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 ⭐️

This book was such a fascinating multi-POV queer dark fantasy, woven with political intrigue and rich Jewish mythology. It's definitely a deep dive, but the author handles the heavy topics with such sensitivity, and it really packs an emotional punch!

I loved how the book delved into the complexities of relationships, especially the tough stuff like abusive dynamics and those lingering feelings post-breakup. It's a thought-provoking read that leaves you reflecting long after you've turned the last page!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish reading The Sins on Their Bones by Laura R. Samotin, but not because I didn’t like the book. This was a DNF solely due to technical issues. When I requested to review this book, I didn’t realize that there would be no Kindle option for download. This left me to read the book on the NetGalley app on my phone, which would’ve been doable, except I wasn’t able to increase the incredibly small font size. In the end, I read 23% of the book before deciding to give up for now and wait to borrow a print copy from the library. The ⅘ star rating is from what I think I’ll rate the book based on what I’ve enjoyed of the story so far.

I’d like to come back and give a proper review after I’ve finished the physical book.

Although I wasn’t able to finish reading at this time, I’d like to thank NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for sending this book for review consideration! All opinions are my own. ⅘ stars (for now).

The Sins on Their Bones is a gripping, atmospheric and dark tale about the (former) Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo and his court after a war has been lost and the throne stolen. It is a tale of love, abuse, the loss of innocence, self-doubt, dedication and healing. I must say, this is like nothing I have ever read before.

We begin the story following Dimitri and his court as they are in hiding. The betrayal of Dimitri's husband is already over, the war is lost, and we only begin to learn of what has happened to these characters. I enjoyed the author's choice to begin the story at this point because I feel like we really didn't need to accompany them through the war. This gives room to let us learn more about the characters themselves, the way that they have been hurt and broken as well as how they begin to heal.

I truly enjoyed the fact that we received three POVs. First, that of Dimitri. Then, that of his spy-master Vasily. Lastly, we get to see Alexey's view, who is both Dimitri's husband as well as the usurper of the throne. I was especially impressed by the author's ability to write Alexey. He is clearly an unreliable narrator, and it is intriguing to look into his mind and see how he perceived the war. I feel like this is a very hard thing to write and Samotin managed this perfectly.

I have to say that this is a very character-driven story. While I understand where other reviews saying that "nothings happens" are coming from, personally I feel like they do the narrative and the characters injustice. We get insight into three character's minds and follow them while they deal with their trauma and their hurt. We learn a lot about them and about what makes them who they are. Especially for Dimitri, this is necessary to make his character develop from "I don't care anymore" to "let's save our country". Dimitri needed time to process what happened and what needs to be done, and time is what Samotin has given him. I can only applaud her for having patience with her characters instead of throwing them into action immediately.

The queer rep in TSTB is gorgeous. The author wanted to create a world in which queerness is accepted, respected and normal, which she definitely accomplished.

Overall, I do recommend this book if you are up for a character-driven, atmospheric and dark political fantasy about loss, pain and healing. Be aware of the trigger warnings that the author has posted. I have given the book 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 on GoodReads.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada as well as Laura R. Samotin for providing me with an arc for this book. This review reflects my honest opinion on the book.

This book was a multi-POV queer, dark fantasy. The book was a political fantasy that drew from Jewish mythology and heritage. I highly recommend checking content warnings before reading this book, but the heavy topics were handled well, and this book packed an emotional punch. I felt the book accurately portrayed the complexities of abusive relationships and the toxic dynamics and lingering feelings that can continue even after the relationship has ended. I also appreciated that the book showed both an abusive relationship between two men and a healthy relationship between two men. Often, depictions of abuse in fiction are centered around a boyfriend/husband abusing his female partner, so it was nice to see representation outside of this norm.

My biggest struggle with this book was the pacing. This book is very much a character study, focused on their emotional journeys. We were dropped into a world after a major conflict that resulted in a leadership change, and this led to some confusion for me at the beginning. As a result, the beginning felt very slow. I wish we got more details about the original conflict instead of just focusing on the aftermath of it. As a result, the book felt like the second book of a duology and not the first.

I really enjoyed the world building, which was rooted in both Jewish folklore and Eastern European history. This world wasn't as complex as some fantasy novels, but it was still interesting. I had a good understanding of the society and the magic system, which kept me invested in this story. And the turns in the plot towards the middle/end of the book continued to hold my interest.

Thank you Penguin Random House and netgalley for this e-arc!

Unfortunately this is a DNF at 200 pages for me. I can’t push through it any longer. This is really difficult for me because I usually will point blank refuse to leave a book unfinished unless I have proper cause. With this book, I feel I do.

Starting with the positives, this book has beautiful LGBTQ+ rep, is super atmospheric and is on the whole well written. I enjoyed the seamless trans/ non binary rep and felt that each character was a well rounded individual - which is hard to do with a big cast. There were just a few stumbling blocks for me, which are as follows (spoiler warning!!!).

1- Why is it made such a big deal that Dimitri didn’t shoot Alexey if he was already immortal…? It wouldn’t have done anything?

2- There was a lot of focus in sex here. I’m not prudish, it’s not something I stray away from in books (hello spicy romance contemporaries) but this felt like it was overused. It didn’t feel relevant to the plot after a while. Maybe this was for a reason that later was brought to light in the rest of the book.

3-I didn’t like the timeline of events. We spend 100+ pages with Dimitri licking his wounds and his court trying to pick up the pieces. I really did enjoy seeing the way they were so emotionally open with each other, and all incredibly empathetic… but it got a bit drawn out for me. Also, we start after a whole coup and war have finished. I’d have loved to at least have a preface with some action, possibly with Dimitri facing Alexey on the battlefield. Truly I double checked if I’d actually requested a second book in the series multiple times when I first started reading this lol.

So that’s my thoughts on this. Laura R. Samotin is a very capable writer with fantastic concepts, so much so that I’ll definitely check out anymore releases of theirs. This just wasn’t a hit for me. I won’t be giving it a star rating as I feel that’s unfair having not read the majority of this book!

I enjoyed how atmospheric this book was. I am confused as to how it was marketed as a romantasy, because it’s not that… This book is dark, political fantasy. I wish we weren’t dropped in right after a big conflict happened, because I was really confused as to how we got where we were when the book started. I thought the queer and Jewish representation was well done. I did struggle with the pacing of this book, I genuinely felt like nothing happened for the longest time. This also isn’t really a love story, it’s full of abuse and toxic relationships. The overall idea was really interesting but I feel like if we got more backstory and more plot I would have enjoyed it more. Please please check the CW’s before reading this one. It’s a lot.

CWs: sexual violence, abusive relationships, blood & gore, trauma, sexual content, injury, war, torture, death, human experimentation

I was finally able to get a different copy of this book to review instead of having to read it on my phone.

Firstly, dark content warning obviously. You’re probably already aware of what you’re getting into when you purchase this book, but please make sure you’re in a good headspace before tackling this masterpiece. This is a heavy read.

Honestly I tend to stray away from darker books because I am a good vibe reader, but I was very intrigued by the blurb and I felt like I had to try this one out. I am so glad I did. This was a well written and very nuanced book. I read it all in one sitting, that’s how good I found it.

The relationships in this book were very dynamic. The relationship between Alexey and Dimitri? CHILLS. Vasily and Dimitri? Soooo heartwarming and it kept me going. The found family vibes? OBSESSED. The side characters I lived for.

The first half of the book was hard for me to get through at first, but it wasn’t any fault of the author or writing, I’m just a little sensitive and it was very angsty. The portrayal of Dimitri and just how much he was suffering was written very realistically and I just wanted to wrap him up in my arms and tell him everything was going to be okay. Thank god for his found family. I’m glad they were able to pick him up by the bootstraps and get him to keep on keeping on.

The plot was very well written and engaging to me. As a plot girlie, I was very satisfied. The action sequences were fun, and that climax? Whew…I was on the edge of my SEAT. The cliffhanger? IM FERAL, I NEED THE NEXT BOOK SOON.

Overall, this was a knockout for me and I’m glad I pushed myself to read it. I would have missed out on an amazing read had I let my reservations stop me from checking this out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Canada for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Sins on Their Bones had absolutely fascinating characters and I really enjoyed the multiple POVs that we get. I love getting to be on both sides of a conflict and get into the head of the ‘bad guy’ to really understand their motives. Alexey was such a great villain, I was both captivated by his POV but also angered at his thoughts and actions (which made for great reading). Vasily and Dimitri were also great characters, they were really tested in the story and showed so much resilience. It is not a light story, and it’s definitely worth reading the CWs if you are concerned, it is a story of violence and resilience. Themes such as abusive relationships and trauma are explored throughout the story.

I really enjoyed the world building that Samotin created. I felt like I was transported into post war Novo-Svitsevo. I enjoyed that she drew inspiration from her Jewish heritage and experiences (the authors note is such an interesting read at the end, don’t skip it!). The pacing was also excellent, I found myself unable to put it down so I read it in two sittings despite the emotionally heavy content.

I really enjoyed this book and I’m really interested to see where the sequel in this duology goes plot wise. It felt like it could have been a standalone right until the end but I am really interested in finding out what comes next in this story. I have so many questions!

Thank you @netgalley & @penguinrandomca for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. The Sins on Their Bones is out on May 7th! If you’re looking for your next queer normative fantasy, let it be this one!

⭐4/5 stars⭐

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Sins on Their Bones by Laura R. Samotin is a multi-POV Queer Ashkenazi Jewish dark fantasy about moving on from toxic relationships and finding a partner who loves and respects you rather than wanting to control you. Dimitri was the Tzar of Noto-Svitsevo before his estranged husband, Alexey, took the throne from him. After a civil war that leaves Dimitri with only a few people from his court, he runs from Alexey and makes a plan with Vasily, his spymaster and lover, to invade Alexey’s court and bring the immortal down.

Laura R. Samotin doesn’t pull any punches when depicting Alexey’s obsession with Dimitri, his desire for control, and how far Alexey is willing to go to get Dimitri back. Alexey even takes Dimitri’s half-brother, Ivan, who looks remarkably like Dimitri, as his lover. When we’re inside Alexey’s head, we can see just how dangerous Alexey is and how much he doesn’t view Dimitri as his own person or as a partner no matter what he tells himself. He ‘molded’ Dimitri, he crossed Dimitri’s boundaries to make him how Alexey wanted him to be, and Alexey cannot let go.

The romance between Vasily and Dimitri is vastly different from the relationship between Alexey and Ivan and Alexey and Dimitri. Vasily doesn’t want to own or control or dominate Dimitri, but instead wants to love him exactly how he is. By the time the novel starts, Dimitri has had time to examine his marriage with Alexey and knows Alexey is not only bad for him but is bad for Ivan as well, but a part of him does still love Alexey. This was so realistic and really showed how complex abusive relationships can be because that love from the beginning of a relationship doesn’t just automatically go away once you realize someone is hurting you.

The worldbuilding is strongly rooted in Eastern European and Jewish traditions and folklore. There’s a bit of an Anastasia vibe with Dimitri’s story as the only surviving member of the royal family and him being on the run, but it’s not a retelling so much as a very loose reimagining. Samotin does include additional readings for people if they are interested in the ideas presented in the work and I love it when authors provide avenues that they trust and they think are useful to help their readers continue learning about real world experiences, cultures, and religions presented in fantasy.

I would recommend this to readers looking for Queer Jewish fantasy, fans of Anastasia retellings and reimaginings, and those looking for a fantasy exploring leaving toxic exes.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to read this book early.
I was very excited to read this book based on the troupes, synopsis, and the beautiful cover art.
The first few pages did grasp my attention and was interesting; however; I struggled to connect with the characters/story and found myself skimming through the pages.
I wish we would have gotten more of a background to the events that occurred prior to this book. At times I felt lost.
I did DNF around the 30% mark as I felt lost to where I was and the lack of connection to the character/plot.
While I feel I am not the target audience for the story, I feel some readers may enjoy this debut novel. Congrats on the author on their debut novel, I’m excited to see how their career flourishes.

While I thought the premise of this book interesting, what I really wanted was the story of the rebellion. It started where I wanted the story to end. Like I wanted the story of how everything came apart. Not what we got instead. And there was almost too many characters.

This book was quite odd. I liked the writing and the story structure, but, as it often happens to me when reading multiple POVs, I wasn’t a fan of one of them, so I ended up skimming over some of those chapters. This story often got very gory and violent, and honestly, I thought it went on for too long. There was a whole lot of death and suffering. The worldbuilding felt kind of small though, so it was hard to care about all those hypothetical lives and the country the characters were trying to protect. Still, I think this book had a lot of quality, especially in the characters, and that it will be a sure 5 stars for a lot of people.