This book is very well-written and the dark topics are handled with care. However, for me they're just a bit much. I don't think this one will be something I can finish, but that doesn't mean it isn't good! Definitely check the triggers before going in (they're all on the author's website, which I really appreciate)

***Thank you to Random House Canada for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

The Sins on Their Bones wrecked me. It broke my heart. Then it built me up again just to stomp my recovered heart into a million pieces. The whole experience was such an emotional roller coaster. There were times I was squinting through tears, almost unable to read the words because I was sobbing so much. Please check the content warnings for this one before picking it up. This was a dark book with a focus on the mental and emotional aftermath of domestic and childhood sexual abuse. Take care if you are not in the right head space to read about those experiences.

I loved how The Sins on Their Bones managed to weave Jewish folklore and mythology into its world-building. The world-building wasn't terribly complex, but I found that it provided just enough information about the society and the magic to keep me interested and allow me to understand the story. The magic and religion were so fascinating. There were angels and demons, talking severed heads, and rituals that were equal parts awe-inspiring and gruesome.

The main thing that kept The Sins on Their Bones from being a five-star read for me was the plot. It was so slow. There was so much focus on the characters and their emotional journeys that the plot suffered. It took forever for anything to happen, and a lot of the forward movement seemed to happen because of luck or convenience. Once everything converged, though, the plot took some turns I didn't expect, and it made great use of how emotionally attached I'd become to the characters.

The starting point of the story in The Sins on Their Bones was also a bit odd. Things began in the direct aftermath of a civil war, and there was a great deal of history between all of the characters. Flashbacks helped to understand some of their previous experiences, but it was just such a strange place to start a story. It felt like the second part of a duology, or maybe even the middle of a trilogy, that was missing its first part.

Ultimately, The Sins on Their Bones was about the journey of growth for the characters as they figured out how to heal from their traumas and move forward to build a better future. I thought all three POVs did a great job of exploring different aspects of how people cope with trauma and loss. The story also illustrated the power of unconditional love and connection in healing, while highlighting the manipulative and controlling ways used by abusers to take advantage of others.

Overall, I thought The Sins on Their Bones was a compelling and emotional read. I came to care about the characters a great deal and was fascinated by the Jewish folklore used in the story. The plot was extremely slow and started in a weird place, but the exploration of trauma, grief, love, and belonging more than made up for it for me. Therefore, I give The Sins on Their Bones a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

How to even start processing this book... So many emotions, and not positive ones either, but that's not a bad thing in this case.
This book is at it's core one about abuse, and about the processing and healing of this. It's goes into pretty heavy detail too, as one POV character was sexually abused as a child while another was in a controlling and abusive romantic relationship for multiple years.

I've seen a few mention that giving Alexey a POV led to humanization of an abuser, and while I agree with this I don't think it's a bad thing. He's so very real - many people have met and been in relationships with people like this, and in my opinion its worthwhile to remember that these people are still human. There's nothing uniquely monstrous about them, and you can always meet some of these people. It's hard to know when you first meet these people, and I think the author really illustrated this well. Although reading his POV was still extremely uncomfortable, especially towards the end of the book...

It was not just doom and gloom though!! It's a wonderfully written book about a bunch of traumatized people that heal through friendship and love, and it was wonderful to see them all support each other. I got really attached to everyone in the found family, which led to me having a hard time with putting the book down (I even finished it at work). Loved the inclusion of fantasy antidepressants and anxiety meds.
Watching Dimitri and Vasily's realtionship developing sort of backwards was super interesting too, and I loved their scenes together. Extremely romantic, made me cry at times :')

The prose was a bit overwritten at times, and it was not as elegantly written as it could've been structure wise I think, but I think the author succeeded in making an exciting book that dealt well with the very heavy themes.

All in all, a great debut and I look forward to reading the authors future works!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

DNF at 25%

This book is well written - but it wasn’t for me. It evokes strong emotion and handles a lot of really traumatic subject and situations with grace, but please please check trigger warnings.

And the starting of the book was odd…:it throws us in 2 years after the catalyst, the war, the trauma….and while I’m INTERESTED in the plot, I wasn’t every INVESTED. And that’s a struggle for me when I don’t care enough about the characters.

This book is important and well done - it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC!
3.5/5 stars

I honestly don't have a ton of super strong feelings on this one? Which is very strange because at the surface, this book should really, really work for me. A queer fantasy based off Jewish folklore with themes of grief, love, and healing should absolutely be right up my alley. And I did enjoy it, and I do think that if you love Leigh Bardugo, particularly Shadow and Bone and the Darkling, you will adore it. But I don't feel strongly about it. The plot was predictable, the romance felt underdeveloped, and so did the characters and their relationships with each other. We meet all of the characters after they've already undergone a devastating war and formed close bonds as a result, so we have no basis for who these characters were before or how they got to this point. We learn a bit through flashbacks or exposition but it really lacks the emotional impact I think actually reading about these experiences as the characters went through them would have provided. I just didn't buy the romance because there was no reason for me to, other than the author telling me they were close and loved each other. More than anything, I loved the potential of this book and I could absolutely see the author's intentions. It's wonderfully written, but I just could not connect to these characters in the way that I wanted to. Dimitri and Vasily don't even spend most of the book in the same place, so the switch from Dimitri mourning his husband to being fully in love felt very abrupt. After the epilogue, I'm sure there will a book 2 and a part of me wishes that the romance hadn't gone so fully to 100% in this one so that I could see them develop their relationship a bit further before fully committing to each other. Also, the Darkling is in my top 5 most hated characters of all time, like everything about him just makes me annoyed and angry, and Alexey is absolutely just a knockoff Darkling so I could not take him seriously as a character. Despite that, I could feel the care the author had for the subject matters in this book, particularly for Jewish culture and faith, and that really saved this book for me. I'm glad I read it and I look forward to reading any other stories by her!

A Jewish-folklore inspired story: Dimitri is the exiled Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo, forced out by his husband Alexey. Dimitri has the remains of his court with him: Mischa, Annika, Ladushka, and his spymaster Vasily. Alexey has turned to a twisted version of Ludyazim, calling it the Holy Science, and has brought himself back from the dead into a stronger body that doesn't require food or sleep. Dimitri and his allies have a plan to take back the country, but Alexey can summon creatures from the realm of demons and killing him will be no easy task. On top of this, Dimitri may be starting to fall for Vasily and is afraid to lose him in saving their country.

This is set in fictional 19th century Eastern Europe and there's 3 points of view. This is a very queer norm setting which I enjoyed. You have found family, a fair amount of spice, demons and angels, a battle for the throne, friends to lovers, mental health representation, and more. Laura had me really caring about that characters. Mind the content warnings, particularly the partner violence (one of the POVs is the abuser) and the physical violence.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC on NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

“He’s a master of being alive and utterly devoid of hope.”

“The Sin on their Bones,” by Laura R. Samotin

Dimitri, former Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo, is a broken man in exile after the civil war started by his estranged husband, Alexey. Dimitri and his spymaster, Vasily, come up with a dangerous plan of having Vasily hide his identity and implant himself in Alexey’s court. He is to gather information while Dimitri finds a way to kill him for good. Alexey is no ordinary man though, he died and resurrected himself as an immortal.

This book was stunning. Not just the cover but also the story. There are a lot of TW! Like a lot. It’s super dark, tense, and emotional. There are a lot of supporting characters and the main characters which are all dynamic and interesting. The relationship was strange, I kind of was like Alexey can turn good and they can be happy again, the only problem was that they were never truly happy. Alexey was an awful person even before he turned into an immortal, so I don’t know what my heart wanted to happen throughout the book. I felt like I was just as conflicted and confused as the characters the entire time. The story line was full of political intrigue and extreme depression. 5 out of 5 stars, so unique and interesting.

-M/M
-Magic
-Gods
-Royalty
-Abuse

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

The Sins on Their Bones is a promising dark fantasy debut set in a world inspired by Eastern-European Ashkenazi Jewish culture, with blood magic, found family, and a society that has normalized queerness. The plot is slow to build but was quite exciting by the end, and my heart was warmed by the sweet romance that blossomed between two friends who have been through so much together.

The overarching themes of this story are of love and growth and healing from trauma, so I was surprised that one of the multiple points of view narrating the chapters was from the villain, an abuser who has literally sold his soul to a demon. I could have done without his perspective, which contradicted and confused a lot of the good work being done in the other chapters. I also couldn’t help feeling that I was dropped into this story at the wrong moment, as we begin months after a pivotal war, when all the characters are suffering in the aftermath of events that are explained piecemeal throughout. I understand that the author intended to explore and celebrate a main character at their lowest point rising out of the fog to eventually triumph, but I would have been more compelled if I as a reader had been dropped into the aforementioned battle, to let me get to know the characters and the stakes so I could root for them even more when they’re defeated. As it was, I struggled to connect to the characters; as their bonds and motives were already set up and solidified before I met them, their relationships didn’t really have a lot of space to grow.

While this book was not perfect for me, I do think it will be very meaningful to many readers, and I was deeply moved by the author’s note explaining Samotin’s personal connection to the characters and to the very real cultural inspiration for this fantasy world. There is a lot to love in this debut novel, and I look forward to more from Samotin in the future.

3.5 stars

Thanks to Random House Canada and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

So I’m going to start off by saying I was really close to DNFing by 50% but I’m actually really glad I didn’t. For the last half, the pace went from 0-100 and I was hooked and really enjoyed the story. I am including this at the top because I really think it’s worth pushing through.

I loved the alternating perspectives for each chapter as it gave us a deeper look into each characters motivations and feelings. The relationships between the characters were complex and I loved the humour spread throughout as it contrasted the darkness. Despite its flaws, I really enjoyed the book and I’m beyond glad I stuck with it till the end.

Personally, a map would have been incredibly helpful given the political focus and multitude of mentioned places in the beginning. I know they didn’t necessarily become major facets in the story but I found myself zoning out and getting confused in the beginning.

Additionally, integrating the cards into the chapters they’re mentioned in or having all of them at the end as well would have made more sense than at the beginning because I had no idea what I was looking at while starting the book.

Overall, this was a great read and I loved the mix of folklore/fantasy and the action packed ending.

Thank you to Random House Canada and NetGalley for the opportunity to enjoy this advanced copy.

Dimitri is a tsar in exile, having lost his country to his (ex?) husband Alexey, who graduated from being abusive and controlling toward Dimitri to using dark magic to gain power. So obviously he must be destroyed and Dimitri's rightful power restored, with Vasily, Dimitri's spymaster and long-time friend, infiltrating Alexey's court to get the information they need to get a leg-up on the near-immortal Alexey.

So, deep and complex relationships, power struggles, politics, and magic all told in a multi-POV story with a lot of emotion and, yes, trauma (checking the trigger warnings for this one is probably a good idea). That's a lot going for it, and I think this book will work very, very well for a lot of people - sadly, I was not one of those people.

On paper, there's a lot that <i>should</i> have worked well for me too: the plot is twisty and political, there's a tight group of friends in exile with Alexey, giving off some found family vibes, and the history and magic are tight and well thought out. And those things did work for me, just . . . not as much as I would have liked.

I think this is a case of "great concepts, middling execution" for me. Let's take the characters, for example. They all sounded great, in the opening chapters, but I felt like they didn't really get much deeper than those opening chapters, and I just didn't really care about any of them. They were just rather surface level for me.

I generally really like stories with multiple POVs, but I think that threw off the pacing here, specifically with the Alexey chapters. It's cool to see the villain's POV and behind the veil, so to speak, but it also just kind of took away some of the mystery and tension, and didn't add any complexity to Alexey's character - dude is evil through and through, we get it. But as much as it can be nice to understand the history early on and not be left wondering, revealing less of this so early in the story and in Alexey's POV would have added some needed tension and more of a hook for me.

This book had a lot of promise and potential, and while it was a good book, it didn't quite live up to that promise and potential for me - but I don't want that to deter others because, as I said earlier, I think this will be an easy favourite for many people.

<i>Thank you to the publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, and to NetGalley for the ARC.</i>

The Sins on Their Bones was a well written story dripping in adventure and Jewish culture. I recommend this book to readers looking for adventure, romance, Jewish heritage, characters overcoming trauma, and queer representation.

The pacing is off, nothing happens for half the book and at the same time it's overwritten, wich makes it very hard to read and not engaging at all. The smut was well written and there is a lot of it so that's great

Beautifully written and piqued my curiosity right away as I was trying to figure out what was going on, and what everyone’s relationship was. The world was wonderfully laid out and was clear in my mind, and I really liked the writer’s style.
I found it hard to get into/keep up with just because I really disliked reading it on my phone (vs. on my kindle). Because of this, I unfortunately DNF around 25%.
*However,* I fully plan on revisiting it once I can get it either on my Kindle or the physical book!

Heavily influenced by Eastern European history and Jewish belief/mysticism, The Sins on Their Bones is a compelling dark fantasy. Set in the fictional country of Novo-Svitsevo, it starts with the exiled Tzar Dimitri and his court trying to reconcile the loss of the war against Dima's husband-turned-undead-usurper Alexey. Dimitri, as third-born, was essentially sold off to the minor lord Alexey as a betrothal of political convenience, before a tragedy ended the entire family line and placed Dimitri on the throne. Alexey wanted to perfect their rule by turning to mysticism, changing to a new version of the state religion, and becoming immortal co-rulers - but Dimitri fought back. The story pick up after the loss and follows Dimitri's court and their attempt to take the country back from a man who can no longer be killed.

I genuinely enjoyed just how much Jewish belief, mysticism, and religious influence is in this book. The way Samotin managed its inclusion, while maintaining that the fictional religion is not a 1:1 copy of Judaism or Jewish mysticism, was really well done. Anyone can engage with this, as it feels quite self-explanatory, but I think those who either studied religion or who are themselves Jewish will get even more out of the book. For example, we learn that Alexey isn't wholly himself, nor is he speaking with God, but instead he is speaking with an archangel named Samael who is pretending to be God. In Talmudic and post-Talmudic mysticism, Samael (literally "Poison of God") is the archangel known as the accuser, the Adversary (the one Christians call "Satan"), the seducer, the destroying angel... it really makes the possession just that much more powerful to those who understand this detail. The more the book went on, the more mysticism comes to the fore, and it was beautifully done.

Good lord, though, was there a lot of sex. There was so much sex, and it almost never felt like it added much to the scenes or to the character's growth. I say this as someone who enjoys a good smut, too! Unfortunately, I really felt ripped out of the narrative more than once because a tense moment turned into a sex scene... for example, after Dimitri is killed and Alexey just... roughly takes Ivan, Dimitri's half-brother and Alexey's current consort. If this could have been toned down, I think it would have been a stronger rating from me - possibly a 5 star (truly, I can't believe I'm saying this either).

While I appreciate the opportunity to read this book, I do not feel like I am the correct audience for this book. I may try picking up the physical copy of this book after publication. But reading digitally, didn't work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC of The Sins on Their Bones!

I love love loved this book and I think the author did a fantastic job! I had such a great time reading it and if felt like it was on my mind even when I wasn't reading. It was one of those books where you just couldn't wait to get back to reading and find out what happens. I was even telling my coworkers and roommates about it while reading.

The relationship between Dimitri and Vasily was absolutely beautiful. It was set up in a way that I wasn't sure if it would happen or not but I had my fingers crossed the whole time. Despite the fact that they had a physical relationship from the beginning, it still felt like a slow burn because it took so long for them to admit their true feelings and help each other through their trauma. The world was so interesting and unique with the mysterious library, the Ludayzim religion/Holy Science, demons, resurrection, etc. It was incredibly dark at times. The trigger warnings are numerous. But, I think the author handled them with care. I think the author also excelled at the portrayal of grief, abusive relationships, trauma from past relationships affecting your new ones, PTSD, self medicating, not wanting to burden the people around you, etc.

I also really liked how different the POVs were. I didn't feel like there were too many or that I liked one less than the other. Reading Alexey's thoughts was definitely disturbing but I did like getting the villains POV. Reading how Dimitri perceived himself and then how others perceived him made me rethink some of my relationships.

My one complaint is that I really did not feel that connected to the rest of Dimitri's court. It took me till about 50% into the book to be able to actually distinguish them and while it was obvious that they cared for each other and I think their relationships were well written, I personally did not find them to have unique enough attributes to be memorable.

Besides that, I really enjoyed the experience and I am looking forward to trying more by this author in the future!

“If I die first,” he said, beginning the toast they had said over and over since the beginning of the war. “I’ll tell you the secrets of heaven,” they all echoed.

The Sins On Their Bones is a dark fantasy pitched as perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and C.S. Pacat. Both are favourite authors, and having read TSOTB, I can confirm that there are distinct Shadow & Bones vibes and that the novel packs as powerful of an emotional punch as The Captive Prince did for me.

The novel is set in and around Novo-Svitsevo, a reimagined 19th century Eastern Europe, in the af-termath of a devastating civil war.
Dimitri Alexeyev, former Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo, is hiding in exile with what remains of his court, while his estranged husband Alexey Balakin sits on the throne in Rav-Mikhailburg and exerts a rule of terror over the country. Alexey has died and resurrected himself through what he calls the Holy Science, has turned his body indestructible in the process, is convinced that God speaks to him di-rectly and is commanding him to build a demon army to build the greatest empire that history has ever seen.
Dimitri is determined to save his country. Together with his spymaster, Vasily Solokov, he sets out to find a way to kill the immortal Alexey. But bringing down Alexey may come at too great a cost to Dimitri…

Samotin’s debut was an absolutely devastating read – I loved it and am more than a bit obsessed with it. The world-building was rich, steeped in Jewish folklore and religion, with a queer-normative society and a wide range of representation. It is a dark fantasy and there are some heavy topics being addressed, so make sure to check the trigger warnings carefully. TSOTB contains, among others, body horror, experimentation on non-consenting subjects, intimate partner violence, sexual abuse, anxiety and depression.
The story is told from three POVs: Dimitri, Vasily and Alexey. If you wished to hear more from the Darkling’s POV in Shadow & Bone, you’ll enjoy having the villain as a main POV character, getting an insight into his mind, how he justifies his actions and how righteous he feels. Dimitri’s court is the perfect found family. They’re already an established group at the outset of the novel, know each other and each have their roles. In terms of relationship development, Dimitri and Vasily’s relationship is the one that develops most over the course of the novel, as they help each other deal with past trauma.
The beautiful playing card illustrations included at the beginning reminded me a bit of the illustrations in the Six of Crows collector’s edition – I love them even more knowing the meaning behind them after reading the novel. Piotyr the demon-hunting goat was also an instant favourite.

When I initially read this novel, I expected it to be a stand-alone, and in my opinion it would work well as such if you disregard the final chapter, but I was thrilled to learn that I’ll get to spend more time in Novo-Svitsevo. A clear new favourite – I can’t wait to add a physical copy to my bookshelves!

4/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy, historical fantasy, LGBTQ+ characters, political intrigue, Russian Revolution

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 4/2, my book review blog as of 4/18, and Instagram as of 4/20.

TW rape/SA, spousal abuse

This definitely seems to be a book that you absolutely love or that you struggle with. I obviously thought this book deserved 4 stars, but I did struggle immensely with getting through the book. The pacing is very slow and it takes a while for the plot and the characters to really warm up. I do feel like a good portion of the first 50% could be cut without damaging the story.

Without a doubt this is a story about suffering and about healing. Dimitri, one of the MCs and narrators, is in terrible amounts of pain after what occurred with his husband and the revolution. He's the one we see suffering the most, but the book does follow his journey as he begins to heal and discover who he is on the other side of those things. Vasily, another one of the narrators, has pain in his past that is alluded to over the course of the novel. He's at a different stage of the healing process than Dimitri, but that pain and healing is still there.

I think part of the problem with the book's pacing is that Samotin strives to show a realistic journey of pain, depression, and healing, and that path is not a quick one. Dimitri does not recover over night or in the span of a chapter. He first needs to recognize that he can heal and then he continually needs to make that choice. I do think it's a realistic depiction, and I applaud Samotin for showing that. However, I think time jumps could have, and probably should have, been used.

Setting aside the pacing, I was fascinated by the setting of this book. It takes place in a fantasy, Jewish-majority version of Russia circa the Russian Revolution. The setting is rich with architecture and clothing and traditions. I liked the interplay of the different sects of religion in the novel and how that was used to create tension between characters who followed Ludyazist mysticism vs. those who followed the (not-so) Holy Science. I also thought it was interesting to read a book where a fantasy version of Judaism is the predominant religion instead of having it be a fantasy version of Christianity.

Dimitri is the main character, imo, even though there are three narrators. As mentioned above, this is very much a healing story, and Dimitri has a lot to heal from. He was the Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo prior to the revolution and he desperately loves his country. He also desperately loves his husband, who overthrew him and is just generally a not great (read: abusive) dude. Dimitri is grappling with the consequences of war and the feeling he let his country down, as well as the guilt associated with helping place his husband, Alexey, in a place to do that in the first place. But he's also recovering from the abuse Alexey put him through and coming to terms with the fact that it wasn't his fault. Beyond all of these things, Dimitri is extremely loyal and it's clear he loves his friends dearly.

Vasily might be my favorite narrating character. He's Dimitri's spymaster and fled with him into hiding after the end of the war. He blends humor and seriousness well and is able to stabilize situations fairly well. I liked seeing him work, I always think it's fascinating to see a character become someone else as a spying/manipulation tactic. He has his own past trauma that gets revealed a bit throughout the book, though he's further along on his healing journey than Dimitri is.

Alexey is the last narrating character and he was Dimitri's husband. Through experimentation with the Holy Science, Alexey has become immortal and is impossible to kill. He was already tempestuous and abusive, but post-immortality and post-war, he's only become more volatile. He strives to create and control an army of demons in order to make Novo-Svitsevo the strongest country in the world. But despite his delusions of grandeur, most of his court is terrified of him and he has little patience for what it means to run a country. Alexey is not portrayed as the good guy in any way, but his POV is one of an abuser, so keep that in mind.

I enjoyed the side characters on Dimitri's side of things. Other than Vasily, there are three other members of his court who fled with him and they are Annika, his general; Ladushka, his strategist; and Mischa, his physician. They each felt like well-rounded characters with their own pasts and idiosyncrasies. I would've liked to know a bit more about them but the pacing of the book makes that difficult.

Overall I think this book had a lot of potential. The pacing definitely got in the way of the plot and I think a good portion of the beginning of the book probably could've been cut. I liked the side characters more than the main characters as well, so that could've contributed as well. That being said, the characters have a lot of depth to them and the setting + magic system were interesting.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me at 34% as I found myself skimming whole pages trying to get into this.

I think my main issue with this book is it feels as though it’s a sequel to something. All the characters are already strongly bonded by past trauma and a past war that we’ve not experienced. Dimitri is mourning this entire past relationship that we never saw play out. As a result, it leaves the current emotional situation falling flat for me personally. I understand these characters have been through a lot but I feel far too distanced from it to empathise in any way.

Also in the 130-ish pages I read, honestly nothing had happened aside from a whole lot of moping and that’s just…not my jam, sorry.

THE SINS ON THEIR BONES is a dark fantasy about finding courage from others' steadfast love to heal and stand up for yourself.

It is a bloody, brutal tale that does not shy away from the dark label - it is one that feels deserving of the label even though it shuns some of the aesthetics of it. There is death and sacrifice and abuse on page, exploring what it can do to a person and how guilt can cripple us.

At the heart of the tale is the found family around Dimitri, their steadfast support for one another as they all face demons in their past - and real ones in the present. I love a found family tale and this book certainly delivers on that promise. They are a tight unit who love one another, knowing when to push and when to give space, and would die to save each other.

The book is told from the perspectives of Dimitri, Alexey, and Vasily. It was interesting (if very uncomfortable at times) to see inside Alexey's head. He absolutely believes he is in the right and that his actions are those from love, that it's right he has to punish his lovers for defying him. It is an unflinching look at religious fanaticism.

I thought this book was a standalone at first but then I hit the ending and realised it had to be a series (it took a look of searching to find the confirmation.)