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A review by claudiearseneault
Castle of Lies by Kiersi Burkhart
2.0
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
Book tw: mentions and threats of rape, violence, disfiguremisia, anti ace/aro/sex work content, incest (cousins), alcoholism and generally lots of drinking, explicit sex.
I asked for it because YA castle intrigues with queer teenagers sounded amazing. I was told one character was demisexual (Thelia) so I was super excited to see how that'd play out.
Unfortunately, this book doesn't deliver on ... pretty much everything? It's not *awful*, but there was really very little to keep me interested. 'Court intrigues' here is synonymous with 'petty teenage romance plots', and it's hard to really dig these characters when they have so little depth. They eventually develop a bit of it, especially Bayled who grows from the most bland love interest into an actual person, but that's ... it. I guess if CASTLE OF LIES was just very standard fantasy tropes mixed with undeveloped characters, I might have given it three stars.
I wish that was it, though, but apart from the polyamory, so much of the representation within CASTLE OF LIES is ... let's go with lackluster. The nonbinary character is, of course, the non-human one (the elf). Parsifal hits so many Promiscuous Bisexual flags it's not even funny, and he's only beautiful when people see 'past' his disfigurement. The elves as a whole are exotified constantly and frequently felt like Native caricatures.
Then there's Thelia, the demisexual character. I'll keep this short. The ace was of course the most manipulative of them and was described as 'cold' and 'heartless' by others. Yikes. In the first half of the novel, Thelia is established as a generally sex averse person, with the exception of the Baron, with whom she developed attraction. It's a Big Deal that he was the one she felt comfortable kissing. That was all fine, but the characterization flies out the window to ham-fist sexual encounters withSapphire first (a kiss), then Parsifal (daily sex for comfort!! with her cousin!) . Thelia never reflects on how different this is from previous experiences, never questions anything, and it's essentially like she was never previously described as anything close to demisexual or sex averse. It was incredibly off putting to have her identity vanish like this. It read like demisexual people just ... become allosexual, and like sex averseness or sex repulsion are only present when sexual attraction is absent. While I can imagine several stories where this could be respectfully explored, CASTLE OF LIES unfolds without any introspection, except perhaps that Thelia is a better person now that she loves and has sex. Good message there. /sarcasm
Overall, CASTLE OF LIES was a bust on all accounts for me, and I'm really disappointed for all the lost potential.
Book tw: mentions and threats of rape, violence, disfiguremisia, anti ace/aro/sex work content, incest (cousins), alcoholism and generally lots of drinking, explicit sex.
I asked for it because YA castle intrigues with queer teenagers sounded amazing. I was told one character was demisexual (Thelia) so I was super excited to see how that'd play out.
Unfortunately, this book doesn't deliver on ... pretty much everything? It's not *awful*, but there was really very little to keep me interested. 'Court intrigues' here is synonymous with 'petty teenage romance plots', and it's hard to really dig these characters when they have so little depth. They eventually develop a bit of it, especially Bayled who grows from the most bland love interest into an actual person, but that's ... it. I guess if CASTLE OF LIES was just very standard fantasy tropes mixed with undeveloped characters, I might have given it three stars.
I wish that was it, though, but apart from the polyamory, so much of the representation within CASTLE OF LIES is ... let's go with lackluster. The nonbinary character is, of course, the non-human one (the elf). Parsifal hits so many Promiscuous Bisexual flags it's not even funny, and he's only beautiful when people see 'past' his disfigurement. The elves as a whole are exotified constantly and frequently felt like Native caricatures.
Then there's Thelia, the demisexual character. I'll keep this short. The ace was of course the most manipulative of them and was described as 'cold' and 'heartless' by others. Yikes. In the first half of the novel, Thelia is established as a generally sex averse person, with the exception of the Baron, with whom she developed attraction. It's a Big Deal that he was the one she felt comfortable kissing. That was all fine, but the characterization flies out the window to ham-fist sexual encounters with
Overall, CASTLE OF LIES was a bust on all accounts for me, and I'm really disappointed for all the lost potential.