I’ve talked a lot about escapism through fiction, but sometimes I find myself treating books like I’m self medicating with uppers and downers. The last few weeks I’ve struggled to find balance, which likely echoes my own struggle to regulate my feelings about my own life and the society I exist in. I depressed myself in November with grim interpretations of the United States, so I plunged into romantasy land. But then, after a long wait, One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This finally was available, and I didn’t want to put it off. And boy did that plunge me right back into despair.
Warrior Princess Assassin, by Brigid Kemmerer 🎧📖
Genre: Romantasy
What’s it about: Princess Jory has lived a largely sheltered life, unaware of the political tensions in Astranza’s court or the reality of those who live outside of it. Even when her childhood best friend, Asher, is banished from the kingdom for a crime he didn’t commit, she can’t fathom what his life is like between his infrequent visits to see her. Under intense pressure from her older brother, she agrees to a political marriage with Maddox Kyronan, aka Ky, the infamous warrior king of a neighboring nation, to protect Astranza from an encroaching enemy nation. Ky will provide troops, and Astranza will provide magic to heal his blighted lands.
However, Princess Jory’s father is ailing, and he may not have the magic Ky needs to. And as Jory gets to know the fierce but kind warrior, her guilt grows. Not only is she lying to him, she’s catching feelings for him despite her love for Asher.
Meanwhile, Asher has done whatever he has to do to survive after being ousted from the castle, and now works as an assassin. He lucks into a lucrative assignment, until he realizes the targets. Now, he must risk his life to protect the woman he loves and her betrothed. As the trio warily team up to protect each other and their respective nations, they can’t help but draw dangerously close to one another.
Was it good? Hell yeah, this was delightful. It is, of course, incredibly silly, but it hardly matters. I lack empathy for incurious protagonists, even if they are spunky. But I liked Jory despite myself because she is very caring and open minded, which is why I was so easily swept into her mix of feelings about her two paramours. The real fun, as usual, is the semi-toxic relationship between her two men. Jory is too sheltered to relate to anything they’ve been through - Ky war and Asher slavery - and the way the three characters compliment each other is really satisfying.
Highlights:
So while everyone is being horny and scheme-y, there is a sort of off-page big bad encroaching. This is the first of what is a planned trilogy, so presumably this will pay off, but I did find it easy to forget WHY anyone was doing anything.
Jory is a 25-year-old virgin and EXTREMELY horny, like often at inappropriate times.
It’s a slowish burn - Jory is still a virgin at the end of the book.
Trigger warning: Asher goes through it all, and while his abuses aren’t depicted they are discussed. I found his character really compelling and heartbreaking. You really have to suspend belief when he is able to not resent Jory for the difference in their lives, and her naivety regarding the kingdom’s justice system.
Reign & Ruin, by J.D. Evans 🎧📖
Genre: Romantasy
What’s it about: Tamar is one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world, backed by powerful mages. But their magic may not be enough to protect them from the Republic, which seeks to conquer Tamar and other nations. Naime, the princess of Tamar, has been raised to rule by her father, despite the interests of Tamar’s council, led by the power hungry Grand Vizier. But with her father’s mind ailing, they seek to marry her to one of the sons of her councilmen. Naime must, prevent this, of course, but she seeks to protect her nation in two ways: By renewing the sacred Wheel of Magic and by allying with a former enemy nation, Sarkum.
What Sarkum lacks in magic, they make up for in military might. Makram, brother to Sarkum’s ruler is a passionate and loyal general. He defies his brother’s wishes and journey’s to Tamar in order to secure an alliance against the republic. He doesn’t expect to be a pawn in Tamar’s political intrigues, nor his forbidden desire for the beautiful princess of Tamar.
Was it good? Yes, I had a good time! The magic system is elements based and easy to understand, and Naime and Makram are characters to root for. There is a lot of plot framework here for what is essentially a romance between these two unlikely allies. The romance is plenty blush worthy, and a green flag like Makram is refreshing in a growing sea of morally-gray-but-has-a-big-dick protagonists in a lot of Romantasy fiction. Evans also takes the time to lay out the side characters, which I think help grounds the main characters in believability. I always find it hard to understand when the protagonists literally have no friends.
Highlights:
In hindsight, the plots of this and Warrior Princess Assassin are very similar. A lot of intrigue and fighting for the inevitable arrival of a mysterious baddie. This kind of works but also feels kind of silly. Who are they and why do they want to take over the world? And why is Tamar’s council so unbothered by it?
There is a lot of slow caressing and build up between characters, which I liked, but really slows down what is otherwise a very jaunty plot.
One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, by Omar El Akkad 🎧
Genre: Politics & Media, Nonfiction
What’s it about: Author Omar El Akkad’s family immigrated from Egypt to Canada when he was young, and he, like many of us, believe in the West’s promise of freedom and equality. But as he grew up, became a journalist and a U.S. citizen, El Akkad is forced to reckon with the fact that that promise is a lie. As El Akkad covers the War on Terror, Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter and now, the War in Gaza, he documents the ways his profession is complicit in these lies. And then he indicts himself, and us, as we grapple with and even justify the first live-streamed wars.
Was it good? Yes, but it offered me no solution but despair. (As many of you know, I’m very boringly on a nihilist streak). Here’s the thing: The book validated what I have long thought and even discussed with loved ones (and detrimentally, to my employers, but that’s a different story) about media. I do think hope that One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This is illuminating for people who are less entrenched in the media circuit. What happens in discussions about human rights-issues-turned-political-bullets is that they become symbols for ones own moral standing, and no one wants to feel like a bad person. This book states plainly what the moral high ground is, and doesn’t much allow for technicalities. The truth is that the society we live in - the one we built - may have shaped us more than we have shaped it. You can’t be good in this world at all.
Highlights:
The NYT review said the book left them with hope and girl … where? I finished this book feeling glad it existed but also feeling like a complete waste of oxygen. Which is probably good for me intellectually but very much not good mentally/emotionally.
One of the more damning indictments El Akkad makes is contextualizing the risk to ones livelihood or job relative to the destruction of an entire group of people. It is probably true that being afraid of losing your job is a cowardly reason to not speak up when you hear inaccuracies or even to say “hey, I can’t think of a single good reason to find the murder of thousands of civilians”. But also, it’s unhelpfully inaccurate to portray the loss of one’s means of living as a petty frivolity. I am biased, of course. I’m able to speak candidly about my thoughts because I’ll probably be alright, but also even in writing about this book (or donating money, or writing to my standards department about any “controversial” topic) I risk losing my job. And I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that one’s employment/money is directly tied to one’s ability to live.
Storm & Shield, by J.D. Evans 🎧
Genre: Romantasy
What’s it about: In the aftermath of Reign & Ruin’s events, refugees from Sarkum have come to Tamar, and Sultana Naime and Prince-Consort Markam try to weed out the enemies in their midst. After an assassination attempt on Naime’s life, Markam tasks his best spymaster to quietly investigate members of Tamar’s council who have been scheming to take power. Aysel is able to use her magic to make herself practically invisible, but she didn’t count on the attention of Bashir, Naime’s chief guard and a stubborn Earth mage. The two team up to protect their rulers, but despite the chemistry between them, they can’t quite trust each other. After all, Aysel is keeping secrets.
Was it good? I was meh on this one, and I am not sure why! I think part of it is that I read it after destroying my psyche with One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This and now felt silly about my fictional escape attempts from reality. But also, we shifted away from the main characters of the first book, and I found Aysel and Basir less compelling. While the overarching plot - Tamar and Sarkum vs mysterious enemy - moved ever so slightly forward, it felt really slow compared to the first book.
Highlights:
There’s a little too much “oh she’s so little and he’s so big” excitement that I always find suspicious.
I do think the use of magic is cool, if a bit basic. We’re two books in, however, and I wish I understood why standing up this “Wheel” of powerful mages is so important.
Check it out.