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A review by noodleladjr
As We Fall by Anya Wildt
3.0
Firstly, a few qualifiers. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of As We Fall as an advance reader from the author. It is not a genre that I am at all familiar with, so I obviously cannot speak to the experience one may have, if it is close to their regular fare. Furthermore, it has been a few weeks since I finished the novel as I write this review.
All that being said, As We Fall is an interesting fantasy queer romance with political elements, exactly as Wildt promises. The story follows Domitris, the Emperor of Marmaras, navigating a key juncture in his nation’s history, along with his enigmatic lover Sinnan. What stood out the most to me throughout the novel was the lovely world that Wildt has breathed life into. The people, the buildings, the monuments, and the cultures created demand the reader’s attention and really captured the imagination as Domitris and Sinnan move through them and interact with them. Lyra and Amelia were definitely some of the standout characters in the story to me that were particularly interesting.
I personally found it somewhat hard to connect with Domitris, which is slightly unfortunate as he was the POV character. It felt to me that he is constantly in need of direction from others, which left me with the question, how did he get elected? Between the conspiracy he faces within the nobility and the distance between ruler and ruled, this question was in the back of my mind throughout the story. (It is worth noting that politics are a significant interest of mine and that this is not integral to the story) Nonetheless, the enigma of characters like Sinnan along with the mystery that really accelerates in the second half kept me engaged. I think Wildt handles the twists of the story remarkably well, because they felt neither unfounded nor unsurprising, and notably they are set up by Domitris’ viewpoint in a sense, which I found really interesting. (I cannot stress how much I loved a certain twist)
Ultimately, As We Fall is a good debut novel that delivers exactly what is promised, and I wholly believe it is worth your time to read it.
All that being said, As We Fall is an interesting fantasy queer romance with political elements, exactly as Wildt promises. The story follows Domitris, the Emperor of Marmaras, navigating a key juncture in his nation’s history, along with his enigmatic lover Sinnan. What stood out the most to me throughout the novel was the lovely world that Wildt has breathed life into. The people, the buildings, the monuments, and the cultures created demand the reader’s attention and really captured the imagination as Domitris and Sinnan move through them and interact with them. Lyra and Amelia were definitely some of the standout characters in the story to me that were particularly interesting.
I personally found it somewhat hard to connect with Domitris, which is slightly unfortunate as he was the POV character. It felt to me that he is constantly in need of direction from others, which left me with the question, how did he get elected? Between the conspiracy he faces within the nobility and the distance between ruler and ruled, this question was in the back of my mind throughout the story. (It is worth noting that politics are a significant interest of mine and that this is not integral to the story) Nonetheless, the enigma of characters like Sinnan along with the mystery that really accelerates in the second half kept me engaged. I think Wildt handles the twists of the story remarkably well, because they felt neither unfounded nor unsurprising, and notably they are set up by Domitris’ viewpoint in a sense, which I found really interesting. (I cannot stress how much I loved a certain twist)
Ultimately, As We Fall is a good debut novel that delivers exactly what is promised, and I wholly believe it is worth your time to read it.