If I Die First, I'll Tell You The Secrets Of Heaven

I recently finished reading The Sins on Their Bones by Laura R. Samotin. This is OwlCrate's April Adult 2024 book.

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT

  Rating: 3/5 stars

This exclusive edition features an exclusive cover designed by @superstarfighter, with sprayed edges, a reversible dust jacket by @gildedruin, foil case design by @sheydgarden, and end pages by @_saintdri. The book is also signed by author Laura R. Samotin on an author page designed by @divineliterary with an author's letter bound into the book, and bonus content for subscribers.

"Dimitri Alexeyev used to be the Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo. Now, he is merely a broken man, languishing in exile after losing a devastating civil war instigated by his estranged husband, Alexey Balakin. In hiding with what remains of his court, Dimitri and his spymaster, Vasily Sokolov, engineer a dangerous ruse. Vasily will sneak into Alexey’s court under a false identity to gather information, paving the way for the usurper’s downfall, while Dimitri finds a way to kill him for good. 

But stopping Alexey is not so easy as plotting to kill an ordinary man. Through a perversion of the Ludayzim religion that he terms the Holy Science, Alexey has died and resurrected himself in an immortal, indestructible body—and now claims he is guided by the voice of God Himself. Able to summon forth creatures from the realm of demons, he seeks to build an army, turning Novo-Svitsevo into the greatest empire that history has ever seen. 

Dimitri is determined not to let Alexey corrupt his country, but saving Novo-Svitsevo and its people will mean forfeiting the soul of the husband he can’t bring himself to forsake—or the spymaster he’s come to love."

I am going to start this off by saying that I think that for people who this works for, it’ll be a great read. It’s dark, atmospheric, and has an intriguing magic system. The actual writing skill in this book I think is good and the characters and found family vibes are well executed. Unfortunately, the core romantic relationships and dynamics were just so wildly and drastically off the mark for me and my tastes that I found myself not enjoying it. 

I’ve seen some people struggle with the fact that this book essentially starts in the aftermath of the big war and Dimitri being usurped as Tzar and you don’t see it firsthand. I actually didn’t mind this aspect that much. It was an interesting reading experience that provided a new spin on an otherwise not-uncommon premise. 

There’s been some comments that liken this to ‘Shadow and Bone’ but much darker and I can see where that comes from. Alexey does give some pretty serious Darkling vibes. 

This starts to get a little spoilery but is mostly unveiled in the first 15-20% or so. 

Where my issues and preferences come into my reading experience is in the core interpersonal relationships. You see the history of Alexey and Dimitri marrying initially for political reasons and then falling in love for real and the devastating emotional fallout following Alexey's betrayal and subsequent war. 

Honestly, the focus was so heavily on how heartbroken and still hung up on each other they were (throughout literally the whole book) that I thought the story was going to be about some sort of redemption and reconciliation arc (would have totally read and loved that story direction) and was shocked when I started to realize that it wasn’t the case at all.

Things started going off the rails for me when (whilst still obviously dealing with being in love with the other) Alexey is carrying on a secret affair with Dimitri’s bastard half-brother (whilst noting their physical similarities) and Dimitri is having a relationship with his friend and spymaster, who’s chemistry I didn’t understand or really care for all that much (because it commences and is established before the book starts). I understand that it wasn’t on-page infidelity, and really speaks to the complicated nature of toxic relationships, but I couldn’t escape that vibe and it left a bad taste for me. For someone who doesn’t care for love triangles, the love square was just not it.

I am disappointed because when I first read about this I was anticipating this release and jumped on it when I had the chance. I do really think that there can be value here for the right person. That person is just not me. 

Check out The Sins on Their Bones, and discover the deceit of war.

Happy Reading :)