Brilliant atmosphere and vibes, not so strong on the plot.
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Csilla is soul-less, in a world where the church is everything and souls are a part of normal life that can be stained with “shadow”. In the religious city (fantasy Vatican vibes) where no one is supposed to sin, there are bodies turning up brutally murdered and marked, and Csilla is instructed to assassinate the suspect. She finds she can’t go ahead with it, especially when he offers her the chance to have her own soul if she can help him.
I was between 3 and 4 stars for this one, but ultimately went for 4 stars because the gothic vibes and setting were so strong. The setting really carries the novel. It is one of those books where you can really picture the darkness, the walls, the oppression.
The characters themselves often felt a little two-dimensional though. I never quite got the measure of the Izir. Part of that is clearly intentional since we only really see him through Csilla’s eyes, and her perception of him is tangled and contradictory. She seems repulsed by his touch but also enthralled by him. He comes across a bit like a celebrity figure who has been elevated beyond humanity by those around him, while underneath he is quietly unravelling with grief. It is an interesting dynamic, but I never fully clicked with it, which made it hard to emotionally connect with him.
Csilla is more fleshed out, mostly because we see everything throug her eyes. Even then, she is deliberately written as naive, clinging desperately to her place within the church and trying to secure it through small acts of kindness and service. There is a sadness to her optimism, a sense that she believes goodness and devotion will be enough to protect her. It makes her sympathetic, but also a little frustrating at times because you can often see the cracks forming long before she does.
I read another review that compared it to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and that comparison actually helped me frame the story better. It clarified the slightly distorted, almost reverent way Csilla views the world and the people within it, and why some of the emotional beats feel heightened rather than grounded. With that lens, the tone and character dynamics made more sense.
I wanted to like Ilan more than I ultimately did. He feels like another tortured soul in a world full of them, but he is also actively complicit in the suffering of others under the banner of religion. That contradiction is compelling in theory, yet on the page he sometimes slipped into archetype rather than feeling like a fully realised person.
The book is frequently described as queer, and I found that aspect interesting in how subtly it was handled. There is a deity who uses they and them pronouns, which is notable, but beyond that the queerness did not present itself in an overt or thematic way for me. Csilla does not seem to feel attraction towards the men around her, and her discomfort with Mihaly’s touch could be read in several ways, more personal than representative. It almost felt queer-normative rather than queer-centred. Not absent, but not highlighted. I actually appreciated that romance was not forced in where it did not need to be, though I was a little surprised at how prominently other reviewers focused on this element as it didn’t come through so obviously to me.
Read more:
- Heir of Illusion by Madeline Taylor – Romantasy Book Review
- Wicked Onyx by Debbie Cassidy – Romantasy Book Review
- The Sun and the Starmaker by Rachel Griffin – YA Romantasy Book Review
Overall, I did like the book. The mood, the architecture of the world, the heavy gothic tone all worked for me. It just did not hook me instantly, and the pacing never quite built to the kind of sweeping climax I was expecting. When the peak finally arrived, it felt understated rather than explosive, almost like the story was laying groundwork for something larger still to come. If you enjoy immersive settings and brooding, cathedral-like worlds, you’ll like this!
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for an ARC of this book.
