Thank you to Bookish First and the publisher for providing me a copy to review.
I read this book because in the Editor's Letter in the beginning and I knew that I had to read this book because Hello, who doesn't love a Miyazaki style story with a Renaissance Italian setting! I also strongly suggest to not read the synopsis as it kind of made the book sound weirder than it actually was.
This book really reminded me of An Enchantment of Ravens as it was short (around 330 pages) but it felt like I was reading a much longer narrative. The prose was well written and the plot moved rather fast; there weren't any scenes that didn't contribute to the overall plot of the book. The story did end wrapped up but there is definitely room for the author to write a sequel if they chose.
My favorite part of the book was the magic. In Vanalia, those with magic are called Strega, which is Italian for Witch and that makes total sense considering that the setting is Italian inspired, and they aren't loved but they aren't exactly persecuted. Teo, the MC, had magic that was almost like a whole other character. It had a temper and sometimes did what it wanted. Also, I am not going to spoil it but Teo's ability is awesome and so unique. And speaking of magic there is Cielo, Teo's meet-cute friend to lover and a totally awesome character! Cielo is a shapeshifter as long as they have their book with spells. Though I enjoyed the magic, I wish that The Brilliant Death was explained better especially since it was a key feature of the story.
This book was quite queer. Cielo and Teo are both genderfluid. I really liked that Capetta wrote these characters the way that she did because I haven't heard of many books where there is one genderfluid character let alone two and in a relationship, which I totally ship by the way.
The setting of Vanalia was quite interesting though I wish that Capetta went into more detail on who the Capo is. I understand that he is trying to usurp the families that rule to "unify" the land but I didn't really know who he was and I want more of a backstory on him. One thing that I didn't really get vibes of is the "Mafia-style" of the families that the synopsis promises. Yes, they were a bit ruthless but the fate of their world is at stake here so I can understand why they do what they do.
The other characters besides Cielo and Teo were not the best but they were also not the worst. Teo's brother, Luca was sweet and I wish that we could have had more time with him. Then there is Teo's other brother, Beniamo was a complete terror that deserved more then he received.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed this novel and I am excited to read other books that Capetta has written.
I read this book because in the Editor's Letter in the beginning and I knew that I had to read this book because Hello, who doesn't love a Miyazaki style story with a Renaissance Italian setting! I also strongly suggest to not read the synopsis as it kind of made the book sound weirder than it actually was.
This book really reminded me of An Enchantment of Ravens as it was short (around 330 pages) but it felt like I was reading a much longer narrative. The prose was well written and the plot moved rather fast; there weren't any scenes that didn't contribute to the overall plot of the book. The story did end wrapped up but there is definitely room for the author to write a sequel if they chose.
My favorite part of the book was the magic. In Vanalia, those with magic are called Strega, which is Italian for Witch and that makes total sense considering that the setting is Italian inspired, and they aren't loved but they aren't exactly persecuted. Teo, the MC, had magic that was almost like a whole other character. It had a temper and sometimes did what it wanted. Also, I am not going to spoil it but Teo's ability is awesome and so unique. And speaking of magic there is Cielo, Teo's meet-cute friend to lover and a totally awesome character! Cielo is a shapeshifter as long as they have their book with spells. Though I enjoyed the magic, I wish that The Brilliant Death was explained better especially since it was a key feature of the story.
This book was quite queer. Cielo and Teo are both genderfluid. I really liked that Capetta wrote these characters the way that she did because I haven't heard of many books where there is one genderfluid character let alone two and in a relationship, which I totally ship by the way.
The setting of Vanalia was quite interesting though I wish that Capetta went into more detail on who the Capo is. I understand that he is trying to usurp the families that rule to "unify" the land but I didn't really know who he was and I want more of a backstory on him. One thing that I didn't really get vibes of is the "Mafia-style" of the families that the synopsis promises. Yes, they were a bit ruthless but the fate of their world is at stake here so I can understand why they do what they do.
The other characters besides Cielo and Teo were not the best but they were also not the worst. Teo's brother, Luca was sweet and I wish that we could have had more time with him. Then there is Teo's other brother, Beniamo was a complete terror that deserved more then he received.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed this novel and I am excited to read other books that Capetta has written.