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A review by zephyrmarks
Blood Of Torbatt (The Lost Faces, #2) by C.J. Merwild
About my reviews: Because I'm a dark fantasy slow-burn queer love story writer, I stick to my genre in general for reviewing (queer speculative love stories, largely, sometimes romance). I am very aware that there are fantastic, beautifully written books out there that no part of me enjoyed reading and vice versa. I am no authority on a "good book". I just like to prattle on about books in general, and books I enjoy in detail, but I also pull no punches. I expect varying opinions because without them, the world would stop spinning. What's yours is yours, what's mine is mine. This has nothing to do with the following content except to place this review in some sort of context. This is also why I don't use the star system.
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This book is a brutal masterpiece. I'm not just throwing that out there lightly, and if you've read the above you'll maybe get that I'm not scoring it with some technical calculations, nor am I looking deeply for all of its flaws. Is it a perfect book? Come on, what even is that? The perfect book would probably put us all to sleep. Perfect for me? Yes, please. It imposes on me exactly the right amount of fuckery that I would want when it comes to a fantasy not romance love story set in a very unforgiving world that is perpetuating fuckery on its citizens at every turn.
So clearly, I'm rating on feelings, on aliveness, on meaning, on character, and on how this story has made me feel so far. The aliveness is notable in all interactions and man alive is it notable in the sex scenes. What a ride. The meaning draws from the most mythic and basic of human circumstances, even if half the characters are not human. Still, they present in that form and there's a delicious perpetual residue of divine hierarchy that places humans at the bottom, and yet still the Nichans imitate them for what are largely survival purposes because everyone has to deal with pandering to the one segment of fearful, crazy humans who are ruining it for everyone else and this feels... poignant, considering actual humanity. The characterization of Gus has given me the most whiplash so far, since he's got one of those truly sweeping arcs. Domino is more steady, digging into more of himself as we go along, but Gus, my goodness, how little we knew you. I will now follow him anywhere. And lastly, my feelings...most books I read, this book I lived. There are actually too many feelings involved and you definitely don't need me to try to articulate.
So, what does masterpiece mean to me? After The Nichan Smile, which I loved, I expected more of the same in Blood of Torbatt. But I didn't get more of the same. I got a mainline deep dive into fantastic worldbuilding, plot devices and twists that are incredibly satisfying, BISEXUAL REPRESENTATION, characterization that delighted me, and a unique and visceral writing style that casts off all of the syntax challenges and possible translation-based editing issues from book one. The culmination of all these things, plus that intangible otherness that takes a story from good to great is present and accounted for here.
I found Gus and Domino through Merwild's art on instagram. For several months I lurked. Then I TBR'd. When Blood of Torbatt was released, I figured I'd start on The Nichan Smile (which I have reviewed if you're interested). It's rare that I don't wait until a series is complete before starting on it, but I'm slowly changing my tune as cliffhangers fall out of favor. The wait can be hard. Clearly, by this glowing review, I regret nothing. I finished both books in two days, then bought the books.
It's maybe my highest compliment as a writer when I go back through and pick apart what worked and didn't until I'm satisfied that I've understood as much of the magic of an author's use of craft elements as possible. I'll be doing this with this series. Blood of Torbatt takes everything from The Nichan Smile and revs it up in a beautiful dance of moving between Gus's and Domino's POV, push-pulling between their inner growth and outer circumstances in wonderfully devastating and heartwarming ways. I love them both and am endlessly delighted with the worldbuilding.
I read no reviews before reading, so I had no sense of the plot of either book, just what I've gleaned over time from instagram. That was a good move on my part. It added an extra delight, which is why I'm trying to put no spoilers in either of my reviews. In this second book, these kids are going to careen headlong into adulthood. As some characters from the first book exit, the ones who enter are captivating. After a boy-heavy first book, well, make way for the women! And for a fantastic representation of 1. bisexuality, 2. the nuances of love and sex, and 3. the heartrending search for one's voice and power through greater and greater levels of self-trust in even the worst of circumstances.
Everything about this story is difficult and marvelous, because the destinies are so big that the vessels have to be broken and remade. As a part two, BoT sweeps the characters toward these destinies with a kind of lush fervor that contains the perfect amount of tension and excellent pacing. It should be noted that I'm the demographic this book was written for. My tastes are exactly this, and I can name very few books/series among so many that I've enjoyed, that I enjoyed this much. The storytelling is compelling and vibrant and plot devices are used wisely.
**********A FEW SPOILERY DETAILS BELOW ***********
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*
*
*
*
It's rare to have an entire book in a love story series where the endgame characters don't even see each other and this is one of the more delightful things that the author has pulled off. I ached the whole time for them, but loved their trajectories. The major accomplishment of a satisfying slow burn is skirting the line of how slow you can go and still give your reader a good time. This is part of what I mean by masterpiece.
Coco, this book is magical. Your love for your characters comes through on every page and you did them justice.
So now, I wait.
*********
This book is a brutal masterpiece. I'm not just throwing that out there lightly, and if you've read the above you'll maybe get that I'm not scoring it with some technical calculations, nor am I looking deeply for all of its flaws. Is it a perfect book? Come on, what even is that? The perfect book would probably put us all to sleep. Perfect for me? Yes, please. It imposes on me exactly the right amount of fuckery that I would want when it comes to a fantasy not romance love story set in a very unforgiving world that is perpetuating fuckery on its citizens at every turn.
So clearly, I'm rating on feelings, on aliveness, on meaning, on character, and on how this story has made me feel so far. The aliveness is notable in all interactions and man alive is it notable in the sex scenes. What a ride. The meaning draws from the most mythic and basic of human circumstances, even if half the characters are not human. Still, they present in that form and there's a delicious perpetual residue of divine hierarchy that places humans at the bottom, and yet still the Nichans imitate them for what are largely survival purposes because everyone has to deal with pandering to the one segment of fearful, crazy humans who are ruining it for everyone else and this feels... poignant, considering actual humanity. The characterization of Gus has given me the most whiplash so far, since he's got one of those truly sweeping arcs. Domino is more steady, digging into more of himself as we go along, but Gus, my goodness, how little we knew you. I will now follow him anywhere. And lastly, my feelings...most books I read, this book I lived. There are actually too many feelings involved and you definitely don't need me to try to articulate.
So, what does masterpiece mean to me? After The Nichan Smile, which I loved, I expected more of the same in Blood of Torbatt. But I didn't get more of the same. I got a mainline deep dive into fantastic worldbuilding, plot devices and twists that are incredibly satisfying, BISEXUAL REPRESENTATION, characterization that delighted me, and a unique and visceral writing style that casts off all of the syntax challenges and possible translation-based editing issues from book one. The culmination of all these things, plus that intangible otherness that takes a story from good to great is present and accounted for here.
I found Gus and Domino through Merwild's art on instagram. For several months I lurked. Then I TBR'd. When Blood of Torbatt was released, I figured I'd start on The Nichan Smile (which I have reviewed if you're interested). It's rare that I don't wait until a series is complete before starting on it, but I'm slowly changing my tune as cliffhangers fall out of favor. The wait can be hard. Clearly, by this glowing review, I regret nothing. I finished both books in two days, then bought the books.
It's maybe my highest compliment as a writer when I go back through and pick apart what worked and didn't until I'm satisfied that I've understood as much of the magic of an author's use of craft elements as possible. I'll be doing this with this series. Blood of Torbatt takes everything from The Nichan Smile and revs it up in a beautiful dance of moving between Gus's and Domino's POV, push-pulling between their inner growth and outer circumstances in wonderfully devastating and heartwarming ways. I love them both and am endlessly delighted with the worldbuilding.
I read no reviews before reading, so I had no sense of the plot of either book, just what I've gleaned over time from instagram. That was a good move on my part. It added an extra delight, which is why I'm trying to put no spoilers in either of my reviews. In this second book, these kids are going to careen headlong into adulthood. As some characters from the first book exit, the ones who enter are captivating. After a boy-heavy first book, well, make way for the women! And for a fantastic representation of 1. bisexuality, 2. the nuances of love and sex, and 3. the heartrending search for one's voice and power through greater and greater levels of self-trust in even the worst of circumstances.
Everything about this story is difficult and marvelous, because the destinies are so big that the vessels have to be broken and remade. As a part two, BoT sweeps the characters toward these destinies with a kind of lush fervor that contains the perfect amount of tension and excellent pacing. It should be noted that I'm the demographic this book was written for. My tastes are exactly this, and I can name very few books/series among so many that I've enjoyed, that I enjoyed this much. The storytelling is compelling and vibrant and plot devices are used wisely.
**********A FEW SPOILERY DETAILS BELOW ***********
*
*
*
*
*
It's rare to have an entire book in a love story series where the endgame characters don't even see each other and this is one of the more delightful things that the author has pulled off. I ached the whole time for them, but loved their trajectories. The major accomplishment of a satisfying slow burn is skirting the line of how slow you can go and still give your reader a good time. This is part of what I mean by masterpiece.
Coco, this book is magical. Your love for your characters comes through on every page and you did them justice.
So now, I wait.