Crier's War (Crier's War, #1) in sapphic circle

Sep 17, 2021 lux rated it it was amazing

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, romance, favorites, queer-reads

im speechless....,, this was Everything and i was not expecting to love it as much as i did!!! i dont read much fantasy but found this easy to follow along with great world building and a genuinley interesting plot, i loved loved loved the characters and found their relationship so touching, ive never read a sapphic enemies to lovers but Boy did this book set the standard. it was all written so beautifully & i have such a soft spot for crier 😭😭😭 ordering the second book asap

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May 23, 2021 a duck rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: diverse-wlw-fantasy, diverse-wlw-books, ms-series-unfinished, new-in-2019

"She was called the Barren Queen, but I never met anyone less empty. For if one is wanting of a child, then by nature their heart is overfilled with love—overflowing, yearning for a new vessel to hold that love, like spilling water."

This is another one of those novels that I really thought I was going to love that simply... fell flat. The concept is interesting-a world where automae rapidly overthrew the humans that made them, reducing them to second-class citizens. The execution, however, did n

"She was called the Barren Queen, but I never met anyone less empty. For if one is wanting of a child, then by nature their heart is overfilled with love—overflowing, yearning for a new vessel to hold that love, like spilling water."

This is another one of those novels that I really thought I was going to love that simply... fell flat. The concept is interesting-a world where automae rapidly overthrew the humans that made them, reducing them to second-class citizens. The execution, however, did not live up to the idea.
I found the writing to be a bit too clunky, repetitive, and predictable. For example, this passage includes the word "made" FOUR times in three sentences.

"For humans, possessing a Made object was forbidden, as Made objects were the work of alchemy and considered dangerous, powerful. After all, Automae themselves were Made. Perhaps they didn’t like any reminder that they, too, were once treated like trinkets and playthings. Made objects were completely illegal, and therefore incredibly tempting."

I will also say, about half-way through the book there is major plot-twist (at least I think its meant to be a surprise...) which was one of the most predictable plot points I have read in a long while. (view spoiler)

The backstory and world-building are one of the most fascinating elements of the novel, and I wish Varela had taken advantage of them more. If the mystery surrounding the invention of automae and Ayla's necklace had been in the foreground, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. Ultimately, I found it difficult to connect to Ayla and Crier, and had absolutely no emotional attachment to their relationship. I picked this book up specifically because I enjoy reading WLW stories, but I simply could not bring myself to care about these two. Overall, the main issue I had with the development of their romance is similar to the one I had with the plot-I felt like we would hit a plateau in the writing, only to get to a point where the author would tell us that a character had grown or the plot had progressed, and then move on to another plateau (and so on). ...more

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Sep 16, 2021 Jenny rated it really liked it

This has to be my favourite read of 2021. Incredibly well written, the fictional world of Crier's War is described in great detail and is well thought and explained. I appreciated the in-depth analysis of the history and comeuppance between Automae and humans. The enemy-come-lover theme is very gripping and I enjoyed the character development. I am very excited to read the sequel, Irons Heart! ...more

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Aug 26, 2021 Paola rated it really liked it

Lo termine! este libro fue una montaña rusa de “me gusta” y “ya no me gusta”, pero me saque adelante y puedo decir que si, si me gusto. Ohh y lo de “a butterfly in a spider’s web” me encanto.

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Oct 22, 2021 Kačka Vávrová rated it it was amazing

I loved this book so much. The post apocalyptic world is very well built imo, the two main characters are so enjoyable to follow too. I am so ready to start book 2.

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Dec 08, 2020 Katie✨ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lgbtq, magic, fantasy, science-fiction, sapphics, romantic, slow-burn, all-time-favorites, cover-love, books-i-currently-own

A sapphic slow burn enemies to lovers with beautiful writing. Crier and Ayla are literally competing with Adora and Catra for the top spot in sapphic angst, I love them so much😭😭

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