pagesandprozac's review
4.0
heart of steel is a solid anthology focusing on lgbtqia knights, most of which are women, which is nice as women knights are relatively underrepresented, and sapphic knights even more so. a couple of stories are a bit wobbly, but there's only one that i disliked, and that's pretty good going for an anthology.
overall rating: 3.5, rounded up because of the overall enjoyability (new word coined lmao) of the collection and for the wonderful blackberries and buckthorn.
the queen's dragon rider by cora walker
*4 stars*
i love dragons, especially baby dragons! this had a cohesive and interesting plot, and i liked it a lot.
the silent knight by avery stiles
*3 stars*
this had interesting characters and a nice romance, but i thought the polyamorous aspect was slightly underdeveloped, and there wasn't really much of a plot. it was still an enjoyable story, though.
to tame a dragon by christina marie
*1 star*
this was such a weird treatment of gender and to be quite honest i had 0 idea what was going on?? yeah i don't have much else to say about this
blackberries and buckthorn by t.s. porter
*5 stars*
this was definitely my favourite in the anthology! there was an interesting magic system and a great plot, and the character development was done really well for such a short amount of words in which to do it. i also liked how normalised being trans was (which is something seen in a couple of these other stories as well)
the heartless knight by heather morris
*4 stars*
this was the only story with an aro/ace protagonist, and there was also a pretty action-filled plot including espionage and intrigue, which was fun. i can't say a lot about the treatment of aro/ace people because i'm neither, but to me it seemed like a really good representation.
ser rae of del by b.a. huntley
*4.5 stars*
plot twists!! plot twists everywhere!! how did huntley fit so many plot twists in here!!
shieldmaiden's vow by helena maeve
*3 stars*
i found this mildly confusing but also pretty entertaining, i guess it was alright - and a story that opens with a sex scene is always good lmao.
overall rating: 3.5, rounded up because of the overall enjoyability (new word coined lmao) of the collection and for the wonderful blackberries and buckthorn.
the queen's dragon rider by cora walker
*4 stars*
i love dragons, especially baby dragons! this had a cohesive and interesting plot, and i liked it a lot.
the silent knight by avery stiles
*3 stars*
this had interesting characters and a nice romance, but i thought the polyamorous aspect was slightly underdeveloped, and there wasn't really much of a plot. it was still an enjoyable story, though.
to tame a dragon by christina marie
*1 star*
this was such a weird treatment of gender and to be quite honest i had 0 idea what was going on?? yeah i don't have much else to say about this
blackberries and buckthorn by t.s. porter
*5 stars*
this was definitely my favourite in the anthology! there was an interesting magic system and a great plot, and the character development was done really well for such a short amount of words in which to do it. i also liked how normalised being trans was (which is something seen in a couple of these other stories as well)
the heartless knight by heather morris
*4 stars*
this was the only story with an aro/ace protagonist, and there was also a pretty action-filled plot including espionage and intrigue, which was fun. i can't say a lot about the treatment of aro/ace people because i'm neither, but to me it seemed like a really good representation.
ser rae of del by b.a. huntley
*4.5 stars*
plot twists!! plot twists everywhere!! how did huntley fit so many plot twists in here!!
shieldmaiden's vow by helena maeve
*3 stars*
i found this mildly confusing but also pretty entertaining, i guess it was alright - and a story that opens with a sex scene is always good lmao.
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