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A review by ejpass
The Brilliant Death by A.R. Capetta
5.0
5/5 stars
Recommended for people who like: court intrigue, LGBTQ+ rep, magic, fantasy, assassination plots
Ooh, where to start with this one.
Teodora di Sangro, our leading Lady, is the third-born, second daughter of the patriarch of the di Sangro family, one of the five prominent families of the land. In the very first scene, we see her father kill someone and Teo uses magic to stay hidden, making her a magic-user or 'strega.' From there, the story flashes forward to 'present day' and we see Teo using her magic to transform her family's enemies into pretty objects. Teo is an interesting character, partially sympathetic to some of the people she turns into objects and partially ruthless in her desire to protect her family. It is the ruthless side that tends to win out. But for all her ruthlessness, Teo isn't nearly as ruthless or cruel as her older brother, Beniamo, who delights in torturing his younger siblings--with Teo's magic and strong protective stance, Benny-boy doesn't stay human for too long.
The crux of the story begins when Teo's father is poisoned, as the synopsis says, and Teo and her younger brother, Luca, have to flee their family home to get to the capital before Beniamo finds out that basically everyone in the family plotted to put Luca in charge instead of him. Only issue is? For all Benny-boy's bloodthirstiness and desire to be the family's next patriarch, Luca desires just the opposite and would rather go to university. This is really where the second main strega, genderfluid Cielo, comes into the picture for real. He finds the two of them traveling on the road and offers to teach Teo how to shift forms between man and woman so she can go to the capital as the di Sangro heir instead of Luca, leaving Luca free to go wherever he desires.
With Cielo along, the second part of the plot comes into play: finding out what happened to Cielo's mother. Cielo's urge to do just that, and Teo's decision to help him, also works to push along the goal of Teo learning more about magic and the various ways strega can use it. Combined with the court intrigue once Teo and Cielo finally reach court, and the assassination plots around virtually every corner, Capetta paints and interesting story line to follow. She weaves the pieces--the strega, Cielo's heritage, Teo, the new ruler--together so well that I didn't see some of the twists coming, yet found they made sense in the story line once they'd occurred.
I also appreciate Capetta's writing of the romance between Cielo and Teo. Both had their own goals for being in the capital and the danger of being strega in a country that wasn't fond of them, but both were also willing to part with things to keep the other safe. Further, Capetta wrote a romance between two genderfluid people who could switch their bodies to match their mood, had both of them be bi, and had scenes for each scenario--Teo as a girl and Cielo as a guy, Teo as a guy and Cielo as a girl, both as girls, both as guys. Beyond that, once some of the other peers found out that Teo could switch between genders, they took it in stride and accepted it. Capetta also wrote in that, while men and women, especially those in powerful positions, are still expected to marry in the books, it was not uncommon for two men or two women to be together romantically.
In all, Capetta wrote a book thick in mystery, magic, and intrigue, with interesting characters and scenery to go along with it. The ending was nicely wrapped up so that it could function as a stand-alone or with a sequel (please let there be a sequel).
Recommended for people who like: court intrigue, LGBTQ+ rep, magic, fantasy, assassination plots
Ooh, where to start with this one.
Teodora di Sangro, our leading Lady, is the third-born, second daughter of the patriarch of the di Sangro family, one of the five prominent families of the land. In the very first scene, we see her father kill someone and Teo uses magic to stay hidden, making her a magic-user or 'strega.' From there, the story flashes forward to 'present day' and we see Teo using her magic to transform her family's enemies into pretty objects. Teo is an interesting character, partially sympathetic to some of the people she turns into objects and partially ruthless in her desire to protect her family. It is the ruthless side that tends to win out. But for all her ruthlessness, Teo isn't nearly as ruthless or cruel as her older brother, Beniamo, who delights in torturing his younger siblings--with Teo's magic and strong protective stance, Benny-boy doesn't stay human for too long.
The crux of the story begins when Teo's father is poisoned, as the synopsis says, and Teo and her younger brother, Luca, have to flee their family home to get to the capital before Beniamo finds out that basically everyone in the family plotted to put Luca in charge instead of him. Only issue is? For all Benny-boy's bloodthirstiness and desire to be the family's next patriarch, Luca desires just the opposite and would rather go to university. This is really where the second main strega, genderfluid Cielo, comes into the picture for real. He finds the two of them traveling on the road and offers to teach Teo how to shift forms between man and woman so she can go to the capital as the di Sangro heir instead of Luca, leaving Luca free to go wherever he desires.
With Cielo along, the second part of the plot comes into play: finding out what happened to Cielo's mother. Cielo's urge to do just that, and Teo's decision to help him, also works to push along the goal of Teo learning more about magic and the various ways strega can use it. Combined with the court intrigue once Teo and Cielo finally reach court, and the assassination plots around virtually every corner, Capetta paints and interesting story line to follow. She weaves the pieces--the strega, Cielo's heritage, Teo, the new ruler--together so well that I didn't see some of the twists coming, yet found they made sense in the story line once they'd occurred.
I also appreciate Capetta's writing of the romance between Cielo and Teo. Both had their own goals for being in the capital and the danger of being strega in a country that wasn't fond of them, but both were also willing to part with things to keep the other safe. Further, Capetta wrote a romance between two genderfluid people who could switch their bodies to match their mood, had both of them be bi, and had scenes for each scenario--Teo as a girl and Cielo as a guy, Teo as a guy and Cielo as a girl, both as girls, both as guys. Beyond that, once some of the other peers found out that Teo could switch between genders, they took it in stride and accepted it. Capetta also wrote in that, while men and women, especially those in powerful positions, are still expected to marry in the books, it was not uncommon for two men or two women to be together romantically.
In all, Capetta wrote a book thick in mystery, magic, and intrigue, with interesting characters and scenery to go along with it. The ending was nicely wrapped up so that it could function as a stand-alone or with a sequel (please let there be a sequel).