Foz Meadows

When Lord Velasin vin Aaro of Ralia is summoned home, he doesn’t expect to be offered a diplomatic marriage to a daughter of the ruling family of Qi-Katai in neighboring Tithena—in fact, he dreads the very thought of such a marriage. But when an ugly confrontation reveals Velasin’s preference for men to the Tithenai envoy, the envoy proposes a very un-Ralian solution: that Velasin marry the lord of Qi-Katai’s son instead. Caethari Aeduria has known for years that marriage lay in his future; he just didn’t think it would happen with the Ralian man intended for his sister. When Velasin arrives in Qi-Katai, it soon becomes clear that an unknown faction is set against their union, while Velasin himself is wrestling with more than culture shock. As the danger escalates, Caethari and Velasin must learn to trust each other in order to survive—and maybe even make their arranged marriage a loving one in the process.

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance

This book was recommended to me by a few people and wow, it did not disappoint. Beautiful prose and compelling main characters with depth along with a well-thought out world made this work feel very lived in. A queer romance, it definitely has trigger warnings but dealt very well with its hard themes. While I don’t usually seek out friends to lovers, this one surprised me. It was perfect in its tension and it didn’t rely on miscommunication. I love when characters speak their minds, even when they are afraid to, and it makes for more interesting conversations in my opinion. I did guess the plot twist but Meadows did have me questioning if I was right until the end and I still thought it was great. My only issue was that it felt both too slow and too fast at times. There was so much happening and yet it felt a bit unbelievable that all of this only took a week. I think she would have been better served to let this breathe over the course of weeks or even a few months. However, I would highly recommend and I can’t wait to read the sequel in December. 

Katie Allard

Amanda

CW: Rape, suicide ideation

I'm going to start out by saying that I really appreciated that there was an author's note at the start of the audio warning about these themes in the book. That said, there was no reason for these themes to be in the book. The rape takes place in excessive detail on the page which was wholly unnecessary to the story. Also unnecessary to the story was the rape itself. It served no actual purpose to the overall plot. Yes, it was used as a device for certain moments, but all of those moments could have easily been provided with different backstory.

I really loved the main characters in the story. They were delightful especially once they were together. The depiction of various genders and sexualities, as well as the different ways that various people and countries viewed those things was all excellently handled. 

But the story itself was bloated beyond belief. At 40% I couldn't believe we weren't starting to wrap things up yet. At around 60% a character tells another that he had hoped they would confess so the mystery could be wrapped up, and I just truly felt the same. Especially since the mystery wasn't hard to figure out. I clocked the villain almost upon their introduction. Around 65% I asked a friend how it ended and once I knew I was right, I just skimmed through to the end.

The world-building in the book is very detailed and interesting, but at times it is almost too detailed. The author suffers from the need to make all things new for their new world. Creating fantasy words for things like tea (kai instead of chai? really? The words "spiced tea" exist. Just use them) is just adding to the unneeded bloat in this book. I don't understand going to the trouble of creating new fantasy world words for a book if you are going to then just describe the item in so much detail that I know exactly what real world item it is. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. Especially when you then use words like "niblings" which you could have created a new word for since so few people actually use the word. 

There were some really good things about this book, and I would be willing to try more work by this author. But if I every do and there is a content warning at the start, I will take it to heed and assume that there is again going to be something terrible for the sake of shock value adding nothing useful to the story. And then I will put the book down and walk away, having learned my lesson the first time around. I hope the author gets a better editor for the next book.

The narrator for the audio book is absolutely phenomenal.

Christine Bruce

Vel comes home to a father who has always found him to be disappointing, and the news that he's now betrothed to a powerful daughter in a foreign land. He's not happy about the news, but duty insists, and he'll always do what is required of him. But then a horrific incident is witnessed and Vel finds himself engaged to his intended's brother instead. So begins the wrought and healing journey as Vel tries to find a place for himself in this strange new land, and with the trauma he is still processing and recovering from. But can he find happiness in a political climate where love can be the worst decision you ever make?

Take heed of the trigger warning at the beginning, it is not messing around. The content in question happens very early in the book. The remainder of the book handles the trauma and coping of the event by the main character and the ramifications/effect of those events on him and his relationships with the other characters..Vel's journey towards healing and acceptance of what happened to him, of coping with his trauma and not letting it control him was my favorite aspect of the book. It was something I feel actually helped heal me a little bit. And for that alone I would have given it five stars, but it's so much more than that. 

Sometimes I think my ADHD makes it difficult for me to understand heavy world building, and usually feel bad for giving books lower ratings when the world building confuses me. Then books like this come out and remind me that intense, complicated world building IS possible and CAN make sense. I found the politics and cultures of each country fascinating, I wanted more of the history of the kingdoms, and government styles. I will admit I'm confused where Cae's family ranked in everything, but that could easily be something that I missed because of the nature of audiobooks. 

 Another aspect I really loved was the inclusion of a mute character. He is an integral part of the story and never made to feel like inclusion to meet a quota. He's a fleshed out and vibrant character with flaws and goals of his own. There are also other genuine conversations had about queerness and identity, and they're never once made to feel like some kind of fake awareness. It was authentic and refreshing to read. 

Above all, the relationship between Cae and Vel as they navigated their marriage, and the potential political fall out related to their relationship was so beautiful. They grow to care for each other, truly and completely. Especially after the traumatic experience Vel faced, his realistic experience of finding someone who cares about him, trusts him, and loves him, and his own journey through this relationship was so healing to read about. Cae's patience and understanding as he tried to make his husband comfortable around him was a true and realistic kind of love. I saw someone else reviewing this book say it was like a homecoming. And honestly, that's a great way to put it. 

I can't recommend this book high enough, and it deserves every single positive accolade it receives.

I very much enjoyed this story. I want to start off by saying that the content warnings are especially important for this book. One of the mmc experiences an on page trauma that is referenced and dealt with multiple times throughout.

This is very much a story of healing and compassion. It set in a fantasy world dealing with different areas cultural and political differences. It’s a slow burn romance set in a political drama/ sort of mystery. 

Velasin and Cae are both beautiful characters. I loved how their relationship develops. The story is a bit long and slow at times but I still enjoyed it. 

Oh, also! I listened to the audiobook and the narrators both do a good job but it’s gets very confusing with all the different titles people hold and I feel that would have been easier to understand if I could see the words. 

Megan BV

I very much enjoyed this story. I want to start off by saying that the content warnings are especially important for this book. One of the mmc experiences an on page trauma that is referenced and dealt with multiple times throughout.

This is very much a story of healing and compassion. It set in a fantasy world dealing with different areas cultural and political differences. It’s a slow burn romance set in a political drama/ sort of mystery. 

Velasin and Cae are both beautiful characters. I loved how their relationship develops. The story is a bit long and slow at times but I still enjoyed it. 

Oh, also! I listened to the audiobook and the narrators both do a good job but it’s gets very confusing with all the different titles people hold and I feel that would have been easier to understand if I could see the words. 

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance

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