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lionessramping's review against another edition
1.0
The only point of interest is that a few characters gender-bend. The rest just feels like a really bad romance novel with minimal effort at plot or character.
hannahinpages's review against another edition
3.0
2.5, rounding to a generous 3.
I wish I could say anything other than meh, but meh. The representation was fantastic and I wish I saw more of it in literature, particularly fantasy novels. But ultimately everything from the plot to the writing to the pacing to the character arcs to the magic system just fell flat for me. I recommend checking it out if you're interested, however, as I still think a lot of people will enjoy it!
I wish I could say anything other than meh, but meh. The representation was fantastic and I wish I saw more of it in literature, particularly fantasy novels. But ultimately everything from the plot to the writing to the pacing to the character arcs to the magic system just fell flat for me. I recommend checking it out if you're interested, however, as I still think a lot of people will enjoy it!
fihli's review
3.0
3 stars
Excerpt from:
A guide to writing mediocre YA fantasy
Rule #2: Have the main character be an orphan/ half-orphan
Optional:
Rule #2.1: Give the mc evil step parents Not fulfilled, thankfully.
Rule #6: Kill off a younger sibling that the mc wants to protect.
Optional:
Rule #6.1: Preferably at the start oft he story or at the character’s lowest point, right before the climax of the story. Not fulfilled. Also, not really a spoiler, as this happens early on (but not early enough, making the timing of this character’s death kind of awkward).
Rule #13: When including a traitor, it should be someone the main character doesn’t see coming, so a really likable person that is one of the only/ first people to be friendly to the main character. Bonus points if the traitor is somehow family to the mc.
Optional::
Rule #13.1:Have the love interest be the traitor
Optional:
Rule #13.11: But he is really sorry and already changed his mind!
Optional::
Rule #13.4: Have an antagonistic character set this up, but have said character suspecting the main character, and have the main character not believing them.
Rule #73: Have a parent that is as special as the mc so that they can bondin a later chapter of the book over their powers.
Optional:
Rule #73.1: Have said powers revealed in a way that is a surprise to the protagonist and only the protagonist, as this is a great way to show how the main character is flawed: By making them too stupid for their own good (and certainly too stupid to defeat the antagonist/ solve the conflict, which will happen nonetheless).
Honestly, The Brilliant Death isn’t bad. It’s certainly not perfect either, but it has its strengths. The genderfluid love interest was by far my favourite character (and the only one I cared about in the least, because the other characters weren’t nearly developed enough for me to care about). And I liked the relationship between him/her and the main character, although it was somewhat lacking in chemistry.
Would I recommend this? Err, to readers who are new to fanatsy, maybe. And to readers who are looking for a bit more diversity in their books. And of course I’d recommend this to people interested in the blurb, everyone else can gladly skip this.
Excerpt from:
A guide to writing mediocre YA fantasy
Rule #2: Have the main character be an orphan/ half-orphan
Rule #2.1: Give the mc evil step parents
Rule #6: Kill off a younger sibling that the mc wants to protect.
Rule #6.1: Preferably at the start oft he story or at the character’s lowest point, right before the climax of the story.
Rule #13: When including a traitor, it should be someone the main character doesn’t see coming, so a really likable person that is one of the only/ first people to be friendly to the main character. Bonus points if the traitor is somehow family to the mc.
Rule #13.1:
Spoiler
Optional:
Rule #13.11: But he is really sorry and already changed his mind!
Optional::
Rule #13.4: Have an antagonistic character set this up, but have said character suspecting the main character, and have the main character not believing them.
Rule #73: Have a parent that is as special as the mc so that they can bond
Optional:
Rule #73.1: Have said powers revealed in a way that is a surprise to the protagonist and only the protagonist, as this is a great way to show how the main character is flawed: By making them too stupid for their own good (and certainly too stupid to defeat the antagonist/ solve the conflict, which will happen nonetheless).
Honestly, The Brilliant Death isn’t bad. It’s certainly not perfect either, but it has its strengths. The genderfluid love interest was by far my favourite character (and the only one I cared about in the least, because the other characters weren’t nearly developed enough for me to care about). And I liked the relationship between him/her and the main character, although it was somewhat lacking in chemistry.
Would I recommend this? Err, to readers who are new to fanatsy, maybe. And to readers who are looking for a bit more diversity in their books. And of course I’d recommend this to people interested in the blurb, everyone else can gladly skip this.
starkiwi's review against another edition
4.0
MAGIC!!! YES!!!! Books with magic always seem to be some of the best ones. This book was amazingly written and kept me wanting more. I really hope a sequel will come out soon because I need more of these characters. Not to mention that the first thing Cielo said was "I have seen three and a half interesting things today" and if that's not the way to make everyone fall in love with a character, I don't know what is. I also love how they brought in trans/gay/bi messages into this book. It really shows that everyone deserves love and that powers and adventure are for everyone, no matter who you are. A beautiful book with a beautiful cover, and hopefully a beautiful sequel!!!!
dianalrendina's review against another edition
3.0
I love the premise of this book - a genderfluid strega who can literally transform into male and female forms. The Italian folklore element was really cool too. But the writing felt a bit off at some points. At one point, a major character died and it was really unclear - I had to go back and reread the page to check. There were several points like this. It's a cool fantasy and I love the genderbending aspect, but I had trouble getting into it and sticking with it.
franticfairy's review against another edition
3.0
The premise of this book really drew me in. Shape shifting, gender-fluidity, queer romance, mafia!? I jumped at the opportunity to read this.
I don't think this is a bad book. However. I also don't think it was as compelling or engaging as I wanted it to be.
Some things I didn't like:
The world building was lacking. There were times I would get descriptions which were beautiful, but it really wouldn't help me imagine the world or characters very well.
The magic system confused me. Rules were made and then seemed to be broken. Two characters have the same (?) power, but one can do so many other things than the other and I'm not sure why. And then other characters have different powers and those powers can affect other characters but in different ways - I'm obviously trying to not spoil anything, but I think you get why I was confused!
The characters - I never got attached to any of them, wasn't given the opportunity to, so I didn't much care what happened to them or why.
The ending. Things happened for seemingly no reason - OR they happened and there was an alternative that would have made much more sense given the rest of the story.
And overall, I just found this incredibly boring. It took me SIX months to read it because I would try to read and get through one chapter and move on to another book (that I would devour in two days).
Some things I did like:
The writing was absolutely beautiful. There were many times I was drawn into the descriptions and I didn't think it was over-done or confusing. Capetta is a good balance of flowery and blunt.
The representation - duh. There was a great, diverse cast and I loved exploring gender fluid characters (as I personally only read one other book with this rep!).
I liked where the story arc wanted to go, even if it didn't stick the landing for me.
Overall, I'd probably give the book a 2.5. Not my least favorite, but I don't think I would continue the series.
I don't think this is a bad book. However. I also don't think it was as compelling or engaging as I wanted it to be.
Some things I didn't like:
The world building was lacking. There were times I would get descriptions which were beautiful, but it really wouldn't help me imagine the world or characters very well.
The magic system confused me. Rules were made and then seemed to be broken. Two characters have the same (?) power, but one can do so many other things than the other and I'm not sure why. And then other characters have different powers and those powers can affect other characters but in different ways - I'm obviously trying to not spoil anything, but I think you get why I was confused!
The characters - I never got attached to any of them, wasn't given the opportunity to, so I didn't much care what happened to them or why.
The ending. Things happened for seemingly no reason - OR they happened and there was an alternative that would have made much more sense given the rest of the story.
And overall, I just found this incredibly boring. It took me SIX months to read it because I would try to read and get through one chapter and move on to another book (that I would devour in two days).
Some things I did like:
The writing was absolutely beautiful. There were many times I was drawn into the descriptions and I didn't think it was over-done or confusing. Capetta is a good balance of flowery and blunt.
The representation - duh. There was a great, diverse cast and I loved exploring gender fluid characters (as I personally only read one other book with this rep!).
I liked where the story arc wanted to go, even if it didn't stick the landing for me.
Overall, I'd probably give the book a 2.5. Not my least favorite, but I don't think I would continue the series.
devannm's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this one. Haven't read one of these 'dark fantasy books clearly based on medieval Italy' books in awhile and apparently it's a subgenre that I should get back to more often. Really liked the main character and how her gender exploration was handled in a way that was more 'feels comfortable as a boy but still feels comfortable being a girl too and doesn't want to give it up' because I feel like it could have easily just slid into like 'wants to be a boy because it's easier' terriftory which I don't think would have been very compelling. Very interesting magic system as well. Interested to see how the second book goes since with this author's King Arthur sci-fi series I loved the first book but couldn't even finish the second one. Hopefully the sequel here holds up better.
localmalewife's review
4.0
This book!!!
I still can't believe it wasn't on my radar and I had never heard of it until my best friend gifted it to me and I held it in my hands. Basically it is my dream come true, and I wasn't disappointed.
In all honesty, I do really wish it might have been a duology - the world building is so intriguing and I loved this world that fostered loyalty to family above all else, that reverred forgotten magic and hunted every inkling of it in the present. So much happened and I would have loved to stay with Teo and Cielo for even longer and watch their story unfurl a little more slowly.
But god damn. I really, really loved this book and I still can't believe it is real and on my shelf. I was worried that - as so often - form-changing magic would raise some gross points about trans identity, but how wrong I was.
IN THIS HOUSE WE STAN A TRANS POWER COUPLE is a sentence I never thought I'd be able to write about a novel so soon, and fuck am I grateful for that.
I still can't believe it wasn't on my radar and I had never heard of it until my best friend gifted it to me and I held it in my hands. Basically it is my dream come true, and I wasn't disappointed.
In all honesty, I do really wish it might have been a duology - the world building is so intriguing and I loved this world that fostered loyalty to family above all else, that reverred forgotten magic and hunted every inkling of it in the present. So much happened and I would have loved to stay with Teo and Cielo for even longer and watch their story unfurl a little more slowly.
But god damn. I really, really loved this book and I still can't believe it is real and on my shelf. I was worried that - as so often - form-changing magic would raise some gross points about trans identity, but how wrong I was.
Spoiler
I loved watching Teo settle into her own skin, accept herself, learn her own power, and become stronger for it. I loved her understanding Cielo so deeply, and how both of them were able to see each other, not as man or as woman, but as people, as souls that had too many facettes to be pinned down into one. As someone with a fluid identity, who can't seem to settle into just one thing, this was such a breath of fresh air.IN THIS HOUSE WE STAN A TRANS POWER COUPLE is a sentence I never thought I'd be able to write about a novel so soon, and fuck am I grateful for that.
templetoncecelia's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75