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A review by solly
Dithered Hearts by Chace Verity
4.0
I loved this a lot <3
I generally love Chace Verity’s work because it’s unapologetically queer and otherwise diverse and this was no exception. It filled my little queer heart with happiness to see so many queer IDs represented, without it being a big deal. An aromantic pansexual trans guy fairy, a nonbinary sapphic MC, a black gay prince (and a side m/m romance with his knight), a fat lesbian and a disabled lesbian. It was super heartwarming and I loved it.
Now to get into the story a little more, I was a little bit sceptical at first. Cinderella retelling but she falls in love with her stepsisters? Could have easily been messed up. But I didn’t really have a problem with it. None of the sisters are related, and since they live in a super toxic household, they barely interact with each other before the story starts. They don’t have a sisterly bond, so I was mostly fine with the romance between the three of them.
I really loved the characters. Lord Gafford has my eternal love and devotion. He was extremely funny, super anxious, and I related to him in many many ways. His relationship with Cyn was great, and my aro heart was happy to have this rep. Cyn was an awesome MC, determined to save everything and everyone she loves. And I was so happy to see that in this retelling, ‘Cinderella’ had an awesome friendship with the prince.
I think my main issue is with the pacing which wasn’t always great. I loved the storyline and I wanted to know how things would be resolved, but things were sometimes a bit long to click into place and move forward. I still had a great time because the plot was cool, and I loved the characters so much, but the pacing held me back a little.
One of the things I really loved, too, was the abuse rep. It’s a little harsh sometimes, but I think it was well-handled. A lot of characters have abusive parents or stepparents, and the abuse is different every time, and no matter if it’s just mentioned a few times or more in-depth, it always rang true to me, and I liked how the resolution of that part of the plot was handled.
TW: abuse toward queer and disabled character, violence, on-page physical abuse, explicit sex (chapters which include sex scenes are marked by a '*' at the beginning), queerphobia, swearing, mention of parental death, mention of substance abuse and addiction, misgendering. (all TWs are listed at the beginning of the book!)
I generally love Chace Verity’s work because it’s unapologetically queer and otherwise diverse and this was no exception. It filled my little queer heart with happiness to see so many queer IDs represented, without it being a big deal. An aromantic pansexual trans guy fairy, a nonbinary sapphic MC, a black gay prince (and a side m/m romance with his knight), a fat lesbian and a disabled lesbian. It was super heartwarming and I loved it.
Now to get into the story a little more, I was a little bit sceptical at first. Cinderella retelling but she falls in love with her stepsisters? Could have easily been messed up. But I didn’t really have a problem with it. None of the sisters are related, and since they live in a super toxic household, they barely interact with each other before the story starts. They don’t have a sisterly bond, so I was mostly fine with the romance between the three of them.
I really loved the characters. Lord Gafford has my eternal love and devotion. He was extremely funny, super anxious, and I related to him in many many ways. His relationship with Cyn was great, and my aro heart was happy to have this rep. Cyn was an awesome MC, determined to save everything and everyone she loves. And I was so happy to see that in this retelling, ‘Cinderella’ had an awesome friendship with the prince.
I think my main issue is with the pacing which wasn’t always great. I loved the storyline and I wanted to know how things would be resolved, but things were sometimes a bit long to click into place and move forward. I still had a great time because the plot was cool, and I loved the characters so much, but the pacing held me back a little.
One of the things I really loved, too, was the abuse rep. It’s a little harsh sometimes, but I think it was well-handled. A lot of characters have abusive parents or stepparents, and the abuse is different every time, and no matter if it’s just mentioned a few times or more in-depth, it always rang true to me, and I liked how the resolution of that part of the plot was handled.
TW: abuse toward queer and disabled character, violence, on-page physical abuse, explicit sex (chapters which include sex scenes are marked by a '*' at the beginning), queerphobia, swearing, mention of parental death, mention of substance abuse and addiction, misgendering. (all TWs are listed at the beginning of the book!)