Unlikeable main characters are usually not my thing but if you like ruthless heroines, you might enjoy this one! This sapphic YA is dark (how dark you ask? gory dark) but up there in terms of twists with Emily Duncan and Kendare Blake.

Honestly this is quite forgettable. It has been a while since I read it, but I don't remember anything except how much I didn't care about the characters or the world. I didn't hate the book, but it wasn't anything that wowed me or left me wanting more.

Beyond the Ruby Veil
2.5/5 ⭐️ to Beyond the Ruby Veil by Mara Fitzgerald

Thank you to NetGalley, Little Brown Young Readers, and Hachette Book Group Canada for early access to the egalley!

I was super intrigued and excited for this book when I first read the synopsis, but unfortunately this was just not for me. I don’t like to dwell on negativity, so I’ll just say that it was the gore and the anti-hero main character that really didn’t fit my reading mood currently. Please don’t let this deter you from reading this book, especially if you enjoy these tropes. I will consider this for a reread closer to Halloween, and hopefully I’ll like it more then! I will say though that the story did keep me reading to the end to find out how everything would go.

I want to applaud the author for making some bold choices with this story and committing to those choices. Our main character, Emanuela, is about to get married when she is captured and taken away to the Tower by the Watercrea. The watercrea is the city’s only source of water for the last 1000 years by magically turning the blood of sick citizens to water before they die. Being the ruthless, determined girl she is, she is not dying without a fight. Now, her city doesn’t have water, and now Emanuela will do anything to save her city.

The two elements of the book that I found most interesting was the world/magic system, and the relationship she had with her best friend, Alessandro. Although it wasn’t build to the extent it could have, I love the potential this world has for future books. I thought it was also a very unique world, especially with how water is magically limited. And with Emanuela & Alessandro’s relationship added come complexity to the book. They are best friends since birth, and also have been matched by their families for marriage. They agree to marry each other, because otherwise they wouldn’t be able to marry who they would actually like because they are both gay. Through the main “quest” of the story, their relationship is tested, because they don’t always see eye to eye. Will they support each other in order to survive, or will their differences tear them apart?

If dark, grim fantasies with a traditionally unlikable main character, this could definitely be your jam! I hope that with a Halloween reread, I could enjoy this even more

I loved Emanuelas confidence and ruthless ambition, but that quickly turned into her being so full of entitled self importance she couldnt wrap her head around being held accountable for her actions like everyone else. Her grandiose views of herself sometimes blinded her to the point of making her foolish, but I dont mind a flawed and unlikable character. I think vicious female villains are so much fun to read about, especially one who manages to twist everything to make it out like they are doing the right thing. She has this unrelenting need to be the best at everything and wants to be recognized for it. The narcassim is definitely a trait she inherited from her father. Once she decides she wants something she wont stop trying to get it no matter what it takes. She will stab anyone stupid enough to get in her way and wont be sorry about it.

Emanuela doesnt know what it means to love anyone but she deludes herself into thinking she cares for her best friend Ale while what she's really feeling is a possessiveness kind of ownership. Someone that cant exist without her giving them meaning. She even admits it herself, she doesnt have friends only followers. I felt bad for the way she treated Ale but at the same time I didnt want him to turn against her because I actually found myself rooting for her. The rivalry between her and the girl she meets outside her city was amazing. Emanula finally found a worthy match. They're a lot more similar than either of them would ever admit. Both were passionate and self righteous in their convictions. I really enjoyed the underlying respect and attraction they had for each other.

Emanuala got a lot more brutal than I was expecting and Im not going to lie I loved every single minute of it. I do wish we spent a bit more time getting to know her family since it would have made their loss more impactful. Her feuding with Verene took up a major part of the plot but theres also a gripping mystery as Emanula tries to uncover the secrets outside the walls of her city. The danger and confusion of being somewhere completely foreign to the main character was really exciting. It created some great twists and turns. Theres so many questions I was dying to get answers for I couldnt stop turning the pages. The ending left me with enough information to be satisfied while keeping some burning questions for the sequel.

I thought it was really interesting how their city was surrounded by a blood red veil and no one knew what awaited on the other side. I hope we get to find out how the city was created in the sequel. I just cant wait to learn more about the magic and its origin. Having the entire city depend on a mystical being to turn the blood of the dying into water was fascinating. I did wonder why people didnt just donate blood regularly even if they hadn't received a mark that meant they were suppose to die soon. I also loved the dark and creepy catacomb setting with its sinister shadow. I dont want to say to much more about the world because half the fun was discovering the new setting and all its secrets at the same time as the main character. Give this a try if dark queer fantasy with an ambitious and unapologetic female villain sounds good to you.

Disclaimer: I received this ebook from the publisher for Rockstar Book Tours. Thanks! All opinons are my own.

Book: Beyond the Ruby Veil

Author: Mara Fitzgerald

Book Series: Beyond the Ruby Veil Book 1

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: fantasy, revenge, romance, bully like romance

Publication Date: October 13, 2020

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 288

Recommended Age: 16+ (romance, sexual content, violence, gore, death, torture)

Synopsis: Cunning and unapologetic, Emanuela Ragno is a socialite who plays by her own rules. In her most ambitious move yet, she’s about to marry Alessandro Morandi, her childhood best friend and the heir to the wealthiest house in Occhia. Emanuela doesn’t care that she and her groom are both gay, because she doesn’t want a love match. She wants power, and through Ale, she’ll have it all.

But Emanuela has a secret that could shatter her plans. In her city of Occhia, the only source of water is the watercrea, a mysterious being who uses magic to make water from blood. When their first bruise-like omen appears on their skin, all Occhians must surrender themselves to the watercrea to be drained of life. Everyone throughout history has obeyed this law for the greater good. Everyone except Emanuela. She’s kept the tiny omen on her hip out of sight for years.

When the watercrea exposes Emanuela during her wedding ceremony and takes her to be sacrificed, Emanuela fights back…and kills her. Before everyone in Occhia dies of thirst, Emanuela and Ale must travel through the mysterious, blood-red veil that surrounds their city to uncover the source of the watercrea’s power and save their people—no matter what it takes.

Review: For the most part I liked this book. It was a fun, short read that kept me on my toes. The book is great for people who want something fast to get through in one sitting and the plot kept me intrigued from start to finish.

However, there were a ton of problems with this book. The book is way too fast paced and by 15% in I had already reached what should have been the climax of the book. The book is also confusing and spends very little time on developing the story. Nothing is explained outright and the reader is left to guess. The book also had very little world building and the character development was non-existent.

Verdict: It was good and I liked it, but there’s some problems.

Beyond the Ruby Veil is one hell of a debut fantasy that is perfect for fans of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao or Fairest by Marissa Meyer. It's dark and bloody page turner and I devoured it. Also, can I have book 2 yet???

This is one where you probably shouldn't know too much going in, but it is deliciously dark with a queer, ambitious, "unlikeable" female lead who really DGAF whether people think she's likable or not. It's bloody and twisty and includes the beginning of an f/f enemies to lovers plot to boot. I've no doubt this is going to be a polarizing book, but I truly loved it. I'm not going to tell you more because I don't think you should know much else, but do check content warnings on this one if you need them because it's not for the faint of heart. I would classify this as dark fantasy, far more than other YA books I've read. I received an advance copy for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Content warnings include murder, torture, depictions of blood, rituals, eye horror, semi-cannibalism, killing a parent, probably others.

Beyond the Ruby Veil is a young adult fantasy and is the first in the Beyond the Ruby Veil series by Mara Fitzgerald. Though this book is definitely a fantasy, it also kind of read like a horror novel in that the premise is truly very scary! At least, it was for me. Beyond the Ruby Veil is a book that perplexed me. There were some things that I really, really liked and some things that just did not work out for me. I can see this being a smash hit for a lot of readers because the premise is really cool, and interesting. So I will start out with the aspects of this novel that I enjoyed and then we will get into what didn’t work for me. But overall, this was an interesting dark fantasy that will intrigue a lot of readers. The plot is super intriguing and lends itself really well to a cool world and story setup. I am interested to see where the story goes from here.

Beyond the Ruby Veil takes place in a world where there are a small collection of villages or towns, and in each of these towns there is a magical creature known as a Watercrea, who creates the water for the town. The Watercrea is the town’s only known source of water, so as you can imagine she is pretty darn important to the town’s survival. The watercrea converts blood to water in a mysterious magical ritual very few people understand. And this is where the book started to turn into a horror novel for me- the Watercrea gets the blood from the town’s inhabitants. Whenever a person gets a blood bruise/mark on their body, they are supposed to report directly to the watercrea’s tower so they can give up their life in order to supply the town with water. Am I the only person that sounds horrifying to? What an awful way to have to life. Also, I would not want to drink water that I knew came from my neighbors blood. It was such a bizarre world setup that I was immediately drawn in and fascinated by all of the details that Mara Fitzgerald dreamt up. I loved the world and the plot, even though it did truly terrify me. Later the book takes place in the underground catacombs that connect all of the towns, and I loved that spooky setting for this creepy tale. I won’t go into specifics but there are plenty of other surprisingly and genuinely horrifying plot points and events that take place in the book to really give in to the eerie vibe of the towns and the story. I think fans of dark fantasies will love this unique plot. In my opinion the plot is the strongest point of the story. I really liked it.

Unfortunately, I did not love the main character Emanuela. I got the feeling that she was supposed to be on the unlikable side on purpose, but I just couldn’t get behind her, which made me buying into her journey hard for me at times. I loved the journey so much that I was able to deal with it, but I found Emanuela to be just plain mean. The book starts out on her wedding day to her best friend. And she is not very nice to him. Like at all. When Emanuela is outed for having a mark on her body she is sent to the Watercrea, and Emanuela fights back and kills the watercrea. I understand the reasoning behind her action, which was admittedly very selfish. I really do get it, but I didn’t really see any sort of character growth for her at all. She irked me the entire way through the book. But she was a great inclusion in this completely spooky, dark tale. She lends herself really well to the dark vibes of the book, and the power struggles because she is such a dominant in your face type of character. I can see her being a huge hit with many readers of this book. She just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Bottom line: I think plot driven readers that are looking for a dark tale, will love Beyond the Ruby Veil. I loved how unique and interesting this setup felt. I haven’t read any other book like this one, and that is saying something. I enjoyed Beyond the Ruby Veil and I am interested to see where the author takes it next

If you like dark and bloody fantasy and ruthless and unapologetic heroins, you're in for a treat.

Beyond the Ruby Veil takes place in a world without water. The only source of water is from a sort of witch called the watercrea, who can turn blood into water. This world relies on its people sacrife to get enough water to survive. Right before they die, people get a red mark on their skin, an omen, the marks spread until they're all over the person's skin, and that's when they die. So at the first sight of a mark, people go to the watercrea so she can use their blood to make water before they die.

So when Emanuela gets her first omen she's supposed to turn herself over to the watercrea, for the good of the society. But the good of the society can go to hell, Emanuela sure isn't ready to die. She's managed to escape the watercrea for years, so there's no reason this might change, especially not on her wedding day. Right?

Emanuela is fierce and courageous and merciless and vicious. She has the strongest sense of self preservation, and pretty much only care about herself (and about Ale when she's in a good mood). She strives to be strong and powerful and she'll stop at nothing to get back she wants.
Though I loved her friendship with Ale, she sure could be awfully mean to him sometimes and the sweetheart definitely deserves a better best friend. Ale is the absolute sweetest, he has the purest soul and the gentlest mind, which makes for an amazing duo with the power hungry and ruthless Emanuela.

I have so many questions about the world itself, about the veil, about the water magic, about everything! And I cannot wait to read the next book!

Wow this was ... different.
And bloody.
VERY bloody - not for the faint of heart.

This book is extremely fast paced and unpredictable with a dark and unusual setting, in a world where water can only be obtained by using magic to convert it from blood.

This story centers around its unlikeable female protagonist and I think it definitely pulls that off. Emanuela is one of the most strange, impulsive, and power-hungry heroines I've ever read, and many of her actions are quite shocking, and become more so as the book progresses and the plot becomes crazier.

Speaking of which, the direction this story goes is absolutely nuts. There is extreme gore, wild twists, and the author does not hold back at all. The ending leaves me confused and wanting the sequel as soon as possible.

I can't say that this book is for everyone, as some will be turned off by the crazy protagonist or the violence, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a dark, exciting, and outside of the box YA fantasy

[4.5/5 stars]

This story is set in the city of Occhia. When a person is about to die, they begin to show marks on their body, and are rushed to the watercrea. The watercrea is a sorceress who can turn blood into water, which is the only source of water in their world--so those who are marked for death sacrifice their blood for the city's water supply. If the mark is allowed to spread, the person will die/disappear before their blood can be donated.

On the day of her wedding--a political alliance to her best friend, Alessandro--Emanuela is taken by the watercrea because she has been marked. However, she has hidden her mark for a decade without it spreading. She fights to show that her mark isn't spreading, and when that doesn't work she flees from the watercrea. When the sorceress catches up to Emanuela, she kills the watercrea to save herself. The watercrea is the only source of water, so Emanuela and Al flee to the catacombs beneath the city to escape the angry citizens and in hopes of finding a new water source.

I don't often enjoy books with unlikable protagonists, but this one was really well done. Emanuela is a very ambitious person. She sees her actions as justified and for the good of everyone, but doesn't mind being cruel and ruthless to get what she wants. Every time she did something remotely good or kind, I thought maybe she was a good person after all... and then she would show her true colors. She kept descending further into darkness and I just had to know how far she would go. And this book gets much darker than I expected!

I also enjoyed her friend, Alessandro. He is such an opposite to Emanuela, and this causes them both to constantly question their actions and what they believe is right/wrong. And he is so loyal and kind to her, while she can be so cruel to him at times, and yet she'd risk everything to save him. Also, they are both attracted to the same gender, so there is LGBTQ rep.

The adventure that they go on is so intense at times, and always kept me wondering what was going to happen next. Their adversaries subverted expectations and always kept me on my toes. If you don't mind violence and dark protagonists, I highly recommend picking this one up!

Emanuela is terrible and I love her. Also I'm looking forward to what the cover looks like and for it to be released. Honestly my only complaint is this book is so short, but even for how short it is, it accomplishes so much and is just incredible. Can't wait for the sequel.