Review by owlsreads - A Strange and Stubborn Endurance

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owlsreads 's review for:

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

4.0

"Yours is a strange and stubborn endurance."

Content warnings: sexual assault, suicidal ideation, self-harm, animal death.

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance was not at all what I was expecting it to be, mostly in a really positive way! Before picking this up, know there are graphic scenes dealing with the content warnings above. If they are in any way upsetting to you, please be careful and take care of yourself <3

The first thing that surprised me about this book was the writing. By which I mean I had a really really difficult time with the style at first. It was a bit too stiff and flowery for my taste and the way Meadows structured certain sentences made my ESL brain go a little ??? at times. I did get used to it after a while, though! Even more so because I really liked the characters.

Vel and Cae were such different forces from each other and I enjoyed how Meadows wrote their perspectives. Vel was going through so much while still trying to maintain a sense of calm due to the situation he was in and Cae was adorable in his fumbling. The manner in which their relationship progressed was so sweet, even with the arranged marriage element, and I appreciated how Meadows addressed sexual trauma and healing from it in connection to that.

The political plot was also pretty interesting for the most part. It was fun to read about the deaths and assassination attempts and the investigation. I just wish the twist regarding that and its reveal had been done in a different way because 1. it was really predictable and 2. it was straight-up a villainous monologue.

This was still a pretty satisfying read overall and I think Fantasy Romance fans looking for a book with queer protagonists and a plot a bit in the more political side of things will enjoy this!

Content Warnings