Timy reviews Shoestring Theory, a standalone fantasy novel by Mariana Costa.
I received an ARC from Angry Robot in exchange for an honest review.
Series: | standalone |
Genre: | Fantasy, Romance |
Publisher: | Angry Robot |
Date of Publishing: | October 8, 2024 |
Trigger Warnings: | blood, death, abuse |
Page count: | 350 |
Possible fit for The Sound of Madness Reading Challenge 2024 prompts:
Joker prompt that goes with anything: Now We Are Free
Anywhere Away From Here | Kiss My Ass |
Handwritten | You Are My Home |
Psycho | Summer Jam |
Addicted | New Song |
The Mystic | Say It |
Queen of Kings | The Legend of Mother Swan |
Accidentally in Love | Through Glass |
White Flag | Road to Joy |
Sob Story | Give That Wolf a Banana |
Always Halloween | Kill Your Conscience |
Therapy | Ghosts & Monsters |
Low Life | Chasing Stars |
A queer, madcap, friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers time travel romance with the future of the world at stake, this charming fantasy tale is sure to satisfy fans of Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree.
The kingdom of Farsala is broken and black clouds hang heavy over the arid lands. Former Grand-Mage of the High Court, Cyril Laverre, has spent the last decade hiding himself away in a ramshackle hut by the sea, trying to catch any remaining fish for his cat familiar, Shoestring, and suppressing his guilt over the kingdom’s ruin. For he played his part – for as the King, Eufrates Margrave, descended further and further into paranoia, violence and madness, his Grand-Mage – and husband – Cyril didn’t do a thing to stop him.
When Shoestring wanders away and dies one morning, Cyril knows his days are finally numbered. But are there enough left to have a last go at putting things right? With his remaining lifeblood, he casts a powerful spell that catapults him back in time to a happier period of Farsalan history – a time when it was Eufrates’s older sister Tig destined to ascend to the throne, before she died of a wasting disease, and a time when Cyril and Eufrates’s tentative romance had not yet bloomed. If he can just make sure Eufie never becomes King, then maybe he can prevent the kingdom’s tragic fate. But the magical oath he made to his husband at the altar, transcending both time and space, may prove to be his most enduring – and most dangerous – feat of magic to date…
Featuring a formidable Great Aunt, a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romance, an awkward love quadrangle and a crow familiar called Ganache, this charming story is imminently easy to read and sure to satisfy fans of fanfiction who like their fantasy lite.
First of all, I’m sorry that I’m late with this review of the Shoestring Theory, despite owning both a NetGalley copy AND a paperback ARC I got in Glasgow. But life’s been kicking my ass, so I’m slightly late with this review, as it was released on October 8th.
I had my eyes on Shoestring Theory ever since I took part in its cover reveal back in March. Seemed like a book that would fit with my current trend for books – cozy M/M romance with a fantasy setting. I admit I was curious how the lovers to enemies to lovers plot would work out with the time traveling aspect. As much as I wanted to love this book, I honestly can’t say I did. And believe me, no one is sorrier than me.
Cyril lives like a hermit in a shack by the sea, in a world that’s basically dying. When his familiar, Shoestring dies, he decides it’s time to go back to the past and stop his evil husband from getting on the throne. It all goes according to plan, until it turns out that not only did he went back in time, but he somehow also managed to get his husband back too, which makes it harder to outright assassinate him. And so, Cyril needs a new plan, which eventually involves Shoestring, his husband Eufrates, the would-be-queen of Farsala (the kingdom Cyril and the others live in) who is also Eufrates’ sister, Atticus (Tigris’ fiancé) and the current grand mage, Heléne, Cyril’s aunt.
Despite the book being set in a palace (two, actually, but that’s all I’m saying), the cast of characters is rather small. We get the story from Cyril’s POV, and it’s a pretty character-driven story, I would say. But I wished we had other POVs as well, because I was missing some depth, especially when it came to Eufrates and Cyril’s relationship. We see glimpses, we get told what went down, but it’s all from Cyril’s side and after a while I found Cyril quite annoying and self-absorbed. Most of the other characters remained a bit one-dimensional and underdeveloped for my liking so I was struggling to get invested. I was even considering to DNF around the halfway point, because I just couldn’t see how these two ever could work out – wither in the past or the present. I’m not sorry I stuck with the story as we got the explanation for everything, but even that left me underwhelmed, because everything was just way too easy and convenient. And I would have liked a bit more foreshadowing when it came to one of the characters, because they became suspicious to me because they were just too obviously good.
This book could have been a deep dive into relationship (and power) dynamics, a book about political intrigue and powerplay, it could be so much, and it somehow ended up being nothing much. even though Cyril tries to take an active role in events, he keeps messing up and being rescued by others. He never really has control over anything. Aunt Heléne could have been an amazing side character, a witty older lady who hands their asses to these youngsters who think they know everything (they don’t and Jesus, some of their conversations were painful), but she gets a criminally low amount of page time. I demand justice for Aunt Heléne!
For a book that’s labeled cozy, it has quite a few dark themes – it starts off with a suicide, effectively, there is domestic abuse, bloodshed, and death. Cyril and Eufrates’ relationship even comes off as toxic at times, which certainly didn’t help me to get invested in them…
Okay, I realise that this review has been not very nice up to this point, but there were things I liked too, like the familiars (wish they would get more attention as well), and the relationship between Cyril and Heléne who is pretty much the only parent he really knew and I liked to see how they connected with each other. I also liked that while the magic was interesting, it wasn’t overexplained. I think some people might have preferred to understand it more, but it worked for me – I don’t need to understand every rule and little detail. I also liked Tigris’ story arc, at least she didn’t end up being a cliché after all.
Shoestring Theory has a lot of potential and the seeds of a good story, but for me, the execution fell short and I eventually walked away a bit disappointed.
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