I have mixed feelings about this one. It took me a long time to get into it, and I almost DNFed it several times. I did actually put it down for several weeks around the 30% mark.

In the end I really enjoyed it. I think the way the plot unfolded and Remy learned to care about everyone on the Isles and in Adrian's crew was excellent. The way Remy's asexuality affected things was really good, and I appreciated that a romantic relationship didn't develop and instead we got a deep friendship.

However, I struggled with the entire concept of tethers which is what makes up the first 25% of the book. Arbeaux tried to use snippets from "textbooks" about tethers at the beginning of each chapter, but they were often disconnected from the information we got within the chapters and just left me more confused. They also often felt like extraneous, useless information.

I also struggled with the audiobook itself. For some reason, a female narrator was chosen for a story with a male lead character. She also had a higher-pitched voice and just did not fit with Remy at all. I struggled to identify with Remy because of this and also struggled to get into the story. I finally got used to her narration enough at 30% that I could focus on the story more than the way it was read, but I think a different narrator would have been much better.

*Thanks to Hodderscape for providing an early audio copy for review.

This book just did not do it for me. I was gifted the audiobook through Netgalley and I just couldn't connect to the book. I have a feeling that I just didn't enjoy the narration.

It’s such a great story! A magnificent tale of loss and grief and anger, but also of love, family, beautiful friendship and growth…

I loved it all. From the beautiful writing to the flawless representation weaved into the fabric of the story, to the in depth characters that were all so raw and real and lovable, to the little snippets at the beginning of every chapter, to the unique magic system about bonds between people…

Seriously, I loved everything about this book.

The narrator was also flawless and amazing 👌🏻✨

If you’re looking for a book that will pull you into the story (but not in a jarring way - it feels very natural) from the first couple chapters, this is absolutely it!! Sitting in chapter 2, I already felt like I have a good sense of the world in which the book is set. I absolutely love when an author has this incredible sort of talent and makes you feel immersed in a new world so wholly and in so few pages!

The magic system of the story is introduced gently, blended into the beginning of the plot from the first few chapters. I found myself invested in the characters’ lives quickly, and the world building was easy to follow and gradual. The relationships between the characters were compelling and each one had quite a bit of depth, which I liked!

Also, if you’re thinking about listening to the audiobook - this was what I did and I really liked the narrator!

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This wasn't completely what I expected but still enjoyable! Several well thought out characters, at times hard to keep track in the audio version but all loveable. I would have liked a little more hashing out of the whole magic system at the start but it didn't necessarily take away from the fun to learn as you go. I would have read more in this world!

It took me way too long to finish the audiobook but yes. I had fun. I’m not sure if I would reread it cause honestly idk what else to say about it besides just I liked it. Not exactly what I expected but the plot was, even if it took me a while to get hooked, pretty engaging the romance was good too although I must stop choosing enemies to lovers it’s not really for me

I've really enjoyed this book. First of all, it has an amazing representation in terms of gender nonconformity and being aro/ace. Because of that, it's full of platonic relations, and that actually felt really refreshing! I sometimes like romance in my books, but I feel like it often falls flat, so it's really nice to see a different story.

Also, the book has an amazing portrayal of coping with grief, there were a few really strong lines about that.

The magic system is very interesting and has soul threads that link people that share strong relations. It was pretty original, though could have been a bit more fleshed out, as it was a bit confusing in the beginning.

The characters were pretty fun, I've liked them all, although either I'm getting old or they sometimes behaved more YA than I expected.

Overall, it has some flaws, but I'll keep my eyes on this author's next releases, as it was a pretty fast paced, sometimes funny and sometimes very touching story.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for granting me access to an arc.

This is such a lovely book. I don't think it's consistently written but I enjoyed it throughout and will recommend it widely. The story begins as a vengence plot but becomes about re-evaluating justice with the friends we make along the way. Arbeaux does an EXCELLENT job of balancing plot and showing the internal life of the key characters. So much queer rep, but specifically, different kinds of queer friendship. Think Becky Chambers meets Hook meets the Hunger Games meets Charmed. Excellent.

**Lord of the Empty Isles** by Jules Arbeaux is a captivating blend of science fiction and fantasy that takes readers on an emotional and thrilling journey. The story follows Remy Canta, who accidentally binds himself to his sworn enemy,
Idrian Delaciel, with a withering spell meant to curse him. This twist of fate forces Remy to join forces with Idrian and his criminal crew, leading to a series of perilous heists and a race against time to find a cure.

The novel excels in world-building, creating a vivid and immersive universe where magic and technology coexist. The characters are complex and well-developed, with Remy and Idrian's relationship evolving from hatred to a nuanced, queerplatonic bond. The themes of loss, power, and privilege are explored deeply, adding layers of meaning to the fast-paced plot.

Arbeaux's writing is both crisp and compassionate, making it easy to connect with the characters and their struggles. The found family dynamic and the unique take on soul-bond magic are particularly noteworthy, providing a fresh perspective in the genre.

There is no spice, little to no romance, but make no mistake there is an abundance of love on the pages of this book. The grief explored can be rough and raw, but always handled delicately and with compassion.
I've read many books where I struggled to like the main character, never mind the peripheral ones, with Lord of the Empty Isles, I love them all, I want an origins book on each of the motely crew!

This is a magnificent debut that combines heartwarming moments with high-stakes adventure. It's a must-read for fans of cozy sci-fi and fantasy, and anyone looking for a story that balances action with emotional depth. I am sad to leave the world of Remy and his crew
Thank you to the author and @netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this amazing Arc

Im having to do something I absolutely HATE doing and that's DNFing an ARC. I always feel so honoured when Im allowed to read a book early but I also wont force myself to finish a book im not enjoying, and in this case, am so confused by.

That's the first issue with this book-- its so confusing. The concept of fate-bindings and curses and links to each. other is so not well explained and the reader is immediately dropped into the action with very little explanations. I found myself so lost to the point where I restarted the book TWICE from 10% in because I was so lost, and even that didn't help. The concepts of the world and the magic system have to be better explained. Perhaps other readers who read epic fantasies will understand this better (though I doubt it), but as someone who doesn't read a lot of high-fantasy books, I found it so hard to follow. Though I believe the issue to be a lack of explanations, not a lack of experience reading about magic. I feel that the author had a very good concept in mind, but failed to execute it well-- perhaps they just had such a good understanding of it in their head that it just didn't translate well onto the page.

Another issue I had was that the book tried to pack so much information and plot into the beginning 10% of the book that it got so confusing. Yes, I know I just said there wasnt enough explanation and now im saying there was too much, but what I mean is that the information dumped on the reader was not well presented to where the reader actually understands what is going on. It is as though the author expects that the reader already understands and this is just a refresher (as if this is book 2 or 3 in a series). All that to say, so much was said while saying very little that made sense. Again, maybe im not used to such complicated, fast-paced fantasy books, but I dont think that was the problem.

Maybe if I read this book physically instead of the audio version and kept notes it would be better, but I feel I shouldnt NEED to do this to enjoy a book. Overall, I really, really did not enjoy the beginning of this book and im not going to finish it. I feel awful not finishing an ARC, but I just cant.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for allowing me to read this book early. All opinions are my own.

What a beautiful story about grief and deep friendships! The worldbuilding was simple yet interesting. It was a bit slow in the beginning, but worth the unhurried pace. I think I would prefer to reread this book in the physical format. The narrator was just not for me.

In ‘lord of the empty isles’ Remy seeks revenge for his brother’s death, finding answers to questions he hadn’t even asked instead.

I unfortunately had a hard time getting into and connecting with this book, and I can’t really tell you why. I listened to the audiobook and after having listened to it for about an hour, I realized that I had no idea what the book was about, so to give it a fair chance I picked up from the beginning again. This time I paid more attention, but I still had a hard time caring about the outcome of the quest. We know fairly little about Remy and his friend Tirani and even as the story progresses, they are like blank canvases absorbing what is happening around them. The world building is very minimal, we find out as we go about the political system on what feels like a ‘need to know basis’. The teathering, which are different types of bonds also remain ambiguous throughout the book. There are little exempts from a textbook on teathering to explain the different kinds of bonds, which lead me to believe that a teathering could be anything and nothing.
Similarly, there seems to be a lot happening with the plot while simultaneously nothing is happening. The blurb already explains most things up to the 50% mark, if not more. There are many little sub-plots and side characters, but they only have very little importance to the overall plot.

Overall, the book unfortunately didn’t leave much of an impression on me, because I could not connect with it. If the story caught your attention, please don’t let me dissuade you from reading this book, I might just be the wrong audience for it.

I listened to the audiobook and think the narrator did a good job, also considering the many different voices she embodied. However, because the story is told close to Remy’s perspective, I personally thought a female narrator was not the best casting choice. In my opinion, it would have suited the story better if the narrator had a voice fitting to Remy’s character.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton Audio for gifting me this ALC of the audiobook to review. All opinions are my own. I was not paid to leave this review.

Lord of the Empty Isles by Jules Arbeaux is a delightful story with an interesting magic system and strong character work. The plot revolves around Remy, who seeks revenge for his brother's death but ends up fatebound to his enemy, Idrian. The journey explores themes of guilt, grief, and the complexity of doing the right thing.

Georgina Sadler's narration adds depth to the story, despite some initial challenges with character voices. The focus on platonic relationships and the found family aspect is heartwarming. Overall, it's an enjoyable and unique sci-fi tale worth listening to.

Vengeance goes unexpectedly wrong--or right, depending how you look at it--in this beautiful science-fantasy. Rarely have I encountered such an intricate and intriguing "magic" system, which thrives on our own interconnectedness, where empathy is made all too real, and where justice isn't what you might think. Gorgeous read, with great appeal for science fiction and fantasy fans alike.

"'I know it doesn’t matter,' Remy says, 'but I'm sorry.'
'For what?'
Remy slants a glance at Idrian, unimpressed. He must be being purposefully clueless.
'Killing us both, I guess?'
'Eh. Someone had to succeed eventually. Might as well be you.'"

**Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book**

This is, by far, one of the best books I discovered though NetGalley. I must say that I was first taken by the beautiful cover, then by the summary and finally by the writing. What I thought would be a classic “enemies to lovers” moment turned out to be so much more impactful than I could have ever imagined. Idrian, Remy and the entire crew mean so much to me now, and reading this book made me feel like I was on this journey together with them, along for the ride before then slowly but surely getting closer to every one of them until I was in way too deep. This is a novel about grief, loss and overcoming adversity through the bonds that link every single one of us to each other, whether we like it or not.

The audiobook also knocked it out of the park with the characterizations. I personally love when narrators give it their all and act out the dialogue (which is the case here :)), but Georgina Sadler took it one step further and made sure to give all characters different voiced which made them instantly feel more authentic.

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I received an eARC thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton Audio. The opinions expressed are my own.

Remy casts a curse to kill the man who killed his brother, but the curse rebounds on him. Desperate to slow the progression of the curse he must be (physically) close to Idrian, the illustrious criminal he cursed. Only as he learns about Idrian and his compatriots, he comes to realize things are more… complicated than he realized. Now he must figure out a way to break the curse before it kills both of them and Idrian’s entire crew.

I would characterize this book as science fantasy: Post climate apocalypse with space travel to orbiting satellites, but with seemingly magical tethers or bonds between people.

This is a slow burn story. It is queer-normative. It is NOT a romance. At all. Instead it is a story about loss and grief and found family. It is a story about secrets and lies. It is about betrayal and courage and finding solutions when all hope seems lost.

And the author tells it very well. Half way through I wasn’t sure how I felt. I thought it would be a 3 star read for me at best. About two-thirds I realized how much more invested I was in the fate of these characters. By the end, I was all in.

While this book is a stand alone (I believe), and works as a complete story, I would enjoy spending more time in this world and with these characters. I will definitely keep an eye out for this author and check out future stories by her.

I couldn't quite get into this one. Made me feel I've aged out of the genre. Just a bunch of characters living life under various calamities. Less a sci-fi/fantasy and more of a romp through the lives and relationships of a random cast of personalities. Half of them annoyed me. It also has a rather complicated magical system at its heart. I should've known when it was compared to "The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" that it wasn't for me. I think younger audiences used to serial cartoons and seeking a bit of fantastical melodrama will like this one.

I tried to listen to this book so many times it actually drive me nuts!
I heard amazing things about this book and was super excited when I got an audio arc. However the narrator did not work for me at all. She made me confused about the different perspectives, confuaion about the medical condition of one of the main characters. And also bad at switching perspectives as they sounded the same to me.
Now that the book is out I might try get a physical copy instead, however because I burned myself out trying to follow this I might not be getting to it soon.

Fantastic standalone novel with a gender non conforming, aro and ace main character

🩷Found family
🧡Queer
💜SciFi but we fucked the planet
🩷Am I the bad guy
🧡Not enough acab for a book about a corrupt government
💜Actual character growth 🤔
🩷Am I the bad guy?
🧡Forgiveness
💜You killed my brother, prepare to die
🩷The withering is a tad confusing

4 stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton Audio | Hodderscape & NetGalley for an alc. All opinions are my own

I always say that if a book makes me cry it’s an automatic 5 stars but even if this book hadn’t made me cry (it did) it would still be a 5 star.
Lord of the Empty Isles is easily one of my top 10 books this year. It is heart wrenching and beautiful and so full of love.
I adored all the different forms of platonic and familial love that we got to see grow between the cast. Every character felt so full and well rounded and I loved the growth that Remy had, though i am hoping that we get a sequel because I think there is so much potential for more growth with the rest of the characters!
It was easy to be drawn in and absolutely absorbed into the story and so easy to care about and fall in love with the characters. the world building wasn't clunky, the action was fast and fan, and the emotional moments we so strong. I cried multiple time. I am excited to see what Arbeaux does next.

I was honored to be gifted a ALC from the publisher and netgally. Audiobooks are my main source of reading and this one was great! As a southerner, I did struggle a bit with the southern accent for Idrian but quickly adjusted to it and it didn't hinder my reading experience!