The Bookworm's Feast

Fear not, little mortal. The song is not yet sung. This is but the calm before the crescendo.
This tale is only two of three.
Birth. And life. And death.
So patience, gentlefriends.
Patience.
Close your eyes.
Take my hand.
And walk with me.

This. Book…

Goodness gracious me – I sure am glad I waited until closer to Darkdawn!

O, Mother, blackest Mother, what have I become?

We pick up Mia’s story as she works her way through the ranks of a gladiatii house, after selling herself into slavery. Expect love, lust, betrayal, bloodshed, action, scheming – just everything! This tale is wonderfully complex, but set down in a way that it never feels like the complexity is getting away from you.

The pace is faster, there’s way more brutality and action, and way more conspiracy than Nevernight. We have a bisexual main character – featuring some rather steamy and raw scenes. Many a fight in which Mia absolutely kills it. And the twisty-turny nature of this book fills me with so much joy. Sure I guessed some, but others did take me completely by surprise.

You can keep the glory. I’m just here for the blood.

I think I’m obsessed with Jay’s style of writing. These books have felt like the books I’ve always waited for – I cannot get them out of my mind. I just want to quote the whole thing, and pick them up and reread them all over again already. I want to shout about it from the rooftops, and buy a copy for everyone I know.

The language and word choice is always spot on, none of the details are spared, nothing is shoved in your face though (for example, Mia is bisexual through actions, not her telling everyone every second of the day in the story), and it’s unapologetic.

That’s the power of words; twenty-six little letters can paint a whole universe

I listened to the audiobook for this – and my oh my, I cannot recommend it enough! Holter Graham’s voice is perfect, and in the gladiatii bouts I felt like I could be there. His tone and intonation draws you in, and I adore how he reads out Mercurio, Mr Kindly, and Eclipse.

I don’t want to spoil, so I’m just going to say the Dicta Ultima at the end summed up my feelings perfectly. I wouldn’t advise reading it before the book though, as it does contain a spoiler or two.

Now let the book hangover commence while I wait the few short weeks for Darkdawn’s release – even this is too long a wait 😭

 Release Date: September 2017
 Publisher: HarperVoyager
 Genre: Fantasy
 Page Count: 464
 Goodreads Page
 Rating: ★★★★★