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neighborhoodbeanreads's review against another edition
This review is long overdue, I really needed to marinate in my thoughts before putting together the review. I DNF’d this book at the 20% mark. There were a lot of issues, right from the beginning, both in terms of world building and when it came to handling diversity in the book. This book relies heavily on the exploitation of orientalism; Asian motif’s and language are seen throughout the book in its basis and even in promotion kf the novel, its likness to Asian cultures used more so as an aesthetic than with respect to the fact these cultures belong to real-live people. This was present as well in the naming structure.
In terms of the books world building, there was way too much going on. We had dragons, dinosaurs and scifi technology elements which made the premise of the story hard to fathom. Way too much happens without the necessary foundational elements or world building in place.
I was really excited to read a novel with a focus on queerness and one with a matriarchy, something I’ve seen done beautifully in other novels and enjoyed, but the research on existing matriarchies (which are seen more often in non-western countries) was lacking and the representation felt hollow. There isn’t really a foundation of why the mattiarchy in this book is similar to the patriarchy in our world besides word-for-word copy and pasting rhetoric used against women flipped onto men. There seemed to be no foundation, at least from what I’ve read, where the power imbalance comes from— like we see in modern day patriarchal structures. It felt much more “women are mean to men too!!!”. You cannot simply copy/paste oppression without tweaking it past how it functions in our world. It reads as lazy and can be harmful. Unfortunately, when these concerns were brought up with the author after the books release, they doubled down. Refusing to take this criticism, Zabe instead told readers that we just can’t accept the fact women are abuse men too.
There was also some unfortunate TERF-like language and ideas embedded in the story, which was frustrating since the author himself is trans. I’m not sure if it is internalized misogyny or what, but it was nevertheless present. Example: the main character’s aunt transition from male to female and it is alluded to that they did so to get the perks of being a woman and the privilege that comes with in their society (TERF rhetoric).
Side note: I also didn’t appreciate the way sex work was portrayed or how often there were instances of dubcon. It felt like it was just shock value or trauma porn.
In terms of the books world building, there was way too much going on. We had dragons, dinosaurs and scifi technology elements which made the premise of the story hard to fathom. Way too much happens without the necessary foundational elements or world building in place.
I was really excited to read a novel with a focus on queerness and one with a matriarchy, something I’ve seen done beautifully in other novels and enjoyed, but the research on existing matriarchies (which are seen more often in non-western countries) was lacking and the representation felt hollow. There isn’t really a foundation of why the mattiarchy in this book is similar to the patriarchy in our world besides word-for-word copy and pasting rhetoric used against women flipped onto men. There seemed to be no foundation, at least from what I’ve read, where the power imbalance comes from— like we see in modern day patriarchal structures. It felt much more “women are mean to men too!!!”. You cannot simply copy/paste oppression without tweaking it past how it functions in our world. It reads as lazy and can be harmful. Unfortunately, when these concerns were brought up with the author after the books release, they doubled down. Refusing to take this criticism, Zabe instead told readers that we just can’t accept the fact women are abuse men too.
There was also some unfortunate TERF-like language and ideas embedded in the story, which was frustrating since the author himself is trans. I’m not sure if it is internalized misogyny or what, but it was nevertheless present. Example: the main character’s aunt transition from male to female and it is alluded to that they did so to get the perks of being a woman and the privilege that comes with in their society (TERF rhetoric).
Side note: I also didn’t appreciate the way sex work was portrayed or how often there were instances of dubcon. It felt like it was just shock value or trauma porn.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, and Misogyny
happybirb's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
This book has such an interesting premise and summary that you think it can’t possibly be boring. Then you start reading it and it’s about 400+ pages of this kid talking about how he’s a monster, no really, there’s a darkness inside him you really wouldn’t get. I skimmed the last 100 pages because I just wanted to know what happened.
Characters: interesting! I like the three main characters, even despite what I just said about kore. I liked watching them orbit each other and their interactions and relationship growth did feel very natural. We love a polycule, and this one actually seemed healthy so pop off.
Plot: I lost the plot. Not really, bc I kept being beat over the head with it, but my god. The more interesting necromancer plot was relegated to b plot while “I’m trying to get an endorsement for this politician” was 2/3 of the book. Slow. I didn’t really care about it
Writing: overall pretty good, I appreciated the attempt to use the matriarchal society to highlight how stupid some fantasy books sound in regards to female characters, but this was just too heavy handed. It came off very “and now a word from our sponsors: feminism”. I do think there’s an interesting discussion to be had here though about deconstructing thoughts that a matriarchal society would be a wonderland of loving equality, but I don’t think that’s what this book was trying to do.
Side note: the sex scenes were fine. Which honestly is pretty good, they weren’t horrible to read, even if I was jumpscared by the first one bc I didn’t expect this book to have multiple intense sex scenes in it.
Overall: 1.5 stars. I wouldn’t read it again and I wouldn’t recommend it to any one. Might rant about it while drunk at midnight
Characters: interesting! I like the three main characters, even despite what I just said about kore. I liked watching them orbit each other and their interactions and relationship growth did feel very natural.
Plot: I lost the plot. Not really, bc I kept being beat over the head with it, but my god. The more interesting necromancer plot was relegated to b plot while “I’m trying to get an endorsement for this politician” was 2/3 of the book. Slow. I didn’t really care about it
Writing: overall pretty good, I appreciated the attempt to use the matriarchal society to highlight how stupid some fantasy books sound in regards to female characters, but this was just too heavy handed. It came off very “and now a word from our sponsors: feminism”. I do think there’s an interesting discussion to be had here though about deconstructing thoughts that a matriarchal society would be a wonderland of loving equality, but I don’t think that’s what this book was trying to do.
Side note: the sex scenes were fine. Which honestly is pretty good, they weren’t horrible to read, even if I was jumpscared by the first one bc I didn’t expect this book to have multiple intense sex scenes in it.
Overall: 1.5 stars. I wouldn’t read it again and I wouldn’t recommend it to any one. Might rant about it while drunk at midnight
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Kidnapping
Minor: Drug use, Infertility, Genocide, Pregnancy, Stalking, Medical trauma, and Torture
thebackcatalogue's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Zabé Ellor’s first foray into Adult SFF is an overly ambitious novel of revenge that doesn’t quite hit the mark. Characters often flip-flop between motivations, and his world overstuffed with elements. Silk Fire is a confusing read that doesn’t live up to the author’s ambitions. — Full Review on thebackcatalogue.substack.com
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, and Violence
Graphic: Sexual Content, Rape, Sexual Assault Depicted: Violence, Homophobia, Gendered Violence (on Men), Sexism, Gender Essentialism Mentioned: Forced Marriage (Male to Female)rcsreads's review against another edition
I was really excited to read this but it really needed a good edit. The world building is just poorly written information dump a lot of which doesn't make sense, people constantly have really forced, unnatural conversations which are clearly just there to give me information. The city planet has no sense of scale or geography and seemed to descend down a long way in ruins, it reminded me of mega city 1 but more nonsensical. Also, one district has been lost for like 10,000 years but they somehow haven't changed in anyway and still speak the same language.
The planet is a matriarchy but they've just given the women the most stereotypical toxic male behaviour and vice versa. I think they were trying to be clever and make a point but they have failed.
The sex scenes are badly written and terrible and I think the main character is supposed to be using sex for political purposes but they're really bad at it.
A good premise, badly executed.
The planet is a matriarchy but they've just given the women the most stereotypical toxic male behaviour and vice versa. I think they were trying to be clever and make a point but they have failed.
The sex scenes are badly written and terrible and I think the main character is supposed to be using sex for political purposes but they're really bad at it.
A good premise, badly executed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual content, Sexism, and Misogyny
anniereads221's review
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, War, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
foreverinastory's review
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Rebellion for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Damn this was brutal, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Y'all this book is incredibly. There is so much going on and I was thrilled by it. But also there are lots of sex scenes and very graphic ones so if that's not your thing, you probably don't want to read this. There is a shit ton of slow moving action, political intrigue, betrayal etc so you will need to strap in for this read. Think in terms of The Unbroken or The Priory of the Orange Tree.
Silk Fire is an epic fantasy world with a matriarchal society. This story follows Koré, a bastard to his aristocratic father. Koré has had to make his own way in a city that caters to the elite and wealthy. Disowned from his biological family, Koré has worked as a sex worker/courtesan and has made a reputation for himself as one of the best. When the Judge of the city begins to fall ill, Koré knows he'll stop at nothing to keep his father from being appointed the next judge. But a chance encounter with a dying god imbues him with magic-breathing powers and Koré finds himself hunted.
This was so good. I cannot sing enough praises about this book. I loved it so much. I will admit it did take a bit to get familiar with the names and the way this society worked. I wish I knew it was matriarchal from the get go, because once I figured that out so many things made so much more sense!!
There was so much betrayal though and damn it hurt me a little bit. I can't believe this is only a standalone. I have so many questions about what happens next. I loved the journey Koré went on with dealing with all the trauma he's suffered. I want to see more of him being happy. His triad makes me so happy and soft. I want more of it.
Also there be dragons here. You're welcome.
Rep: Mainly BIPOC cast. Polyamorous bisexual male MC, female love interest, achillean male love interest, trans female side character, various queer side characters.
CWs from the author: violence against sex workers, including threatened SA, groping, and one scene of dubcon. Discussions of historical colonization and genocide, cyclical violence. Child neglect, emotional and physical
CWs from me: Emotional abuse, sexual content (there are a lot of sex scenes), toxic relationship, violence, sexism, misandry, sexual assault, classism, child abuse, death, sexual violence, death of parent, murder, sexual harassment, war, violence, alcohol consumption, alcoholism, addiction, generalized trauma. Moderate: fire that doesn't burn, infertility, colonisation, genocide, child neglect. Minor: transphobia/transmisia, queerphobia/queermisia.
Damn this was brutal, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Y'all this book is incredibly. There is so much going on and I was thrilled by it. But also there are lots of sex scenes and very graphic ones so if that's not your thing, you probably don't want to read this. There is a shit ton of slow moving action, political intrigue, betrayal etc so you will need to strap in for this read. Think in terms of The Unbroken or The Priory of the Orange Tree.
Silk Fire is an epic fantasy world with a matriarchal society. This story follows Koré, a bastard to his aristocratic father. Koré has had to make his own way in a city that caters to the elite and wealthy. Disowned from his biological family, Koré has worked as a sex worker/courtesan and has made a reputation for himself as one of the best. When the Judge of the city begins to fall ill, Koré knows he'll stop at nothing to keep his father from being appointed the next judge. But a chance encounter with a dying god imbues him with magic-breathing powers and Koré finds himself hunted.
This was so good. I cannot sing enough praises about this book. I loved it so much. I will admit it did take a bit to get familiar with the names and the way this society worked. I wish I knew it was matriarchal from the get go, because once I figured that out so many things made so much more sense!!
There was so much betrayal though and damn it hurt me a little bit. I can't believe this is only a standalone. I have so many questions about what happens next. I loved the journey Koré went on with dealing with all the trauma he's suffered. I want to see more of him being happy. His triad makes me so happy and soft. I want more of it.
Also there be dragons here. You're welcome.
Rep: Mainly BIPOC cast. Polyamorous bisexual male MC, female love interest, achillean male love interest, trans female side character, various queer side characters.
CWs from the author: violence against sex workers, including threatened SA, groping, and one scene of dubcon. Discussions of historical colonization and genocide, cyclical violence. Child neglect, emotional and physical
CWs from me: Emotional abuse, sexual content (there are a lot of sex scenes), toxic relationship, violence, sexism, misandry, sexual assault, classism, child abuse, death, sexual violence, death of parent, murder, sexual harassment, war, violence, alcohol consumption, alcoholism, addiction, generalized trauma. Moderate: fire that doesn't burn, infertility, colonisation, genocide, child neglect. Minor: transphobia/transmisia, queerphobia/queermisia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Murder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, and Infertility
Minor: Transphobia and Homophobia
elizajaquays's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
When I heard bisexual dragon with a poly endgame relationship, I knew I had to pick this book up! It has absolutely gorgeous world-building and a whole cast of morally grey characters trying their best.
This is not a quick-paced action packed read, but rather one where you will need time to immerse yourself into the world. While Koré was quick to throw himself into the action, the book has a slow buildup in tension and I was about halfway in before I was completely hooked and at that point I wasn’t able to put it down.
Silk Fire’s strengths are definitely in the storytelling and the intricate weaving of motivations and goals that shift with every piece of new information. It’s primary weakness would be that the characters feel like cardboard props for the world building for the first third of the novel and the sex scenes manage to be both gratuitous and clinical at the same time.
Overall, I did really enjoy reading it and am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.
This is not a quick-paced action packed read, but rather one where you will need time to immerse yourself into the world. While Koré was quick to throw himself into the action, the book has a slow buildup in tension and I was about halfway in before I was completely hooked and at that point I wasn’t able to put it down.
Silk Fire’s strengths are definitely in the storytelling and the intricate weaving of motivations and goals that shift with every piece of new information. It’s primary weakness would be that the characters feel like cardboard props for the world building for the first third of the novel and the sex scenes manage to be both gratuitous and clinical at the same time.
Overall, I did really enjoy reading it and am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, and Sexism
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Violence, Infidelity, Murder, War, and Alcoholism
Minor: Vomit
rheah's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
Updating this because I gave it some thoughts: what I thought was me not understanding the book was a common problem amongst reviewers so hm probably more a flaw of the book that a fault of mine. truth was: I struggled to finish this book and had no idea about the world of what was going on but I thought that I was the one not reading it seriously enough. Turns out probably not me. I've made criticism about the matriarchal society in this book before and others have said it better than me but like it was very not enjoyable and missing the point of gender oppression entirely (like you know there's an economic purpose behind it too right?)
And considering how many top negative reviews of this book say something among the lines of revised/remove due to harassment, please leave me alone.
I will mention but not detail the subtle lesbophobia and transmisogyny of the book (as a consequence of the matriarchal society but given the author's twitter not only that).
3 stars is because of my enjoyment of the book but in terms of quality, it's between 3 and four stars.
Silk Fire has a rich and complex world with a matriarchal society. The main character, Koré, is a sex worker (and yes there are multiple explicit sex scenes) who wants to stop his father from gaining political power. He's a fascinating main character who uses his charms to get what he wants but is full of self-loathing and doesn't believe that he deserves anything. I felt like the narration was a bit heavy-handed with his internal dialogue being "I'm a monster" all the time. It was interesting at first to see what kind of development we would get from this but 80% into the book he was still going on every chapter about being a monster.
This is a book that focuses on the plot rather than on the characters and that was a shame because I couldn't follow the plot at all. I'm used to complex fantasy plots, but I felt stupid reading this because sometimes a thing would happen and I had no idea how we got from point A to point B. I had a hard time tracking who was everyone because I was reading on my phone so I didn't feel like flipping to the glossary every time I couldn't remember a side character. I'm not often thrown off by confusing books, I actually enjoy piecing together the worldbuilding but it felt like this time the fault lied with the book rather than with my own understanding of the story.
However, the writing was gorgeous and the description so lush.
This is a common complaint for me but Koré and another character confess their love about 60% into the book and act all in love during the rest of the book (this is about one of the love interest, the main character ends up in a poly relationship) and at no point I knew why they had feelings to each other. I understand Koré falling for the first person who shows him attention but the other way around? Since this is a very plot-heavy book, I couldn't connect to their relationship at all. because I felt like they almost had none (and the book was long).
One last thing, I do not know about the author's intentions and therefore it's not a judgment of values but I strongly dislike seeing a matriarchal society that is just our sexist society but man swapped for woman. every insults used against Koré is a misogynistic insult which made me super uncomfortable to read given how the writing reminds you all the time that he is a man oppressed by society.
And considering how many top negative reviews of this book say something among the lines of revised/remove due to harassment, please leave me alone.
I will mention but not detail the subtle lesbophobia and transmisogyny of the book (as a consequence of the matriarchal society but given the author's twitter not only that).
3 stars is because of my enjoyment of the book but in terms of quality, it's between 3 and four stars.
Silk Fire has a rich and complex world with a matriarchal society. The main character, Koré, is a sex worker (and yes there are multiple explicit sex scenes) who wants to stop his father from gaining political power. He's a fascinating main character who uses his charms to get what he wants but is full of self-loathing and doesn't believe that he deserves anything. I felt like the narration was a bit heavy-handed with his internal dialogue being "I'm a monster" all the time. It was interesting at first to see what kind of development we would get from this but 80% into the book he was still going on every chapter about being a monster.
This is a book that focuses on the plot rather than on the characters and that was a shame because I couldn't follow the plot at all. I'm used to complex fantasy plots, but I felt stupid reading this because sometimes a thing would happen and I had no idea how we got from point A to point B. I had a hard time tracking who was everyone because I was reading on my phone so I didn't feel like flipping to the glossary every time I couldn't remember a side character. I'm not often thrown off by confusing books, I actually enjoy piecing together the worldbuilding but it felt like this time the fault lied with the book rather than with my own understanding of the story.
However, the writing was gorgeous and the description so lush.
This is a common complaint for me but Koré and another character confess their love about 60% into the book and act all in love during the rest of the book (this is about one of the love interest, the main character ends up in a poly relationship) and at no point I knew why they had feelings to each other. I understand Koré falling for the first person who shows him attention but the other way around? Since this is a very plot-heavy book, I couldn't connect to their relationship at all. because I felt like they almost had none (and the book was long).
One last thing, I do not know about the author's intentions and therefore it's not a judgment of values but I strongly dislike seeing a matriarchal society that is just our sexist society but man swapped for woman. every insults used against Koré is a misogynistic insult which made me super uncomfortable to read given how the writing reminds you all the time that he is a man oppressed by society.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
e_flah's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Silk Fire had me hooked and excited for the first 35-40% of the story but started to lose me with lack of substantive world-building and rushed pace.
To start with what I enjoyed about Silk Fire, Koré’s growth over the course of the story was well done. His choices could be frustrating at times but they all seemed grounded by his past experiences, which made them believable. He makes strides forward then reacts to situations in ways informed by his past traumas. I was really rooting for Koré to learn to trust others and open himself up to loving, healthy relationships. I wish a little more of this growth had been seen on-page, rather than sort of implied, but still enjoyed seeing Koré grow over the course of Silk Fire.
There are lots of neat, creative details about life in Jadzia that make it seem like the story is set in a well-developed world but didn’t really hold up to close scrutiny. I don’t mind SFF that throws readers in the deep end and leaves them to figure out how things work but there needs to be some pay-off for that. I finished Silk Fire still puzzling over the basic geography of the setting – is the street/ground level accessible to ordinary people? How does travel between these giant buildings work? How many districts are there in total? The details were really great and helped catch my interest in the beginning but more explanation about how things worked would’ve gone a long way to give the plot more meaning to the reader. One example is that a key plot arc is Koré’s quest to get Akizeké elected as the next Judge of War District. However, it’s unclear what the Judge of War’s duties are and why the position is considered the most powerful in the district. The Judge controls a big store of Essence, which makes people stronger and more beautiful, but we don’t learn what they do with all of this magical power.
There is no time to breathe in this story. There are so many elements competing for the reader’s attention in Silk Fire that it’s hard to really take in them all. Koré is basically pulled from one crisis to another, which doesn’t leave a lot of time to see his relationships with other characters develop. While I love a fast-paced story, I wish Silk Fire had slowed down a little bit to make room for additional world-building and character development of important side characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
To start with what I enjoyed about Silk Fire, Koré’s growth over the course of the story was well done. His choices could be frustrating at times but they all seemed grounded by his past experiences, which made them believable. He makes strides forward then reacts to situations in ways informed by his past traumas. I was really rooting for Koré to learn to trust others and open himself up to loving, healthy relationships. I wish a little more of this growth had been seen on-page, rather than sort of implied, but still enjoyed seeing Koré grow over the course of Silk Fire.
There are lots of neat, creative details about life in Jadzia that make it seem like the story is set in a well-developed world but didn’t really hold up to close scrutiny. I don’t mind SFF that throws readers in the deep end and leaves them to figure out how things work but there needs to be some pay-off for that. I finished Silk Fire still puzzling over the basic geography of the setting – is the street/ground level accessible to ordinary people? How does travel between these giant buildings work? How many districts are there in total? The details were really great and helped catch my interest in the beginning but more explanation about how things worked would’ve gone a long way to give the plot more meaning to the reader. One example is that a key plot arc is Koré’s quest to get Akizeké elected as the next Judge of War District. However, it’s unclear what the Judge of War’s duties are and why the position is considered the most powerful in the district. The Judge controls a big store of Essence, which makes people stronger and more beautiful, but we don’t learn what they do with all of this magical power.
There is no time to breathe in this story. There are so many elements competing for the reader’s attention in Silk Fire that it’s hard to really take in them all. Koré is basically pulled from one crisis to another, which doesn’t leave a lot of time to see his relationships with other characters develop. While I love a fast-paced story, I wish Silk Fire had slowed down a little bit to make room for additional world-building and character development of important side characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Sexism
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