The complete brooding body of internal self loathing that translates to the sarcastic prickly exterior that is this man I didn t expect to be so utterly CLOCKED by him OKAY At several stressful emotional points he s doing this little maneuver His Orpheus hand slipped into his sleeve fingernails finding his wrist He dug in blunted and painful I I used to do this lmao A lot In trauma response I sometimes still do So to have it written on paper was equal parts unfathomable and validating I loved reading each and every one of his spirals because the trains of thought were disgustingly relatable and I wish I had had my own Fenrir to with his otherworldly gentleness pull me out of it . Fenrir is the most cunning Rim Soldier anyways I m not sure I ve loved a character so entirely like this before lmao he is perfection Secretly smart Needs bottle rim glasses to read Says things like I was almost worried something had happened to my angry little flame thrower My hell . In summary this book snapped my attention at the very beginning violently called me out and thus sucked me in ripped my heart into bleeding shards while cackling sneakily pieced it back together with fuckin eye lash glue cuddled me for a stunningly sappy minute dangled my soul over a massive purple fire filled crack in the planet then only allowed me to remain in tact after trading all of the tears my body could provide I survived but barely This book is absolutely legendary. trope image here Paperback Good thing I m not EurydiceStarted reading this at like 11pm stayed up until 1am forced myself to go to sleep and than immediately finished it in the morning I was actually a little confused at the start of this book because you re sort of thrown into this story halfway with the idea being that it s after the villains won and are starting to regret how they won I very quickly fell for Orpheus and Fenrir s relationship I m gonna call them annoyances to lovers Fenrir won t stop saving Orpheus life because he s cursed to keep almost dying If you like queer evil sorcerers and grumpy sunshine trope I think you ll love this Very angsty at times but ultimately gave me many moments of queer joy and the ending for Lore was so fitting Paperback This book was so twisty and clever what I started the book believing had completely warped by the end of it as we learn about the characters especially Lore and Orpheus Orpheus has magic in his veins Netherflame a dark power that has allowed him to rip apart the earth and bring forth an army from hell for his Empress Lore Living in the castle on the mountain since they were children Lore and Orpheus have been brought up by hermits separated from the world Lore is determined to bring peace to the warring nation outside of the palace and Orpheus is only too happy to help her using his magic to bring about about death and destruction in her name But when Lore sends Orpheus out into the wasteland outside the palace he starts to realise that everything he believed to be true may have been a lie That Lore might not be the benevolent leader he thought that the palace in the mountain was never a palace at all and that the world outside of his self crafted prison isn t at all how he expected it to be His only travelling companion is Fenrir the general of Lore s army and a pain in Orpheus s side but the closer he gets to the man the Orpheus realises that even his perception of Fenrir might not be entirely accurate Read The Crack At The Heart Of Everything for Post apocalyptic thriller that feels like high fantasy The villain of the story becoming the hero Mage x Soldier Slow burn MM romance Hurt x Comfort Massive magical battles Twists and turns nothing is what it seems Thank you so much to the author for an ARC of this book All opinions are my own It isn t out in the world until 12th November 2024 but if it sounds like something you d enjoy definitely pop it on your TBR Paperback Un grand merci l auteure pour cet ARC et sa confiance. Je me suis d ailleurs d couvert un nouveau trope favori Vilain Redemption Et ces petits moments de communication non verbales entre Orph e et Fenrir sont ma chose pr f r e dans ce livre. Et pardon mais on en parle de cette superbe couverture Au d but je m attendais cette prestance et ce charisme qui caract risent LE magicien noir de la part d Orph e mais il est en r alit tr s sensible et ignorant du monde malgr tout son savoir litt raire car il n a jamais JAMAIS quitt le ch teau jusqu ce qu il en soit banni apr s avoir convoqu une arm e de mort vivant pour aider l effort de guerre et cop d une mal diction. N tant pas habitu avoir des amis ou manifester recevoir de la gentillesse son entr e dans le monde est compliqu e et l am ne faire face aux cons quences de ses actes et de sa bienheureuse ignorance Non seulement du monde mais aussi des sentiments que Fenrir a pour lui et du fait qu il lui rende en r alit son flirt chaque pique chang e Fenrir qui ne se m tamorphose pas en loup l auteure m a donn de faux espoirs est extr mement loyal courageux et protecteur. Il est excessivement s r de lui et de ses capacit s du genre foncer t te baiss e dans un mur ou un dragon persuad qu il peut en venir bout Au fur et mesure qu ils chevauchent tout en combattant les tentatives de meurtres de la mal diction Orph e et Fenrir s apprivoisent mutuellement Et par l je veux dire se faire agressivement la cour en s invectivant et en se tirant dans les pattes a m a norm ment plu Leur dynamique fonctionne avec Orpheus la barre et Fenrir en tant qu ex cutant le cerveau et les muscles. Par contre je ne sais pas trop quoi ressentir propos de Lore Sorry not sorry je suis de la team qui aime que le vrai m chant ai ce qu iel m rite la fin so much rage in me Je suis tr s curieux. se de ce qui attend nos h ros au prochain tome Paperback I received a digital arc for an honest review The Crack at the Heart of Everything is the debut novel of author Fiona Fenn A Queer Fantasy where a cursed evil wizard finds love and redemption when he loses the only life he had ever known. Overall I quite enjoyed this one It s single point of view but our lead Orpheus does a decent job telluing the story The flashbacks to how he was manipulated at such a young age hurt my heart The baby boy just wanted someone who loved and appreciated him all he wanted was a friend He isn t a villain because of his nature he s actually a big softie I did however find that he came across as juvenile at times Then we have Fenrir who had Labrador retriever energy and I loved the banter between him and Orpheus I was completely invested in thier relationship which is sweet and low steam My heart melted the moment Orpheus realized his feelings for and that Fenrir genuinely cared for him It s okay I have you Fenrir said into his ear voice soft claim bold Orpheus believed him He trusted him And maybe that was why his knees buckled when he finally tried to shove him away. I think the biggest thing holding me from a higher rating was the epilogue I personally found it quite dissapointing and would have much rather been given a glimpse of the two of them in the future. A Queer Fantasy with a slow burn low steam hate to love romance between a sunshine soldier and a grumpy dark wizard Filled with a world on the brink of hell a death curse dragons hell beasts betrayal magical battles and a worthy redemption arc. Favorite Quotes You know I don t have friends came out strangely breathless Fenrir s arm tightened So what does that make me Orpheus didn t have an answer for him Not in any words that made sense Phew there he is Fenrir grinned laughing I was almost worried something had happened to my angry little flame thrower Orpheus confronted what had been weeks or months or possibly years building between them a deeply rooted connection that had nothingThat was perhaps what scared Orpheus the most that for all the changes happening in his life he wouldn t live long enough to see how it could turn out. Because only Fenrir had come for him when his whole life began unraveling Had protected him Had witnessed the horror of his abilities yet called them beautiful like he saw actually saw through the shadows Orpheus hid within. A pain existed inside Orpheus that hadn t been there before today A crack at the heart of everything that he wasn t sure could be fixed that he thought Fenrir had put there when he d taken Orpheus heart and crushed it in his big stupid fist but that he now realized had been there long long before then. Fenrir kissed him like it was their first time and their last like he was only going to get one chance and he needed to make it count Just got lucky You get used to it when you re me Luck Orpheus drawled you attribute your skills to luck I mean you can make literal magic come out of your fingers I m not sure what s so unbelievable about having really good luck You had to go and show me a world worth living for Orpheus hissed tears choking his throat pain strangling his heart and then make it impossible for me to give up Paperback e ARC received in exchange for an honest review. The Crack at the Heart of Everything by Fiona FennTo begin the fact that this is a debut novel is honestly shocking To achieve a standalone fantasy which is able to provide strong world building history a fully formed cast characters and a strong dash of beautiful romance on book 1 Incredible stuff. This book is a fantasy adventure in the truest sense of the world magic quests companions damsels heroes and villains But from the perspective of the read with a questioning inflection villain With the use of interludes providing glimpses of the past the reader follows Orpheus the Dark Mage whose magic helped to win an Empire We follow his journey and possible redemption after he s exiled from the confines of the Palace and starts to truly discover the impact he has had on a nearly broken world and the manipulation that had led him to this point. With the assistance of a begrudged cheery companion and a number of friends made along the way watching Orpheus grumpy fa ade being slowly stripped away led to some of the most tender intimate and often hilarious moments Consider this a fantasy adventure book with the cosy fantasy feels. This quote provides insight into their dynamic than I ever could Why are you looking at me like that Fenrir grinned This book is available on November 12th 2024 Romantasy lovers I highly recommend Give it a go if you re in the mood for The grumpiest grump x the smiley est sunshine Fantasy adventure with cosy vibes and dragons World building lore and also Lore magical x science a heroic quest and hellish monsters Traumatised dark wizards who are secretly just sweet lil babygirls A swordsman with a penchant for meals that expired 300 years ago Reluctantly appointed nicknames that definitely aren t endearing Plane rides with a pilot who for sure knows how to land Men that cry and who s vulnerability is met with nothing but love and acceptance Enthusiastic consent only Well crafted plots adventurous battles character development redemption stories and a lot of pining to top it off Paperback the fact that this is a debut is pretty impressive cause i found the setting magic and story itself to be decently fleshed out especially considering that the book is character driven than anything i guess in a sense we are following the villain of the story in Orpheus who s dark magic was used to basically destroy the world it was interesting seeing Orpheus struggle with feeling responsible for all the wreckage he had caused battling both guilt and this unwavering need to be useful whether the person on the opposite end had good intentions for him or not the main draw for me was the gradual relationship between Orpheus and Fenrir who is a guard of sorts to the current leader of this broken world their banter was top tier and i love when one character thinks the other has hated them all this time only to find out that couldn t have been further from truth the way Fenrir opened up Orpheus eyes to all that was really going on and how he could help make a change was really endearing i felt their connection from the start and couldn t wait for the moment where they d finally share how they felt im just glad i got to witness their journey to restoring what was broken discovering the happiness they could have as the people they chose to be instead of what they could offer all while falling in love with one another and the special kind of power that comes from having someone who loves you for you many thanks to NetGalley the author and Tiny Fox Press for the arc all opinions are my own Paperback Wow um awesome um bizarre Phew I don t even know where to start I obviously liked this book otherwise it wouldn t get such a rating Unfortunately I can t say whether I really love it I feel very exhausted First perhaps a little warning to my romance loving friends this is not a romance It s a book about love and death and despair but there s no time for romance here and other than some really really good kisses and hugs there s not much happening. But as I said it wasn t really a pure pleasure I had quite a bit of trouble getting into it It s super well written and I really like the author s narrative style I just had problems understanding what was actually happening here. There are no explanations and you learn very slowly what kind of world Orpheus lives in Everything is also told from his point of view and since he knows nothing about the world behind the palace walls either you only get to know things slowly. He also has few interactions with other people so everything is quite difficult to grasp And his thorn in his side his pain in the ass Fenrir is no real help either He s the hero who always saves him but they don t have proper conversations. BUT it s a really brilliant story Even if it really is quite bizarre Fenrir kissed him like it was their first time and their last like he was only going to get one chance and he needed to make it count Lips slid over his from one corner to the other a careful mapping the hand in his hair holding the thumb curling into the hinge of his jaw firm pressing until Orpheus understood and opened up for him Well now you ll get another chance to make it into the history books That an offer to write about me Bet I d make a pretty good poem Personally I think I m of a Hercules than an Odysseus but I might settle for an account the length of the Aeneid Now it was Orpheus turn to grouse I d rather burn at the stake than write anything in dactylic hexameter An enormous sword speared through the side of the plane two feet away from the fuselage instantly recognizable as Ohm s It s fine he missed Boney bastard s always had shit aim Fenrir laughed whooping out a string of expletives Orpheus wasn t entirely sure he d heard before Eat my jet fuel you fleshless prick Paperback this book landed somewhere around the 3 star mark for me this just wasn t the book i thought i was going to be reading based on the premise that was sold orpheus for as much as he was marketed as a villain was never really that much of one yes he had done some things that were bad but they were done with an odd sense of naivety wherein he just wasn t aware of the true effects of his actions orpheus was marketed as a evil sorcerer in need of redemption but was never really actively villainous in any way and as such the redemption arc never really felt like much of one as we sympathise with orpheus very early on much of this book was also orpheus being emotional and weepy over the same issues over and over again like ok i love to see men in fantasy be emotionally vulnerable but seeing orpheus angst over the same things we had just seen him spiral over got very repetitive very fast fenrir was also just a little too for lack of a better word good we don t really get to see much of why he ticks and why he has such an unerringly strong belief in orpheus being a good person he just lacked a bit of nuance for me their romance was sweet but we miss a lot of its development why did fenrir like orpheus in the first place why was orpheus convinced fenrir hated him i also had a bone to pick with the setting of this world once i realised it was set in a post apocalyptic version of our own a lot of questions were raised where did the knowledge of industry and technology go why use swords if guns were still an option where did orpheus learn his magic and sigils from why was ohm even summoned in the first place what war was fought and against what as readers we are just dropped in the middle of the action which isn t an inherently bad thing but it made character s references to past events and the motivations and reasonings for certain actions difficult to understand a couple little things that i ll admit are nit picky some turns of phrase were used excessively in this in the first 20% of the book orpheus sneered in what seemed like every sentence rim pale was another descriptor that was used too much as i honestly don t think fenrir s eyes were described as being anything else i also picked up the comparison of fire being anathema to ice being used a little heavy handedly throughout the book and my last little thing the epilogue was not an epilogue in short a lot of aspects in this book from the characters to the setting to the events of the war felt like they needed a little context and a little background to really build a sense of immersion and investment in the story in saying all this though this book did have some moments of amazing prose and character moments that really stood out fenrir and orpheus romance was really sweet and i loved red as a side character as well the pacing of the last half of the novel was also really well done and had me turning the pages to see where the story would take me. ultimately this is a cosy read and a pretty solid debut novel thank you to NetGalley and Tiny Fox Press for the arc Paperback

The Crack at the Heart of Everything By Fiona Fenn

1946501719

9781946501714

English

336

Paperback

He accidentally cursed himself When the consequences get him exiled to the land he helped terrorize can this evil wizard find redemption and love Orpheus can t believe it s come to this After helping his childhood friend conquer the realm by raising an army of hell beasts the befuddled dark sorcerer finds himself banished when the price of his magic endangers the palace Isolated and betrayed the feared spellcaster isn t exactly thrilled when his irritating and handsome rival keeps stepping between him and certain doom Ill at ease in the barren wasteland his powers created Orpheus slowly warms to the charismatic ex general s relentless overtures But as his feelings grow intense the former villain struggles with an inconvenient calling towards heroism Will dabbling in good deeds get him killed or open the doors to happily ever after The Crack at the Heart of Everything is the charmingly swoon worthy first book in an epic LGBTQ fantasy series If you like character driven stories snarky humor and well earned redemption arcs then you ll adore Fiona Fenn s unexpected hero s journey The Crack at the Heart of EverythingFiona Fenn is an author of fantasy novels that put complicated heroes front and center A fan of villains redemption arcs and intense explorations of healing in all its forms her debut novel The Crack at the Heart of Everything is a love letter to every villain who could have done better but never got the chance,I may or may not have decided to read this because of its beautiful cover Paperback I can t wait for all my friends to read this . Pr parez vous plonger dans un curieux m lange entre fantasy et monde futuriste post apocalyptique qui fonctionne merveille: There was no bar No dragon No curse and no betrayal There was only Fenrir s breath and the beating pulse of his heart, because what was terrifying than Fenrir using him like Lore had was that he wasn t that he had helped Orpheus simply and without reservation because he cared. Additional note This review will not contain spoilers but may allude to plot points, I knew I was going to be a goner for this book as soon as the nickname Fifi was uttered. And if I haven t sold you using the flawless fantasy elements may I instead tempt you with the teasing angst pining fighting and care that is Orpheus and Fenrir, It s a fantasy story with a large dose of dystopia and a very strange magic of its own creatures from hell and perhaps you could even say a few hints of steampunk: What I am sure of is that I ve never read anything like it and I ve been reading fantsy and sci fi for many many years: Considering that this is also supposed to be a debut I can only salute the author and dear author what the hell incredibly truly outstanding[1]

Pre read.Fenrir is the most handsome Rim Soldier.Fenrir is the most delightful Rim Soldier.I m not entirely sure.So it s a tedious affair and you have to be patient..