I came across this book from my BookBub email blast and disregarded it because I was really wanting to read some queer romance. Then later that day, it was recommended to me on Kindle and that time I noticed that the person on the cover was a man, not a woman. Then I found out that the main character is a trans man and the author is trans, so now I had to read it. I’m so glad I did because this was an adorable book with such wholesome characters and such an adventurous story.
Both Silvyr and Brokil are adorable little beans, in very different ways. The curious and flowery nature of Silvyr is so cute, he just wants to spend time helping others and I love it. Then there’s Brokil who’s such a lovable beefcake and warrior of his clan. Even though Brokil’s a warrior, he truly cares about his clan. The development of their relationship was so well done and worked really well. It was great to see both perspectives of what each were thinking.
I really loved the fact that Silvyr was a trans man. Even more, the fact that Silvyr is trans was never an issue. With his family, the issue is that he’s not a racist asshole (too weak) in his father’s eyes. But that weakness is not aimed as him being trans. We know Silvyr had top “surgery” (magic) done, but his family and the kingdom have known that Silvyr is the heir apparent for years. The fact that not only does the family accept this of him but have made it known across the kingdom is so great to read in a book. When Silvyr’s in Ghizol, no one treats him badly in regards to him being trans (they do treat him rudely for a while but that’s due to the generations of colonization and systematic racism that’s present in the kingdom that he benefited from). This all comes down to me loving reading books with a trans person just being accepted as normal. Even in the sex scenes, there’s just love (and horniness) on Brokil’s part.
The climatic action at the end was god awful!! In terms of what the characters had to go through, not the actual writing, that was all amazing! I was so glad with how it all played out, especially with how Silvyr realized the abuse was not his fault, that he didn’t need to change. None of what his family said bothered him anymore. While Brokil wants to protect Silvyr, I love that he lets Silvyr confront his father and tell him what he’s needed to say for years. It was all just perfect, and I need everyone to read this book!!
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