I unabashedly loved this.

Do not let the Legend&Lattes comp deter you (or fool you, if you liked that book). This is a contained, character-driven time-travel fantasy with plenty of adventure, tight plotting, and high stakes - though it never feels particularly stressful, and it's got the cheesiest ending you could think of.

The first half of this was genuinely immaculate. I loved watching Cyrus travel back in time to try and fix the world which his ex-husband king, turned tyrant, had essentially ruined, only to re-live the most difficult days of their lives. The characterisations, the painful nostalgia, the romantic tension!! The elderly witch auntie! Phenomenal.

It is let down by its twee streak, which makes it so its bite (and there are seriously dark themes here) is always sanded off by cutesy statements&moments which make its characters (all very much adults) act like teenagers.

Still, incredibly engaging, borderline unputdownable, great atmosphere, and it felt like a big hug.

4.5

I am unfamiliar with illustrator and author Mariiana Costa's previous works, but was eager to read this story as it sounded intriguing:

A middle-aged mage, Cyril, is devastated and alone after years together with his husband, Eufrates, the king of their country. The king was crowned after his sister Tigris, the Queen, died unexpectedly of a wasting disease. Eufrates only ever wanted to be a bard, and was unhappy ruling, gradually becoming harsh and paranoid, to the point that Cyril no longer recognized the man. Cyril hatches a risky plan to kill Eufrates by sending his consciousness back to the time when Tigris was still alive, in an effort to prevent Eufrates from ever becoming the king.

Of course things go wrong almost immediately, and Cyril discovers that not only has he sent himself back, but he's also sent middle-aged Eufrates back into his twentyish-year-old body, thanks to a spell Cyril created at their future wedding to bind them together, forever.

Eufrates is cruel tp Cyril, and upset to be back, and Cyril is unsuccessful in his attempt to kill Eufrates. Cyril is eventually forced to tell Tigris what is going on, and there are numerous conversations between the pair. Cyril makes no progress on figuring out what is really going on politically and what happened between Cyril and Eufrates till late in the book.

The story is cozy, in that the stakes felt mostly pretty low. But, I found the pacing to be uneven, and sometimes felt that scene transitions and even character motivations were a little clunky. I also did not understand why Cyril loved Eufrates (beyond the fact that Eufrates was gorgeous and used to be kind), while Tigris seemed to come across as a more fully-realized person. That may be because of the back-and-forth between her and Cyril throughout the novel.

I also found Cyril to be repeatedly stupid (which he eventually admits) but I found this trait incredibly irritating in a main character. I could not understand how this person could be seen as the best grand mage of his generation, much less why Eufrates loved him. I also did not care that much about Eufrates, either. But I loved Tigris, and her love for adventure.

I think there are things to like about the book, in the sense that
-Cyril and Eufrates love each other deeply,
-Cyril's grand aunt is the freaking best, and her familiar, which is a crow, LOVES raisins,
-Cyril's familiar's name
-Tigris.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Angry Robot for this ARC in exchange for my review.

An intriguing premise gives rise to a sweet, if at times overly complicated romance novel.

I enjoyed getting to know the characters, and Cyril was easy to like as he is so desperate for a chance to do things over. I liked his romance with his husband and seeing them fall in love was really cute. I'm not the biggest fan of time travel, but this was a sweet romantic do-over.

Soft DNF at 35% in.

When I started reading this, I was in the right headspace to read it, but then I suffered a bereavement so I had to pause reading it.

I will be back to read it in the future.

Shoestring Theory is a queer time travel romance. The book opens on a present world that is dying because of the decisions of King Eufrates Margrave. The kingdom of Farsala lies broken and former Grand-Mage of the High Court, Cyril Laverre, has spent the last decade in isolation (with his beloved cat) in a crumbling seaside shack waiting for the world to end as he bares immense guilt for not trying to stop the kingdoms downfall. When Shoestring dies, Cyril decides to try one more spell and travels back in time, to before the tragic events to try to prevent Eufrates from becoming king.
Shoestring Theory is about second chances, love in any form, and redemption. This is a treasure of a book with compelling characters and story, and an immersive, beautiful, and interesting world, and an emotional and heartfelt story.

"A queer, madcap, friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers time travel romance" is the perfect tagline for this book!

t Shoestring Theory by Mariana Costa is a queer, madcap, friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers time travel romance with the future of the world at stake. This is a humorous, emotional, and hopeful story with complex relationships and a touch of magic, that I enjoyed reading.

Shoestring Theory is emotional but also funny, with strong character development and very lovable characters. One of my favourite characters was Tigris and I loved her banter with Cyrill and Eufrates. It is a very cosy read without missing its plot twists.

Ended up mainlining this over the last few days of the year, and it's honestly a pretty damn well executed time loop to try to fix the shitty ending you come from and maybe not fuck up so much this time, except maybe everyone's strings are being pulled by something else. Does have the feeling of a serial you might find on AO3, but it's still fascinating to watch everything unfold, and the tropes it does have, it does well. Worth your time.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Angry Robot for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

TW: suicide, animal death, death, blood, violence, panic attacks, body horror, toxic relationships

Cyril Laverne has spent the past ten years hiding in a hut by the sea, trying to catch fish for his cat familiar, Shoestring, and avoiding the mistakes of his past as a former grand high mage of Farsala. The kingdom lies in ruins, and Cyril blames himself because it was his husband- King Eufrates- who destroyed it through madness and violence while Cyril stood by and let it happen. Now an old man, Cyril can’t help but think back on the life he once had and what he would change if he could. When Shoestring wanders away and dies, Cyril knows he doesn’t have long left without that piece of his soul. With his remaining lifeforce, Cyril casts a spell that propels him back through time and into the body of his younger self to a much happier time- when twenty two years old Cyril and bard prince Eufrates were still side stepping their feelings and Eufrates’ brilliant sister Tigris was alive and destined to become Queen. If Cyril can stop Eufrates from taking the throne of Farsala, he might just be able to save the entire kingdom from its doomed fate. However, the vows that Cyril made on his wedding day mean that he and Eufrates are forever bound, and soon enough it becomes clear that the modern Eufrates has also been pulled back through time. Trapped together in their own history alongside their husband turned enemy, Cyril and Eufrates are forced to relive the worst year of their lives- and what they both know is the beginning of the end unless they try to change the future.

This book starts out in rough and distressing circumstances after the end of the world but Cyril’s old man narration adds to the dark humour and unique, beautiful vibe so perfectly that it doesn’t feel wrong. The amount of times I laughed was ridiculous considering how it started but ‘Shoestring Theory’ is ultimately a lighthearted time travel story I couldn’t put down once I started. As he grows comfortable in his younger self again, and more focused on changing things now he knows the end, Cyril is such a delightful main character. His relationship was the end of an entire kingdom, Eufrates never used to be like this and the reader can see why the two fell in love. I loved getting to see all the different sides of it, from first love to just married to pure enemies, especially when it becomes clear that old man Eufrates is also here because of Cyril’s magic based wedding vows. Shoestring might die at the beginning but his younger self, no longer Cyril’s familiar but just a regular cat, is a complete delight, as is Eufrates’ doomed sister Tigris and Cyril’s legendary mage aunt Helene. Time travel is one of my favourite tropes, especially when it’s done with originality and heart, and this book has that in abundance. I’m so glad I read this one.

There were parts I really enjoyed, but it also had some elements I really don't like reading about. The climax also felt too easily obtained. I'd definitely recommend it for someone who doesn't mind certain tropes and reads it mostly for the romance. It just wasn't right for me.

thanks to netgalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for a review!

this had alllll the fun tropes in it. time travel, friends to lovers to enemies to lovers, kind of a second chance romance, so much angst and pining. this story had a lot of revealts/revelations and sometimes that can tire me out, but this one did not do that at all. it was well constructed, the characters are all morally gray but understandable. highly recommend if you like romantasy with a little more serious plotline.

What a fun plot and engaging characters. Friend to enemies to lovers. Cozy fantasy. Time Travel. Oh what a fun read this was! The set up was heavy in the first couple chapters, but overall what a great story! 4 stars

Shoestring Theory is one of those fantasies that focuses more on the characters than building a lush world for them to inhabit. A map of the kingdoms would have been quite helpful. The time travel aspect and its inevitable surprises kept my interest. It seems like a sleepy, cozy fantasy, but also quite twisty and surprising. Hefty topics and certain events (especially in the beginning) had me leaning away from really considering this to be a cozy fantasy. They did lend more depth to the characters and the situations they found themselves in.

I didn’t feel particularly drawn to any of the main characters but I would have loved to learn more about Cyril’s grandmother. I love that each character has flaws. Those flaws weren’t just tossed out into the story without exploration, growth, or grumbling from other characters either. The character dynamic was one that I hadn’t seen in a while – where they had all known each other for their entire lives.

Overall, I enjoyed this quirky little fantasy. The characters and their relationships with one another paired with the seemingly straightforward (it’s not haha) plot made for quite the read. The pacing could be massaged a little bit to help keep the story flowing but it didn’t break it for me. Many thanks to Angry Robot Books for the gifted copy to read and review – all opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book! Friends to lovers, time travel AND CATS!!! 5 stars for the cats alone.

I had a suspicion I would enjoy this book, but I hadn't realized how much! I fell in love with the main characters and miss them already. It was fun that the story had an element of mystery to it. And despite the heavy beginning, there was actually quite a bit of hope in this story. I'd love to read more books by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the ARC.

While enjoyable, I feel that this book was rather marketed wrongly. I wouldn’t call this lite fantasy at all. With war threatened between the two nations and threats of torture from Cyril’s former husband, it kind of felt too dark to be called anything like cosy.

I also was very disappoint by the lack of the cat. While it says in the blurb that the cat dies early on, I assumed that since it was a time travel fantasy that the cat would be alive in the earlier time. But it was not. And that was honestly very disappointing. It lent a very dark air to the start of the book. I also didn’t buy Cyril as an over fifty-year-old master mage. He seemed a lot younger than that personality-wise.

What this book was though was chaotic. Cyril was a disaster queer and that led to quite a few hijinks. I enjoyed how queer this book was and how pretty much every character was a walking disaster. It added a fun element to the book that was otherwise lacking.

I think if this book had been marketed differently, I might have enjoyed it a lot more. It’s unfortunate really.

I love love love this!
The characters, the plot, the humour, the writing - everything worked so well together!
I loved Cyril and Shoestring as a duo, and the antics they get up to kept me hooked to this story. I loved the twists and turns which definitely weren't expected and I'm a huge fan of the direction this story took.
I'm all for this genre of fantasy - slightly cosy but with some higher stakes to keep you interested.

DNF - I really have to stop trying Angry Robot books, the writing styles never agree with me. I found this one so clunky, heavy on the info-dumping and telling-not-showing. Not objectively awful, but not great, either.

dnf @ 11%


I had really been looking forward to this one!! I was on the fence because while it's not portrayed as a cozy fantasy, the marketing made it feel like it could lean that way. (& I'm still not entirely sure if it is or isn't cozy fantasy -- the stakes are definitely higher than cozy fantasies, but I felt little if any tension in the part I read.)

The concept is super, super compelling to me, but I didn't find myself caring about any of the characters or the setting or the plot. So evidently this book is not for me.

That being said, I do think that people who like cozy fantasy would likely connect with & enjoy this book!

I've been a fan of Mari Costa's comic work for years, but with this being her first novel, I decided to keep my expectations realistic about the prose. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by a book beautifully written, with prose that is evocative in ways I've never seen in other books. When a new character or location is introduced, the clarity of their descriptions makes it so you can feel you're seeing them exactly as the author intended. The dialogue was also on point, (which is no surprise), though I wish there had been more of it. That's where the author makes you laugh the hardest.

I have to say, when I read that this book was enemies to lovers (plus all the fantastic promotional art she's been posting on socials), I expected a more tragic and dramatic story. I felt disappointed in Eufrates as a villain, whom I wish was more unequivocally evil. When we learned the history of his tyranny, I thought, "Wait, that's it?", and his actual character during the story was a little underwhelming. He doesn't feel like a real threat until way past the first half of the book.

(SPOILERS) I know there's an explanation for that, and that Eufrates was never truly bad, but that's something I'll touch on below. Personally, I think if a book starts with a character committing suicide to travel back in time to kill the love of his life, the stakes have to be a little higher than what he ended up doing, even if he wasn't fully at fault. By the time the real villain is revealed, I was so starved for an evil guy that I almost rooted for him instead. (SPOILER)

I also feel the magic system wasn't explained well enough for the twists to hit as hard as they could, just a vague idea of what is easy or hard to do. The political intrigue in this book doesn't really do it for me either, since aside from the main cast, there isn't any other named character who last more than a scene.

Now, if there's one thing Mari does well in any medium, it's the romance. The actual moments when the main couple was allowed to be in love were so, so, SO SWEET, and in the end you can't help but root for them. By the end of the book, I was at the edge of my seat waiting for them to just get it together and admit their feelings for each other. I also really loved what we got to see of Eufrates before becoming a king, when he was a young bard with no interest in politics. That side of him really makes it all the more tragic that he ended up where he did.

(SPOILER) While I don't think Eufrates wasn't as evil as I would've liked, I really like that he doesn't accept the truth behind his actions as an excuse for what he did. It would've taken away from the story if Eufrates just said "oh thank god" and became good right away. At the end of the day, all the bad things he did were done under his name, and the guilt and trauma from that is not something that can be undone with just the reveal. (SPOILER)

TL;DR: Shoestring Theory is the perfect book for those looking for a cozy read with beautiful prose, witty dialogue and a good, sweet romance, but those who are interested in the enemies to lovers/tragedy aspect might be let down. I give this book 3 stars.

“A queer, madcap, friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers time travel romance with the future of the world at stake”

I don’t know where to begin!! I loved this story so much. I was completely charmed by all of the characters and how hard they love (Tig my muscular Queen and Eufie the *misunderstood* bard Prince) but most of all by my sweet, oblivious Cyril. It was easy to relate to his self deprecating and self sacrificing tendencies, as well as his flair for the dramatic and general incompetence in most things. Truly, we need more main characters that are sometimes just stupid!

There is so much complicated love and growth in this story and it was such a joy to read. I don’t care if it sounds lame but it is never too late to learn to love yourself or learn to love the ones around you better!!

Thank you so much @netgalley for the eARC ❤️