veryreaderie 's review for:

First, Become Ashes by K.M. Szpara

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Another extremely wild book from K. M. Szpara, a man who saw the limitations of traditionally published books and used a ramp built of kink and found family to jump a monster truck over them. In First, Become Ashes we explore power imbalances from a different angle, with maybe-magic set in the real world... within a cult that convinces young adults and children they're chosen to fight evil beyond its walls. Whenever I ask myself "how can this possibly have a happy/acceptable-to-me ending" I should know better... K. M. Szpara has the goods. Big rec for people who grew up reading messed-up things wanting an LGBTQ adventure. Not as heavy as Docile but content warnings still apply.