I was originally bummed to find out this was a romantasy after picking it up based on the hellish setting and the promise of a slightly vengeful (autistic) protagonist, but strangely, the romance was one of the strongest parts of the book! Alesta and Kyr’s bond was solid, their dynamic evidence of just how long-lasting it had been. The only downside was the nickname for Alesta, though…”my perfect calamity”?? The most painfully romantasy nickname I’ve heard in a while, even if I could gather the meaning. But at least it was used sparingly. (There were a couple not-so-subtle parallels to it throughout though, haha)

And one of the book’s messages—the one focused around how beauty can be unconventional—was executed, in part, through the eyes of yearning, demisexual Kyr. Something about using acespec characters for a romance that ties into that just…scratches my brain?!?! (also this I don’t know if Alesta is also acespec, but this could also probably be applied to how she viewed Kyr?)

But the plot itself was nothing to write home about. The lack of noticeable shifts between the different circles of hell weakened the setting, there was a commitment to keeping modern queer terminology out of this because of the time period but not the term “autistic” for some reason????, and there was unfortunately little of the pantheon explored by the end. (I get that Soladisa’s faith and knowledge was revealed to be pretty limited and often incorrect, but also, the information provided by Lia felt too last-minute to be a series of twists that could stick with me.) The antagonist was also predictable, and monologued for far too long. I was kind of waiting for him to get mauled by a monster or something, but alas.

Things I did like, though: For one, Alesta and Kyr have very different forms of autism, which influences their POVs and how they’re ostracized. I appreciated seeing different ends of the autism spectrum! I felt that was represented well. Secondly, Alesta was a solid protagonist. I usually find self-love arcs in YA to be very repetitive, boring or/and annoying, but hers brought a refreshing subversion to the constant self-sacrifices she made. It was nice to see one single thought she made in a moment of desperation eventually shape into development. Also, Alesta was a great example of writing an intelligent female character without dumbing down the rest of the cast. 

I keep my rating a little low despite singing my praises, because so much of this was meant to be centered around deconstructing oppressive religious views, and offering commentary, but it all felt very surface level. There wasn’t anything thought-provoking to be found in the text. At all.

Still, through its flaws, I was able to giggle in glee over yearning-filled romance, and get sucked into the tenseness of every monstrous threat until I lost track of the pages. I think that is worth something.