lanid's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Gore
zoes_human's review
Around 1/5 of the way through this, I simply couldn’t tell, or bring myself to care, where this story was going. The lengthy descriptions of GI life were of no interest to me at all.
kellysavagebooks's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
1.0
My mom says that if I don’t have anything nice to say, I shouldn’t say anything at all. Too bad I’m 26 and can do what I want, so here’s a numbered list of my biggest issues with this book:
1. This is not a story. It’s a series of happenings.
2. Wtf is with the flowery narration and the modern-slang-filled dialogue? Wilson definitely thought he was doing something there, but it comes across incredibly jarring, unrealistic, and honestly silly.
3. This book feels like someone just fucking around with different ideas, testing things out, playing around in a space. And that’s fine. But don’t publish that shit.
4. I hated it.
witchpurple1's review
3.0
Fantasy with magic that took my breath away . The first half of the book was slow moving . But the last part was so much action ! It was brutal with carnage and slaughter.
D (Demane) is a young demi god who along with Isa (Captain) fellow demi god is travelling with a caravan.
They goes into wildeeps to kill a lion-creature 'jukiere' after people travelling with them are killed.
D is a bear in shape but a soft one from heart. Everyone assumes he is all brawl but his heart lies in healing . With magic , he cares for everyone. The most for Isa .
There's a tragic gay love story woven with all the fantasy world building .
It was confusing at times, what with Isa's feelings unclear and complex narration .
Book also diverges into topics of toxic masculinity and manhood .
The end was heartbreaking and one I never imagined. It left me with more questions . I wonder about D so many times . What happened ? What did he do then ? Why did Isa do that ?
Can I read a book without my heart breaking into million pieces?
" You cannot fix the whole world's pain, Demane ; there's too much.
But what about one man's, aunty ? Can I do that much ? "
D (Demane) is a young demi god who along with Isa (Captain) fellow demi god is travelling with a caravan.
They goes into wildeeps to kill a lion-creature 'jukiere' after people travelling with them are killed.
D is a bear in shape but a soft one from heart. Everyone assumes he is all brawl but his heart lies in healing . With magic , he cares for everyone. The most for Isa .
There's a tragic gay love story woven with all the fantasy world building .
It was confusing at times, what with Isa's feelings unclear and complex narration .
Book also diverges into topics of toxic masculinity and manhood .
The end was heartbreaking and one I never imagined. It left me with more questions . I wonder about D so many times . What happened ? What did he do then ? Why did Isa do that ?
Can I read a book without my heart breaking into million pieces?
" You cannot fix the whole world's pain, Demane ; there's too much.
But what about one man's, aunty ? Can I do that much ? "
leo92's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Hard to follow
kay_slayerofbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure I picked up anything
The idea was solid but I don't think I got it.
2.5 stars
The idea was solid but I don't think I got it.
2.5 stars
zed_dog's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
3.5
I loved this book stylistically— the hodgepodge of language; the weird, almost stream-of-consciousness structure (I had to rewind the audiobook a few times in some sections to figure out what was going on, but I didn’t mind); the scenes between the two lovers were deliriously beautiful—just enough suggestive description to capture a powerful, tender connection. These scenes were sparse enough that, as another reviewer said, the reader ends up sharing Demane’s longing.
The reason I’m not rating this more highly is
The reason I’m not rating this more highly is
Spoiler
that it turns out to be a massive case of Bury Your Gays. I can see why Ashante Wilson chose to kill off the side-gay couple for the sake of plot, because killing one gave the other a reason to leave himself vulnerable to monster attack…but I do not understand why the Captain had to die. Why does he die?? Was it suicide-by-jaguar? Was it an accident, the moment of distraction when Demane calls out to him? I didn’t get why he gave up.Spoiler
Like, I foresaw heartbreak: Demane having to stay in the wildeeps to replace the evil sorcerer, and Captain choosing to leave him—it definitely seemed like Demane’s hope about persuading him away from his violent vocation was a doomed one, but I thought it would be because the Captain felt a sense of duty to keep protecting the Brothers, and would always choose to do things in the hardest, most self-sacrificing way possible—he’d never have gone away with Demane just to let himself be happy. So if the writer wanted heartbreak, they already had a character-driven way to do it—I just don’t see a character reason or a plot reason that the Captain had to die.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault