I dunno. There‘s a sweet gay romance, but somehow I didn‘t really like the premise and felt like I missed some inside jokes.
Delightful book. Could have been gayer. Lovely writing, fun premise, gorgeous execution. The only problem is that they spend too much time being distracted by bombs and mysteries and wives and such, and not enough time yearning and having feelings and making oblique gestures that obviously the other one should understand.
First of all, this novel is set during Victorian Britain, so obviously there is period appropriate racism, homophobia, etc. present in the book. Fortunately, the novel goes to great lengths to show how stupid those things are. This is a pretty straightforward romance, with a little bit of fantasy based in a Victorian understanding of science. If that's your thing, and you just want an nice comfy historical romance, then this is for you. Further, it's got really great world building, since it consistently uses an historical geopolitical situation. With a review like this, you might be wondering why I gave this book only three stars. Well, those three stars are because I definitely recognize and appreciate the craft of the writing. However, as an asexual person, I'm just not really a fan of romance as a whole, and this book doesn't let on that it's a romance until the …
First of all, this novel is set during Victorian Britain, so obviously there is period appropriate racism, homophobia, etc. present in the book. Fortunately, the novel goes to great lengths to show how stupid those things are. This is a pretty straightforward romance, with a little bit of fantasy based in a Victorian understanding of science. If that's your thing, and you just want an nice comfy historical romance, then this is for you. Further, it's got really great world building, since it consistently uses an historical geopolitical situation. With a review like this, you might be wondering why I gave this book only three stars. Well, those three stars are because I definitely recognize and appreciate the craft of the writing. However, as an asexual person, I'm just not really a fan of romance as a whole, and this book doesn't let on that it's a romance until the final quarter (or it might, I'm not great at recognizing chemistry). In any case, it's just not for me. If this sounds like your kind of book though, definitely give it a read!
I read The Bedlam Stacks before this one and I think they are disturbingly similar, to the point of being mostly reskins or each other. They are, however, both very good, so I’m not complaining that much.
This book was... interesting. It was also a slog. It was only really interesting when Mori was the focus. Thaniel became more interesting as Mori became a bigger part of his life, though. This was actually lampshaded by Thaniel, he was just a boring clerk before Mori. Grace, however, was deeply unlikable and I feel like she didn't have to be. She was antagonistic towards Mori and Thaniel's friendship with him for??? No reason?? Whether she's against them being gay or not(it was never outright stated or even heavily implied that I could tell?), it was supposed to be a marriage of convenience so she could get her inheritance from her asshole father. Why should she give half a damn if Thaniel spends time with Mori? Especially if it's not because she's outright homophobic? Why did she care? Why did she care enough to make a bomb??? Why did she …
This book was... interesting. It was also a slog. It was only really interesting when Mori was the focus. Thaniel became more interesting as Mori became a bigger part of his life, though. This was actually lampshaded by Thaniel, he was just a boring clerk before Mori. Grace, however, was deeply unlikable and I feel like she didn't have to be. She was antagonistic towards Mori and Thaniel's friendship with him for??? No reason?? Whether she's against them being gay or not(it was never outright stated or even heavily implied that I could tell?), it was supposed to be a marriage of convenience so she could get her inheritance from her asshole father. Why should she give half a damn if Thaniel spends time with Mori? Especially if it's not because she's outright homophobic? Why did she care? Why did she care enough to make a bomb??? Why did she make a bomb????? I still don't get her motive there, what. What was she trying to accomplish? I just. Don't get it. She didn't have to be so unlikable, she really didn't.
Grace is like, my biggest problem with this book. I don't understand why she was... like she was. I'm still confused about the bomb she made. The book was boring and slow in some parts, but even after it picked up, any par with Grace was kind of awful.
I can't say I hated the book. I enjoyed reading about Mori and his clairvoyance, watching his relationship with Thaniel develop, and Katsu. I LOVED Katsu. I also liked that this was a book with a gay romance that was subtle and not the focus. This is not an "LGBT Book", like, say, Simon Vs. is. It's just a magical realism book that happens to have two men in love. And that's great. I just wish other parts of the book were also that great.
