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mal_eficent's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'll admit most of my enjoyment of the story came from talking about what was changed from the original fanfiction it was adapted from, but it's a well researched and enjoyable historical story even if the spoken language and some actions seem out of place with the setting.
Originally this was a Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes Alternate Universe fanfic. Harry was Steve. Iain was Bucky. There are a couple of other direct replacements that my sister remembered (the two Peters mentioned were Peter Parker and Peter Quill, Robbie was Rumlow, for example) but as someone who never read the original I didn't really notice that specific characters were supposed to be Marvel characters and it never drew me out of the story. It was just a fun thing to talk to my sister about while reading a story she enjoyed. That said, I think there are some things that have stuck around from the fanfic.
Even for historical romance, the pacing and way information introduced still felt like a long fanfic. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but there were long portions of just day to day life being described in quick succession that dragged the pacing down. Plus there was the odd dramatic twist that led nowhere, introduced characters that were barely seen again, and did nothing to advance the story which felt like they were supposed to be just easter eggs for fans in the original. Seeing your favourite superhero show up in a fic is great, having the serial numbers of that moment filed off in a novel makes it feel unimportant.
While it was well written and Harry was a delightful point of view character, I was far more invested in the historical tidbits and the little bits of politics we got throughout the story. Traditional historical fiction just kind of expects readers to know facts, whereas Campi went the extra mile to make sure we know how tournaments work, the intricacies of who speaks what language when, and even the whole history of the wars leading up to current events. I enjoyed that, as it's not an era I'm familiar with.
There are quite a few consent issues with the romance, if this is something you don't want in your historical romance. It's centred more around a power imbalance between the two, and less force, but there are a few moments were even I was wincing a little, and I wasn't invested in the romance at all.There's moment where Harry agrees to Iain's being seriously hurt to stop him running away, which makes sense within context, but is hardly something that I wanted to lead to romance.
They also face a lot of homophobia which, given the power of the church at the time, makes sense yet still isn't nice to read, especially if that's a trigger for you as well. No one but the villains has these opinions, but there's a lot of it.
If you like self published historical romance, or just this era of historical fiction, give this a chance! It was fun, well written, and there's some steamy scenes if you like that sort of thing.
Originally this was a Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes Alternate Universe fanfic. Harry was Steve. Iain was Bucky. There are a couple of other direct replacements that my sister remembered (the two Peters mentioned were Peter Parker and Peter Quill, Robbie was Rumlow, for example) but as someone who never read the original I didn't really notice that specific characters were supposed to be Marvel characters and it never drew me out of the story. It was just a fun thing to talk to my sister about while reading a story she enjoyed. That said, I think there are some things that have stuck around from the fanfic.
Even for historical romance, the pacing and way information introduced still felt like a long fanfic. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but there were long portions of just day to day life being described in quick succession that dragged the pacing down. Plus there was the odd dramatic twist that led nowhere, introduced characters that were barely seen again, and did nothing to advance the story which felt like they were supposed to be just easter eggs for fans in the original. Seeing your favourite superhero show up in a fic is great, having the serial numbers of that moment filed off in a novel makes it feel unimportant.
While it was well written and Harry was a delightful point of view character, I was far more invested in the historical tidbits and the little bits of politics we got throughout the story. Traditional historical fiction just kind of expects readers to know facts, whereas Campi went the extra mile to make sure we know how tournaments work, the intricacies of who speaks what language when, and even the whole history of the wars leading up to current events. I enjoyed that, as it's not an era I'm familiar with.
There are quite a few consent issues with the romance, if this is something you don't want in your historical romance. It's centred more around a power imbalance between the two, and less force, but there are a few moments were even I was wincing a little, and I wasn't invested in the romance at all.
They also face a lot of homophobia which, given the power of the church at the time, makes sense yet still isn't nice to read, especially if that's a trigger for you as well. No one but the villains has these opinions, but there's a lot of it.
If you like self published historical romance, or just this era of historical fiction, give this a chance! It was fun, well written, and there's some steamy scenes if you like that sort of thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent