Sorcery and Small Magics starts off feeling a little like a Harry Potter fanfic, but it doesn’t take too long for it to feel like a story of it's own.Sorcery and Small Magics starts off feeling a little like a Harry Potter fanfic, but it doesn’t take too long for it to feel like a story of it's own. Once it does, the story becomes pretty engaging with a lot of its own personality.
The pacing is a bit slow in the beginning, and throughout a few of the mysteries don’t quite land as smoothly as I suspect the author wanted. There were also some world-building details that felt under-explained, which left me a little confused at times, but by the end I understood nearly all of them.. Once you get past that, the book really starts to come together, especially towards the end.
This is the first in a trilogy, so it's clearly setting the stage for bigger things. If you’re into the “enemies to friends” dynamic, you’ll enjoy where the characters are headed. By the end, I was intrigued enough to want to see what happens next!
After reading The Last Binding trilogy and absolutely loving it, I was being excited to read Swordcrossed, but, it did mean I had really high expectatAfter reading The Last Binding trilogy and absolutely loving it, I was being excited to read Swordcrossed, but, it did mean I had really high expectations.
I am so happy to be able to say this book lived up to every one of those expectations. The relationship between Matti and Luca grows slowly but blindingly, you feel the pair of them fall in love whilst both weighed down by known and unknown secrets. The way Freya Marske writes the scenes between them is a level of intimacy that I haven't seen rendered in text in a long time. She made the most ordinary things sensual, made my breath catch at the heat and heart in some scenes.
Past the relationship there was the world building which was expertly don't, with deities and guilds and geopolitical histories. But... Nothing was too heavy or too dry, she gave you just the information you needed to enjoy the rich world she had created.
And finally the mystery -- it was just enough to keep the intrigue going, and as a person who is a member of the current guild of Weavers, spinners and dyers, she was about 95% correct with her wool processing knowledge!
This book was so good it's made all my other 5* reviews pale in comparison. Definitely check it out!...more
"Rip-roaringly romantic, fast-paced, and funny" is so far from an accurate description of this book that I'm not sure if the blurb writer even read th"Rip-roaringly romantic, fast-paced, and funny" is so far from an accurate description of this book that I'm not sure if the blurb writer even read the book! The story follows Mariel, a newly blooded captain of the Merry Men, as she struggles to live up to the legendary legacy of her grandfather, Robin Hood, whilst struggling with some family truths.
Lets look at those three claims one at a time, and to remind you theyare: rip-roaringly romantic, fast-paced and funny
The characters don't kiss until 60% of the way through the book and it comes out of absolutely nowhere. If you told me that this wasn't a romance book I would nod my head and agree with you. But, here it's being touted as one of it's main selling points! If we hadn't been flipping between Clem and Mariel's POVs I wouldn't have had a hint that their relationship was the end game, and being honest it just doesn't develop. There are flashes of a great relationship but it just falls to the side with the constant pieces of plot being through at you.
That brings me onto the next point, 'fast-paced'. As Mariel and Clem navigate the perils of the Greenwood, including the capture of Mariel's father, Jack Hartley, the narrative delves into themes of loyalty, identity, and the true meaning of heroism. Or at least, it really, really tries. The plot is slow to get off the ground, whilst it might be fast-paced in the sense that they're physically moving from one location to another, nothing really happens of note for perhaps the entire first half of the book. There's nothing to grip you and draw you forward through the book, what little mystery and suspense there is doesn't become truly apparently until perhaps 70%. And here's the thing, you need to foreshadow things, otherwise reveals are vastly unsatisying. Readers need to feel like they should have seen something coming, else it becomes a string of, 'oh, I didn't even know this was a thing that could happen'.
And lastly, funny. I mean, of the three I'd say it delivers the most on this, but it feels a little bit like it's trying too hard.
There's a great idea here, but the execution is beyond awful. I'm so disappointed. ...more
This book is an absolute delight. This is a story told from the POV of a 'monster', and she is funny, kind and witty, even if she doesn't quite realisThis book is an absolute delight. This is a story told from the POV of a 'monster', and she is funny, kind and witty, even if she doesn't quite realise she's being all of those things.
I went into this not quite knowing what to expect and what I got was a really touching sapphic, arguably asexual, romance between a fat, not conventionally attractive character, and a shapeshifter. It was full of all the feelings, and, well, a lot of violence and gore. But oddly, less than you might expect? Or more, I guess, depending on your expectations.
Either way, the writing was nuanced and accessible. The book made me laugh, make that weird 'awww' noise, and quickly turn the page because I needed to know what happened next.
If you love a reaffirming romance, with a good touch of black humour, check this out....more
I don't know if this book suffered because it followed A Power Unbound but that was something about this book that was just a little mediocre.
The chanI don't know if this book suffered because it followed A Power Unbound but that was something about this book that was just a little mediocre.
The changes in Kazia's character just felt too unbelievable and without any hints dropping in previous books it just didn't have the impact. It felt like it should
I don't know something just... Maybe I was just expecting more because of the rest of the series.
I adored this book. It's another queer normative world, but this time we're adventuring on the high seas! Well,reeeeeeeeee (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)
I adored this book. It's another queer normative world, but this time we're adventuring on the high seas! Well, actually, a little more around an island, and actually, a lot of it we're just hiding on top of a wardrobe attempting to stab people who are trying to get us down. Sorry, silly sluts can't help themselves! (Honestly, I'm sorry to all who are reading this review, in honour of Avra I'm letting my chaos gremlin out to play and smattering this review with references to the book!)
Avra is kind of a disaster, he's fairly obtuse, perpetually horny, and rarely thinks things through. But he's ineffably polite, and, oh, probably blessed by a luck goddess so everything always seems to work in his favour... in the end. The getting there can be pretty hair-raising tho!
Don't expect anything too serious in this book, it's just queer fun meant to amuse and entertain, and in my mind that's exactly was it did.
NB captain, slutty queer chaos gremlin, and, well, Julian. I don't want to spoil anything there. Probably a thruple by the end of the book. Maybe.
Honestly, it was a great little adventure, losing half a star because the ending feels a *tiny* bit rushed. ...more
Welcome to Verdine, filled with people in pain and an abundance of greenery, and just up there? They're the Empty Isles, filled with people in pain anWelcome to Verdine, filled with people in pain and an abundance of greenery, and just up there? They're the Empty Isles, filled with people in pain and definitely no greenery. The world has burnt and been regrown, and now we've got to look after it, except, if you disagree with the authoritarian government you get sent to the penal colony that is the Empty Isles. The lord of the Empty Isles, Idrian Delaciel, killed Remy's brother and only family five years ago. Remy wants vengeance for his brother, and he's going to stop at nothing to get it.
This book! This book! It grabs you from the first pages and it doesn't stop until the last. I sat down and read it in one sitting and don't regret a thing except that it was over. The pacing is good, the characters are real and so is their pain. The world that Arbeaux has created is stunning, with a magic system that reminds me a little of Holly Black's curse workers world. There's a lot to keep up with about the different bonds, and it might have benefitted from a reference of them at the back, but I can understand that Arbeaux probably didn't want to reveal some of that information until it was needed.
In this queer normative world, everyone seems to have suffered unbearable losses, and family is such a large theme of this book. Tied together with an aroace lead character and what is quite clearly a queerplatonic relationship just, urgh, insert keyboard smash here. I don't know how to properly articulate that this is everything I want in a book. Closeness and focus on intimacy without the need for romance, without the need for sex. We're all valid and this book reminds us that we have stories that are there to be told as well.
Would I have wanted more Remy and Idrian time? Definitely. Would I have liked even more moments of them caring for each other and learning who they're going to be to each other? So so so much. Does it make it a worse book without them? Oh, not at all!
I want every story about these characters. I want a whole series of their adventures before they take down the main bad guy. I want more.
People always love those quick summary lines, and I suppose for this it's firefly but queer and with some magic, but, that just doesn't do this book justice at all.
Losing half a star for a couple of coincidences too many and a few friction points that didn't quite have a satisfying conclusion. Also that I think we could have had a million books in this series and it still wouldn't be enough space to tell Idrian, Remy, et al's story! ...more
We follow Eli, a character that was almost forgotten after the first book in the Starian series, butThis book is everything I wanted and didn't know.
We follow Eli, a character that was almost forgotten after the first book in the Starian series, but this book lets us see what happened. Honestly, I don't think anyone could have seen where he ended up.
It's a beautiful story, that grabs you immediately and keeps you with it right to the end. It hurts in such a good way, and then Eli gets what I think is a perfect ending....more
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