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lermaline's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
A strenght of Lovers and Beloveds is it’s refreshing world building is : it is low to high fantasy I think; there are no supernatural creatures, the world is set on Earth, the geographical divisions can be compared to our continents, there are gods, a strict spiritual and religious system in place, hereditary monarchy, elements of magic. At first I thought it was set during a Middle-Age like period but it is Victorian ! That was a nice twist. This is not an erotic novel althought sex and sexuality are heavily depicted, in relation to power mostly.
knittinandchillin's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
tmycann's review
4.0
Overall, I would recommend this to those who enjoy high fantasy that focuses on political machinations and coming-of-age tales–but from a very adult (really, almost erotica) perspective. The couple of weaknesses I saw were more than compensated for by the compelling world-building, intriguing magic, and complex individuals relating to what it means to be an adult making one’s way through a layered world. I will be reading Son in Sorrow when I get the chance, which is perhaps the strongest indication of how much I enjoyed my foray into the Greater Kingdom.
brontesaurusrex's review
5.0
This absolutely sounds like the start to some terrible porn, right? Just turned eighteen, virgin prince, sexy twins, I honestly don't know why I initially picked this up other than I figured I could use a read that required less brainpower. Then Temmin himself was the worst, the story he was learning from Teacher was gross, and I just couldn't. I DNFed halfway through. But something about this book kept niggling me, and the ebook was free at the time, so I tried again.
And I was wrong. I was completely wrong. Every problem I had with it is the point of the story and this book is brilliant.
This is in a lot of ways a treatise on power and consent dressed up as a fantasy novel, and it's amazing. Yes, Temmin is the worst because he's been raised to believe completely in the patriarchy with no consideration for the people beneath him, and he has the potential and needs to learn to be better than that. Yes, the story of Warin and Emmae is gross because it's supposed to be and we see the difference shaping between Temmin and men like his father when they find it erotic and he finds it increasingly horrifying. From the beginning the book asks if people of lower social standing (usually, but not always women) can really give consent freely in a world where they are often punished for saying no when they don't want sex and punished for saying yes when they do, and the answer is very clearly that within this system, they can't. They just can't.
When Nerr gets the Heir indeed. What is waiting in a world where the heir to the throne understands how power colors and often hurts interpersonal relationships, whether on the micro scale of two people or the macro scale of an entire kingdom?
Which isn't to say that the characters in this story are just mouthpieces for the author. They are very much people with varied personalities inhabiting a world with complicated social forces acting on them. Temmin is an ass, but it's lovely watching him grow up over the course of the book. Sedra is clearly better cut out to succeed their father, but women can't rule in their own right. Ellika is a bit of fluff, but what else is she allowed to be and do? Ansella, for all that she appears to be overprotecting her son, has a point and it's probably only because of her intervention that he has this potential to see that women are people, too. And Harsin, for all that he's sometimes the worst, shows how even the most powerful people in the system become trapped by it as he has to justify terrible action after terrible action as king to maintain stability. Allis and Issak, far from being the one-dimensional spank bank material they could have been, are intelligent, compassionate people with their own problems, opinions, and skeletons in the closet.
The Lovers temple, decried as it is for being an up-jumped whorehouse, holds the key to a more balanced and compassionate world, which is why it's both laughed off as unimportant and feared for what it could do if they manage to secure Temmin as a Supplicant.
I love it. I love it so much. And it breaks my heart to know that we may never get a conclusion.
And I was wrong. I was completely wrong. Every problem I had with it is the point of the story and this book is brilliant.
This is in a lot of ways a treatise on power and consent dressed up as a fantasy novel, and it's amazing. Yes, Temmin is the worst because he's been raised to believe completely in the patriarchy with no consideration for the people beneath him, and he has the potential and needs to learn to be better than that. Yes, the story of Warin and Emmae is gross because it's supposed to be and we see the difference shaping between Temmin and men like his father when they find it erotic and he finds it increasingly horrifying. From the beginning the book asks if people of lower social standing (usually, but not always women) can really give consent freely in a world where they are often punished for saying no when they don't want sex and punished for saying yes when they do, and the answer is very clearly that within this system, they can't. They just can't.
When Nerr gets the Heir indeed. What is waiting in a world where the heir to the throne understands how power colors and often hurts interpersonal relationships, whether on the micro scale of two people or the macro scale of an entire kingdom?
Which isn't to say that the characters in this story are just mouthpieces for the author. They are very much people with varied personalities inhabiting a world with complicated social forces acting on them. Temmin is an ass, but it's lovely watching him grow up over the course of the book. Sedra is clearly better cut out to succeed their father, but women can't rule in their own right. Ellika is a bit of fluff, but what else is she allowed to be and do? Ansella, for all that she appears to be overprotecting her son, has a point and it's probably only because of her intervention that he has this potential to see that women are people, too. And Harsin, for all that he's sometimes the worst, shows how even the most powerful people in the system become trapped by it as he has to justify terrible action after terrible action as king to maintain stability. Allis and Issak, far from being the one-dimensional spank bank material they could have been, are intelligent, compassionate people with their own problems, opinions, and skeletons in the closet.
The Lovers temple, decried as it is for being an up-jumped whorehouse, holds the key to a more balanced and compassionate world, which is why it's both laughed off as unimportant and feared for what it could do if they manage to secure Temmin as a Supplicant.
I love it. I love it so much. And it breaks my heart to know that we may never get a conclusion.
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