenty of wlw and mlm scattered around as well. They used something called a "soul chart" to discuss sexuality/gender identity, and while it was a somewhat simplified explanation of an extremely complicated topic, it was a good way to address something that was important and deserved attention, but wasn't the main focus of the plot. It was a simplified explanation, but it was still a pretty good explanation, at least in my opinion.
3. I wasn't ever bored- there was always some question that I wanted to know the answer to, and there weren't really any plot points that I didn't care about. Even when Kamai was being foolish, I still wanted to know what happened.
4. Lots of feminism, even though they live in a very sexist society, gotta love feminism
5. Again, I would die for Nikha
I did really like this one! Even if the main character made some very questionable decisions. Love to see some good LGBTQIA+ representation. The actual plot itself is good and intriguing, and includes secret societies, political intrigue, mythology, and magic. If you're looking for ace representation in particular, this is a good book for that!