MeiLin Miranda

tw rape tw sexual assault

Received this book on Netgalley for review.

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting but the book was interestingly different. It's a coming of age story about a young man and it all revolves around politics and sex, which are quite the same thing in this case. It is interesting to note that there are in fact two stories in this one. There is a history told within the main story, that could most definitely stand alone if it needed to be. The way it was fit in was interesting and almost a bit of a stretch but not enough for me to really care.

The main character was interesting. He was enjoyably multi-dimensional and really learned something. I feel like sometimes how the main character develops is a bit wishy-washy in some books but it was pretty great in this case. He did a little questioning about the sexual politics of his society, which is always nice to see in a sexist fantasy world and I wasn't upset that he took no drastic action with it because I understand he has no real power to, at least not where he was in the book.

Now, this book is very much erotica and features some very queasy scenes of rape and sexual assault. The rape of a woman was a very important plot device to further the development for a man, yes, but it did turn out well with how she acted in the end. This is probably why this book does not get a full five stars from me. I felt that was an exceptional level of cruelty and attempt to make it seem "necessary" was a bit ridiculous and gross to me. If I kind of skew that part the rest of the book was good and the main character learned much about consent through the book with was good.

The erotica is very skewed toward being hetero, but I've say a good third of it is very queer and nice. It was nice to see things normalized even though there was still sexism. We can't have everything and so forth.

All in all, a good read. I recommend it.… (plus d'informations)

This story is an unusually deep and broad exploration of sexuality, set in a quasi-Victorian fantasy world, with complex characters and relationships. The main drawback, for me (and it was minor), was the fact that the story doesn't wrap up well at the end -- you really have to go on to the next book. Another issue was that occasionally the main character's innocence feels a bit exaggerated/forced, though most of the time it feels realistic. On the whole, I really enjoyed the book. The sexual cult seems much more actually religious than the one in Jaqueline Carey's Kushiel series, although there are some moments where this one seems as if it could cross over into that world.… (plus d'informations)

Interesting world. I liked learning about the cities not through dry description but through the homesickness of the main character. It’s especially easy to empathize with his loss of good coffee.

Also contributing to the depth of his character is his sorrow at the death of his sister. It is a fresh wound that keeps getting probed; I found his reactions very realistic and rather touching. I believe his struggle with this loss is the real plot of the book. Floating city? Machine god? Talking birds? Bah. Extra bonus stuff.

The villain surprised me only a little, mostly I just didn’t understand the character. It was explained but it still felt rather strange.

The author did a good job of making this a solid stand-alone book while interesting me in the setting. I am planning to read the other books in the series.

(Read on a Kindle.)… (plus d'informations)