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A review by kitvaria_sarene
A Bitter Drink by Azalea Forrest
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A Bitter Drink by Azalea Forest is one of those books that aren't easy to categorise.
There's some political scheming, though I found it pretty easy to follow, so it's not overly complex.
A good mix of races, some well known like dwarves or elves, some refreshingly new, like our main character, a "hedonistic plant man".
It features found family and plenty of cosy scenes, but also has quite some dark parts and a good few deaths. Despite the gritty bits there's overall a sense of hope, and most people are trying to do good.
The main character is a bit exasperating, being a spoiled ambassador. This plant man really grew on me quickly, and I enjoyed spending time with him and his new friends, even when he made me sigh yet again with his antics. The whole cast just worked well for me with the hyper and friendly dwarf, the annoyed grumpy elf, the pampered plant and the super accomodating human playing off each other.
There is some romance, but it's just a cute side part of the story and not the main focus. I saw at least one other review wishing the romance was more in depth, as someone who does not enjoy romance, I thought it was well balanced as to appeal even to people like me.
This seems to be an queernormative world, at least no one bats an eye if you choose a woman, a man, or maybe both for your evenings entertainment.
There's also one major character who uses they/them pronouns. I didn't like that exactly this character was the really weird, probably neurodivergent, evil scientist though. There are a few times when "he" is used for them, all but one could be due to being in another character's view, who maybe don't know. As the MC is at least bi, if not pan, it didn't grind as much as it would if the one queer character is the bad guy or killed off right away.
I personally really enjoy a mix of cosy and dark, so this fit my personal taste rather well!
There's some political scheming, though I found it pretty easy to follow, so it's not overly complex.
A good mix of races, some well known like dwarves or elves, some refreshingly new, like our main character, a "hedonistic plant man".
It features found family and plenty of cosy scenes, but also has quite some dark parts and a good few deaths. Despite the gritty bits there's overall a sense of hope, and most people are trying to do good.
The main character is a bit exasperating, being a spoiled ambassador. This plant man really grew on me quickly, and I enjoyed spending time with him and his new friends, even when he made me sigh yet again with his antics. The whole cast just worked well for me with the hyper and friendly dwarf, the annoyed grumpy elf, the pampered plant and the super accomodating human playing off each other.
There is some romance, but it's just a cute side part of the story and not the main focus. I saw at least one other review wishing the romance was more in depth, as someone who does not enjoy romance, I thought it was well balanced as to appeal even to people like me.
This seems to be an queernormative world, at least no one bats an eye if you choose a woman, a man, or maybe both for your evenings entertainment.
There's also one major character who uses they/them pronouns. I didn't like that exactly this character was the really weird, probably neurodivergent, evil scientist though. There are a few times when "he" is used for them, all but one could be due to being in another character's view, who maybe don't know. As the MC is at least bi, if not pan, it didn't grind as much as it would if the one queer character is the bad guy or killed off right away.
I personally really enjoy a mix of cosy and dark, so this fit my personal taste rather well!