Made it to page 234 or a third of the way through before DNFing this one. I finally lost steam.

Many readers object to the institution of sex work as it exists in this fantasy world, but it feels like many people are taking depiction of a system as agreement with and support of a system. I think readers can see the problems with it without a character in the book getting on a soapbox about it.

Other readers suggest this book is full of sex - it’s truly not, at least not up through page 234. I don’t think there’s ever a scene that lasts more than 1 or 2 pages, if that. Maybe 10 pages of the 234 I read depicted sex. There’s far, far more political intrigue. The sex is also often vaguely described. Anyone who reads spicy romance would be confused by this book’s reputation upon reading it.

What made me DNF the book is the execution of the concept. Phedre’s role as a spy and courtesan should be exciting and suspenseful. Instead she does very little and understands very little. The political intrigue is communicated so much through characters telling other characters what’s going on. I desperately needed more POVs to work with or for Phedre to be able to do more.

I liked some of the characters - Phedre, Alcuin, Delauney, Joscelin. They had dynamics that I found compelling. But none of that takes up much page time. I would have loved for them to have more scenes which did not include more political intrigue. Scenes where I got to know them as characters and care about them. Hyacinthe I didn’t care about at all because his relationship to Phedre felt told more than shown.

Disappointed this one didn’t work for me! It got close.