A review by astrozombies
A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

overall i supremely enjoyed this book for so many reasons. it brought me a lot of joy as a bi + nonbinary person. i think there’s a lot of merit in the author’s portrayal of certain themes (such as trauma, growth, and self-love) as well as her specific writing talents which i felt lied strongly in worldbuilding and depictions of platonic + romantic relationships. my main issues with the book come from the ending, and the feeling that there was a lot more potential to make more interesting decisions plot-wise, at the risk of turning this book into another tome of high fantasy. that said, i REALLY found myself enjoying the surprises that we got, and i was overjoyed for my expectations of this new release to be fulfilled. though this book is presumably a standalone, i think i’d like to see more from this universe, if not featuring the same cast.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Animal death, Homophobia, Murder, Outing, Rape, Self harm, Transphobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Blood, and Classism

Minor: Alcohol

note my addition of the xenophobia warning: all of it is toward fake countries, built as part of the fantasy world. also concerning the sexual assault and outing related tags:

the rape (and subsequent outing) of the main character is the inciting incident of this book. there is a warning at the beginning of the book but keep in mind it happens EARLY, and the effects of it continue to affect the mc and plot through the whole book.