The Sins on Their Bones is messy and toxic but lovely and I'll be thinking of this book for a while to come. As it contains dark themes definitely check the content warnings before jumping in.

The story explores love, loss, trauma, grief, friendships, abuse and healing. The way we carry the blame for something that was not a fault of our own. How friendship, love and (chosen) family can help on the path of healing, while it's messy and painful there can be moments that are lights in the dark.

The book has great diversity, is a queer-normative world and is rooted in Jewish folklore which creates a rich and beautiful background. The characters and relationships between them feel real and get fleshed out as you move through the book.

I enjoyed the 3rd person narrative, it was written well and quite clear whose thoughts and feelings I was reading throughout the multiple POV's. It started slow and picks up later in the story but that allowed me care about the characters deeply. The book left a soul crushing impression, broke my heart and put it back together. I loved reading it and would recommend it if you like dark fantasy and are okay with the content warnings.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm very intrigued by the premise of this book, and the opening chapter was good. However it was only released as an ARC available within NetGalley's app rather than also available for Kindle download. In this format I was unable to enlarge the font since it was so locked down, and the small text made this inaccessible to me. Had I known this ahead of time I would not have requested the book. So why am I reviewing it anyway, you ask? Because it seems unfair to penalize me for having poor eyesight - if I don't review, it counts against my feedback ratio percentage and thus makes it more difficult to be approved for future requests. This is an unfair and discriminatory situation. I'm giving the book five stars because this isn't the authors fault and I want this book to be successful. We need more Jewish stories with queer representation! I look forward to reading the book once it is published and I can obtain a format that allows for a larger font size.

THE SINS ON THEIR BONES by Laura R. Samotin gives the reader a lot to admire. It introduces us to a well-realized secondary world with shades of 19th century Russia, a magic system rooted in Eastern European Jewish folklore, and a society that’s completely queer-accepting on every level. The story digs into trauma, and into the bonds between a chosen family. I enjoyed it very much, but a couple of issues kept me from loving it the way I wanted to.

First, and most subjectively: Samotin didn’t give me quite enough of the telling details I needed to feel I was right inside Dimitri’s well-established relationships with his friends. That made it tougher for me to invest in their collective struggles or revel in the smaller moments they spend together. Certain things about their dynamic also rang just false enough to take me out of the story; like how Alexey supposedly considered them all his good friends but had no idea Vasily, who the text implies has been a core part of the group since long before the war, existed.

Second: she doesn’t foreshadow revelations so much as offer up a précis well ahead of more detailed explanations. I can understand why she decided to take this route, given how many sensitive topics she explores, but I felt it stole much of the story’s urgency. For example, the things we learn about Alexey’s past behaviour would’ve carried more weight for me had I experienced Dimitri’s slow acceptance of what I’d put together for myself via context clues, rather than Vasily’s blunt assessment so early on in the narrative.

That said, I like most of what Samotin does here and I’ll definitely read her next book, whether it’s a sequel (there’s space for one, though TSOTB has a proper ending) or something entirely new.

I found this book so interesting. The characters were well written, the plot kept me interested, and overall it was a great book.

LOTTE - ★★★

I had a hard time assigning a star rating to this book. Overall, I think three stars is suitable.

At the start, I really enjoyed The Sins on Their Bones. Samotin does an excellent job of setting the scene. Despite the story starting somewhat in the middle, or even after a lot of the events in the story, you get a good sense of the characters, the world and the plot.

However, there were a couple of things that made it hard for me to fully enjoy the book.

My first issue is the amount of sex scenes. I know “spice” is hugely popular among certain readers these days, and in and of itself, sex can have a place in a story. However, there are so many sex scenes in this book, to the point that they take up valuable space where we could have had some story instead. Eventually even one of the characters remarks that two people are busy banging when they REALLY should be on their way to move the story forward. It’s not until almost halfway through the book that they stop boning and get to the point.

My second issue is that while Samotin does a pretty good job starting the story in media res, we don’t really get enough throwbacks to the events that happen before the book starts to really experience them. Mostly the events just get mentioned, and they sound pretty cool! As the end of the book has some set-up for a sequel, I am left wondering why The Sins on Their Bones itself isn’t the sequel to another book. This would have given us more time to see characters fall in love, instead of just being told that they’ve had feelings for a long time. There’s plenty of interesting material and story for a first novel, so I didn’t quite understand the choice to begin the story where it does until I read the acknowledgements. The author does explain her reasoning here, but perhaps as an editor, I would have recommended a different approach to the story.

Partly because of these factors, I feel the pacing in The Sins on Their Bones is off. The beginning drags on for too long, and the ending is quite rushed.

In her Author’s note, Samotin expresses that one of her main goals with the book was to convince her audience of how interesting a story about Jewish folklore and myths can be. In this, I would say she has definitely succeeded. I was also happy to see a fantasy world in which queer characters are portrayed as completely normal.

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PETER - ★½

The Sins on Their Bones has a pretty good marketing blurb, but unfortunately, I found it more frustrating than enjoyable to read.

The premise and setting bring all the ingredients for an exciting and original tale. Late 19th-century Eastern Europe is not exactly a well-explored backdrop for fantasy stories, and I actually liked that the story starts after our protagonist already lost the war and has had to retreat into exile. I feel like many authors would have felt the need to write the story during the war first; but the necessary details are conveyed through flashbacks and memories; it worked surprisingly well and is a relatively novel take. Great ideas to start the book with!

Unfortunately, that’s about as far as my positive impressions go. My lists of complaints is a lot longer. If I had to sum it up in a single sentence, it is that most elements of the novel are underdeveloped, and the parts that Samotin does spend a lot of effort on, made me want to put the book away rather than read it.

Let’s get into a bit more detail.

First, I think the plot is bad. No point sugar coating it. I recognise it was never going to be the book’s selling point, so I get that it wasn’t the author’s focus. But I found myself rolling my eyes pretty frequently.

The Sins on Their Bones feels like it is written entirely on the fly, with no effort spent to plant the seeds for problems or solutions before they become apparent. This is especially noticeable in the placement of flashback scenes or descriptions of the past, which give characters a motivation or required information to do a thing, right before the plot requires them to do that exact thing. A problem comes up, Samotin describes that the characters know how to solve it, and then the characters solve it, right before the next problem comes up, etc.

Emblematic is that several times when the characters run into a problem, the next scene features them going to the local library(/villain’s study) to look for a solution. Invariably, they will find a book which contains the key, with absolutely zero conflict involved. What is worse, the solution found in the book generally appears ludicrous to the reader, but the characters either do not mind or find “it is the only way”.

That latter trope is one that Samotin uses pretty heavy-handedly throughout The Sins on Their Bones. Characters will make some absolutely bewildering decisions without considering any logical alternatives , just so the plot continues to roll forward.

So you’re not reading for the plot. How about the prose? That, too, felt a bit under-edited. It might be a style preference, but the relatively long sentences and unbroken paragraphs of emotional outpourings made me read through some pages top left to bottom right without feeling the need to slow down anywhere.

Emotional outpourings you say? Is this just a character-driven novel and am I showing my biases? Well, yes and yes - but this book does not have strong characters. I guess we should say it has three main characters - Dimitri, Vasily, and Alexey - but out of those, only Vasily has any depth; both Dimitri and Alexey are caricatures. The other characters - Ladushka, Annika and Mischa - could literally have been deleted from the book entirely without changing a single emotional beat or plot element. Their single-minded (and entirely unexplained and unjustified - here, that prequel would have been welcome!) love for Dimitri means they’re flat as a pancake as characters. I guess Ivan deserves a mention, as perhaps the only character that I felt for during the entire book - but that is probably because he felt like a child and was literally repeatedly raped.

And there we have it - what The Sins on Their Bones really does.

The Sins on Their Bones is a big mess of dark emotions dripping from the pages: guilt, shame, fear of loss, desperation, anger, lust, depression - in such quantities as to feel gratuitous (and frankly, quite repetitive).

That last description - gratuitous and frankly repetitive - could also be applied to the sex scenes in this book. It feels as if every character interaction must contain at least a reference to sex or sexual desire. Multiple-page sex scenes - in the large majority of cases, portraying very (and I mean, very) unhealthy sexual relationships - are this book's bread and butter.

As a result, The Sins on Their Bones left me with the icky feeling that Samotin was constantly trying to shock me with cheap, ever-increasing emotional horrors at the expense of any real story or character development. As if she felt that just flooding the characters with absolutely terrible ordeals would stun me to the point where I would no longer notice the lack of a meaningful plot. The result is the opposite: because there is absolutely no subtlety to any of the misery, I found myself more detached from the characters rather than pulled in.

I have a long list of minor gripes, but the bottom line of this review is that while the idea of The Sins on Their Bones and the marketing blurb set the stage for a wonderful novel, the execution is severely mediocre as a result of a focus on traumatising the reader rather than telling a story. I am going to have to admit that I would not have finished this book if I had not received an advance reading copy in exchange for a review - so here we are.

First and foremost, you need to check trigger warnings for this book. It has some very graphic situations. I adored the story and the characters and it was an all around amazing novel. The found family in this is done so well and I loved it so much.

DNF pg 57

This is marketed as dark, and it really is, and it’s not the vibes I personally enjoy. I think this has a lot of potential, and I’m intrigued by the world and how Alexei because an undead being, but also the glimpses of Dimitri’s past with him makes me deeply uncomfortable in a way that makes it hard for me to continue. This is my own thing and in no way is intended to reflect on the book or story.

Thanks to Netgalley for my e-ARC!!

5 BONE-DEEP STARS!!

I had been in a reading slump and this book smacked me awake! Not everyone can pull off the "here's present conflict and we'll throw more conflict in there" type of book, but Laura is amazing at it. It's not even the type of writing where you sigh in exasperation and go, "ugh, what now?"--the flow and the delivery is absolutely masterful. I feel for the characters, if I was in their position, I doubt I'd choose differently.

The characters, from the main protagonists, main antagonist, and the side characters feel fully fleshed out. It felt like I was watching a TV series that was amazing from beginning to end. I also love that the chemistry between the main protagonists have existed and because of the distance put between them, it causes them (well, one of them) to fully realize how deep their feelings actually were.

A definite reread and I'm so glad it's my first book that I read during my birth month!!!

This book is absolutel brilliant. I loved it from start to finish.

The characters are HUMAN and complicated just like humans are. Nobody is perfect and that is absolutely perfect.

I do not even know what else to say, I loved this book.

This book had so much potential to rival to the Grishaverse.

The folklore-inspired magic and history rooted in Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jewish culture is beautiful, rich, and creates a stunning backdrop for a fantasy novel.

As much as I enjoyed this book (rated 3.75, rounded up to 4) and gave it a generous rating, I wish that it had executed certain elements at a higher level – because, like I said, there’s an immense amount of potential here!

To start with the good – beyond the vibes and the culture and magic – I think the character interactions were great, full of tender moments and heartfelt ones. Also, the cast was very diverse and I loved that this was a queer-normative world! Basically everyone is queer!!

One thing the characters struggled with, though, was the 3 MCs (our 3 POVs) – In terms of the budding (and failing? Rekindling? Harbouring? Pining?) romances, between them, we see everyone’s thoughts. And because of the direct POV into the villain’s mind, we see parts that make him an incredibly interesting MC and not completely irredeemable. Which makes for an exciting read, but also a struggle, because then Dmitri (our hero) and Vasily’s (other hero) storyline almost feels like insta-love – even though it’s not and Vasily (my favourite) is such a good character…but everything is revealed through exposition and a short amount of time.

Some reviewers thought the sex scenes were gratuitous, but in this case, I disagree: Those scenes actually added to the plot and characterization of the characters. Also, the cast is aged ~23 to over 30, so intimate scenes between consenting adults makes sense, and none of them were very long or unnecessarily graphic.

Really, my main ‘problem’ (not to sound too harsh) with the book was that everything was too easy. One of this book’s main comps is Six of Crows. And yes, I see it – the echoes are there! (Right down to a character names Morozov…sound familiar? And a catch phrase that the group says before splitting up to go on life threatening mission!). But one of the features that made Six of Crows such a triumph is the way the audience was kept in suspense. We would believe one plan was unfolding only for it to fail and then fear for our beloved character’s survival and success. This fear and suspense was never present in The Sins on our Bones.

Almost everything was a life-or-death scenario, and yet, I never feared they would fail. Answers to impossible questions and spells and lore were easily discovered in a book that was conveniently found with plenty of time to spare. The stakes were so high, and yet, I wasn’t worried. There were convenient loopholes found in ancient magic that tailored exactly to the characters needs, and convenient angels and devils to answer the impossible questions. Even when the characters paid a physical or emotional price, I didn’t feel that toll inside myself when I read it.

Even at the very end of the book – the literal climax – the stakes are the highest they’ve ever been, everything is wrapped up neatly. Yes, there’s lots of gore (actually, that was very good. Reminiscent of the Shadow and Bone amplifiers in terms of body horror, but ramped up many notches. Very, very gross. Medically possible, though? Questionable.) and some death along the way, but it didn’t serve as suspense. Even with the little bonus POV chapter that sets up the next book, it didn’t come as necessarily a surprise with everything that came before it.

I am almost certainly being hyper-critical here, because I was so excited for a queer fantasy novel with Jewish folklore inspired culture and magic. I think I gave this book a generous rating for what it is, and I hope that the next book can live up to this.

TLDR: Great vibes, Jewish folklore inspired fantasy culture and magic, great diversity and queer-normative world BUT: plot struggles came to easily and problems solved with little suspense or effort expended, characters felt like they were missing something – development or depth?

Unfortunately this title didn't really hit the mark for me. I appreciated the queer normative world and the Jewish folklore inspired world building but I found the pace really dragged. That coupled with characters I could never manage to connect with left me skim reading the last 30% just to get to some action. I think the concept was really interesting but the execution was not up to par.

The plot was intriguing. Certain things touched my heart. You should read it if you like dark Jewish queer fantasies with mutual pining, post-war consequences, mental health rep, found family, lovers to enemies, friends to lovers, demon-hunting goats. This tale has all this and much more.

I urge everyone to please check the trigger warnings carefully for this book. It is a dark fantasy with deep trauma and healing.

Another thing I'd say is that this is the first time I read an abuser's POV, and that was interesting.

One of my favorite quotes has to be:
"If I die first,"
"I'll tell you the secrets of heaven."

What happens when you mix Shadow and Bone, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Jewish Folklore in a blender? You get The Sins On Their Bones, by Laura Samotin.
In this book, we follow:

Dimitry, a king living in exile, is usurped by his husband, Alexey, spending his days in self-loathing and grief, but has no choice but to stop said husband from raising a demonic army.

Vasily, his spymaster, who infiltrates Alexey's court to stop him.

Alexey, the usurper king, neck deep in horrifying experiments, and dark magic, all for an entity that he thinks is God, with plans to take over the world.

I loved the writing style, the prose, and the characters. I didn't care for the romance, and the book sometimes felt repetitive. But overall, I enjoyed this book.

"It's Alexey who was the idiot, to not know what he had. He was a man holding a diamond in his hand, ignoring the way that it sparkled in the light, thinking it was nothing more than glass."

The Sins on Their Bones is a haunting, beautiful story about love, power, and war. It follows Dimitri, who is the former Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo (a fictitious version of Russia), and is now in exile with his court after losing a war against his estranged husband. The events that led up to the war and the war itself all take place prior to the start of the book, and the characters we meet are broken and traumatised, with Dimitri dealing with PTSD and depression. The backstory and story details are slowly revealed to the reader throughout the book, and I did like the decision to do it this way, however these events could also have easily been a book of itself, as so much has happened prior to the book starting. I think for the story Samotin wished to tell, starting it where it is worked really well, as mental health and the recovery journey from physical and mental abuse are key themes of the novel.
The book is definitely slow-paced and character-driven, with not much action happening in the first half of the novel. This worked rather well, mainly due to the strong characterisation of the three narrators. The reader empathises heavily with Dimitri, as he deals with the loss of his husband to a force worse than death, and other narrator Vasily is charming, witty, and very tragic. What actually intrigued me the most about the book was how a third of the chapters are actually written from Alexey, the new Tzar and Dimitri’s abusive husband’s, perspective allowing readers to see how he justifies his twisted actions to himself. He is a truly wicked character, and I despised him instantly. He is a very well-crafted villain.
I found the writing really good, and felt really immersed in the story. I enjoyed the magic system and demons as well. The central romance between Vasily and Dimitri was really sweet and I loved seeing their support and love for each other.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This review is on the lengthier side so I'm not going to summarise the story—you can read the blurb for that. Instead, let me just dive straight into my thoughts and feelings about this book, because there are many!!

The absolute best way to get me hooked on a story is to make me care about the characters from the beginning. On page 2, I already felt connected to Dimitri—and it was over something so simple as him sitting on a roof because he couldn't sleep; something I myself have done many times in the past! There were so many things about Dimitri and Vasily that really resonated with me, like I could see pieces in myself in them. They (and the rest of the characters) have been through so much and I really felt for them, I just wanted to hug them and keep them safe from any further harm!

This book is written in 3rd person, but follows 3 main characters throughout:
1. Dimitri, former Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo, now in exile after losing a war and his throne, with a few other members of his court.
2. Alexey, Dimitri's estranged husband, now ruling Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo, who was brought back from the dead as an immortal by using dark magic.
3. Vasily, a spymaster who's sworn his life to protect Dimitri, the best man he's ever met.
Because each chapter follows one person so closely, I never struggled with knowing whose thoughts or feelings I was reading about. Furthermore, Samotin has managed something that a lot of authors don't: telling a story in 3rd person without making me cringe about being told what the characters are thinking or feeling!!

As the story goes on, you get to find out what happened with Alexey and Dimitri, why they're now estranged, why there was a war and how come Dimitri is now in exile. I really liked the format of drip feeding us the background story, as opposed to throwing us into the middle of it, although I do know some people would prefer that instead. For me, this created excellent suspense that balanced out the trauma the characters are now dealing with. This is also balanced out by Dimitri and his court trying to find a way to take back the throne, and then putting their plan into action. In the second half of the book, there's lots of action and stuff happens fast, and I'm not joking when I say I've gasped and shouted and clutched my heart and tugged at my own hair at various points throughout this story! Chapter 32 nearly killed me—but I'm glad I pushed through and finished the rest of the book immediately after reading it!

TLDR: this is a heartwrenching, soul-crushing, absolutely stunningly written multi-POV story about love, loss and revenge, with lots of queer representation, mental health representation, found family, dark magic, hilarious characters, and so much more I can't even explain without giving away spoilers!

I've loved every second of reading The Sins on Their Bones and it's undoubtedly a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 read for me!

One thing I hate is giving bad reviews but I have to admit that 3 stars is more of a 2 if I want to be honest. I was so excited for this book but unfortunately, it didn't work for me.

Whilst the writing itself was definitely alright, somehow the characters fell flat and the pacing was so slow, I could barely drag myself through this.

I liked the slight Darkling vibes, I get how some can and will liken this to Shadow and Bones. Yet, it somehow didn't work in the end for me.

I don’t know how to describe this book apart from achingly beautiful.
Thank you so much the ARC, it was heart breaking and dark and such a hard look at religious ideology.
Dimitri and Vasily were devastating together, their relationship was beautiful in how they pieced each other back together. I cried at least twice when they finally allowed themselves to express their love for one another.
I saw some other reviews upset about sexual violence but I didn’t see it as off putting because I believe it was Alexeys only power that he could actually wield.

I thought the writing was stunning and I really did love every character.

4.5⭐️ Thank you to Penguin Random house for the arc. Dark, queer, Jewish Russian inspired fantasy full of court politics, a legitimate Tzar in hiding and his husband who went against the natural order and became immortal through mysticism, planning to take the kingdoms by dark forces.
This story kept me riveted, told in 3 third person POVs, deals with mental health, toxic (really toxic) relationships, found family, non binary rep. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of 5 🌶️

The Sins On Their Bones is a DARK, political fantasy. Dimitri is a tsar in exile, because his husband Alexey has usurped his throne. Dimitri and his court (found family!) have to find a way to take back the throne before Alexey unleashes dark powers, endangering the whole of the country.

Laura R. Samotin has created a vivid and intricate magical world. I love how she utilizes Jewish mysticism to explore themes of friendship and love, abuse, grief, trauma and healing. It is a bit slow to start for my personal preference, but the second half of the book makes up for it with nonstop high-stakes action.

The Jewish representation is stand-out. For me, this is where the book shines. There is a havdallah scene that I absolutely LOVED.

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC!

eARC Review: The Sins on Their Bones by Laura R. Samotin 💀

I’m not going to lie, this review is still all over the place for me because I can’t seem to get my head wrapped around it. The beginning was so slow that I honestly couldn’t believe I was progressing through the book, but then the last 40% was amazing?? I’ll try my best to get my jumbled thoughts into understandable gibberish. 😅

The book follows Dimitri, Alexey and Vasily as they navigate a world that’s healing from a civil war caused by estranged husbands. 💍

First the positives. I LOVED the inclusion of Jewish mysticism, especially that of Ashkenazi beliefs. I studied Jewish mysticism via Sephardic Judaism for both a historical and literary research project, and this was just a beautiful mix of fantasy and religious mysticism. I also really enjoyed the relationships in the court of Dimitri. You can really feel the love and devotion they have for another. Another element I enjoyed was the exploration of the healing from toxic relationships that’s explored in this book. I thought it was done quite well. 💔

Now for the parts that didn’t work for me. I think this book oddly suffers from second book syndrome. The plot begins at the end of the war with the characters having numerous flashbacks to help drive both the plot and character development. I personally didn’t think this gave the book and characters justice as we’re more told than shown the bonds between all the characters. I also thought this really hinders the plot well into half of the book. Another problem I had is that I think Alexey’s POV could’ve been more secretive since it did feel like he was mostly driving the plot while the other two POVs kind of did nothing. He gave off really creepy grooming vibes for me and his desire to be dominant gave me a lot of red flags moments. 🚩🚩🚩

In general, I think this book would have benefited from starting from a different point in the plot just to really hone in on the supposed love and strife between the characters. But, will I be continuing the series? Yes: I’m invested in the mysticism element and am excited to see where the plot goes, especially after that ending. 😳

Big thank you goes to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review, and to the author for making a wonderful atmospheric and queer-normative world steeped in Jewish folklore and mysticism. ✨

Publication date: May 7!

Oferall: 3.5/5 ⭐️