ARC Review: The Fealty of Monsters, by Ladz

Winter 1917. After years on the run from a dangerous cult, twenty-three-year-old Sasza and his father have established themselves among the Odonic Empire’s ruling class. But there’s a problem: Sasza is a vampire, and vampires aren’t supposed to get involved in human governance. What the aristocracy doesn’t know, after all, cannot hurt them. Unfortunately, Sasza is far more involved than a stealth vampire should be. Not only does he work to quell the rumors of the vampires’ responsibility for an unsolved massacre, his lover is also the pro-proletariat Ilya, the Empire’s Finance Minister, who tries to recruit Sasza into the same cult hunting him.
Then—the Emperor declares war against the Vampire States. Diplomacy has failed. Sasza quickly learns that he will do anything to preserve peace–including giving in to the monstrosity he spent so many years concealing from even himself.

My thanks to the author for providing an ARC copy.

Ladz's The Fealty of Monsters is a gory retelling of the Russian Revolution, with monstrous vampires and even more monstrous politicians. We follow three POV characters as tensions amongst the Empire and independent vampire states are ramped up by an incident that seems tailored to ignite a war. The main character, Sasza, battles with his own depravity and the ambitions of others, while coming to terms with his relationship with a much older member of the government.

This is a highly political book, with characters who have complex motivations, from the ambitious princess to Sasza's addicted father, from the traitorous Minister to the soldiers who have very different ideas about their role as protectors; not to mention the intriguing vampire doctor. Characters share a past that is carefully unveiled in some cases, giving tantalizing glimpses. The court is full of intrigue, and war seems inevitable; the conflict between the poverty of the people and the excesses of the aristocracy was also done well, leading to an explosive finale that leaves the reader on the edge of their seat and begging for the next book in the series.

The book is very crude, with an evocative prose that leaves nothing to the imagination, be it sexual acts or murder. It comes with a very helpful list of trigger warnings, which the reader should pay every attention to. The vampires in this book are not refined creatures, as there are some types which are truly monstrous, insectoid creatures who engorge themselves on blood and gore. This was a very refreshing take on the usual vampire trope, more reminiscent of the classics.

The book comes with illustrations from the artist Soren Häxan, but the ARC copy didn't contain them.

The Fealty of Monsters is a solid horror story with political overtones.

✨ 4 stars

Review: Cursebreakers, by Madeleine Nakamura

Adrien Desfourneaux, professor of magic and disgraced ex-physician, has discovered a conspiracy. Someone is inflicting magical comas on the inhabitants of the massive city of Astrum, and no one knows how or why. Caught between a faction of scheming magical academics and an explosive schism in the ranks of Astrum’s power-hungry military, Adrien is swallowed by the growing chaos. Alongside Gennady, an unruly, damaged young soldier, and Malise, a brilliant healer and Adrien’s best friend, Adrien searches for a way to stop the spreading curse before the city implodes. He must survive his own bipolar disorder, his self-destructive tendencies, and his entanglement with the man who doesn’t love him back.

"In my greater and lesser moments, I fear that I must be fated for sainthood". Madeleine Nakamura's Cursebreakers is a quiet standalone debut about overcoming conspiracies and living with mental illness. Adrien is an extraordinary protagonist, sharp and hurting, haunted by wrong choices and by his bipolar disorder, which is here called akrasia. A skilled magician and a former healer, with a caustic personality, he finds himself drawn right into the thick of action while being a non-combatant in his forties who nonetheless strives to do the right thing. The exploration of his bipolar disorder, and later, of his addiction, is heartbreaking and poignant: we see the pain and desperation and the anguish of not being believed due to his condition; we suffer with him.

The supporting cast is equally good, painted in vivid strokes that make them jump out of the pages. Adrien's reluctant ally, a member of the dangerous militia that oversees the city's security, is such a complicated character, perennially angry and impulsive, but ultimately he endears himself with his desire to do and be better; the dynamic that grows between them is a joy to read. Adrien's best friend, a sapphic healer who helps him combat the worse effects of his bipolar disorder, is another exquisitely rendered character; her love for him is tangible, and so is her despair for his well-being. Then there's the man Adrien is in painfully unrequited love with, a fellow scholar who has agreed to be Adrien's keeper when the worst hits. Their dynamic is painful and vivid, Adrien's ache for him a constant throughout the book, and the resolution of their strange and frustating relationship is such a refreshing, well-executed take.

The resolution of the main conflict is also executed masterfully, with a final showdown that keeps you on the edge of your seat. However, there were whispers of deus-ex-machina and the world isn't as well-developed as I would have liked, while still being painted well enough for the purposes of a standalone novel. The relationship between the soldiers and their bonded raches, especially, could have warranted some more focus, but it was fascinating in what we could see. The setting of a magical school from the point of view of one of its professors, and the approach to the study of magic, was especially refreshing.

The prose is gorgeous, concise and at times archaic; I devoured this book in a matter of hours.

Cursebreakers is an extraordinary debut that deals with issues often going unseen in fantasy novels.

✨ 4.5 stars

📚📚📚 IF YOU LOVE THIS, YOU MIGHT LIKE:

* The Councillor, by E.J. Beaton

for: addiction, academia

Snippet: Merciless Waters, by Rae Knowles

Aboard the ship Scylla, there is no future or past. Jaq, her fickle lover Lily, and their all-female crew exist in an endless present. It’s better this way. At least it keeps Lily by Jaq’s side, where she belongs. But the meddling gods care little for Jaq’s longing, and despite her protective rituals, their punishment arrives all the same: a man, adrift on the open ocean. Delivered to snatch Lily from Jaq’s arms forever.
Jaq knows what to do. She’s lost Lily before. Her lover will return—when this interloper, this distraction, is snuffed out. But Jaq’s murderous schemes may not be enough. The intruder’s presence infects her crew with a plague her spells cannot cure: memory. And as the women recall how they came to Scylla, their minds bend one by one towards revenge.

"We crave violence, so we swallow violent men". Rae Knowles' Merciless Waters is a sapphic novella with horror undertones that are inspired by the figure of the rusalka. The narrator lulls the reader with her story, and the slow return of her memories, while thoughts of vengeance tint the narration with blood and gore. The lyrical prose and the oneiric images make for a little gem of a story, where violence against women is punished with relish. The sea krait was a delightful addition.

✨ 4 stars

📚📚📚 IF YOU LOVE THIS, YOU MIGHT LIKE:

* Providence Girls, by Morgan Dante

for: sea horrors, existential dread

Review: Reborn, by Seth Haddon

When the Rezwyn Empire mysteriously cuts diplomatic ties with the Kingdom of Usleth, merchant lord Oren Radek is sent to investigate. But when he discovers a coup brewing against the emperor, Radek's life and his country's safety is suddenly under threat. Izra Dziove, visionary advisor to the Rezwyn Emperor, is trying to hold the turbulent Rezwyn court together while being plagued by dreams of his fated man. But when Izra’s adversaries launch an attack on the diplomatic party from Usleth, he is forced to take action to protect them and prevent a war.
Forced to trust one another, both men must put aside their differences to save the future of both their nations, while also contending with the growing attraction between them— all while trying to understand their mysterious connection and the forces guiding their shared destiny. Can their fated love change the destiny of nations?

"To survive something as final as death". Seth Haddon's Reborn is a companion novel to the author's debut Reforged, set in the same world, but with a different set of characters. The world-building grows in depth and scope, with the introducion of new ways of thinking, new gods, new lore. The main characters are fated to be, and the fact that only one of them is aware of it creates an interest contrast; they are also opposites, in a way, and that makes for a good dynamic.

The plot structure was better than in the previous book, but the editing could use some work; the mistakes were jarring at times, and took me right out of the flow of reading. The supporting cast was less fleshed out too, which is a shame because that was a definite plus of the first book. It's like in fleshing out more the main characters' relationship, the author had to resort to making the other characters utterly monodimensional.

Reborn is a step down from its predecessor.

✨ 3.5 stars