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syllareads's reviews
788 reviews
Rosemary & Iron by Dorian Valentine
2.5
For transparency's sake, let it be known that I have received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This does not impact my rating or review of this book. Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC before the book was released!
Unfortunately, this book was not for me. No one is more upset about this than I am! Magic, gay vampires, time travel, swooning romance - what's not to love about that! Apparently, quite a lot. Let's unpack my messy feelings about Rosemary & Iron, and why, after everything, I do still want to read the sequel, These Bittersweet Vines.
First and foremost, and unfortunately very important for books with such a focus on the romance part of them: I was not drawn in emotionally about the characters and their connection with each other. Celestin and Amias were fine enough specimen as they come but they did not make me feel emotionally invested in their story. Their love story felt both too drawn-out AND unexplored for me to be invested in it, and somehow, most if not all of their emotions felt pasted onto the page and less like genuine feelings the reader was supposed to pick up on. The "mystery" around Amias' nature was also fairly poorly done IMO. I have enjoyed multiple forms of media where the characters' vampiric nature is only a mystery to the characters and not the readers but somehow,Celestin's "surprise", or rather emotional shock at his lover's nature, did not feel genuine in the context of this book and for how long he'd been speculating (or at least idly wondering) about it.
Secondly, the story felt a bit of a mess. The first half of the book (roughly so) resembled a character study (without the characters being, well, actually studied) in its non-existent aim at anything. I quite like slow books, or meandering books with not much plot to them, but somehow, the book never drew me in with just the characters, either. Meanwhile, the second half felt like a strangely rushed mess. The Corruption, Ortherion and his father,,,,so many of these points seem to come almost out of nowhere. The resolution, in the end, seemed very neatly tied off for something so messy to begin with. Overall, some odd storytelling choices!
I do, however, want to read the sequel - partially because I do already OWN it and thus it'd be a waste to not at least TRY it, but mostly because It is from Ortherion's perspective - a character I found possibly the most intriguing out of the cast of characters presented to me in book 1. I'm intrigued to see how the author handles him now that he is in fact a POV character for longer than one flashback that handles his entire person as well as his relationship with Amias quite oddly.
Overall, I'm not sure I'd personally recommend this book - if you want to know whether you should read it (and support an indie author while doing so!), please go read some other reviews. There's quite a number of people who did in fact love this book! I am simply not one of them.
Unfortunately, this book was not for me. No one is more upset about this than I am! Magic, gay vampires, time travel, swooning romance - what's not to love about that! Apparently, quite a lot. Let's unpack my messy feelings about Rosemary & Iron, and why, after everything, I do still want to read the sequel, These Bittersweet Vines.
First and foremost, and unfortunately very important for books with such a focus on the romance part of them: I was not drawn in emotionally about the characters and their connection with each other. Celestin and Amias were fine enough specimen as they come but they did not make me feel emotionally invested in their story. Their love story felt both too drawn-out AND unexplored for me to be invested in it, and somehow, most if not all of their emotions felt pasted onto the page and less like genuine feelings the reader was supposed to pick up on. The "mystery" around Amias' nature was also fairly poorly done IMO. I have enjoyed multiple forms of media where the characters' vampiric nature is only a mystery to the characters and not the readers but somehow,
Secondly, the story felt a bit of a mess. The first half of the book (roughly so) resembled a character study (without the characters being, well, actually studied) in its non-existent aim at anything. I quite like slow books, or meandering books with not much plot to them, but somehow, the book never drew me in with just the characters, either. Meanwhile, the second half felt like a strangely rushed mess. The Corruption, Ortherion and his father,,,,so many of these points seem to come almost out of nowhere. The resolution, in the end, seemed very neatly tied off for something so messy to begin with. Overall, some odd storytelling choices!
I do, however, want to read the sequel - partially because I do already OWN it and thus it'd be a waste to not at least TRY it, but mostly because It is from Ortherion's perspective - a character I found possibly the most intriguing out of the cast of characters presented to me in book 1. I'm intrigued to see how the author handles him now that he is in fact a POV character for longer than one flashback that handles his entire person as well as his relationship with Amias quite oddly.
Overall, I'm not sure I'd personally recommend this book - if you want to know whether you should read it (and support an indie author while doing so!), please go read some other reviews. There's quite a number of people who did in fact love this book! I am simply not one of them.
Imbued by Helyna L. Clove
4.0
For transparency's sake, let it be known that I have received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This does not impact my rating or review of this book. Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC before the book was released!
I had such a nice time with this book! Imbued is the first book in a series (the second installment, Untwined, is set to release in 2026) set in a world where magic is forbidden, and punishable by death (or worse). Our protagonist, Calla, has been hiding her magic ever since the day she arrived in Kiriong, chased by something she does not remember. And yet, after years of hiding what she holds inside her body, a new arrival might just be the thing that unravels her entirely.
One thing that captured me about Imbued were definitely its characters. Calla is a wonderful protagonist who only ever wants to be invisible because hiding is safer than outright standing for your morals. She's a wonderful person I can't wait to see more of in the sequel. Gray, her counterpart, was an intriguing figure as well - far more gentle with Calla than she could afford to be with him, his presence felt needed to draw Calla out of her shell and into outright anger she never dared express otherwise. Marigo, the third character with significant time dedicated towards, was a lovely addition to the two arguably most important characters, especially to Calla. She is sweet, incredibly supportive, and yet her own distinct person, something I appreciated immensely.
The only difficulty I had with the book was how the expanding story didn't always mesh well with the deep character exploration, especially when it came to time dedicated to each. While Calla's character development journey felt like one of a kind, especially regarding her cPTSD and her attempts to try and deal with that, the actual story itself picked up immense speed towards the end, with not a lot of space dedicated to it. I hope book 2 in the series carries a better balance between the two elements OR foregoes a larger plot in favor of characterisation instead of trying to cram a penultimate battle, a personal revelation, AND multiple sieges and battles into the last few chapters, even if some of these events happened more off than on-screen.
Overall, I'd recommend this book to those fantasy readers looking for more character exploration, and romance that isn't taking the main focus of a fantastic story!
I had such a nice time with this book! Imbued is the first book in a series (the second installment, Untwined, is set to release in 2026) set in a world where magic is forbidden, and punishable by death (or worse). Our protagonist, Calla, has been hiding her magic ever since the day she arrived in Kiriong, chased by something she does not remember. And yet, after years of hiding what she holds inside her body, a new arrival might just be the thing that unravels her entirely.
One thing that captured me about Imbued were definitely its characters. Calla is a wonderful protagonist who only ever wants to be invisible because hiding is safer than outright standing for your morals. She's a wonderful person I can't wait to see more of in the sequel. Gray, her counterpart, was an intriguing figure as well - far more gentle with Calla than she could afford to be with him, his presence felt needed to draw Calla out of her shell and into outright anger she never dared express otherwise. Marigo, the third character with significant time dedicated towards, was a lovely addition to the two arguably most important characters, especially to Calla. She is sweet, incredibly supportive, and yet her own distinct person, something I appreciated immensely.
The only difficulty I had with the book was how the expanding story didn't always mesh well with the deep character exploration, especially when it came to time dedicated to each. While Calla's character development journey felt like one of a kind, especially regarding her cPTSD and her attempts to try and deal with that, the actual story itself picked up immense speed towards the end, with not a lot of space dedicated to it. I hope book 2 in the series carries a better balance between the two elements OR foregoes a larger plot in favor of characterisation instead of trying to cram a penultimate battle, a personal revelation, AND multiple sieges and battles into the last few chapters, even if some of these events happened more off than on-screen.
Overall, I'd recommend this book to those fantasy readers looking for more character exploration, and romance that isn't taking the main focus of a fantastic story!
The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0