The Beasts We Bury by D.L. Taylor
Book 1 of The Broken Citadel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Why are more people not talking about this book?! It’s really great for a debut, YA, Romantasy novel. It has all the elements one might desire in a book of its genre and target age group; and yet I can’t help but think the marketing is part of the trouble. Even the tagline on the hardcover from my library feels all wrong. At no time is our leading guy trying to steal the throne or get in the way of it. Instead he is just trying to get by and live. To not starve another day or sleep shivering in the cold, harsh, glass edged world war has left him. And our leading gal is just trying to survive her own existence, while opulent and at the palace, it too is fraught with horror and drenched in the blood of the many animals she has killed with her bare hands!
All of this comes about not by choice for either of our teen characters; but by circumstance. This is perhaps what makes this such a good story. Neither character needs the other, per se; and yet each needs the other more than they can imagine once they realize they could support each other. Amongst politics, lies, magic, alliances, deals, and intrigue is this sweet little romance between two unlikely people. Although I couldn’t help but think street rat and princess like in Aladdin; but that’s okay as it doesn’t have any other resemblance to Agraba or its magic.
The Beasts We Bury is the kind of book that could have made a splash, like Fourth Wing, if it had a bit more refinement and a better marketing campaign. A few things could use fixing up. For example, why didn’t our main gal ever go back to the training academy to check on the improvements she was promised? Why didn’t she have more of a relationship with either mom or her sister (the distance felt so awkward)? And why was she still so in love with dear ol’ daddy even as she understood he was a huge part of the evil in the realm? These types of issues needed a lot more exploration to get this up to 5 stars. Plus both Vie and Rooftop needed to be more than just typical side characters with jealousy and one skill or trait that their whole personality hung on.
I could likely list a few more places I’d make enhancements or changes; I will say this is immensely readable, very clean and suitable for teens, and an overall intriguing premise. The narration from both narrators is solid and I love how each chapter swaps the POV between our guy and gal. Most importantly the ending is a bombshell that must be explored!!!
So yes, I’ll be searching out book 2 quickly, as I definitely want to know where this goes and am hopeful the darkness factor creeps up a bit more.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Why are more people not talking about this book?! It’s really great for a debut, YA, Romantasy novel. It has all the elements one might desire in a book of its genre and target age group; and yet I can’t help but think the marketing is part of the trouble. Even the tagline on the hardcover from my library feels all wrong. At no time is our leading guy trying to steal the throne or get in the way of it. Instead he is just trying to get by and live. To not starve another day or sleep shivering in the cold, harsh, glass edged world war has left him. And our leading gal is just trying to survive her own existence, while opulent and at the palace, it too is fraught with horror and drenched in the blood of the many animals she has killed with her bare hands!
All of this comes about not by choice for either of our teen characters; but by circumstance. This is perhaps what makes this such a good story. Neither character needs the other, per se; and yet each needs the other more than they can imagine once they realize they could support each other. Amongst politics, lies, magic, alliances, deals, and intrigue is this sweet little romance between two unlikely people. Although I couldn’t help but think street rat and princess like in Aladdin; but that’s okay as it doesn’t have any other resemblance to Agraba or its magic.
The Beasts We Bury is the kind of book that could have made a splash, like Fourth Wing, if it had a bit more refinement and a better marketing campaign. A few things could use fixing up. For example, why didn’t our main gal ever go back to the training academy to check on the improvements she was promised? Why didn’t she have more of a relationship with either mom or her sister (the distance felt so awkward)? And why was she still so in love with dear ol’ daddy even as she understood he was a huge part of the evil in the realm? These types of issues needed a lot more exploration to get this up to 5 stars. Plus both Vie and Rooftop needed to be more than just typical side characters with jealousy and one skill or trait that their whole personality hung on.
I could likely list a few more places I’d make enhancements or changes; I will say this is immensely readable, very clean and suitable for teens, and an overall intriguing premise. The narration from both narrators is solid and I love how each chapter swaps the POV between our guy and gal. Most importantly the ending is a bombshell that must be explored!!!
So yes, I’ll be searching out book 2 quickly, as I definitely want to know where this goes and am hopeful the darkness factor creeps up a bit more.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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