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kaetheluise_nckl 's review for:
The Second Death of Locke
by V.L. Bovalino
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I received an ARC from the publisher, Orbit Books UK, in exchange for a honest review. I am not being compensated for this review and all opinions are my own.
This review is also not as succinct as it could have been, but my mind is still reeling.
You can read the rest of the review here
I haven't read a proper fantasy with knights and wars and whatnot in a while, so I found this book to be quite a chore to get into at the start, and for a while this confusion remained, but I found Grey's relationship with Kier so endearing that I found it easier to focus on the characters instead of the world-building, and it turns out that I have made the right call.
Grey and Kier are just the sort of characters you find you have to root for, even if by rooting you mean yelling at your iPad about what an idiot Kier is (he's a big idiot IMO).
The characters all have a very distinct voice that makes it easy to follow along, and for those people who know of Bovalino's background in writing horror, you will not be disappointed by the battlefield descriptions.
There was nothing I disliked about this book.
All in all, I struggle to put my feelings about this book into words, but Bovalino managed her grand breakthrough into the fantasy genre with flying colors.
This book is perfect for people who want to read more women fantasy writers, the gays and sapphics who heard the word ladyknight and started foaming at the mouths, those of us who love a paladin for a D&D campaign, and those of us who dream of one day being able to read a thousand page epic fantasy novel, because I just know that The Hand and the Heart will be the perfect gateway trilogy! I can't wait to see what's next!
Definitely the fantasy release of the fall 2025 season!
This review is also not as succinct as it could have been, but my mind is still reeling.
You can read the rest of the review here
I haven't read a proper fantasy with knights and wars and whatnot in a while, so I found this book to be quite a chore to get into at the start, and for a while this confusion remained, but I found Grey's relationship with Kier so endearing that I found it easier to focus on the characters instead of the world-building, and it turns out that I have made the right call.
Grey and Kier are just the sort of characters you find you have to root for, even if by rooting you mean yelling at your iPad about what an idiot Kier is (he's a big idiot IMO).
The characters all have a very distinct voice that makes it easy to follow along, and for those people who know of Bovalino's background in writing horror, you will not be disappointed by the battlefield descriptions.
There was nothing I disliked about this book.
All in all, I struggle to put my feelings about this book into words, but Bovalino managed her grand breakthrough into the fantasy genre with flying colors.
This book is perfect for people who want to read more women fantasy writers, the gays and sapphics who heard the word ladyknight and started foaming at the mouths, those of us who love a paladin for a D&D campaign, and those of us who dream of one day being able to read a thousand page epic fantasy novel, because I just know that The Hand and the Heart will be the perfect gateway trilogy! I can't wait to see what's next!
Definitely the fantasy release of the fall 2025 season!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent
abduction, threat of sexual assault