Interesting story. Not all that deep, a lot of conveniences and plot contrivances. A little too short on real villains (the "truly" evil ones twirl their moustaches way too much). But overall, it was an interesting read. A new type of fantasy novel. I never read bl before so the graphic descriptions in some scenes surprised me but the love story blended in so well with the main plot that I ended up really rooting for the boys.
EDIT: a month later and I’m still thinking about this book. Had to bump up the score. The fantasy elements were too good. And the story did engage me more than I realized.