emhamill's review against another edition
5.0
Every once in a while you read a book that's unlike anything you've ever read. Seraphina's Lament is that book.
Part fantasy, part zombie, and all grimdark, the book blew me away. Sarah Chorn's prose is lyrical, heartbreaking poetry in so many places that I just had to stop and digest some of the merciless beauty at times.
Seraphina is a fire talent, a kind of Dark Phoenix in a broken body that seethes with rage. Her twin, Varyen, is a water elemental: shapeless and lost without Seraphina, who is enslaved by a dictator. Vaddon is a revolutionary with lightning in his veins, and grief in his heart for the man his husband has become - the dictator Eyad, a despotic and cruel man with mind talents that keep his citizens in fear.
When these literal forces of nature come together, manipulated and molded by an ancient god, the world will burn.
This book is not for the weak of heart. Cannibalism among starving people is prominent, and the harsh conditions of the Sunset Lands are based on the horrific event of the Holomodor (Ukrainian Genocide) in Russia in the early 30's.
I can't say enough good things about this book, but its strengths were some of its weaknesses for me, too. I found myself rushing through the last third to "get to the good stuff" and was completely rewarded. I waffled on a rating between four and five stars because of that, but ultimately, this book is a work of art and deserves five because, goddamn, this is a DEBUT NOVEL and it knocked my socks off.
Part fantasy, part zombie, and all grimdark, the book blew me away. Sarah Chorn's prose is lyrical, heartbreaking poetry in so many places that I just had to stop and digest some of the merciless beauty at times.
Seraphina is a fire talent, a kind of Dark Phoenix in a broken body that seethes with rage. Her twin, Varyen, is a water elemental: shapeless and lost without Seraphina, who is enslaved by a dictator. Vaddon is a revolutionary with lightning in his veins, and grief in his heart for the man his husband has become - the dictator Eyad, a despotic and cruel man with mind talents that keep his citizens in fear.
When these literal forces of nature come together, manipulated and molded by an ancient god, the world will burn.
This book is not for the weak of heart. Cannibalism among starving people is prominent, and the harsh conditions of the Sunset Lands are based on the horrific event of the Holomodor (Ukrainian Genocide) in Russia in the early 30's.
I can't say enough good things about this book, but its strengths were some of its weaknesses for me, too. I found myself rushing through the last third to "get to the good stuff" and was completely rewarded. I waffled on a rating between four and five stars because of that, but ultimately, this book is a work of art and deserves five because, goddamn, this is a DEBUT NOVEL and it knocked my socks off.
esop's review against another edition
4.0
Sarah Chorn has created a fascinating world known as the Sunset Lands, filled with a dynamic, intertwined cast of characters hurtling toward a volatile, unknown fate.
The setting of the book was interesting, something that I haven't encountered before in a novel. The Sunset Lands are plagued by famine, leading to unrest among its populace, who resort either to secret revolutionary measures or, more often in most cases, cannibalism.
We follow a cast of several core characters in the Sunset Lands (as well as dipping into the POVs of a few other unfortunate souls in interludes), and I really enjoyed the complex character relationships between everybody. My favorite was Vadden, who we quickly learn was deeply involved with the country's less-than-stellar leader back when he was a revolutionary himself. I spent the whole book looking forward to their inevitable confrontation at the climax.
I suppose that's where my one criticism of the book would be, though. Chorn created a lot of rich characters with interesting, complicated relationships to each other, but I don't feel like any of those threads were explored as fully as they could have been. Each character shares highly emotional scenes with others, but I didn't feel fully invested in their relationships so those moments didn't land quite as hard; I wanted to know them better, as well as Chorn clearly knows and cares for them. There's a lot underneath the surface there, and I wish we had gotten to see more.
But the book concludes with a huge event, one that dramatically shifts the direction the series is going in, giving us hints at the world's history and lore that I hope are explored in further books, because the mystery of what exactly is going on and the purpose of it has truly hooked me.
The setting of the book was interesting, something that I haven't encountered before in a novel. The Sunset Lands are plagued by famine, leading to unrest among its populace, who resort either to secret revolutionary measures or, more often in most cases, cannibalism.
We follow a cast of several core characters in the Sunset Lands (as well as dipping into the POVs of a few other unfortunate souls in interludes), and I really enjoyed the complex character relationships between everybody. My favorite was Vadden, who we quickly learn was deeply involved with the country's less-than-stellar leader back when he was a revolutionary himself. I spent the whole book looking forward to their inevitable confrontation at the climax.
I suppose that's where my one criticism of the book would be, though. Chorn created a lot of rich characters with interesting, complicated relationships to each other, but I don't feel like any of those threads were explored as fully as they could have been. Each character shares highly emotional scenes with others, but I didn't feel fully invested in their relationships so those moments didn't land quite as hard; I wanted to know them better, as well as Chorn clearly knows and cares for them. There's a lot underneath the surface there, and I wish we had gotten to see more.
But the book concludes with a huge event, one that dramatically shifts the direction the series is going in, giving us hints at the world's history and lore that I hope are explored in further books, because the mystery of what exactly is going on and the purpose of it has truly hooked me.
writingwwolves's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: 4.5 Stars
I was so excited to get my teeth into a gritty, adult fantasy & Sarah’s work hit the spot perfectly! In this book we get to see the best & the worst of humanity, we experience love & hate in their purest forms, & in their most complicated forms, & we get to see the making & the unmaking of mankind. I loved the concept of this story, something which I can’t explain without spoiling the plot, & because of the creativity that has gone into it, I was clueless about where things were heading. This is a book that allows you to work out the basic idea of the ending, but everything up until that point is impossible to predict & I loved that. I was full of questions throughout, but in a more-ish & intoxicating kind of way. Seraphina’s Lament could quite easily be a strong standalone, but it’s clear that Sarah has so much more to give with this series, & I cannot wait!
⚠️ This book includes famine, poverty, classism, starvation, people being set on fire, murder, cannibalism, slavery, “forced labour” camps, arson, disability caused by violence, chronic pain, ableism in the form of deliberately making life harder for the disabled character, detailed & gory torture, dissection & some sexual references ⚠️
♿️ Title character Seraphina is disabled after being badly beaten by another character in the story; this happens before the events of the book, but there are some details of what happened. Author Sarah Chorn is also disabled, like myself, & her portrayal of a disabled character in a fantasy story was incredibly refreshing. Despite the transformations that occur in the book, Seraphina is never ‘cured’ & I’m very grateful to Sarah for that. Seraphina is shown to be in pain a lot but, in my opinion, it’s an accurate portrayal of living with a disability & I feel that it is excellent representation ♿️
I was sent a digital copy of this book by the author in return for an honest review.
Extended Review to follow.
I was so excited to get my teeth into a gritty, adult fantasy & Sarah’s work hit the spot perfectly! In this book we get to see the best & the worst of humanity, we experience love & hate in their purest forms, & in their most complicated forms, & we get to see the making & the unmaking of mankind. I loved the concept of this story, something which I can’t explain without spoiling the plot, & because of the creativity that has gone into it, I was clueless about where things were heading. This is a book that allows you to work out the basic idea of the ending, but everything up until that point is impossible to predict & I loved that. I was full of questions throughout, but in a more-ish & intoxicating kind of way. Seraphina’s Lament could quite easily be a strong standalone, but it’s clear that Sarah has so much more to give with this series, & I cannot wait!
⚠️ This book includes famine, poverty, classism, starvation, people being set on fire, murder, cannibalism, slavery, “forced labour” camps, arson, disability caused by violence, chronic pain, ableism in the form of deliberately making life harder for the disabled character, detailed & gory torture, dissection & some sexual references ⚠️
♿️ Title character Seraphina is disabled after being badly beaten by another character in the story; this happens before the events of the book, but there are some details of what happened. Author Sarah Chorn is also disabled, like myself, & her portrayal of a disabled character in a fantasy story was incredibly refreshing. Despite the transformations that occur in the book, Seraphina is never ‘cured’ & I’m very grateful to Sarah for that. Seraphina is shown to be in pain a lot but, in my opinion, it’s an accurate portrayal of living with a disability & I feel that it is excellent representation ♿️
I was sent a digital copy of this book by the author in return for an honest review.
Extended Review to follow.
joannethefairy's review against another edition
5.0
This book was brilliant!!
The story is sooo unique.
Every page was an adventure as you figured out this world right along with the characters, however the book never felt like it was info-dumping, so masterfully was every little piece revealed.
And the writing is beautiful. Poignant and lyrical.
But by far the best best best part of this book were the characters. The reader was privy to every multi-faceted aspect and it was such a wonderful experience to dive deep deep down into these characters and see all their motivations, relationships, fears and joys.
As a reader I became very attached to every character - something that happens very rarely in my reading experience - in most books there is one (or more) characters that I just don’t connect with or have views/motivations I don’t understand or agree with and so their struggles don’t resonate with me so I don’t become invested in them.
In this book the minutiae of all the characters was so well fleshed out that I was right there with every character knowing their views, motivations and feelings about their world, their place it and how the other characters fitted into their world view. Simply amazing.
I was so excited to learn that this is the first in a trilogy as well.
5 Stars - Amazing characters. Amazing world. Amazing story. Just sooo good!
The story is sooo unique.
Every page was an adventure as you figured out this world right along with the characters, however the book never felt like it was info-dumping, so masterfully was every little piece revealed.
And the writing is beautiful. Poignant and lyrical.
But by far the best best best part of this book were the characters. The reader was privy to every multi-faceted aspect and it was such a wonderful experience to dive deep deep down into these characters and see all their motivations, relationships, fears and joys.
As a reader I became very attached to every character - something that happens very rarely in my reading experience - in most books there is one (or more) characters that I just don’t connect with or have views/motivations I don’t understand or agree with and so their struggles don’t resonate with me so I don’t become invested in them.
In this book the minutiae of all the characters was so well fleshed out that I was right there with every character knowing their views, motivations and feelings about their world, their place it and how the other characters fitted into their world view. Simply amazing.
I was so excited to learn that this is the first in a trilogy as well.
5 Stars - Amazing characters. Amazing world. Amazing story. Just sooo good!
hotpinkmess's review against another edition
Given the reviews of this book, I desperately wanted to like it.
I thoroughly enjoyed the original take and strangeness on a unique magic system that I don't recall encountering quite like it, and there were moments of beautiful prose smattered here and there--but the pacing of this story was too fast for me. Characters seemed so immature and young, with stilted dialogue that didn't quite seem to fit them and their circumstances or ages. There were moments of such quicksilver emotional changes that jarred me from the story.
It wants to be a grimdark fantasy, and elements of that genre are present. Yet the quick way the book skips through everything makes it seem like an afterthought with little emotional impact on the reader.
I wasn't able to feel like I should care about anything.
And that is a shame because, again, this story has so much potential. It's so close to doing what I think it wants to do--but falls short of being emotionally impactful. I found myself skipping dialogue or skimming it when possible and realized that I was purposefully skipping pages trying to get to parts that would capture my interest.
I want to like this book, but I cannot. I am more than willing to keep giving the author's future books a try, but this one will have to go on my DNF.
I thoroughly enjoyed the original take and strangeness on a unique magic system that I don't recall encountering quite like it, and there were moments of beautiful prose smattered here and there--but the pacing of this story was too fast for me. Characters seemed so immature and young, with stilted dialogue that didn't quite seem to fit them and their circumstances or ages. There were moments of such quicksilver emotional changes that jarred me from the story.
It wants to be a grimdark fantasy, and elements of that genre are present. Yet the quick way the book skips through everything makes it seem like an afterthought with little emotional impact on the reader.
I wasn't able to feel like I should care about anything.
And that is a shame because, again, this story has so much potential. It's so close to doing what I think it wants to do--but falls short of being emotionally impactful. I found myself skipping dialogue or skimming it when possible and realized that I was purposefully skipping pages trying to get to parts that would capture my interest.
I want to like this book, but I cannot. I am more than willing to keep giving the author's future books a try, but this one will have to go on my DNF.
mindysbookjourney's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
barb4ry1's review against another edition
4.0
Seraphina’s Lament breaks genres, conventions and taboos.
Set in a secondary world based on the Russian Revolution and the Holodomor, it gives a detailed look at a dying world.
A collectivist government controlled by an ex-revolutionary, Premier Eyad, used to have noble objectives. Things and people changed. Rulers inflict starvation, forced labour, and death on their subjects. Rampant famine forces people to commit acts of unspeakable cruelty and despair, including cannibalism. Magic leaks from the world.
Seraphina, a slave with a unique fire affinity, escapes her tormentors and joins revolutionaries. She wants Eyad dead. Her anger consumes her humanity. The same happens to other protagonists. As they head to Lord‘s Reach city to fight a corrupted government, they undergo significant changes. Some of them start to Become.
Seraphina’s Lament is a dark and unsettling book. Using elements of fantasy, horror, symbolism, magical realism and allegory, it dives into metaphysics and creation of gods.
Food, eating, and starvation represent life, death, guilt, and withheld love. Early in the book readers get to know Taub who undergoes a shocking metamorphosis. Chorn describes radical changes (mutations?) in such hallucinatory detail that I had to stop and reread chosen passages to picture them accurately. We can see protagnists’ bodily torment and share their disgust and terror when they first witness and experience it.
You’ll know early in the novel if her writing style works for you. It switches from poetic and allegorical to no-nonsense. I loved parts of it, but had to slowly reread others to see things. Some similes didn’t work for me. Others felt creative and imaginative. Chorn’s writing is dense and her story is so different from mainstream fantasy that I expect it to divide the audience.
Some will “get it”, while others will feel lost and helpless. I like allegories and Seraphina’s Lament may appeal to readers who enjoyed themes of unbecoming pictured in Dyachenko’s brilliant Vita Nostra.
Seraphina‘s Lament is a strong debut. It evokes feelings of futility, confusion, and helplessness, but I wouldn‘t call it nihilistic. It ends with a glimmer of hope.
It impressed me and I can't wait to see where it goes from here.
Set in a secondary world based on the Russian Revolution and the Holodomor, it gives a detailed look at a dying world.
A collectivist government controlled by an ex-revolutionary, Premier Eyad, used to have noble objectives. Things and people changed. Rulers inflict starvation, forced labour, and death on their subjects. Rampant famine forces people to commit acts of unspeakable cruelty and despair, including cannibalism. Magic leaks from the world.
Seraphina, a slave with a unique fire affinity, escapes her tormentors and joins revolutionaries. She wants Eyad dead. Her anger consumes her humanity. The same happens to other protagonists. As they head to Lord‘s Reach city to fight a corrupted government, they undergo significant changes. Some of them start to Become.
Seraphina’s Lament is a dark and unsettling book. Using elements of fantasy, horror, symbolism, magical realism and allegory, it dives into metaphysics and creation of gods.
Food, eating, and starvation represent life, death, guilt, and withheld love. Early in the book readers get to know Taub who undergoes a shocking metamorphosis. Chorn describes radical changes (mutations?) in such hallucinatory detail that I had to stop and reread chosen passages to picture them accurately. We can see protagnists’ bodily torment and share their disgust and terror when they first witness and experience it.
You’ll know early in the novel if her writing style works for you. It switches from poetic and allegorical to no-nonsense. I loved parts of it, but had to slowly reread others to see things. Some similes didn’t work for me. Others felt creative and imaginative. Chorn’s writing is dense and her story is so different from mainstream fantasy that I expect it to divide the audience.
Some will “get it”, while others will feel lost and helpless. I like allegories and Seraphina’s Lament may appeal to readers who enjoyed themes of unbecoming pictured in Dyachenko’s brilliant Vita Nostra.
Seraphina‘s Lament is a strong debut. It evokes feelings of futility, confusion, and helplessness, but I wouldn‘t call it nihilistic. It ends with a glimmer of hope.
It impressed me and I can't wait to see where it goes from here.
tarmunvykers's review against another edition
5.0
This book is difficult to describe, and I won't shy away from the fact it challenged me. It offers us a glimpse of an alternate-universe Russia after the fall of the last Tsar. There is a plot, of course, but what Seraphina's Lament is really giving us is the meticulously landscaped emotional interior of its characters, as they face a variety of dilemmas, both mundane and supernatural (or divine). This is a novel about feelings and ideas more than deeds, and if you can make that leap, you'll find it extremely rewarding. It is also refreshing, I must say, to depart from the more-typical fantasy settings and explore Chorn's rich setting and world-building. But be warned: this world is very grim indeed, with less joy than you might find in your average prison camp. All in all, it's a read I will not soon forget.
zefrien's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
yarnycharlie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0