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A review by shane_the_reading_rat
The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko
5.0
when i borrowed this on a whim from libby i hardcore did not expect that it’d end up being one of my favorite fantasies of the year????
my favorite part was, shockingly, the romance!! as someone who is both ace and very much on the aro spectrum i am usually so nitpicky about romances but honestly i wholeheartedly loved this one: the slowburn was perfect (others say “slowburn”, i say “well-paced”), Zuri wasn’t a jerk (and he learned from his mistakes and learned to be better!! @ romance authors the bar for your male protagonists is so low you just have to make them not awful), and Sade was one of my favorite fantasy protags just ever. i loved her practicality compared to Zuri’s whimsy, they reminded me so much of Sophie and Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle (also just the general vibes remind me so much of that movie).
also this approaches real-world issues like class inequality and child labor with a practicality thats honestly extremely refreshing to see
loved this SO MUCH
my favorite part was, shockingly, the romance!! as someone who is both ace and very much on the aro spectrum i am usually so nitpicky about romances but honestly i wholeheartedly loved this one: the slowburn was perfect (others say “slowburn”, i say “well-paced”), Zuri wasn’t a jerk (and he learned from his mistakes and learned to be better!! @ romance authors the bar for your male protagonists is so low you just have to make them not awful), and Sade was one of my favorite fantasy protags just ever. i loved her practicality compared to Zuri’s whimsy, they reminded me so much of Sophie and Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle (also just the general vibes remind me so much of that movie).
also this approaches real-world issues like class inequality and child labor with a practicality thats honestly extremely refreshing to see
loved this SO MUCH