This was an easy 4 star read for me, it was such an interesting romantasy read, and I really loved the queer representation in this novel, as well as the idea of time travel to hopefully make a better future. This book provided all the best feelings regarding found family, second chances, and the kind of love that never really dissipates, and is explored perfectly through an almost lovers to enemies/enemies to lovers type story line. There was a decent pace that didn’t make me feel rushed, while also establishing the world and relationships between characters, and I can’t tell you enough how much I really loved Tigris. I will say there are some pretty dark themes in this book and if you are sensitive AT ALL you should definitely check your trigger warnings because your mental health is important.

Content/trigger warnings:
-suicide
-self harm
-death
-murder
-attempted murder
-knives
-blood
-body swap
-abusive marriage

This cozy fantasy had it all: cute romance, intriguing plot, and a cat! I had a really great time reading this book, and I thought it was a unique plot. Cyril is such a special character. Looking forward anything Costa writes in the future.

I had so much fun reading Shoestring Theory, it was definitly a right place right time kind of book, I was coming off reading two books that weren't really for me and I need a light (ish) pick me up. Shoestring Theory does deal with dark themes like war, unaliving and animal passing but I don't think it detracts from the fun, whimsy, fantasy vibes that Costa creates. There exists a fine balance between all the themes which in my opinion, alongside, the goods vibes I had reading Shoestring Theory made this book a five star read.

We start the story with Cyril our male protagonist unaliving himself, the death of his cat familliar Shoestring and time travel, so from the start I would say this book may be a trigger for some and to completely avoid it if that is case. Cyril, a powerful mage, travels back several years in times to undo the past, as his husband has in the future or past depending on how you look at it become a tyrant.

I'm not sure who my favourite character was, okay I lie, it was Tigris, she was the only one who had her stuff together. I apologies to Cyril and Eufrates but they were both total idiots half the time. I was rooting for Cyril, It was very odd because normally I detest whiny characters, a part of me always wants to slap them across the face with a newspaper and say "pull yourself together" but I think with Cyril it worked. A lot of Cyril's journey was confidence based, he's self-loathing and self-deprecating and it was interesting to see how that impacted a man that was almost fifty but also how in the presence of a friend it's almost as if no time has past and you can revert to your younger self.

I enjoyed Shoestring Theory and I'm very excited to read what Mariana Costa writes in the future, I think I've found another auto-buy author.

Thank you Angry Robot, Netgally and Mariana Costa.

Shoestring Theory by Mariana Costa is a delightfully quirky read that manages to be cosy and whimsical but also veers into darker, more serious territory. It’s not the sort of book that fits neatly into any one box, and that’s part of its charm. The story has a unique blend of mystery and magic, with Eufrates and Tig providing some of the most fun, memorable moments in the book through their banter and distinct personalities.

One thing I appreciate is the way the world feels both grounded and fantastical at the same time, giving you just enough information to keep you intrigued while leaving plenty of mystery in the air. The stakes are much higher than one might expect from a cosy story, and while I wouldn't compare this book to Legends and Lattes, it does have its cosy moments mixed in with more intense, sometimes dark, elements.

However, I did feel that the pacing was inconsistent. At times the action slowed, giving us a chance to really get to know the characters, and then at other times, events moved too quickly, especially towards the end. The fast-paced conclusion didn’t allow the story to fully breathe, and I couldn’t help but think it might have worked better as a duology. Splitting the story in two would have allowed more time for the characters and plot to develop without feeling rushed.

Despite the pacing issues, the characters remain the heart of the novel. The interplay between Eufrates, the main characters, and Tig is one of the highlights, bringing out a lightness and humor that contrasts with some of the darker plot threads. The banter and their quirks gave the book its personality and kept me engaged throughout.

You can tell this is Costa's debut, but there's so much potential here. Her storytelling style feels refreshingly different from current trends, with a narrative structure and tone that stand out. I’m excited to see where she goes from here and would definitely read more of her work in the future. Her distinctive voice is one to keep an eye on :)

Thank you to Netgalley and Angry Robot Books for the advanced reader copy, as always. I really appreciate most if not all books you put out in the world. You are the best! Happy publication day for tomorrow!!!!

Timey wimey and full of heart, Shoestring Theory will tug at your emotions and take you on a wild ride across lifetimes and kingdoms!

To be honest, this book had me at the premise of a cat familiar and a cozy fantasy vibe, but it's always a worry whether these promises will deliver. In this case, they most certainly did! The story follows Cyril, a magician who has deep connections to royalty and a very big secret - he has completed a sacrificial spell to take him back in time to try to right wrongs and save his homeland. Unfortunately, a different spell from his original timeline complicates things, as he's not the only one to have his memories of the future...

I loved the quick pace and complicated characters, especially towards the end when we get more interactions between Euphrates, Tig, and Cyril. The genuine wish to do better makes this a cozy read despite the high stakes, and the atmosphere reminds me of The House Witch which is lovely.

I didn't like how the actions of Euphrates from the other timeline are never really explained. He was awful and evil and a despot (etc etc), but other than a mention of an execution, the reader is left clueless as to what actually happened which makes his characterisation struggle to really shine. I also found the romance problematic at points, and it wasn't until near the end when I started being more invested in that aspect.

I couldn't put this book down though - I finished it in a day, reading late into the night because I wanted to see how everything resolved. It was a fun magical adventure, and I definitely would recommend for those looking for an action packed cozy fantasy that has some danger, romance, political tensions, and of course, cats.

If this is the new standard for romantasy, count me in. The plot was very clever and so smartly intertwined with the love story, it got me reading, and reading again. It was funny, and sad, and happy, and... I will never forget Shoestring. This is definitely the ultimate cat lovers romantasy.

Title: Shoestring Theory
Author: Mariana Costa
Pages: 400
Rating: 5/5

Arc Copy (gifted) - review left voluntarily
Publish date - 8th October 2024

A book about cats, mages, queer romance, time travel, court politics - it's like this book was written specifically for me, and had me crying!!!

This was beautifully written from start to finish. With fast pacing of world building, plot progression and action holding my attention all the way through.

The writing and relationships between characters were incredibly thought out. The tension, the love the betrayal was artistically written. (Although I wanted to bang the boys heads together to have a proper conversation)

I loved Tig. An absolute power woman with no fear.

Although a "cosy fantasy" there was still darker themes spun in the story.

This was a standalone book about self acceptance, love, friendship and doing what's right. A beautiful comfort read.
At the last page, I hugged my kindle and cried my little cold black heart out. I even took the rest of the day off from reading.
I'm sad this is a standalone as the world and characters are perfection. I'll be buying a physical book trophy for myself as it deserves a spot on the shelf!!

You'll love this book if you like
- second chances
- queer romance
- books by TJ Klune
- time travel
- cosy fantasy
- mages and cats
- revenge
- friends to lovers to enemies to lovers
- found family

Thank you @netgalley, @angryrobotbooks for allowing me to review.

Will you be putting this on your tbr? Have you read it already, what were your thoughts??

Delightful, and exactly what I want from a cozy fantasy. Stupid idiots in love, brilliant female and queer characters, and adorable animals. It gripped me from the get go, and the story unravelled at a quick but not too rushed pace. Love the play on string theory, and would definitely read more from the author.

YAY!!!!

I am so enamored with this book! It's fantasy with wizards, familiars, and lots of schemes! I had such a blast reading this and very much enjoyed everything about it! The humour, characters and plot were all so well done.

Cyril finds himself flung back in time before his entire life fell apart. Now he is a 50 year old man stuck in his early 20's body and trying to right the wrongs this time around. Only problem is that he accidentally brought along his despot estranged husband.

I feel like I could have read this in one sitting. There was just enough plotting, magic, and twists to keep your eyes glued to the page. A perfect fantasy standalone that is the ideal balance of adventure and coziness.

This is the kind of cozy fantasy that also does its fair share of heavy lifting on subjects like loss, grief and regret - if you like that, Shoestring Theory will not disappoint you! I had a grand time reading the adventures, and I do agree with those reviewers to compared the novel to fanfic experience: very on point if you like to dig into a long novel-sized timetravel fixit kind of fics. Very enjoyable, really recommend.

🥹 this scratched my brain in all the good ways, which means that this won't be a proper review because I am unable to say what was so good about it. It's just, the combination of tropes, the tension between characters and the absolute perfect balance of plot and coziness was made for me, you know? I read it in one day, which hasn't happened in forever (it was also a rainy day) so that has to mean something.

Anyway no review just vibes, read this book, bye

Shoestring Theory is a time travel cozy romantasy about a mage traveling back in time to right some wrongs. The kingdom of Farsala is in ruins, and the once Grand Mage Cyril who stood by as it happened has hidden himself away. When his cat familiar Shoestring dies, Cyril casts one last desperate spell with his lifeblood to travel back in time to correct his mistakes and stop his husband King Eufrates from turning down a dark path. But things don’t go according to plan when a spell he cast during their wedding vows gets in the way.

I absolutely loved the first third of this book. It took several twists that were delightful surprises that I didn’t see coming and made the story feel much fresher than the synopsis suggests. That being said, I do wish that it had used that big early twist better (I’m obfuscating because spoilers) and gone a different direction with it. I guess I thought the book was setting up something but went elsewhere instead with its primary antagonist, romance, and level of coziness. It did give me a protagonist I could root for in the somewhat hotmess Cyril and his best friend Tig. I could have used more Prince Eugie pr even some PoV chapters from him.

The book is not as cozy as the marketing claims it to be, especially with the very dark tone it starts at with a cat death and Cyril killing himself to cast his spell. It does get much much lighter thereafter, but I still wouldn’t compare it to the coziness of Legends & Lattes. Neither is it as romantic as I expect a romantasy book to be. There is a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romance but it’s mostly historical/off-page. Cyril and Eufie spend much of the book apart actually, so the main plot is really just Cyril figuring out how to get through the tragic events that start the domino effect of Eufie’s descent.

I did like and enjoy Shoestring Theory even though it didn’t give me exactly what I wanted out of it.

*Thank you to Angry Robot Books for the eARC via NetGalley

Thank you SO MUCH for the eARC of this book!
Overall, I enjoyed this story. I felt like at times it dragged, and sometimes I felt like Cyril's "innocence" and naivety seemed slightly unrealistic when compared to all of their experiences.

I just lost my cat and so instantly I was sucked into the possibility of bringing him back. I love Cyril's dedication to always bettering himself, as well as him and his partner learning each other and learning to communicate/be together. I think this book has SO much potential and it was very emotional and enjoyable. I loved that even though it had the essence of a cozy fantasy, the stakes were higher. The fact that Mariana Costa is an artist is a huge benefit to her story telling because she writes descriptions like a drawing: no detail is too small. Although sometimes a lot of detail can distract from the story, hers did not!!

Overall, I enjoyed this and love that more and more LGBTQA+ representation are getting their moment. Excited to see what Mariana Costa does next!!

Cyril Laverre was once a grand mage. Now, he's watched his world fall apart, and even his loyal cat familiar Shoestring has passed on. With nothing left to lose, he sacrifices himself to cast one last-ditch spell: one that will take him back in time to the beginning of the end of the kingdom of Farsala. But when he awakens in his twentysomething body again, things are awry. Shoestring is back, but he's acting more like a normal cat than a wise familiar. The wedding ring he wears around his neck has somehow followed him to the past. And Eufrates Margrave—who in Cyril's original timeline became both Farsala's despotic king and Cyril's husband—has been pulled back in time, too.

With his plans to assassinate his former lover now scrapped, Cyril enacts a mad plan to prevent Eufrates from taking the throne once again. His first goal is to prevent the death of Eufrates's sister Tigris, allowing her to marry her fiancé Atticus and take the throne. But as Cyril peers further into the weave of magic around him, he discovers that there's more to the kingdom's downfall than even he knew. More troubling still, it seems he's still madly in love with his wicked husband.

Shoestring Theory is billed as a "friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers" romance for people who like fanfiction, but I feel this sells the novel short. For one thing, fanfic is not a monolith; for another, there's so much more to the story than its central turbulent romance. (Although, yes, that's huge and very fun.) As exciting as the broad story is, the underlying tale of Cyril's own character progression is the most rewarding part of the story. He's depressed, imperfect, and full of regrets; but even as an older man literally revisiting his youth, he has room to grow and change. Equal measures light-hearted and thought-provoking, this is a fabulous fantasy-romance with a wonderful message about finding your heart and your self-worth.

This book was far from bad, in fact, I think it was really well written. However, I just couldn't get into it. I tried, but ended up DNF'ing part way through because it just wasn't the right time for me to read it. If you like complex magic systems and apocalyptic futures, you'll like this book. But just bear in mind it is so slow.

Very rarely do I say that a story would benefit from being split into multiple books, but I'm going to say it here. This was a fun book with a lot of potential that ended up being tragically stymied by being crammed into 400 pages.

One-time Grand Mage of Farsala, Cyril Laverre, sees an opportunity to set his mistakes (and the world) to right as he nears the end of his life and copes with the loss of his familiar. Traveling back in time, he has a big task ahead of him - prevent the untimely death of friend and future-queen Tigris Margrave, and in so doing prevent the descent of Eufrates, her brother - Cyril's husband - into madness and tyranny. Except the marriage bond he once placed on them both won't make that easy.

Shoestring Theory had so much promise, but I sit here struggling even to compact the story into a workable summary. It was just so much plot to work through, even for a book that was rather slow-moving and meandering. There were just so many things that Costa had to solve, plot-wise, that cramming it all into a single book just didn't do it any favors. Instead, it felt like each event was glossed over (and not in a cozy "these aren't priority" sort of way) and I left feeling unsatisfied. The antagonist's motives felt underdeveloped, the past between Cyril and Eufrates was disappointingly scant, and their current romance was difficult to believe in how rushed it was all resolved.

On the other hand, Tig was a joy of a character and the author's way with describing the setting and outfits was lovely. The bare bones of this story had so much potential.

“No. I do not hate you, Cy. I don’t believe anyone alive hates you as much as you do.”

Well, this was cute!! Though the tone starts off dark, Shoestring Theory is a story about self love and forgiveness. The characters were flawed, but easy to root for. I’ll forgive any predictability for the cozy ending. Let’s be real, the best type of time travel stories are the ones that heal trauma! Would definitely recommend. Thanks NetGalley and publishers for the ARC!

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Sometimes you accidentally read a book that is just perfectly written for you: and this is one of those for me.

This is The Sins On Their Bones - But it didn’t leave me heartbroken in the end. The tension in this, the relationship between Cy and his tyrant ex-husband, the fast-flowing plot?? All of this was perfect, and I could ramble for hours about it.

Cy is a wonderful main character. I loved seeing his growth: for him to overcome his suicidal ideation and learn that he is loved by those around him.
We follow him as he, as a 50 year old man at the end of the world, performs a last ditch attempt to right the wrong of the past. (By literally going back into the past, into the body of his 20-year old self.)
He expects to meet his ex-husband before he turned into the tyrant his is in Cy’s current reality; only the spell goes slightly wrong, and Cy’s ex-husband is transported to the past right along with him.
(Yeah, I can’t spell the man’s name, I’m so sorry, I’ve just been calling him Euf in my head…)

The magic system is easy to understand, the writing style is lovely and smooth and it was honestly so hard to put down. This book is fantastic and I hope the author has more stories to tell, because I’ll be auto-buying them!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Rating: 5/5
I had such a fantastic time reading Shoestring Theory. From the first page I was hooked, delighting in the idea of time travelling to the past. The book is rather fast paced and engaging, which made for a fun and quick read. My only criticisms is that the side characters could've just been a bit more fleshed out as well as the villain. I also wouldn't call this a 'cozy fantasy' like Legends and Lattes (honestly I can't make sense of the comparison, the two aren't really alike) as the stakes are far too high, but rather cozy-adjacent.

The book starts off with exactly the kind of grim, immersive setting I was looking for. It strikes a great balance between cozy fantasy and traditional fantasy early on, creating a world that truly pulls you in. However, after a major plot twist, it takes a more juvenile turn that didn’t quite work for me. The introduction of the second romantic love interest was a bit jarring, especially since I was so invested in Eufrates and Cyril’s dynamic. The twist also made things harder to connect with, as Cyril—who is established as the best grand mage of his time—didn’t quite live up to that reputation once he goes back in time. That aspect left me feeling a bit disappointed.

That said, this is far from a bad read! In fact, the first half of the book was so rich and imaginative that it makes the second half feel less impactful by comparison. The court politics, the main couple's dynamic, and the world-building in the early chapters were all a joy to explore.

Mariana Costa has a beautifully unique writing style and brings some really interesting ideas to the table. While this book may not have fully nailed its execution, I'm excited to see what she creates next!

If you're a fan of historical romance manhwas or isekai stories, I’d definitely recommend giving this a try—you might just find it to your liking!