A review by bear_ridge_tarot
The Sins on Their Bones by Laura R. Samotin

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Once the Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo, Dimitri now suffers life in self-inflicted exile after losing the civil war against his now-estranged husband Alexey Balakin. Dimitri is grieving yes, but also plotting on how to stop the man he loves from using the sect of Holy Science to remake the world in dark and terrible ways. Alexey, power-hungry and furious over the betrayal, names himself acting Tzar and the chosen of the Lord. 

All around him, Dimitri’s closest allies and friends watch him sink deeper into the muck of depression and heartbreak while they try to lift him back into the light of their love and support. This band of outcasts must craft an extraordinary plan to get close to the enemy in order to cause Alexey’s downfall. Vasily, Dimitri’s closest friend, must offer himself as the sacrifice. There is so much at stake in this book!

The Sins on Their Bones was given the label of a queer dark fantasy. It takes place in the fictional version of 19th-century Eastern Europe/Russia and has been seeped in East European Jewish mysticism, folklore, and traditions. It is a novel in three views, Dmitri, Alexey, and Vasily. A pair of ex-lovers, a set of closest friends, and the interactions between the three of them and their inner circles. It is a slow, creeping plot of deep dark desire and trauma shaping the world around them. 

While there are plenty of things from the complex backstory and history of the world and characters, I didn’t find the starting point of the novel to be a problem. It is a very slow read, because the plot is moved forward in chinches, only to backtrack a bit on the next page. There are a number of sex scenes that don’t offer much to the storyline other than highlighting the fact that the main three characters are all twisted by their traumas and coping in unhealthy ways. But again, this didn’t detract from my liking of the book so much as it slowed the plot down. What I loved about this book was the immersion into the post-war world that Dimitri lives in. I could feel the swirling sadness and longing from him the moment he stepped onto the page. The distressing drive for power in Alexey was larger than life. The longing and courage of Vasily was a stab straight to the heart. The characters were so fully developed that I could easily fall in love or burn with hate for them. 

I received this book as an ARC from NetGally, thank you! And this is my honest review. It is a four star rating for me, simply because the pacing is so slow and inconsistent that it took me too long to reach the end. It is a well-written, incredibly smutty, and highly funny book containing a world, magic system, villain, and hero, plus anti-hero that I could very well see myself reading another book about. The novel comes with major warning labels. It has a large portion told from the perspective of an abuser and it is not comfortable or easy to stomach. The violence and cruelty can be difficult to witness for others, so I do no recommend this book lightly. At the end though, this is a book of crawling out of the darkness and discovering the light, a book of hope.
 
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