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A review by gracepf9
One Night in Boukos by A.J. Demas
4.0
This was a fun read for its setting more than anything. I really enjoy when historical fantasy goes urban, and this book was interesting because the Greek/classics inspiration is generally underused in fantasy. So cool to see people being very human and ordinary in a time period that is usually portrayed as dramatic af.
Demas also really brought the peculiarities of greek gods and the shenanigans of party festivals to Psobios and Boukos. I liked the shocked prudishness of our protagonists as foreign visitors and reluctant participants in the festival. Their reactions disguised the book’s exposition well, which was significant in a work as focused on culture and setting as this one.
For the story events themselves, I was a little surprised that the mystery was more of a framing devise than a high stakes plot, but I wasn’t mad about it. It was a cool way to set a clock on the story, but also to push our characters into the festivities of Psobion.
The romances, which ended up being the meat of the story, were good but not SUPER meaty. It makes sense that we wouldn’t see too much development over the course of a single night, but I was a little sad to have missed the course of their relationships prior to the epilogue time jump.
One Night in Boukos had nothing particularly deep to say but it was a positive vibe all around. I liked it a lot.
4/5
Demas also really brought the peculiarities of greek gods and the shenanigans of party festivals to Psobios and Boukos. I liked the shocked prudishness of our protagonists as foreign visitors and reluctant participants in the festival. Their reactions disguised the book’s exposition well, which was significant in a work as focused on culture and setting as this one.
For the story events themselves, I was a little surprised that the mystery was more of a framing devise than a high stakes plot, but I wasn’t mad about it. It was a cool way to set a clock on the story, but also to push our characters into the festivities of Psobion.
The romances, which ended up being the meat of the story, were good but not SUPER meaty. It makes sense that we wouldn’t see too much development over the course of a single night, but I was a little sad to have missed the course of their relationships prior to the epilogue time jump.
One Night in Boukos had nothing particularly deep to say but it was a positive vibe all around. I liked it a lot.
4/5