A review by brookeisbusyreading
Devoted by JT Howell

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Devoted is a SOLID 4 stars for me. Allow me to list all the reasons why:
  • Matthias, Rain, and their allies were characters I quickly fell in love with.
  • This is such a visual novel and I enjoyed imagining the world, especially the fight scenes!
  • I love the use of tattoos and weapons!
  • I’m here for the Kadri-Vilja relationship!
  • Visceral and gritty yet tender and kind-hearted

I was obsessed with fantasy books when I was little. My favorites were the ones with big worlds, a medieval-style culture, and plenty of tense scenes. Devoted is that plus a gay romance about two macho manly men slowly succumbing to the inevitable curse of love.

Howell does a great job balancing the fantasy with the romance and the queer elements. But I do have 2 criticisms that prevent me from giving this book 5 stars: 1) the repetition of describing words (i.e. muscular, wiry, etc) that happened a little too much for my taste, and 2) the fluctuation of the writing.

Those are really the only issues I had with this book, and they aren’t deal breakers either. I really enjoyed this story! I’m excited to see it out in the world - an early congrats to Howell on the release. Looking forward to just maybe snagging myself a physical copy once it’s available!
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