simonlorden's Reviews (1.38k)

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1) I just read two Toby Daye books in one day and it's almost midnight and my eyes feel like jelly, and my OTP still isn't together, and it was still worth it

2) hey, about that whole origin of Selkies thing? Holy Shit

Malachiasz, no

I am attached to these children and it's painful

btw, one way to get me invested in a ship is to have one of them go "oh gods, anyone but him" when they realise they have feelings

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You know what I love? People who are supposed to be enemies grudgingly working together, and growing to like each other no matter how hard they fight it. Also, an examination of what it means to be a monster, and how human monsters can be. So, really, it’s no surprise that I ended up adoring Wicked Saints.

The series title is Something Dark and Holy, and I think that describes the feeling of this book perfectly. It is deliciously dark, and yet I didn’t feel like it had any of the unnecessary violence that repulses me in many dark fantasy books. It is also focuses heavily on gods, saints, heretics and how whether something is one or the other really depends on your point of view.

The three main characters in Wicked Saints (two of them with their own POV in this book, unless we count the epilogue) are all powerful, dangerous, and possibly as likely to destroy the world as to save it. And yet, they are also broken, charming, awkward, in love, and so many other human words. They are all enemies, and yet they all have the same goal, or at least a goal similar enough to force them to work together. Also, they all want to save their own respective countries, which doesn’t always seem possible without destroying the other.

I loved the worldbuilding in this book, but what really pulled me in and kept me going was my deep attachment to the three main characters. Nadya, Serefin and Malachiasz are all complex characters whose loyalties are tested in this book, and whose fates seem to be entwined despite their protests.

After that ending, I am a little scared what the sequel will bring, but I am definitely curious.

"I, um, come from a society with a history of gender assumptions based on physical markers, aesthetics, et cetera."
"Ew," Ari said.
"That's wicked sad," Kay added.
Merlin, at least, looked deeply ashamed. "You have no idea."

I... don't know what happened to me halfway through this book.

It started out brilliant, and sucked me in almost immediately. An adopted queer teenage girl with Arabic background, a gay wizard who ages backwards and uses songs to do magic, both of them being in same gender relationships, a nonbinary side character, an ace side character, same-gender adoptive parents, and a wonderfully diverse cast in terms of both race and sexuality. A fresh, beautiful take on Arthurian myths that somehow mixes both the past and the future, reenacting the myths of old, but in space. Also, the big bad tyrannical empire this time is not actually a government, but a corporation, and if that isn't relevant then I don't know what is.

I absolutely loved Merlin and his memories of all the Arthurs, the feeling that this is really an unending cycle, that they are all so different and yet still have the same soul, the same story, the same end.

So why did the second half leave me uninterested and kind of disenchanted? I really have no idea, but somewhere around the one-year timeskip I felt myself losing interest and becoming numb to the twists.

It might have had to do something with the character deaths (not telling you who, obviously, but damn I didn't like that), or the fact that these apparent teenagers are going around having sex, getting married, and having literal babies. Not that those things don't happen to teenagers, but it's far from the norm, and just in general, this felt like it should have been a New Adult novel. We already have so few of those, so the missed opportunity made me kind of bitter.

I also feel like there might have been a symbolic reason behind Ari, Val, Lam and Kay all having names with three letters, but having the last three be so similar was indeed kind of annoying. I wondered why Percival couldn't have been Percy or Perce or something instead. This is just a minor pet peeve, but still.

I am both scared and intrigued by the hints we have for the sequel (you, because you've never imagined it, and you because you believed you'd escaped it), and duologies are my favourite format that are also rarer than I like, so I'm still excited about next year.

NOTES:
- This should definitely have a content warning for genocide of a non-white people.
- The ace side character is only referred to as ace, but the way she describes it implies she's supposed to be aro as well.
- There seem to be three recognised nonbinary genders in this world, referred to as "fluid", "set" and "non". This was a little strange, but not necessarily bad.

I liked the beginning and the end, but the middle was kind of miserable and not fun to read.

tw: Holocaust mentions, several suicide bombings, adultery

3.5 stars

I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Play It Again is a M/M romance by a nonbinary author that involves YouTubers and social media, and one of the main characters is blind - at least that was how much I found out based on the blurb and the author's bio. As the story went on, I was very happy to find out that Dovid and Rachel are Jewish, along with Rachel being (aro)ace and Sam being ace. (Rachel is only called sex-repulsed ace in the book as far as I remember, but it's implied she's not interested in romance either.)

Overall, Play It Again is a sweet, low-conflict romance that deals with internet fame, as well as living while disabled, or having emotionally abusive parents. If you are looking for a comforting read and aren't too bothered by the toxic parents, this could be a good pick. I also loved how Dovid and Rachel review restaurants and venues based on accessibility as well as their food, taking into consideration not only blind people, but wheelchair users as well. Dovid also mentions a wheelchair user friend at one point, although disappointingly she doesn't actually appear.

I admit that I didn't always enjoy this book, although you might have guessed this from the fact that I didn't give it 5 stars. There were some scenes that gave me intense second hand embarrassment, and sometimes the long discussions about how to handle internet fame and YouTubing were just boring to me. I also admit I have no experience with similar matters, but Sam becoming a sensation and actually getting PAID enough to be able to leave his job so fast felt unrealistic to me. I know realism isn't the most important, but it was still a little frustrating.

Dovid and Sam are also in a long-distance relationship, with all the troubles that brings - including that most of their scenes aren't physically together, but through phone or chat conversations. There is a lot of discussion of consent and boundaries, which I really appreciated.

I also couldn't figure out how old the characters are, but I'm guessing early twenties, which would actually put this as New Adult? It's definitely not YA, although it doesn't have explicit scenes.

4.5 stars

the more I read of this series, the less I fucking understand.

1) I'm SO here for Toby being the only straight person in this series

2) I still hope Quentin and Tybalt both liking guys will be brought up in the actual books, not only the short stories, but hopefully it will happen soon

3) I would die for all these kids, but especially Raj

I have done my duty and finished reading this book.

1) Kaz is a goddamn genius, and all the twists and him being one step ahead everyone else is hands down the best part of the book.

2) I love Inej and Wylan. Jesper is okay, but he had some really good moments.

3) Nina really deserved better tbh. like, in every way.

4) I still don't like Matthias, but I still felt bad for him in the end?

5) still think Nina/Inej should have happened, but hey, I can't argue with a ship where the big important scene is handholding, so I'll take it