A review by cardsbycourt
The Brilliant Death by A.R. Capetta

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, way more than I expected. I mean I knew it was a queer fantasy book but I didn't think I would enjoy this as much as I did. It took me about 50-75 pages to get super engaged and then I finished it within a day. This was super fun and unique, it was a both political and fantastical novel and it did not really feel like formulaic of boring. I loved how the shapeshifting and magic system was done because it was so based in self love and acceptance and that gender does not matter. The way that this book dealt with changing genders really showed me how so many other books that I've read have been questionably transphobic or just not super considerate when having characters shift genders. But this book was really good about this and ensuring that even though society had certain feelings about gender, the characters did not mirror this (I also think this is because it is Own Voices, I'm pretty sure). My one complaint (and the main reason that this is not a 5) is that the world building felt a little lazy at some points and sometimes it felt like more telling than showing with the magic system and world building. But, this really is the dream, a more diverse fantasy novel that is still fresh and engaging.