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A review by nthnrgb
A Cruel and Fated Light by Ashley Shuttleworth
5.0
First of all, I love this book so much and I'm so glad I got it in advance so it could immediately go to the top of my TBR list.
This book picks up essentially where the last left off, Arlo explaining what happened to the court and then she (along with Celadon) are invited to the Summer Seelie Court for the summer so that Arlo can train her alchemy. Honestly, there are multiple plots in this book but it's done so well and so smoothly, that I didn't even realise it until I was writing this. First, you have Arlo and her studies, both in alchemy and with Luck as a Hollow Star. Also with Arlo you have your "will-they-won't-they" romance with her and Nos as she continues to fall in love (and realise she is falling in love). Next, with Celadon and Aurelian, you have their heavy suspicion of the Seelie Queen of Summer and dedication to reveal her plans (also with the help of another character but that's totally spoilers) and this plot line is VERY political/court drama and I must say, I absolutely loved it and it was very well done. Then you have Vehan's struggle with his magic and emotions that May Or May Not be his and, to top it all off, his and Aurelian's own "will-they-won't-they" oblivious love story. 100% this sequel was everything I hoped for, and more, and I need the third one NOW!
Potential cons:
- Length. When I first put this book on my kobo and saw it was like 550~ pages I was immediately overwhelmed. I tend to not like super long books, because they can drag on and tend to be really slow to get going but this WAS NOT LIKE THAT AT ALL. It was written so smoothly, and so well frankly that everything flowed and seemed to follow a logical and exciting timeline that kept me super engaged.
What I liked:
- Queerness. This book reminds me of the Oprah meme "you get a car! And you get a car!" Except instead of cars, we're getting queer characters. Literally everyone and their mom are queer and it's AMAZING. I love the way that in this universe, queerness just is and it's SO refreshing and comforting to read. Sometimes, we don't need stories about how terrible or difficult it is to be queer and this is one of those stories.
- The TTRPG-ness. Of course I'm a DnD nerd, I'm gay what do you expect. The way this is done feels very natural, and just another part of the magic in the world (instead of feeling awkward or forced). The author explains it so well and spread out that we believe this is Arlo learning and exploring what it means to be a Hollow Star and that the TTRPG-ness of it is just happenstance - like the magic came first.
- Worldbuilding. Can I just compliment how GOOD Ashley Shuttleworth is at worldbuilding because good goly are they ever. This is the second book, so we're expected to know a lot more about the world and we do. However, we still get to learn new aspects and traditions of the world as the characters, particularly Arlo, are exposed to new information and events. Everything is woven in so seamlessly though, there's not just a big block of information shoved in there, obviously for the reader's benefit. Instead, things are exposed layer by layer, as they come up and ugh, it's just so good to read.
This book picks up essentially where the last left off, Arlo explaining what happened to the court and then she (along with Celadon) are invited to the Summer Seelie Court for the summer so that Arlo can train her alchemy. Honestly, there are multiple plots in this book but it's done so well and so smoothly, that I didn't even realise it until I was writing this. First, you have Arlo and her studies, both in alchemy and with Luck as a Hollow Star. Also with Arlo you have your "will-they-won't-they" romance with her and Nos as she continues to fall in love (and realise she is falling in love). Next, with Celadon and Aurelian, you have their heavy suspicion of the Seelie Queen of Summer and dedication to reveal her plans (also with the help of another character but that's totally spoilers) and this plot line is VERY political/court drama and I must say, I absolutely loved it and it was very well done. Then you have Vehan's struggle with his magic and emotions that May Or May Not be his and, to top it all off, his and Aurelian's own "will-they-won't-they" oblivious love story. 100% this sequel was everything I hoped for, and more, and I need the third one NOW!
Potential cons:
- Length. When I first put this book on my kobo and saw it was like 550~ pages I was immediately overwhelmed. I tend to not like super long books, because they can drag on and tend to be really slow to get going but this WAS NOT LIKE THAT AT ALL. It was written so smoothly, and so well frankly that everything flowed and seemed to follow a logical and exciting timeline that kept me super engaged.
What I liked:
- Queerness. This book reminds me of the Oprah meme "you get a car! And you get a car!" Except instead of cars, we're getting queer characters. Literally everyone and their mom are queer and it's AMAZING. I love the way that in this universe, queerness just is and it's SO refreshing and comforting to read. Sometimes, we don't need stories about how terrible or difficult it is to be queer and this is one of those stories.
- The TTRPG-ness. Of course I'm a DnD nerd, I'm gay what do you expect. The way this is done feels very natural, and just another part of the magic in the world (instead of feeling awkward or forced). The author explains it so well and spread out that we believe this is Arlo learning and exploring what it means to be a Hollow Star and that the TTRPG-ness of it is just happenstance - like the magic came first.
- Worldbuilding. Can I just compliment how GOOD Ashley Shuttleworth is at worldbuilding because good goly are they ever. This is the second book, so we're expected to know a lot more about the world and we do. However, we still get to learn new aspects and traditions of the world as the characters, particularly Arlo, are exposed to new information and events. Everything is woven in so seamlessly though, there's not just a big block of information shoved in there, obviously for the reader's benefit. Instead, things are exposed layer by layer, as they come up and ugh, it's just so good to read.