The Devils by Joe Abercrombie | Book Review

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
Series: Devils #1
Published by Tor Books on May 13, 2025
Genres: Fantasy, Horror
Pages: 560
Format: Hardback
Source: Purchased

Content Warnings: Violence, Death, Gore, Sexual Content, Cursing, Racism, Religious Discrimination, Gender Discrimination, Child Death, Ableism, Murder, Suicidal Ideation, Self-Harm, Abuse
Rating:

Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds. Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters, and the mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends. Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it's a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.

The Devils is my introduction to Abercrombie's work, and what an introduction it was! Now the reviews for this book are all over the place, with some people loving it and others absolutely hating it. I fall into the "loving it" camp. I thought The Devils was such a fun, fantastic ride from start to finish, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for our ragtag team of misfits.

“Smile while you can, that's what I say. The world'll kick you in the twat soon enough.”

Abercrombie seamlessly weaves humor, bloody battles, character development, and world-building to create an immersive reading experience in this dark epic fantasy set in an alternate medieval Europe. I found myself laughing, crying, and celebrating with each of the characters, especially Vigga, a rambunctious Scandinavian werewolf. There was no telling what Vigga would say or do next each time she was on the page, making for a hilariously wild ride through towns, cities, fields, and over the sea. The humor in The Devils is definitely low-brow, but honestly, it was exactly what I needed at the time. Sometimes you need off-the-cuff, low-brow humor to get you out of a slump.

At no point does The Devils slow down as our motley crew of undesirables races to place Alex, a long-lost princess, on her rightful throne before her cousins can take it. Abercrombie alternates between points of view, giving us an in-depth look into each of our characters and their motivations, slowly building their backstories as we go. We learn about the Devils as Alex learns about them, with a few exceptions, making the cast mysterious yet intriguing for much of the book. Even by the end, we still have much to learn about the quieter characters, particularly Sunny and Jakob the Thorn. I cannot wait to learn more about these two in the next book and hope Abercrombie continues to flesh them out.

“You need to stop clinging to the notion that there is only one right path. You’ll waste half your time panicking you’re not on it, and the rest backtracking to find it.”

While this is a fantastical tale, there are certainly a number of parallels between our modern world and that of The Devils, particularly our political climate. This alternative version of medieval Europe is teetering on the brink of collapse, as the schism in the church deepens, plague, famine, and warring nobles ravage the countryside, and monstrous experiments roam the land, fighting alongside princes to seize control of the kingdom. On top of all of this, a growing threat is blooming on the horizon as the elves, who were once thought to be vanquished, return. This political climate is eerily similar to today's, with a schism deepening between political parties, billionaires vying for resources, and common folk struggling to survive, all while the threat of climate change and "foreign invaders" looms in the background. The Devils is an exploration of how a few misfits can change the course of the entire world, for the better or for the worse. It isn't always the righteous who end up doing great things.

“Courage is catching. If one man shows it, it spreads. Fear is the same.”

It is through the actions of our antiheros that Abercrombie builds his new world. We are given snippets of information in offhanded comments and references, and even through songs. He does not bog us down with information dumping, as some authors often do, and at no point did I feel truly lost. By the end, I had an excellent understanding of the context in which the story takes place, its customs, magic systems, political climate, religious beliefs, and even family trees.

I found myself continuously rooting for our antiheros, laughing and suffering right along with them. At no point did I feel like I was reading a 560-page book. This is largely because I enjoyed Abercrombie's storytelling, but also the overall pacing and the unpredictability of it all. The characters were so wild, their lives so crazy, it was hard to determine what would happen next. Multiple unexpected twists and turns were flawlessly executed. Even now, months after having finished The Devils, I am smiling.

“Happy endings are just stories that aren't finished yet.”

While I recognize The Devils will not be for everyone, it was certainly for me. I cannot wait to see where Abercrombie takes us next.

Babel by R.F. Kuang | Book Review

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Babel by R.F. Kuang
Published by Harper Voyager on August 23, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Dark Academia, BIPOC
Pages: 560
Format: Hardback
Source: Purchased

Content Warnings: Racism, Classism, Death, Alcohol Use, Blood, Gore, Blackmail, Torture, Child Abuse, Gun Violence, Colonialism, Misogyny, Sexual Assault, Slavery, Self-Harm, Death of a Parent, Murder, War
Rating:

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization. For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . . Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

Babel is my first experience with R.F. Kuang, as I have yet to read The Poppy Wars, and I was not disappointed. While I may not have rated Babel as high as other reviewers, it was still high up on my list of reads this year.

"Betrayal. Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes."

Babel is an in-depth look at the harm colonialism has and is continuing to enact on society at large, set in a fantastical, alternative version of our own world where "magic" exists through the act of translation and silver bars. Despite it being set in an alternative reality, the message is no less an honest reflection of our world, where colonialism has led to the worst atrocities we have ever witnessed. Kuang ruthlessly explores the themes of colonialism, racism, and resistance, leaving very little up to interpretation. 

Some readers have remarked that Kuang is "heavy-handed" in her writing, but I disagree. Just because the exploration and commentary are "obvious" doesn't mean the writing is heavy-handed. In a world where people are arguing that books are not political, I think we need more authors to be clear in their messaging.

Kuang not-so-politely holds up a mirror to the reader and modern society and asks us to confront our darkest demons. Under all the glamour and illusions, we find there is nothing but a failing system leading all of us to our inevitable doom. Robin, our main character, and his friends, who are largely non-white immigrants, are faced with the harsh realities of an oppressive system that is failing everyone except the ultra-wealthy. From capitalism and colonialism to misogyny and racism, our characters, and therefore we as readers, experience the very worst society has to offer, and things never get better.

"Only it builds up, doesn’t it? It doesn’t just disappear. And one day you start prodding at what you’ve suppressed. And it’s a mass of black rot, and it’s endless, horrifying, and you can’t look away."

It's through this exploration that we find ourselves siding with what society calls "terrorists," the individuals fighting against the system. The lengths our characters are willing to go to fight against oppression are the same lengths that so many people have gone through for centuries. This is a culmination of resistance, the desire to fight for freedom and liberation, even when death comes knocking. I was sobbing by the end of Babel, my heart aching for our characters and the world. From the language to the setting to the themes and magic system, Babel is a masterpiece.

“Power did not lie in the tip of a pen. Power did not work against its own interests. Power could only be brought to heel by acts of defiance it could not ignore. With brute, unflinching force. With violence.”

While I thought the story dragged in some parts and could have probably been about 150-200 pages shorter, I loved every minute of it. From the linguistic lessons to the footnotes, my breath was consistently taken away. I am such a sucker for footnotes, whether they are real or not; I believe they are a unique and interesting way to world-build. I loved the footnotes just as much here as I did in the Emily Wilde Trilogy. However, some parts were read like an academic textbook, with very little actually happening in the story. This was my biggest qualm with the book.

Furthermore, the magic system was profoundly unique. Translations were written on silver bars, which were then used to perform different tasks, like shielding the building or speeding up carriages. What was even more interesting was that the silver bar's function waned over time, and eventually, some word pairs no longer worked because the languages became too similar to each other. French and Spanish end up having words in common with English as societies intermingle and trade, resulting in a Frankenstein language. This was such a clever idea, and I ate it up.

I cannot recommend Babel enough, especially in light of current events, not just here in the United States, but all over the world. Alt-right ideologies and politics are on the rise, which is a threat to all of us, not just a few. I encourage you to educate yourself through diverse viewpoints and take whatever actions you can to fight against oppression.

Until We Shatter by Kate Dylan | Book Review

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Until We Shatter by Kate Dylan
Series: Until We Shatter #1
Published by Hodderscape on October 17, 2024
Genres: YA Fantasy, Romance, LGBT
Pages: 319
Format: Hardback
Source: Illumicrate

Content Warnings: Death, Alcohol Use, Parental Illness, Blood, Light Gore, Blackmail, Torture
Rating:

A desperate thief. An impossible heist. Survive . . . or shatter. No matter where she goes, Cemmy's life is under threat. The Church would see her killed for having any magic. The Council of Shades wants her dead for not having enough. So when her mother falls ill, Cemmy has no choice but to turn thief. And when she's offered a job that could solve all their problems, it's impossible to resist. The catch? Cemmy will have to work with Chase - beautiful, dangerous, and full of secrets - to steal a powerful relic the Church has hidden within a deadly realm of shadows. If she succeeds, Cemmy will finally be safe. But if she's caught, she risks igniting a spark that could destroy the city - and everyone inside . . .

First of all, I am not a huge fan of the heist trope. I am not sure why it always rubs me the wrong way, but it is rare for me to enjoy a story about stealing, even if the stealing is "justified." Time and time again, someone betrays the team for selfish reasons, things crumble right when success is within reach, and innocent people often pay a terrible price for nothing.

"And when power is afraid, you can always trust it to make the most morally bankrupt choice."

Until We Shatter is certainly a unique take on the heist trope, with our motley crew using an alternate reality to steal from an oppressive religious government that is seeking to eradicate magic and everyone capable of doing magic. The parallels between the trials and tribulations faced by Shades and Hues, those with the ability to use magic, and what modern-day Palestinians face are uncanny. We have an outside government using religion and colonialism to genocide an entire group of people. The Shades and Hues were essentially rounded up and forced to live in only certain parts of the city, a city they helped found and start, and then deprived of food, clean water, medicine, and stability, all under the guise of religious purity and supposed violence. The Church constantly tries to incite violence (which is really just self-defense) from the Shades in an attempt to take away even more of their land and freedoms. Sound familiar?

This subtext was excellently executed, with gorgeous prose to boot. Dylan is certainly a gifted writer, constructing sentences in such a way as to keep the reader fully engaged and emersed in the text. However, while she is strong in language, she is not strong in world-building or character development.

The first half of the book felt like a brain dump of facts about the world and its magic system. The magic system was so convoluted it was often hard to keep up with the powers possessed by each type of Shade and Hue. This book would have benefited greatly from an Appendix that included a chart of all the possible combinations and their powers. After a while, I was able to put together the basics, but I did give up trying to remember every single detail. It was confusing and complicated for no other reason than to be extra. It's okay to have complicated magic systems, but when they are poorly done, it takes away from the entire experience.

Furthermore, I didn't particularly connect with all of our characters. I was rooting for them because I wanted them to take down an oppressive system, but I wasn't so attached that I cried when they were injured or killed. That is a failure on Dylan's part for sure. The heist trope relies on readers falling in love with the characters—that is what makes the book high stakes, but it was lacking here. However, there was both bisexual and deaf representation, both of which were beautifully integrated into the story. I am a sucker for good representation.

Overall, Until We Shatter was just fine. I had my heartstrings pulled a time or two and cared enough to finish, but it's not necessarily a series I think I will continue. Book 2 looks like it is taking a very different turn away from the original story, so I may give it a chance, but I am not overly enthusiastic about it. This is the perfect book to cleanse your palate or bump up your monthly reading count in a pinch.

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven | Book Review

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven
Published by Wednesday Books on March 4, 2025
Genres: YA Fantasy, Romance, LGBT
Pages: 352
Format: Hardback
Source: OwlCrate

Content Warnings: Ableism, Racism, Sexism, Classism, Sexual Assault, Domestic Abuse, Suicide, Blood, Forced Institutionalization, Death, Torture, Kidnapping, Cancer
Rating:

They've loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They've killed each other in every one. Evelyn can remember all her past lives. She can also remember that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday by Arden, a supernatural being linked to her soul. The problem is that she’s quite fond of the life she’s in now, and her little sister needs her in order to stay alive. If Evelyn wants to save her sister, she’ll have to find the centuries-old devil who hunts her through each life before they find her first, figure out why she’s being hunted and finally break their curse, and try not to fall in love . . . again.

Our Infinite Fates is a love story that transcends time and space; a yearning that will leave you breathless in the best way possible. Despite how much I loved this story, there was a moment Steven lost me, but she was able to suck me back in right at the very end.

Our Infinite Fates alternates through time, with some chapters taking place in modern day and others occurring in the past. Honestly, I could have skipped the present-day story, which played too much of a central focus in my opinion, and just followed this pair of souls across time and space. I felt the same way while reading Paula Brackston's The Witch's Daughter, preferring the historical parts of the story. That isn't to say the modern story isn't interesting or worthy of reading; it just didn't pique my fascination as much as the past did.

“I love you, I have loved you, and I will love you.”

Steven does an amazing job showing reincarnation and how souls change as time wears on, being reborn in multiple bodies of all colors, shapes, sizes, genders, and nationalities. The fluidity of the characters' souls was so beautiful, with them both finding each other in every lifetime, no matter what society dictated. Tragically, both souls have to die in every lifetime before the age of 18 due to a mysterious curse. This curse looms over their entire existence, a curse only one of them can remember, but will take both of them to break.

The suspense and impending doom, the resignation in Arden (the current incarnation of the soul who remembers), and the longing to be together left my heart both racing and in shambles. Steven really does know how to suck a reader into a story, but the twist was so awkwardly done that it pulled me out of the story.

Obviously, Our Infinite Fates has fantastical elements, and the twist certainly leaned heavily into fantasy, particularly religious doctrine. What angered me the most, however, was Arden's absolute refusal to give our protagonist any information throughout multiple lifetimes. I understand they had been burned in the past, but as a reader looking in, I was absolutely frustrated by the lack of information and their coldness. When Arden is finally forced to reveal the truth, things have gone so sideways in the story that it doesn't matter anymore.

Steven lost me with the fantastical subplot that occurs after their death, but the last chapter sucked me back in, offering an alternate explanation to the curse and the fate of our protagonists. It was this last chapter that sucked me back in and left me breathless. Ultimately, however, I was left wanting more; more history, more understanding, more timeless yearning, more true love and affection, more characterization...just...more. I would love to see Steven tell the story of their beginning, and maybe even give some more details of the past. 

Despite the lack of plot, Steven's writing is fantastic. She does an amazing job leaving the reader in the dark as we follow a largely unreliable narrator, with beautiful prose and even some excellent one-liners. I loved the souls' vows to each other so much that I incorporated “I love you, I have loved you, and I will love you" into my own wedding vows.

"Translation in a colonized state is an act of violence..."

Furthermore, Steven begins to address some cultural issues facing different groups of people, as seen in the quote above, but never dives deep into any of these issues. While I appreciate the subtext, it would have been more meaningful if the plot engaged such issues. Ultimately, Our Infinite Fates was just okay. It is not the best book I've read or the worst.

The Eternal Ones by Namina Forna | Book Review

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

The Eternal Ones by Namina Forna
Series: Deathless #3
Published by Delacorte Press on February 13, 2024
Genres: YA Fantasy, LGBT, BIPOC
Pages: 480
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

Content Warnings: Sexism, Misogyny, Body Horror, Racism, Death, Disownment, Torture, Mutilation, Starvation, Trauma, Sexual Violence, Death of Parent
Rating:

Mere weeks after confronting the Gilded Ones—the false beings she once believed to be her family—Deka is on the hunt. In order to kill the gods, whose ravenous competition for power is bleeding Otera dry, she must uncover the source of her divinity. But with her mortal body on the verge of ruin, Deka is running out of time—to save herself and an empire that’s tearing itself apart at its seams. When Deka’s search leads her and her friends to the edge of the world as they know it, they discover an astonishing new realm, one which holds the key to Deka’s past. Yet it also illuminates a devastating decision she must soon make… Choose to be reborn as a god, losing everyone she loves in the process. Or bring about the end of the world.

The Eternal Ones is the epic conclusion to Forna's Deathless series and did it go out with a bang! The final book is fast-paced, engaging, character and plot-driven; basically everything you want in a book. Forna's writing developed beautifully over the course of this series, culminating in a fantastical conclusion that left my jaw on the floor and my eyes welling with tears.

“I realize that fate isn't just due to some remote deity pushing a poor mortal toward an outcome that they wished. Fate also happens because an individual pushes themselves, pulls the threads of the universe a little their way.”

I do not want to give away the plot or spoilers in this series, but I will say this; the final twist was beautifully done, with Deka pulling on the threads of fate to rewrite the course of history. I am not going to say it is shocking or comes out of nowhere (the story leads us to the final conclusions effortlessly), but it was a beautiful turn of events. The final couple of scenes broke my heart into a million pieces...for the girls, the gods, and everyone involved in our story. Sometimes we are faced with impossible decisions and hardships and must find a way back into the light. Deka certainly does just that.

I loved watching our diverse group of characters really grow into their own, as their relationships with each other blossomed into such fierce loyalty, no matter what hardships they faced. The love they shared for each other, both familial and not, were so well done. I actually felt like I was there, witnessing these kids grow up. Forna shows young readers what friendship actually means and it was wonderful to behold.

“I've never needed you, Keita ... But I've always wanted you. More than anything, I've wanted you ... You're not a need, Keita, you're not an obligation to me. What you are is my happiness, my delight. When I didn't believe that there was good in the world, there was you. You're my comfort and joy, and I hope I'm the same for you.”

While the love between Deka and Keita felt clunky in the first book, by the time we reach the ending of of the Deathless series it felt natural. It was a love to make the whole world jealous; a love born out of shared mutual respect and trust, not just desire or need. Keita is everything a woman wants in a partner: helpful, devoted, honest, emotionally intelligent, and selfless. He is the epitome of "if he wanted to he would."

Above all else, I love Forna's commentary on the patriarchy, feminism, and community. In the end, it took the entire village to bring about a better and brighter future, where people are free to love and exist in their truest forms. No longer were women or men subservient to the other, but instead equal on the playing field of life. We also see the strength of women together, and how even the patriarchy could not turn them against each other as it so often does in our own society. Young people need more books modeling such love and respect; even some adults need it. The Eternal Ones is an absolute masterclass in empathy.