A gorgeous look at the aftermath of betrayal, abuse, and the end of a marriage in a fantasy Russian-inspired setting. I had been hearing things about THE SINS ON THEIR BONES for months, and was so excited to receive an ARC of the book. This book made me CRY, several times. At turns gorgeous, brutal, and heartbreaking, I was completely swept away in this story. I can't wait to see what Samotin does next!

If you like the Grishaverse, this is the book for you. Both weren't exactly my cup of tea, but im not meaning to say that they were bad. Very entertaining and the characters were very diverse compared to the general characters we typically see in books. I enjoyed the LGBTQIA+ aspect, since most books have simply a heteronormative vibe. It was definitely something I'd like to try to read again in the future if I end up expanding my love of books into dark fantasy.

A Jewish folklore inspired fantasy stands out in the hugely busy fantasy genre with it's subject matter and superb writing style from the author. Loved it!

Wow. Just... wow.

This book emotionally wrecked me. It wrecked me, okay?

Some books are good. Some books impress you with their writing, or gets you immersed in a fantasy world, or has you rooting for the characters. And some books just reach inside your chest and crushes your heart. This was one such book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc of this novel in exchange for a review. The premise of this novel sounded right up my alley, but I had a difficult time getting into the story.

This book killed me and made me love it in the process. I wish I could forget it and read it all over again. My favourite of this year. And the ending? OMG Not to mention the epilogue???
I am keeping all fingers crossed that this gets a sequel.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

While I found the folklore tie-ins of this story fascinating, and the plot and setting is right up my alley, this book was very slow. In addition, I was not a fan of any of the characters and didn't find them compelling.

I was quite intrigued by this book's summary and cover art but was not as engaged by the book itself.
It started off quite slow and much exposition was brought forth in dialogue, which was.a bit tedious. It felt character driven rather than plot driven but I didn't get a deep insight into the characters from it either. They felt like sketches, rather than fully fleshed out. Dimitry spends most of the book being a sad wreck of a person, Alexey's motivations still aren't totally clear to me even after I've finished it, and Vasily--who had potential as an interesting and complicated individual--felt unfinished and incomplete.
This was billed as a romantasy but I'd say it's pretty short on romance and far more horror in a fantasy world of indeterminate time frame and historical period that is very reminiscent of Eastern European/Russian empires during the reign of the Tzars. I didn't see it as a romance at all. It could have been an adventure fantasy but it didn't go that direction either.
The characters felt incomplete--sketches rather than fully fleshed out. I didn't feel like anyone had a satisfying characters arc or significant character growth along the way. The secondary characters were even less delineated.
The story is slow going. There is a some plot, and some intrigue, and some character driven sections but it didn't feel like it flowed cohesively. There was a lot of repetition in the dialogue, particularly in regard to Dimitri. I considered DNF a few times but persevered to the end.
The end felt rushed after all the plodding at the beginning and I can't tell if it's meant to have a sequel? It certainly felt like it. It did not feel like a HEA at all and not even a HFN.
It was interesting having POVs from Dimitri, Vasily and Alexey. The sex was either glossed over or uncomfortable. There is definitely an abusive component to Alexey and Dimitri's relationship and it becomes clearer that quite a bit of it is nonconsensual and emotionally and physically abusive. It's messy. It's uncomfortable. It is disturbing at times.
Overall I think this had a lot of potential but it was a bit of a slog reading wise and definitely did not strike me as a romantasy, which is what I was expecting.
Far more disturbing and pondering.
The fact that everything was not truly wrapped up at the end and left an opening for a sequel was unexpected and a bit disappointing.
I do like the fact that this is a queer normative society and ace representation was refreshing and good to see, along with nonbinary rep.
I think a bit more strenuous editing and character development would have made this much stronger.

4.5/5 stars
The Sins on Their Bones is a beautifully written story. It was giving me Song of Achilles vibes. It is heart wrenching but the found family keeps your heart afloat. You get not one, not two but THREE POVs. It deals with a haunting and hurtful past, and working to right the consequences of that past when the future of a kingdom lays on your shoulders. Not to mention what you may have to give up in order to protect your kingdom. I'm so grateful that we get Vasily's POV, it honestly made this story that much better. Thank you Laura R. Samotin and Penguin Random House for this ARC.

I feel like this is an all or nothing book. You either love it or can't get into it at all. It's dark, it is not a romance, and it's got great world building if that is your thing.

Slow start for sure but it did pick up more around the middle. Aside from Dimitri or Vasily I literally did not care whether any characters lived or died- sorry. I almost feel like we needed a book before this one to really delve into each character more so that I could understand and really come to care for them. And so much obviously happened during the war and I want to feel all their pain.

One thing I really liked was having Dimitri and Vasily literally sharing souls with one another. Made the story so much more interesting.

and fuck alexey- you make me sick

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the e-arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC. I really enjoyed this. It took me forever to read but the fact that I never lost interest is a testament to how interesting it is. The world and the relationships were fascinating and omg that ending. I wasn't totally sold on the romance but that may have more to do with how drawn my reading of this was. I'll definitely be reading more from this author.

I’m sadly having rather mixed luck with new releases this year, and this was another highly anticipated debut that I ended up having to DNF. I loved the concept, and the promise of Jewish mysticism, but ultimately that wasn’t enough to save my reading experience.

My main problem is that this book starts after the action, following the a civil war that has left Alexey and Dimitri on opposite sides. As a result, a lot of time in the early chapters is spent with our MCs moping around and reminiscing, as a way to get the reader up to speed on how and why the relationship went sour. There’s absolutely no forward momentum in the plot, or any hook to convince me as the reader that I should care about what happens next… Even as a character-driven reader, there’s just not enough to grab onto, as our main characters can basically just be described as “sad” and “evil” respectively. Oh, and the spymaster Vasily gets a POV too as the eventual new love interest, but his chapters have no spark either).

Here’s to hoping my next new release is more compelling.

I kinda got the vibe that this book was trying to be a darker, grittier, crueler & queer melding of shadow & bone & divine rivals, but without much of a magic system. I struggled to connect with any of the characters. I couldn’t get a grasp on the actual world it was set in other than it was Eastern Europeanish because there was very little world building. You start out being thrown into a story that reads like it’s a sequel. Like you’re missing a huge chunk of what happened previously. It spits it out in bits and chunks throughout each POV, but overall I didn’t enjoy the storyline. I wanted to like it, the premise in the synopsis seemed like it would be enjoyable and I love the cover art, but this book just wasn’t it for me. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

"If I die fist, I'll tell you the secrets of heaven."

Interesting mythology and necromantic magic but ultimately reads like a standard NA romance in the guise of a "sexy dark political fantasy." Has all the melodrama and vapidity without any of the real emotional depth, nuance, or complex schemings or machinations one would expect from such a description. This was such an unintentionally maudlin book.

The characters are all over the place and the depths of their feelings for each other are so dramatic that all the relationships just comes across as silly most of the time. Dimitri is a self pitying ball of despair, wallowing in his misery and inaction for a good majority of the story. His POV got old real fast and I ended up not caring about what ended up happening to our man or his "court." His husband Dmitri is a sexy undead psychopath and such a caricature I could hear the evil laughter emanating off the page every time he graced us with his presence (which at least was somewhat entertaining). I cannot even remember the last protagonist's name at this point, which is a testament to how milquetoast he was. Would not recommend.

Heat Factor: I found the sex deeply disturbing (and not because of the bondage)

Character Chemistry: It’s complicated

Plot: Dimitri must reclaim his throne from his ex. Who is now possessed by a demon.

Overall: I expect that some scenes for this book are burned into my brain and will continue to live there, rent-free, forever. Not sure if this is a good thing.

Let’s start with the big question: is this book a romance? It’s being marketed as fantasy, but it was pitched to us as romantasy.1 Other reviewers seem to be split on this. I say, yes, this is a romance in the technical sense (love story plus optimistic ending2); however, because of the way it’s structured, it’s a confusing one until about the midpoint. I would also say that there is more focus on plot and the magic / religious system than on developing the ultimate romance—so the ending has a very satisfying plot resolution, and a so-so romance resolution.

We open with Dimitri. He is the rightful Tsar of some country that is not exactly Russia3, but he’s in exile. He drinks. He smokes. He refuses to eat. He wallows in misery. And he thinks about his husband, Alexey.

In Chapter 2, we meet Alexey. He is now the Tsar of Not-Russia, and he is immortal because he’s been touched by God. (Please note: he’s the kind of immortal that’s unkillable, not the kind of immortal that just doesn’t die of natural causes.) No matter that everyone is afraid of him; his cause is righteous. He doesn’t eat. He doesn’t sleep. But he does think about his husband, Dimitri.

“Ah yes,” I thought. “Here we have a classic spouses-to-enemies-to-lovers set up! Alexey seems a bit sus, but this is clearly marketed as a dark book (there are skulls on the cover!) so maybe he’ll get redemption or we’ll have a burn-down-the-world-to-save-my-loved-one scenario or we’ll go all in on Dimitri embracing his dark side.”

But then, in Chapter 3, we meet Vasily. He is Dimitri’s spymaster and is running around trying to find any information that would help Dimitri a) return home, b) kill an unkillable man, and c) retake the throne. He’s part of Dimitri’s small court in exile, a group of close advisors who have made their own family in the face of extreme adversity.

“Huh,” I thought. “This is an interesting twist. Is Vasily a love interest? Are we going with a menage? What’s going on here?”

My confusion only grew as I continued to read, especially once it became clear that both Dimitri and Alexey were having sex with people who they explicitly pretend are their estranged spouse. Alexey has taken Dimitri’s younger bastard half-brother as his new boytoy, but honestly, the way Dimitri has sex with Vasily is even grosser. Vasily absolutely knows that he is meant to be standing in for Alexey (which hurts) but does it anyway because he cares about his king and country more than himself. Or because it’s love? Anyways, it is very clear that Dimitri and Alexey are very very hung up on each other.

As the story progresses, it is revealed that a) Alexey is doing some extremely evil shit and b) Alexey and Dimitri’s relationship was abusive. Now, readers of dark romance know that neither of these points are deal breakers. Also, I must admit that for the first hundred or so pages, Alexey was the only character who was doing anything interesting, so I was more inclined to be sympathetic to him. But that’s not where we go—and it becomes clear at around the midpoint of the book that we’re not working toward a resolution for Alexey and Dimitri, but rather that there’s a romance between Dimitri and Vasily.

The first half of the book was a bit slow, and not just because of my confusion about where we were going romance-wise. However, once things get going, things GO, and I devoured the second half of the book quite quickly—not least because I was on the edge of my seat to see whether Vasily and Dimitri were going to survive implementing their impossible plan to save Not-Russia.

So back to the question of genre. I think that this would work better as a romance if there weren’t chapters from Alexey’s perspective, as that change in structure would better set reader expectations in terms of who we’re meant to be rooting for. This would have made space for Samotin to better develop the relationship between Dimitri and Vasily (which felt a bit flat) and also built up the mystery of what Alexey was up to.

On the other hand, the book probably would have been more satisfying as an adventure fantasy where everyone is working through their trauma if the love story between Dimitri and Vasily hadn’t been tied up so neatly at the end. The love declaration felt tacked-on; an HFN would have felt more earned.

But that’s not the book Samotin wrote, so I will say that the chapters from Alexey’s perspective did successfully up the horror quotient—things started getting real when Alexey has his consort shoot him full of arrows just because. (This is not the most gruesome thing that happens.) (I told my husband some of the things that happen and he was like, “That doesn’t sound like a romance,” because despite my yelling at him about romance novels for literally our entire relationship, romances with horror elements are still a thing that can’t exist in his brain.) In addition, the chapters from Alexey’s perspective give us a lot more detail about the magic / religious system, which I read as loosely based on Kabbalah.

Including Alexey’s perspective also allows Samotin to really explore the nuances of the abusive relationship between Alexey and Dimitri. The first details about their relationship imply one of consensual dominance play, and, in fact, it seems like they both see many components of their relationship this way—including some bits that, to the reader, scream non-consensual. It’s very messy. Seeing Dimitri slowly confront his trauma allows for some very interesting character work, but I wouldn’t call it easy or comfortable.

In fact, none of this book is easy or comfortable, but it certainly was interesting.

1The comps are Leigh Bardugo, C.S. Pascat, and Katherine Arden. I have read books by two of these authors, and I expect a large part of the comp for Bardugo and Arden is the Russian-esque setting. ↩︎
2But we’re definitely set up for a sequel. ↩︎
3Time period is fuzzy here: there are antibiotics but no cars. Then again, the Tsar is gay and Jewish, so let’s just call this world fantasy with revolvers. ↩︎

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

"The Sins on Their Bones" by Laura Samotin is a dark adult fantasy novel rooted in Jewish folklore that explores complex themes, including abuse, friendship, love, and healing, within a post-war setting.

The story follows Dimitri, the former tsar, recovering from an abusive relationship with his ex-husband, Alexey, the current tsar. Dimitri grapples with his lingering feelings for Alexey and his potential new love for his spymaster, Vasily.

The writing is solid, with beautiful prose that grabs the reader's attention from the start. The world-building is intriguing, reminiscent of tsarist Russia and influenced by Jewish folklore, although not overly detailed in terms of setting. While the first half of the book is slower-paced, particularly focusing on Dimitri's healing journey, the plot picks up in the second half, making it more engaging and enjoyable.

The characters are incredible, with even secondary characters feeling like real people. The three POVs - Dimitri, Vasily, and Alexey - are well-executed, providing depth and moving the plot forward. Dimitri’s healing journey, with the support of his court, is compelling to read. Vasily’s determination and strength add a dynamic element to the narrative, while Alexey’s POV offers a fascinating insight into his villainous mindset.

While the romance elements, particularly the dominance/submission dynamics, might not appeal to everyone, the book excels in its portrayal of trauma, healing, and the complexities of abusive relationships. The balance of dark themes with moments of love and friendship makes it a compelling read.

Overall, "The Sins on Their Bones" is a great debut, blending slow-burn romance, deep character exploration, and rich fantasy elements. I highly recommend it to readers who appreciate character-driven narratives and don't shy away from darker themes. I'm excited to see what the sequel brings!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC

I'm still working through this novel but I thought I'd post my review before I finish it because it came out a month ago. I can always tell right away what rating I will give a book when I first read it and usually the contents inside is what changes my mind as I make my way toward the end. This was an easy 4star book. The characters were really cool and the setting was immaculate. I loved how the POV was for all three men as well.

Step into a world where mysticism intertwines with profound emotion in Laura R. Samotin's 'The Sins on Their Bones'. Set in a post-civil war landscape, this dark fantasy follows Tsar Dimitri and his husband, Alexey, as they grapple with the aftermath of their conflict. Though the pacing may feel measured at first, the intricate character dynamics and gradual unveiling of secrets keep the narrative compelling.

Samotin fearlessly delves into themes of abuse, trauma, and power unchecked, yet amidst the darkness, moments of hope and resilience shine through. 'The Sins on Their Bones' isn't for the faint-hearted, exploring violence, body horror, and explicit content. However, for those willing to traverse its depths, this novel offers a poignant reflection on love, loss, and the indomitable strength of the human spirit. With its haunting prose and intricate illustrations, Samotin's work leaves an indelible mark, showcasing the enduring power of storytelling.

Thank you to the publisher for approving me! Never got to read this because the arc wouldn’t download on the netgalley app. Would’ve loved to read it.the story seemed interesting and right up my alley.