probablyaster's Reviews (148)

 

So a fun fact about this book is that when I was at a Leigh Bardugo book signing early this year, she recommended this book to the people there. So naturally, I requested it on NetGalley once I saw the audiobook, despite it being a form of reading I am not yet accustomed to. However, despite it taking me a lot longer to read than a book typically takes, it was a great book. I loved reading about all of the characters, and I am very glad that this book did not fully fall into the all-to-common trope of making William Shakespeare himself a fraud, although the character is definitely a real person. The book also does a good job of acknowledging the racism of the times and condemns it without holding these characters to today’s morals in the way that a lot of books do.Also there is a queerness and not just for the fae, for everyone, as I have a personal hatred for when the fae are queer in a way that seems as if they are queer to distinguish them as something other than human, as opposed to showing queerness as a human trait. I mean, the fae are still equally queer which is also good, but it's everyone this time. There is also a high chance that the books may end with the main character in a polyamorous relationship, so I am really excited for that. 

 

 

I went into this book expecting a coming-of-age romance, but also something slightly more angsty and annoying in the internal monologue of the characters. However, this book was funny, and the narration from our main character was great, as it was things that an actual teenager would probably say in those situations. (I keep a counter for contemporary novels known as the “no teenager would fucking say that” list, this book scored pretty low. I call it a counter, but I lost count so it’s more of a vibe). Either way, I really enjoyed this book, and the characters and their dynamics all felt relatable. Asexual representation is not very common among main characters, especially for characters who still experience romantic attraction, and it was nice to actually see that for once. 

However, Wren Martin himself is kind of stupid and oblivious to literally anyone’s attention, and I am still trying to decide whether that is annoying or endearing, because I am fairly sure it changes between the different parts of the book. So is our love interest as well, for that matter, so they really are perfect for each other. 

 

I honestly did not even know that the original book( which I mainly enjoyed despite having a few minor problems with) was even going to have a sequel until I requested and received the ARC of this novel from edelweiss. It was much better than the first one, although I tended to get a bit confused with the very extensive cast of characters. There are so many people and plotlines running throughout the book that it seemed almost convoluted at points, although I really did love all of the characters, and I still think that the way that Tokuda-Hall talks about gender and sexuality in this series is really interesting and really fun, and that was what drew me to the series in the first place. (Actually it was a google search for books about gay pirates in spring 2022 after finishing a television show, but technically those are the same thing)