Im a huge fan of dark grim fantasy so that definitely was a plus, as well as queer normative worlds. However, when a book is advertised as a romantasy, the romance is the main portion of the book, the fantasy is underlying concepts or interwined with the romance. I found the lore to be amazing and interesting but the romance between the two characters felt really flat to me. And I struggled alot with the book because of it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for sending me a copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

The absolute ANGST of this book. That's it. That's the review.

But seriously, I am an angst lover, and this hit all the right places. I love the way these characters show love for one another in the most painful of ways. Not only does this book show the beauty of love, but it also shows corrupted love and its dangers, and it does an amazing job of doing so.

The setting is an amazing one for this book, with vibes of Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows while giving a story full of loyalty, longing, pain, and power. It studies what power will do to the soul and how it can override everything - except love.

This is a book where you need to go in without any expectations, just let the story take you with it as it wills.

If you like Russian fantasy, queer longing, and all the angst possible, get your hands on this book.

DNF'd at 43%

I loved the idea of this book so much: the setting of 19th century Eastern Europe is one of my favourites to explore; and the themes of vengeance and good taking down evil called to me. It wasn't long until I was drawn in by these damaged, realistically flawed characters.

I truly did appreciate the character development here. Dimitri tugged on my heart strings with his story. To see someone so broken by the abuses and betrayal of their spouse is heart-wrenching. I do feel like this is one of the best books I've read that best highlights the range of emotions of survivors of domestic abuse go through when they leave the relationship. You really did feel every inch of his pain as he tries to navigate his new reality.

Rightfully so, having Dimitri be the lead focus of the narration makes this book hard to read at times simply because he is in a dark place. It can be hard as a reader to be in the place with the characters and that was part of my struggle with this book. The prose flows nicely and it is an easy book to read and navigate -- so it isn't the writing. But I craved more from the dramatic plot to provide that shift in the narration to give my mind a break from Dimitri's dark place.

So in the end, it was really the pacing and my expectations for what this plotline would be (more espionage and politics than character focused) that lead me to DNF it just shy of the halfway mark.

this is a well written book but i was bored most of the time. the characters were interesting but after a while i was sick of being in the head of an abuser

i just wasn't getting through this one unfortunately! i'd still like to read it one day, but today is not that day. overall, i found the approx. 60% i read to be well-written but a little clunky in places.

I promise I tried to like this book.
It's entirely possible that it's just a "me thing" bc plenty of people seem tonhave enjoyed it.
I started with the eARC but just wasnt vibing with it so I put it down for MONTHS. I recently picked up the audiobook to read in tandem with eARC in hopes that it would bring more life to the tale. It in fact, did not.
All I can really say is that I was just BORED. Nothing grabbed me. Most everything was fine. Just fine. The writing, the plot, the characters. All fine. Nothing stood out. But bc I had to force my way through this, I started to hate read it after a while. And really there's nothing actually wrong with the story.
That settles it...
It's me, I'm the problem.

Thanks to NetGalley & Penguin Random House Canada | Random House Canada for the eARC!

After reading “The Sins on Their Bones” and giving myself some time to digest the book it seems like I’m still at a loss for words. Considering the heavy topics this story explored and how dark and twisted it turned out to be this shouldn’t come as a surprise, though. If you ask me Laura R. Samotin did something not many authors are able to pull off. She wrote a book that’s not only set in a Jewish folklore-inspired queernormative world but also one that features three different POVS. And she gave all those characters such a unique voice that it was extremely easy to keep them apart. No matter if it was Dimitri, Vasily or Alexey, each and every single one of them had their own agenda and tried to push it forward.

Still, if you’re expecting something fast paced now, you’ll be disappointed. “The Sins on Their Bones” is a very character driven story that used every tool available in order to create a lush and credible setting. There’s a very strong religious element that runs through the entire storyline and the topic of abuse and how it affects the people who suffered from it is always in the forefront as well. All of the characters are morally grey and they all did things they aren’t proud of. It’s a pretty complex world with multi-layered characters that are all forced to play the parts they’ve been given. Like a chess game, that’s working its way towards the grande finale.

What the book truly lives from are the different kinds of love that are visible in every line of the story, though. And I’m not just talking about queer love here. I’m talking about the toxic, destructive, manipulative kind of love that rips you apart, the wholesome and nourishing sort we all crave for, as well as the love that comes from having supportive friends that stick with you through thick and thin. Samotin didn’t just cover the entire bandwidth of human emotions and relationships, she also dove into the abyss of human nature and gave this book an unexpected psychological depth that’s not easy to match. The story raises the century old question of what is wrong and what is right and confronts the reader with what happens if both sides think that the other side is in the wrong.
Hearts and bones are quite literally broken in order to find the truth, but in the end, as is the essence of war, no side ever truly wins. And for that alone I love what Laura R. Samotin did with this story!

“The Sins on Their Bones” is a book about love and loss, about grief and guilt, about the darkness within and the light of hope that always finds its way in. It’s a study of human nature, a story about the resilience of humankind and what we’re able to endure. But most of all it’s a story about faith, the belief that no matter how dark it gets, there are people who love us, there’s a higher power that guides us and when confronted with our sins, there’s always hope for change and amendment. 4,5 stars rounded up to 5.

This one was not as much of a hit for me as I expected. Unfortunately it felt like we started half way through the book with the back and forth of the past events. And I understand that was meant to be like that, but it just didn’t work right for me. The pacing of this book was a little bit lacking and when it felt like nothing was happening there was just a sex scene to fill the gaps. I haven’t quite decided if I want to continue the series yet.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

The Sins on Their Bones, by Laura R. Samotin
★☆☆☆☆
416 Pages
3rd person, multi-character POV
Content Warning: SEE REVIEW FOR FULL LIST



DNFd at 13%

I really wanted to like this one. From the cover to the blurb to the interior, everything held such promise. And all the rave reviews were from authors on my TBR list. It had so much promise, but unfortunately it just didn't go anywhere interesting.

-

First off, I was really disappointed in the "note to readers". If you're going to take time to make a note for triggers, then make it complete. Sadly, this one only lists a few triggers - not even the most triggering - then cops out with "my author website contains additional information and resources". Except, trigger warnings are not "additional information". Why not just include them?
I gave the author the benefit of the doubt, hoping the website triggers would be spoilery, in terms of "skim this page/chapter to avoid xy content". But that wasn't the case. In fact, the website just listed more triggers, so to provide future readers will full disclosure and the opportunity to know whether this book is for them, I'm listing ALL of the triggers (mine and the authors) here:

TRIGGERS:
* explicit, on page spousal abuse & domestic violence in both victim and perpetrator pov
* mental health issues: ptsd, anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse as self-medication
* past child sexual abuse by a relative
* gore
* possession
* desecration of a corpse
* experimentation of unwilling prisoner
* off page mentions of battlefield
* off page mentions of rape and child abuse during war
* explicit drug use
* religious persecution
* self harm (stubbing out a cigarette on his hand)
* threatening to torture children
* capture, imprisonment and torture of nobles/Dimitri's allies

Personally, if I'd known about these triggers in advance, I wouldn't have requested the book. There's actually little I hate more than reading abuse in the perpetrators POV and had I been aware this was a factor in this book I would have saved myself and the author the hassle of requesting this book only to DNF it. Without full disclosure of triggers, readers can't make informed decisions about what books are safe to read, and it is one of my biggest pet peeves when they're not listed appropriately. The fact the author tells you to visit their website doesn't count. It's phrased so ambiguously that you don't know it means there are more triggers listed on the website.

-

Okay, with that out of the way, let's tackle the book itself.
The presentation is gorgeous. The book starts with two playing cards of the Joker and the King, which are stunning and each chapter heading is a gothic architecture header. It's really pretty.
Unfortunately that's where my enjoyment ends.

The chapter list says there are 3 main povs: Dimitri, Alexey and Vasily, then an additional pov at the end for Zemonyii.
I didn't get far enough to find out who Zemonyii is, but even after I knew I wasn't going to finish, I continue until I'd read at least one pov for each character. Sadly none of them impressed me.

Dimitri is the previous Tsar, currently in self exile after being betrayed and beaten in a civil war by his husband, Alexey. He's depressed, bitter and full of self-loathing, consumed with grief. He's lost his power, his position as Tsar, his purpose and his husband, and he's been forced to flee and hide.
Alexey is Dimitri's husband who manipulated him into a civil war. There's hints that he's possessed by something inhuman, but I didn't read far enough to find out what. He revels in his power, arrogant and unfeeling, and looks down on everyone like they're insignificant.
Vasily is Dimitri's spymaster and friend. I don't know anything else about him because that seems to be the totality of his personality. There are hints that he and Dimitri have been intimate, but it felt very vague and nothing beyond a suggestion, almost like it was a duty or a way of helping Dimitri through his grief.

Personally, I didn't like or feel attached to any of them. They all felt vaguely one-dimensional: the victim, the villain and the spy.
I'm not sure if I was ever supposed to like Alexey or not, but that became impossible when we were told that he's using Dimitri's - his husband's - half brother as a substitute lover, and that the brother is infatuated with Alexey. It felt really unnecessary as a plot point, but maybe it's important later? Who knows.

-

Overall, I just felt bored while reading. We knew enough of how depressed Dimitri was, how evil Alexey was, within the first chapter, so other than seeing Vasily spying - which was also uneventful and could have been cut - I don't see why it had to take 13% to get to the events mentioned in the blurb.
Everyone went on and on about how much they love their country and they'll do anything to protect it but none of them have done anything useful in the last year, and Dimitri is so delicate that Vasily doesn't give him too much bad news at once. They're so afraid that he'll kill himself that they cause unnecessary delays in taking action. It made no sense to me.
There's a very strong Russian influence but either I just didn't see/understand the Jewish folklore connection or maybe it didn't come until later, but I never saw it.
A book that was much clearer with the concept was A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft.

I did work on this book so I'm a little biased, however, the vibes are immaculate. As we come into spooky season, I can't think of a better book to hunker down with and devour. If the idea of husbands fighting on either side of a civil war and a spymaster caught in the middle intrigues you, you NEED to read this book. It is dark and it is intense but you need to read it.

Dimitri Alexeyev, the rightful Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo is now on the run and languishing in hiding after losing a devastating war instigated by his estranged husband Alexey Balkin.

Broken and reeling from the lost and the betrayal of his husband Dimitri is Unwilling to leave his people at the hands of man who is religiously firm in his misguided beliefs without seeing the abuse, death and destruction he leaves in his wake he. When an opportunity arises at the perfect moment to return Him back to his seat and home, with the is remains of his court, Dimitri and his spymaster Vasily engineers a dangerous ruse.

Vasily would sneak into Alexey’s court under false identity to gather information, feeding it back to Dimitri’s court whiles they try to find a way to kill the usurper for good. But Killing Alexey would prove to be a feat. Through a perversion of the Ludayzim religion that he terms the holy science, Alexey has made himself immortal, a walking dead, indestructible body. Now he claims he is guided by the voice of God Himself.

Able to summon forth creatures from the realm of demons he seeks to build an army turning Novo-Svitsevo in the greatest Empire that history has ever seen. Dimitri is ever more determined not to let Alexey corrupt his country and to stop him means forfeiting the soul of the husband he can’t bring himself to forsake or the spymaster he has come to love.

Found family has always been my favourite thing to read in a book and I think the author handled it better than most.

The grief, the pain and sadness was palpable in this book I sympathised a lot with Dimitri, especially after finding out how he was groomed and manipulated. I love Vasily but I most especially loved the way he loved Dimitri. He was a rock for Dimitri and safe place when the world was on fire around him. Obviously he had Mischa, Lada and Anna all whom I loved dearly. I was satisfied with how they love blossomed. I didn’t not expect the plot twist at the end but it made a lot of sense because it would have been too easy to defeat the villain who seemingly manoeuvred himself to the throne.
I am most excited for the sequel.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this ARC.

Exiled former Tzar Dimitri Alexeyev plots to overthrow his immortal estranged husband, Alexey Balakin, who has turned himself into a demonic powerhouse. With his spymaster, Vasily Sokolov, Dimitri devises a risky plan to reclaim his throne and save Novo-Svitsevo, all while grappling with his conflicting emotions for his husband and his growing affection for Vasily.

Loved the rep so much, like the povs and evrything

The Sins on Their Bones was one of my most anticipated releases of the year. I loved the premise of this book, but I felt that it was not executed properly. The first problem is there was too much “stuff” that was shoved into the plot of the book, including pre-book events that dramatically affected the characters.This book would have been a great series but it was condensed into a single book that felt too dense. There were so many complex ideas and characters that did not get their time to properly breathe in the world that would have thrived in a series. As a character-driven reader, the characters disappointed me. The author had to spend so much time explaining the world that I never got the emotionality of the characters to grow attached to them. This book being marketed as "character-centric" and “character-driven” felt very wrong to me because of this aspect. I would love to see what this author does in the future as I loved the ideas that went into this book, but overall this was a debut that did not hold up for me.

If reviewing slumps are a thing, this book put me in one. I fully intended to write something for it shortly after reading in May while I still had some free time; however, I finished The Sins on their Bones and honestly didn't know how I felt. Now the entire summer has gone by and I still have very mixed feelings.

The beginning is a slog. As much as I found Dimitri interesting as a character and his journey important, his POV chapters drag because he is so deeply depressed. The story itself starts in what is essentially a lull in the action. The big dramatic events have all already happened and the heroes are licking their wounds from a bad loss that happened prior to the events of this book. This all makes for a very slow start, but the story does pick up pace if you stick with it.

The characters, world, and mysticism were all well-done and very interesting.
-> As a character-driven novel, there is a heavy focus on Dimitri, Vasily, and Alexey. Each POV is distinct and really captures what these characters are going through. We don't get to know the secondary characters very well, but they are reasonably well fleshed out given the amount of on-page time they receive - though I felt they balanced somewhere between caricature and three dimensional.
-> The relationships between the three main characters were just generally well-done. I particularly enjoyed the development of Dimitri and Alexey's relationship.
-> The world and mysticism were just really fascinating, and Samotin's research and care really shone through here.

Samotin pulls no punches. I truly wasn't sure what would happen or if the characters I liked would be okay. It truly felt like the character's decisions had consequences and not everything could work out the way they wanted or planned, and I really appreciated that.

One thing I can't help but complain about is the sheer amount of on-page abuse. It was expected, the content warning was clear, but it became so repetitive and so predictable that it was just tiresome by the end.

That, and the ending? I was really enjoying the story until the very last chapter. I won't spoil it, but I was annoyed and it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Samotin has included a list of content warnings for readers that are relevant and should be kept in mind for anyone that wishes to pick up this book, as there are some very heavy topics.

I wanted to love this book so badly... it has so many things that I look for in a dark fantasy, and overall I thought it was well written, but there were a few things about the way the narrative was structured that kept me from loving it. It felt VERY slow-paced and it took me a long time to get into. We joined the story too late for me to feel like I had a stake in the conflict. When the book begins, we're entering the aftermath of a war and the fallout of Alexey and Dimitri's relationship. We spend a lot of time focusing on the devastation that was left behind and the grief of what was lost, but because we never got to spend any time getting to know the pre-war world or the characters at the peak of their relationship, it was hard for me to feel that sense of loss and emotional investment. To quote another reviewer who worded this much more eloquently: "Even though the stakes are literally as high as they get, we are given no reason to care about the fate of this world or the people in it. This felt like reading the sequel to a first novel that doesn’t exist."

This is a story of picking up after a disastrous civil war, the debilitating grief over the loss of one's partner, and plotting the overthrow of a tyrant. So, lots going on. For those who liked Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse, this might be a good, though much more adult and complex choice.

I eagerly dove into this book, which picks up some time after the disastrous end to a civil war, where one partner, Alexey Balakin, took over, leaning into his worst impulses to assume and keep power, while the other, Dimitri Alexeyev, ran away to live in grief and hiding, and to mourn the end of his relationship with his husband, and his ousting. Dimitri has a number of his closest courtiers with him, while his partner Alexey continues to abuse everyone he can get his hands on to keep and grow his magical and demonically-granted power.

I got to a little over half of this book, and just could not keep going. Not much has happened by this point, except the grieving Dimitri very reluctantly sends his new lover back into his homeland to infiltrate his former husband's forces, so Dimitri can eventually return to retake his country.

I found it hard to get invested in the characters, even though I could sympathize with those living with Dimitri. I did really like the way author Laura R. Samotin wove folklore into this tale.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review.

tw // sa, manipulacja, przemoc, bodyhorror, trauma, dubcon

Po zapowiedzi mrocznej fantastyki o mężach stojących po dwóch przeciwnych stronach konfliktu, który zasiał jeden z nich, rozdzierając świat na pół, oraz szpiegu w niego wplątanym, oczekiwałam wiele. Dorzucić tu jeszcze inspiracje folklorem żydowskim oraz wschodnią Europą? Wow.

A potem sięgnęłam po pierwszy rozdział i mi się odechciało.

Ale jak już powróciłam, to przynajmniej skończyłam. Co z zapowiedzi zostało tu dotrzymane? Zdecydowanie mrok całej opowieści.

O ile komentowania odzwierciedlenia kultury żydowskiej się nie tykam, bo nie znam tematu wystarczajaco, o tyle mogę zrecenzować całą resztę światotwórstwa. A tutaj, niestety, ono leży. Choć autorka ma wykształcenie w polityce, nie wykorzystuje go – niewiele wiadomo na temat świata oraz zasad jego działania. Nawet magia wymyka się jakimkolwiek opisom. Owszem, to jest historia, która stoi bohaterami, nie fabułą, ale cholera, jeżeli już mają bić się o tron carski, to chociaż wytłumaczcie czemu ten tron jest taki ważny (poza faktem, że Aleksiej ma obsesję na punkcie władzy). Dodatkowo ów grono bohaterów w rzeczywistości sprowadza się do trzech postaci-narratorów. Jeśli czułabym się chojna, to doliczyłabym ich siedmiu, co na opowieść tak rozległą i epicką jak tutaj (budowa armii i podbój imperium od środka) wciśż jest mierną ilością.

Nieobiektywnie tym, co utrudniło mi lekturę, jest ten mrok. Dużo jest tutaj traumy na podłożu seksualnym, bohaterowie również używają seksu, by komunikować swoje emocje. Ale, po raz drugi, cholera, w prawie każdym rozdziale? W porównaniu z ilością scen fabularnych to one właśnie budują tę książkę. Podkreślam, to, że ze mną to nie siedziało, nie oznacza, że to zło absolutne. Po prostu po tej historii spodziewałam się czegoś absolutnie innego.

Świat Aleksieja, Dymitra i Wasilego to świat mężczyzn; od A do Z rządzą i ważni są sami mężczyźni, na całą jego długość pojawiają się cztery kobiety – dwie ważne dla Dymitra (obie skrzywdzone przez wojne, muszące stacjonować na pozycjach na dworze, których nie chciały) i dwie przypadkowe, których spotkanie Wasyli wykorzystuje do osiągnięcia swojego celu. Generalnie tu nie ma postaci kobiecych. Jest duża nierówność w tym, jak wspomniane bohaterki niepojawiające się na stronach we własnej osobie wpływają na fabułę (nijak), a jak tacy bohaterowie (ogromnie – od choćby przemocowego cara, który cieniem kładzie się na wszystkie wydarzenia, do oprawcy Wasyla z dzieciństwa, który zostaje ukarany podczas fabuły). Może to nieważne, może nie wszędzie trzeba zachowywać jakąś proporcję, cholerka, możecie nawet powiedzieć – przecież to inspiracja na osiemnasty wiek, oczywiście, że tu nie będzie wiele kobiet! I może macie rację. Po prostu chciałam podzielić się obserwacją.

Trochę mnie Samotin pozostawia w rozterce, z jednej strony umiem docenić, jak nietypową historię obrała i z jaką pieczołowitością opisuje bohatera-złoczyńcę, z drugiej – czy to była dzięki temu przyjemna lektura? Czy sprawiła, że to będzie moja ulubiona książka? No nie. Wyjątkowa na rynku, ale wyjąkowość niestety nie zawsze wystarcza.

This was a really interesting read, I love a complicated relationship, especially with a political setting and this one was a really fun read. The writing style was really good and the story flowed well. I enjoyed reading this one and would definitely recommend this for queer fantasy readers out there. The premise was unique and the story hooks you in from the start. Definitely add this to your TBR if you like queer complicated relationship stories.

Sins on Their Bones by Laura R. Samotin is an ambitious and deeply poignant novel that masterfully intertwines Jewish folklore with Eastern European history. The narrative is often intense, bordering on painful, yet it captivates through its exceptional world-building, which strikes an elegant balance between intricate fantasy and clear, accessible exposition.

The story follows Tzar Dimitri Alexeyev of Novo-Svitsevo, who, after being overthrown by his estranged husband, Alexey Balakin, finds himself in exile with the remnants of his loyal court. As Dimitri struggles to rise out of his depression, his devoted followers plot to reclaim the throne, with his spymaster, Vasily, devising a plan to dismantle the regime from within.

Dimitri’s court is a rich tapestry of meticulously crafted characters, each shaped by their individual wartime experiences and the lingering trauma that defines them in the aftermath. The magico-religious framework underpinning the story is consistent and compelling, providing a clear lens through which the novel explores themes of traditionalism versus progressivism, fanaticism, and the impact of propaganda on vulnerable populations.

However, the novel grapples with the challenge of depicting a love triangle, particularly when one character is grieving a former partner. Samotin navigates this difficult terrain, but Dimitri’s love for Alexey—unhealthy and obsessive, as it is—overshadows the burgeoning relationship between Dimitri and Vasily. While the author effectively portrays the toxic and abusive nature of Dimitri and Alexey’s bond, this intensity leaves little space for the development of a deep and authentic love between Dimitri and Vasily. The contrast between the unhealthy passion of the past and the potential for true love in the present is evident, yet Vasily and Dimitri’s romance struggles to emerge from the shadow of Alexey and Dimitri’s history, resulting in a dynamic that feels unbalanced.

Sins on Their Bones is the first installment in The Cursed Crown series and marks an impressive debut for Laura R. Samotin. This is a novel that pulls no punches—intense and unflinching, it’s not for the faint of heart. With the foundation laid in this initial book, the stage is set for even more action and deeper romantic development in the series to come.

I couldn't get into the story or connect with the characters. I thought I would really like it, but it didn't end up being what the synopsis made me think.