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A review by salemlockheart
The Teras Trials by Lucien Burr
5.0
“Perhaps I don’t feel guilt for what I do. Perhaps I feel guilty because it is expected.”
warning in advance for spoilers, just in case. i'll start by saying this book was fucking insane, and absolutely was not at all what i expected it to be. it was incredible.
i'm not a fantasy reader by any means, nor have i ever really enjoyed the genre, but this book had me hooked from the get-go. i read 230 pages in a couple hours.
i'm giving it five stars because the premise and execution was stellar, but i want to note that some of the writing was a little cloudy. there were some sentences that felt a little off to me— poorly worded, i guess. i enjoyed the story enough that i was able to easily brush those aside, though i know others might not be able to.
everything with cassius' relationship with his brother, and his dad, packed a punch. especially the flashback scenes.
and the confessional scene? yeah. if i wasn't already a big fan of blasphemy before, i definitely am now. i thought it was over, and then... it wasn't. there's something about the way the author portrays cass' bone-deep religious guilt. he's caught in the loop of sinning, immense guilt, and sinning again despite it all.
“So you’ve doomed him instead of yourself, I do not say. So you’ll damn me for sacrificing one to save many."
there's something about cassius that feels so real. people seem to have this understanding that even in hardship, that you will be good. no-one can be altruistic forever. you will eventually have to fend for yourself and be selfish.
cassius is a very complex character. more-so than i was expecting him to be. there were multiple times where my jaw dropped, especially at the last trial. (you know). genuinely, i was so shocked the author managed to slip that in, because in that moment, you are cassius. you've both forgotten about the deal that's been made.
this really was a really fucking good book. i wasn't expecting the guts and gore, which were a weirdly pleasant surprise. it added to the raw and violent imagery of what the characters were going through & made everything feel much more significant.
there's so much i want to say about this book, but it feels like i can't without spoiling all of it.
warning in advance for spoilers, just in case. i'll start by saying this book was fucking insane, and absolutely was not at all what i expected it to be. it was incredible.
i'm not a fantasy reader by any means, nor have i ever really enjoyed the genre, but this book had me hooked from the get-go. i read 230 pages in a couple hours.
i'm giving it five stars because the premise and execution was stellar, but i want to note that some of the writing was a little cloudy. there were some sentences that felt a little off to me— poorly worded, i guess. i enjoyed the story enough that i was able to easily brush those aside, though i know others might not be able to.
everything with cassius' relationship with his brother, and his dad, packed a punch. especially the flashback scenes.
and the confessional scene? yeah. if i wasn't already a big fan of blasphemy before, i definitely am now. i thought it was over, and then... it wasn't. there's something about the way the author portrays cass' bone-deep religious guilt. he's caught in the loop of sinning, immense guilt, and sinning again despite it all.
“So you’ve doomed him instead of yourself, I do not say. So you’ll damn me for sacrificing one to save many."
there's something about cassius that feels so real. people seem to have this understanding that even in hardship, that you will be good. no-one can be altruistic forever. you will eventually have to fend for yourself and be selfish.
cassius is a very complex character. more-so than i was expecting him to be. there were multiple times where my jaw dropped, especially at the last trial. (you know). genuinely, i was so shocked the author managed to slip that in, because in that moment, you are cassius. you've both forgotten about the deal that's been made.
this really was a really fucking good book. i wasn't expecting the guts and gore, which were a weirdly pleasant surprise. it added to the raw and violent imagery of what the characters were going through & made everything feel much more significant.
there's so much i want to say about this book, but it feels like i can't without spoiling all of it.