Fragile Chaos

by Amber R. Duell

[nannah]

Ahh, I wish I liked this better! I feel as if I almost know this author (a friend of a friend, nearly). It came highly recommended, so I was really excited!

I loved the worldbuilding for sure, but it was the main relationship that left me feeling lukewarm. Since that was such a large part of the novel, it played a huge part of my overall opinion of the book.

Book content warnings
genocide (discussed)
unhealthy relationships

Cassia is a girl unwillingly sacrificed to Theo, the God of War. Theo is trying to prove himself to his family to earn his powers back, while Cassia is simply trying to survive amidst this deadly political game. When Cassia finds something to gain, will she start playing, or will she help Theo?

I love any rich world with well-thought-out mythology. The gods here are so well constructed and written, and I loved this book for that. But the book is mainly about Theo's relationship with Cassia, which is ... to put it simply, extremely unhealthy. Even past the halfway point, Cassia is still frightened he's going to kill her. Kill her. The power balance is so uneven and makes for a very disturbing relationship that made me so uncomfortable I almost didn't want to finish. :S Though things are sort of talked about at the Very end, it's not enough for me. Plus, Cassia is underage: she's sixteen. And when Theo's angry with her, he threatens her life, threatens her loved ones' lives, and threatens genocide against her entire race. It's just ... not good, to say the least. I'm just not into any of this, or any of these tropes. I'm tired of it.

So yeah, I was caught between being starry-eyed and being disgusted. :/