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A review by thebakersbooks
Lord of Secrets by Breanna Teintze
4.0
4/5 stars — seriously cool magic and entertaining character conflicts
One of the most captivating books I've read in months, Lord of Secrets drew me in with its system of poisonous magic and held my attention with a cast of strong-minded characters whose clashing personalities led to humor and horror in turns. Breanna Teintze's debut capitalizes on imaginative worldbuilding and classic rescue quest format but doesn't skimp on wit or atmosphere. I was hooked from the first chapter!
Main character Corcoran Gray was instantly relatable for me based on his dry humor, his bad knee, and his absolute inability to prioritize his own well-being. I have a bad history with characters who stubbornly throw themselves into harm's way to protect their companions, but it was largely successful here. (After a couple of chapters spent waffling on this point, I decided I didn't mind Gray going out of his way to protect his young female traveling companion because he put himself in just as much danger protecting an older male character later. This isn't a Dresden Files misogyny-disguised-as-chivalry situation, in my opinion.)
Minor spoiler:Speaking of Gray's knee injury and plot situations initially causing concern, there's a part early in the book where Gray meets the imprisoned "god" Jaern and Jaern heals Gray's knee with magic. I almost DNF'd at that point because magically waving away a character's disability is a notoriously bad take, but I'm glad I kept reading because a) the disability wasn't gone for good and b) there was a valid plot reason for the magic. Anyway, I ended up enjoying the way Teintze inverted a nasty fantasy trope.
Major spoiler:The third and final concern that arose while I read and was subsequently laid to rest was that the villain initially seems to be the only queer character in the book. The faux god Jaern's motive for semi-helping Gray ends up being Jaern's centuries-long relationship and then obsession with Gray's adoptive grandfather. The reasons I'm not upset about the gay antagonist are twofold. First, Gray's grandfather is attracted to at least two genders, evidenced by the fact that he was married to a woman until she died and he entered an initially positive and loving relationship with Jaern. Second, Gray doesn't ignore/rebuff Jaern's overtures based on Jaern's gender but because Jaern is morally gray at best and Gray is already developing an interest in someone else by the time he and Jaern meet. Queer relationships are never framed as abnormal or negative in the setting.
My main reason for knocking a star off my rating was the intensity of Gray's feelings for his love interest by the end of the book. He professes his love and admits to wanting to spend the rest of his life with this person, which felt hasty to me. Lust I'd accept; love...maybe, although that's pushing it; a desire to commit to a lifetime together? Not so much. I enjoyed the development of the relationship and I like the characters together, but I had a hard time believing the depth of their bond. Their mutual confession of feelings also led to a weird sex ending that I didn't love.
In short, Lord of Secrets hit a lot of good notes for me. I really enjoyed the dynamic of Jaern as Gray's foil, as well as Brix and Lorican's mysterious motivations. This was less a case of a group of adventurers on a quest and more "four people who want different things happen to be traveling in the same direction and using each other for their own ends." The magic was as excellent as I'd hoped, with the necromancy side of it setting up a few truly creepy scenes. (Those creatlachs! Scary.) The book balanced snarky dialogue with emotionally touching moments and exciting magical action scenes. There's a magical duel that rivals Dumbledore vs. Voldemort in Order of the Phoenix. Seriously.
If I had to encapsulate the beauty of this book's premise into one mildly spoilery sentence, it would be this: A man who hates secrets drinks the Lord of Secrets' soul, creating a bond of magical compulsion between them. Talk about irony!
This book is strange and cool and never too terribly dark; I highly recommend it.
One of the most captivating books I've read in months, Lord of Secrets drew me in with its system of poisonous magic and held my attention with a cast of strong-minded characters whose clashing personalities led to humor and horror in turns. Breanna Teintze's debut capitalizes on imaginative worldbuilding and classic rescue quest format but doesn't skimp on wit or atmosphere. I was hooked from the first chapter!
Main character Corcoran Gray was instantly relatable for me based on his dry humor, his bad knee, and his absolute inability to prioritize his own well-being. I have a bad history with characters who stubbornly throw themselves into harm's way to protect their companions, but it was largely successful here. (After a couple of chapters spent waffling on this point, I decided I didn't mind Gray going out of his way to protect his young female traveling companion because he put himself in just as much danger protecting an older male character later. This isn't a Dresden Files misogyny-disguised-as-chivalry situation, in my opinion.)
Minor spoiler:
Major spoiler:
My main reason for knocking a star off my rating was the intensity of Gray's feelings for his love interest by the end of the book. He professes his love and admits to wanting to spend the rest of his life with this person, which felt hasty to me. Lust I'd accept; love...maybe, although that's pushing it; a desire to commit to a lifetime together? Not so much. I enjoyed the development of the relationship and I like the characters together, but I had a hard time believing the depth of their bond. Their mutual confession of feelings also led to a weird sex ending that I didn't love.
In short, Lord of Secrets hit a lot of good notes for me. I really enjoyed the dynamic of Jaern as Gray's foil, as well as Brix and Lorican's mysterious motivations. This was less a case of a group of adventurers on a quest and more "four people who want different things happen to be traveling in the same direction and using each other for their own ends." The magic was as excellent as I'd hoped, with the necromancy side of it setting up a few truly creepy scenes. (Those creatlachs! Scary.) The book balanced snarky dialogue with emotionally touching moments and exciting magical action scenes. There's a magical duel that rivals Dumbledore vs. Voldemort in Order of the Phoenix. Seriously.
If I had to encapsulate the beauty of this book's premise into one mildly spoilery sentence, it would be this:
This book is strange and cool and never too terribly dark; I highly recommend it.