the Alskad Empire, nearly all are born with a twin, two halves to form one wholeyet some face the world alone.
The singleborn
A rare few are singleborn in each generation, and therefore given the right to rule by the gods and goddesses.
Bo Trousillion is one of these few, born into the royal line and destined to rule, Though he has been chosen to succeed his greataunt, Queen Runa, as the leader of the Alskad Empire, Bo has never felt equal to the grand future before him.
The diminished
When one twin dies, the other usually follows, unable to face the world without their other half.
Those who survive are considered diminished, doomed to succumb to the violent grief that inevitably destroys everyone whose twin has died.
Such is the fate of Vi Abernathy, whose twin sister died in infancy, Raised by the anchorites of the temple after her family cast her off, Vi has spent her whole life scheming for a way to escape and live out what's left of her life in peace.
As their sixteenth birthdays approach, Bo and Vi face very different futuresone a life of luxury as the heir to the throne, the other years of backbreaking work as a temple servant.
But a longheld secret and the fate of the empire are destined to bring them together in a way they never could have imagined.
I really enjoyed the inclusive nature of this story, Too often when authors try and integrate LGBTQ, it becomes the whole story, The Diminished allows characters to be who they are and allows women to succeed in traditionally male roles without making a fuss.
The mix of steampunk and fantasy got a bit convoluted at times, but mostly because I just wanted more.
Are there other solar vehicles besides the steamships Do some born differently really have magical powers The mixture of genres didn't pull me out of the story, it simply left me pouting in the corner wanting more boats with pretty sails.
The Diminished is a shockingly quick read with a truly unique premise, I look forward to seeing where the next book will lead, Showing my cards up front: I've read this book several times as a beta reader, But if you like, you may check my other reviews to see that I very rarely leave comments, and very rarely leavereviews.
I could've given this, said nothing, and the author would've been pleased,
But this isn't abook, for several reasons,
The world building is phenomenal, a riff on colonialism that combines and recreates in interesting ways the Alskad empire is resonant of the Austrian empire circa, the colonies something like Cuba and Madagascar and India rolled together, with plantations from the American South, the capital sort of Londony, but the convent Vi grows up in has the barren, rocky seascapes of Wales or Ireland.
She does great things with flora and fauna, with technology, and especially with food, If like me you enjoy reading about interesting food in books, Patterson has you covered,
The plotting is quick and mysterious and driven by concern for our main characters, There's a conspiracy afoot, one which threatens to shake the empire to its core, and unbeknownst
to our protagonists they are the only ones who can prevent war on one side and totalitarian control and slavery on the other.
But it's the characters who really sell the book, The rest is just window dressing if you don't care for them, and the author has excelled here, Vi is a female lead who evades that "strong female lead" stereotype because she won't accept that there's anything unusual about her strength.
She is strong, mentally and physically, and not very attractive nor very interested in making herself be though the plot will force her into situations where this is a necessity Vi doesn't always get to play to her strengths.
She's very resultsoriented in a way that only male characters are usually allowed to be in YA lit, She's been abandoned, left to the madness and death that afflict people whose twin has died, but she perseveres, and that's her biggest trait: perseverance.
That underdog fighting spirit is what's most endearing about her,
Then there's Bo, a wealthy, coddled aristocrat who is one of a half dozen that may be selected as heir to the empire.
But he's not a very good schemer or pleaser of people he's earnest and kind and too trusting, Not a good politician, in other words, These things that make him more human and also less stereotypically male will be challenged by people around him he'll need to deal with evil people without losing himself in the process.
The other thing about Bo, and it's handled so matter of factly, so adroitly, is that he's gay and that's not a big deal.
I can't tell you how many gay characters I've read who have that as their single defining feature, Bo is gay in the same way that Vi is cisgender, and that's that, This may be my favorite part about Bo how natural his sexuality is, More characters like this please,
I don't want to reveal too much of the plot, because that's a big part of the pleasure of this novel, but I will add that the author challenges traditional foundations of power nobility, sex, gender, church, wealth in refreshing and exciting ways.
You haven't read a book quite like this before, and you absolutely owe it to yourself not to miss this one.
This novel is made up of a fairly interesting concept and world, Every person has a twin, the few single born are destined to rule, The people, who for whatever reason, lose their twin either die from the heartbreak or descend into a violent madness.
Im going to be honest and state that YA and I have a fairly love/hate relationship, but I enjoyed the bones of this novel quite a bit.
I did find myself irritated most often with the POV MC Bo, the heir to the throne this is told in alternating POV.
The world is described as full of political intrigue and assassination attempts on the part of the single born as they vie for their place in the hierarchy.
Despite this, Bo was unwaveringly naïve, He grew up in court, the presumptive heir apparent, survived multiple assassination attempts on his life, yet he trusted easilyfar too easily in my opinion with his supposed backgroundand relied on others to discern for him the machinations of others.
It was naïve to the point of stupidity, This just didnt seem very likely given the description of his world and upbringing, Saying that, I did really enjoy this, It was an easy and entertaining novel, Fairly action packed and a quick read, I was pleased that the author treated same sex attraction as utterly normal and it was refreshing to have a LGBT main character.
Knowing that I am reading a YA novel through the eyes of an adult, I did give it quite a bit a leeway I might not to a novel geared towards a more aged audience.
I think my children would really like this novel, and really thats all you can ask for,
I was gifted this novel by the publisher and the author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
/Stars
"In the Alskad Empire, nearly all are born with a twin, two halves to form one whole.
. . yet some face the world alone, "
Bo and Vi are two people forced to face the world alone, Bo is the heir to the Alskad throne, Singleborn, and blessed by the gods as morally whole and able to rule the empire.
Vi is Diminished, doomed. Her twin died in infancy and she has waited for the day that grief steals her mind and causes her to do unspeakable things.
When Vi finally breaks, the Shriven, servants of the Temple, will put her down, Bo and Vi feel so alone, both desperate for a twin they can never have to fill a void they can never fill.
Both Bo and Vi are approaching theirth birthday, and on that day Bo will become Heir Apparent to the Alskad Empire and Vi will no longer be a ward of the Temple.
Bo must learn to navigate diplomacy and politics while Vi wants to find a way to live peacefully away from the eyes always waiting for her to break.
Neither Bo nor Vi are prepared for the secrets that will have consequences that ripple into both of their lives and shake the empire to its very core.
Only Bo and Vi, unbeknownst to them, can prevent the empire from tipping towards tyranny or chaos
I was not prepared for this book.
The story sounded well enough on the back cover, fairly straight forward, As I read though, I couldn't help but notice how well certain themes were woven into the story, Digs at colonialism, expansionism, traditional power, wealth, gender, and church overreach led to a refreshingly thoughtful story that enraged as it entertained.
I raged with Vi at the injustices to contract and temple workers, I mourned with Bo at the loss of his freedom in becoming the Heir Apparent.
Patterson was able to beautifully draw parallels to very real issues in our world and weave them smoothly into her story.
The world building was PHENOMENAL, Patterson easily immerses the reader in the empire, describing landscapes, buildings, smells, even humidity making me feel all the sensations with her flawless descriptions.
The food made my mouth water, I love it when authors use food in their world building, it's one of the quickest ways to my heart.
All people can relate over food, even if they are unfamiliar menus, we all can relate to the love of food.
Its a simple thing, describing a meal, but it does so much to enrich the world building in the story, giving us a feel, not just for the surroundings, but also for the culture.
I loved the way that LGBT representation was included in this book, Bo is gay, just like the sky is blue, just like Vi is cis, Patterson was able to make multifaceted characters without boiling them down to gay being the only thing that defines them, like many authors are wont to do when they include LGBT characters.
Bo's sexuality is so natural, he just is, He is kind and caring and able to maneuver politically without losing his soul, and by the way, he's gay.
This is by far the best book that weaves LGBT representation into its plot the most seamlessly and least abrupt.
Many authors are so excited to include an LGBT character, which is great, but they forget to give the character dimension.
Bo is what more authors should strive for,
Vi is not your typical strong female character, She's strong but she isn't aware that she's strong, She believes what the temple has taught her: that she is less than human as a Diminished, Vi doesn't have that stereotypical, "I'm strong and beautiful but I don't know it" YA trope, shes more, so much more than that.
She's real and she's a victim of a persecution used to control the population by making them fear people like her.
All her issues are centered around her upbringing in a Temple meant to protect the people from her.
Even to herself, she is the enemy, and she waits for the day she breaks, Vi is so incredibly intricate and her suffering has made her so strong, she just doesn't know it yet.
As this book isn't published yet, I won't delve too much into the plot and risk ruining it for future readers.
However, be prepared for a story that eases you in and then begins galloping away with you until its:am and you should be asleep but you can't stop reading.
Yeah, it happened to me too,
I received this ARC from Harlequin Teen and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review I loved this book so much.
The world building is so rich and thoughtfully done, and the characters captured my heart, Sweet, sweet Bo and scrappy Vi, I JUST WANT TO HUG THEM, I can't wait to read the sequel! If you find the first couple of chapters slow, stick with it! The world building is great in those early chapters, but the action really takes off around chapter.
Final thought: Can I please just travel by sunship from now on I completely adored this book,
So we read about one of the main characters by the name of Vi, Vi is one of the diminished and that means that she was born with a twin who died and unlike the majority that die after their twin's death, she survives.
Having been abandoned for that fact at a temple, she spends her days with her close friend until they move away.
Being diminished, she is not treated fairly and is constantly looked down due to the fact that the diminished are expected to fall into rages of destruction.
In another point of view in this book, we are introduced to Bo, A rare single born whom is chosen as the Queen's successor, Living a more lavished lifestyle, we see his insecurities and a complete opposite to Vi's point of view, We see a new will to survive in a world of royalty due to his title,
The fact that this book doesn't immediately tie these two characters together is amazing, This book does not feel forced and with the numerous amounts of diverse and complicated characters is what makes this book great.
No magic in this book was refreshing with everything that has been coming out lately, The fact that same sex couple was inclusive in this story was great, I was happy that that reason alone wasn't what the book was about, A ship containing advanced technology was great, As good as I had gotten to foreshadowing things there were a few details in this story that I did not see coming which, once again, is completely refreshing.
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