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A review by iread2dream
The Last Immortal by Natalie Gibson
1.0
Thank you BHC Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
It turns out this book was not my cup of tea.
The book follows Lady Ramillia. After she kills her parents, she's commited to an insane asylum where she suffers years of torture. Once Lady Ramillia is able to leave the asylum, she discovers her betrothed, a very wealthy man, is more horrific than her torturers at the asylum. She must learn to navigate this new world of monsters and what she needs to do to survive. There ensues lots of violence and other rather unsavory things.
First off, this is a horror nobel, not in the sense of ghouls and such, but in the sense of horrors humans commit. As the book says: this story is not for the faint of heart, and while I don't consider myself 'faint of heart,' it seemed I was when it came to this book. The book does come with trigger warnings but I feel the trigger warning glossed over a most triggering thing for many people: SA of a minor. There's also incest. It was too much, too overwhelming that I had to take a break from the book for a while. I'll reiterate that this story is not for the faint of heart.
I like the story but it was too heavy on the world building for my taste. The story also felt like it dragged on. I did appreciate that Lady Ramillia stood up for people, especially women, of lower economic means, and that she spread her wealth. Sometimes her shows of power, either violent or monetary, felt excessive, like showboating. The sudden change in behaviors and sudden changes in the story were jarring and left me confused.
There were many times throughout the book where I wasn't sure where the story was headed. There seemd to be no sense of direction or purpose. Overall, I was not a fan of the excessive violence and numerous depictions of SA. I was most definitely not the target audience for this book.
It turns out this book was not my cup of tea.
The book follows Lady Ramillia. After she kills her parents, she's commited to an insane asylum where she suffers years of torture. Once Lady Ramillia is able to leave the asylum, she discovers her betrothed, a very wealthy man, is more horrific than her torturers at the asylum. She must learn to navigate this new world of monsters and what she needs to do to survive. There ensues lots of violence and other rather unsavory things.
First off, this is a horror nobel, not in the sense of ghouls and such, but in the sense of horrors humans commit. As the book says: this story is not for the faint of heart, and while I don't consider myself 'faint of heart,' it seemed I was when it came to this book. The book does come with trigger warnings but I feel the trigger warning glossed over a most triggering thing for many people: SA of a minor. There's also incest. It was too much, too overwhelming that I had to take a break from the book for a while. I'll reiterate that this story is not for the faint of heart.
I like the story but it was too heavy on the world building for my taste. The story also felt like it dragged on. I did appreciate that Lady Ramillia stood up for people, especially women, of lower economic means, and that she spread her wealth. Sometimes her shows of power, either violent or monetary, felt excessive, like showboating. The sudden change in behaviors and sudden changes in the story were jarring and left me confused.
There were many times throughout the book where I wasn't sure where the story was headed. There seemd to be no sense of direction or purpose. Overall, I was not a fan of the excessive violence and numerous depictions of SA. I was most definitely not the target audience for this book.