Crier’s War audiobook

ARC provided by HarperTeen in exchange for an honest review. “It was never really a choice, was it? Wanting her. Killing her.” Friends, if you are looking for a book all about revenge, filled with mystery and betrayals, while also showcasing the best enemies to lovers f/f romance I’ve read in a long while, please immediately pick up Crier’s War. I’m telling you right now, this is going to make so many best of 2019 lists come the end of the year, and I don’t even have words for the amount of pure joy I felt while reading this book. Crier’s War is set in an alternative future where alchemists have crafted mechanical people, called Automaes, who now rule over the humans. The humans originally created them so a powerful queen, who could not bear children, could have an heir, but soon Automaes were forged for other human pleasures. But then they rose up and conquered the humans who originally made them. Now the world is a very unsafe place to live for humans who are still alive after the war, and they are allowed very few liberties. ➽ Crier - Lesbian! A girl artificially crafted to become the daughter her father needs to carry on his powerful legacy, while being betrothed to a man who promises to help her hone that power for both of them. ➽ Ayla - Bi! A human girl who lost her family and everything else after the Automaes raised up and overthrew the humans. And after Ayla saves Crier’s life, Crier offers her an opportunity to become a servant for her, which is a very high honor for humans. So, Ayla becomes Crier’s handmaiden, while also seeing this as an opportunity to go undercover and maybe seek the vengeance she has been after for so long. That is, until both girls start realizing that maybe they are on the same side, and maybe they could be something more than enemies if they only were able to learn to trust. “A thought came to her: a story of its own, one that only just began writing itself in her mind: a story of two women, one human, one Made.” The romance in this book? It honestly gave me at least twenty years on my lifespan! This is the slowest burn, angst filled, most beautiful enemies to lovers between two women of color! It is so expertly crafted and delivered, and it was a tier above the rest. And the alternating points of view, opposing sides, filled with secrets and betrayals; it was just everything, friends. I bet this will be my favorite ship of 2019. True OTP status. But this story really begs the question of what it means to be human. Is the capability for empathy, love, trust? What does it mean to have be alive? Simply because we are born or because blood flows through our veins? Is it because we have free will and are able to change our outlook on things and people? Or is it because we choose to take on the title human and make it into whatever we believe it to be? “Like she was more than a human girl. Like she was a summer storm made of flesh.” Yet, this story also constantly puts the theme of oppression and privilege at the center of it all. How people appropriate and steal from cultures and pretend that it’s okay, or worse, their own. How dangerous it is for the privileged to not acknowledge their privilege(s). And how oppressors will stop at nothing to maintain the power they have gained that privilege from. This was such a quick read, and I completely inhaled all 400+ pages and couldn’t put it down. I started it right before a readathon, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it all week, and when the readathon was over I read it in one sitting. My queer heart couldn’t stop smiling, crying, swooning, and evoking every other emotion. Overall, this was just a masterpiece and one of the best debuts I’ve read in a long while. If you like books filled with political intrigue, twists and turns, a beautiful and horrific backdrop, lush writing, captivating characters, and girls loving girls, I really recommend this one with my whole heart and soul. Also, just in case you aren’t completely sold yet, so many of my friends have compared this to Jude and Cardan from The Cruel Prince, but for the gays, and that is so 100% accurate. “For the queer readers. You deserve every adventure.” (Two extra things I need to add: 1.) this is ownvoices for the queer rep + 2.) the author is ARMY = no choice but for me to stan forever. Okay, goodbye. I’m off to pray to all the higher powers for book two immediately. Also, jokes on all of you, because this is ghost Melanie reviewing this, because I died at the tide pool scene.)Youtube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | TwitchThe quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.Content and Trigger Warnings: war themes, abandonment, loss of loved ones, grief depictions, blood depiction, animal death/gore, and general violence.Buddy read with Lea! ❤

me every three pages of this book about tenderness between rivals, sapphics, and flawed villainy: You couldn’t depend on much in this world, but you could depend on this: love brought nothing but death. Where love existed, death would follow, a wolf trailing after a wounded deer. In the world of Zulla, about 80 years after a war between humans and automae, automae rule the earth, triumphing over human beings. Crier, the sovereign’s daughter, is slated to take over. Ayla, a human rebel, has a plan to kill her for revenge. But when Ayla becomes her lady-in-waiting, the two grow closer, and maybe even too close. Meanwhile, Crier discovers she’s maybe not quite the weapon she thought she was. GOD. Okay. So, I’m deeply obsessed with this book. Why? Could it be that it plays with every single trope I love, but plays around with said tropes? Could it be the commentary on power dynamics? Could it be the rounded, compelling characters? Could it be the incredibly tense romance? Could it be the plot twists that I genuinely did not see coming? Or maybe… all of the above? Tropes To Love Here: ☆A character who is unhuman in some way falling in love with a character who's more human. ☆When they’re both plotting at the same time but can’t tell each other. ☆One character is a weapon of some kind and think they're flawed because they have feelings: not necessarily romantic feelings, just feelings in general.Crier is an example of my favorite trope ever: the character raised to be a weapon who decides not to be one. (This is actually my favorite trope ever. I literally have a playlist for it.) I like this trope because I think it provides an interesting dynamic between a perceived role, and can lead to some really fantastic character arcs. This is one of the best examples of it I have ever seen. As a protagonist, Crier is compelling because she takes actions, and enjoyable because at every moment, we are rooting for her to develop. The romance, in general, is… incredible. A truly compelling romance serves as a natural conclusion to both characters’ arcs. Crier is fascinated by Ayla’s humanity, while Ayla is fascinated by her humanity—her awkwardness, and the quiet tenderness she shows to her. Crier looks at Ayla with tenderness and curiosity; in turn, Ayla is curious about her. Scenes like (view spoiler)[when Crier asks Ayla why humans get married (hide spoiler)] are filled with such excellent tension. I think the way this novel handles power dynamics between Crier and Ayla is really really good and really really interesting. Obviously, Ayla is in a lower position of power than Crier, and there are a lot of moments in this book in which Ayla is disturbed by that, or feels bad about it, when Crier attempts to help her or help other humans in the palace in some way. It's just interesting seeing Crier really discover and acknowledge her privilege. My only real complaint is this: Don’t read the timeline until about halfway through as it spoils one or two minor plot points I really think would’ve been more interesting discovering on my own. However, spoiler-tagged, here are several things in the last hundred pages of this book that made me gasp: (view spoiler)[→two necklaces… crier never gave kinok the necklace… hellooooo→THE FACT THAT THERE WAS NO FIFTH PILLAR. LIKE THAT THREW ME FOR THE BIGGEST LOOP. i LOVE that twist. it adds even more nuance to the idea of automae not having feelings.→the locket being the fucking tourmaline ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !→JUNN KILLING REYKA… when i say this made me SHRIEK. i was not expecting this one at all and it has huge implications. (hide spoiler)]This book has excellent plot twists. These twists are built up well, always feeling as if they make total sense in hindsight but not in the present. And the world has some really cool details built in — there’s one about the flag that made me pause to go like ‘hello’. Anyway. I devoured this book, and Crier and Ayla have been living in my mind rent free ever since. Highly recommended. Please read this. And then come yell at me. Blog | Youtube | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | About |["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

This book was such a surprise. I thought for sure it would mostly revolve around the sapphic romance, but it didn’t! This felt unique, especially because it flips the AI vs Human story and makes the AIs the ones in charge. I wish the second book was out already because this duology is definitely one I would have binge read straight through.

crier 90% of this book: *yearns*

I'm going to need y'all to preorder this book immediately. All a queer girl wants is to read a YA fantasy that is not only incredibly original, but has two queer girls at it's center. And on top of that we get a slow burn romance? We have all been BLESSED by Nina Varela and we should be thanking her. The most notable thing to take from this book, though, was it's ties to present day. It may not have been written like that intentionally, but it definitely called out real-world problems. (ex. "Your customs are similar because your entire culture was stolen from ours. Because you have no history of culture of your own.").Other things of note included identifiable characters from chapter one. Each character had traits that made them unique and easy to remember who's who. The world building was great and judging by how it ended I assume we'll be getting more of the world in book 2. Finally, the relationship between Ayla and Crier was just so SOFT. It feels real and it makes you feel. Full stop. So even if you're only here for sapphic romance, it's definitely one of the best. So, if you're thinking about picking up this book, please do. It's well worth your time and money, I promise.

!!!FIVE STARS!!!Holy shit girl queen pussy boss (last time I'm using that phrase I swear)This book put me through a sapphic phase. It made me question whether i truly am bisexual because I hated almost every man in this book (except the best boi Benjy), and fell in love with almost every women (except the Automae women, those fake bitches 😒), ESPECIALLY Ayla.What can I say, everything is so much better sapphic. Like if I wanted to see two straight people yelling at each other, I'd go sit with my parents at the dinner table. but sapphic is just 😙👌😫. And I say this as a bisexual woman. This book SLAYYYEEEEDDDDD. There did feel like there was an actiony element missing but other than that....muah...perfection. And the Angst, the fucking angst my people. I was sobbing, crying, trying not to punch Kinok in the face (but i will cut off his metal dick without hesitation.. if he even has one)The minute i saw crier, I hated her. Not because she was an awfully written character(she's beautifully written by the way), but because i thought she was the enemy., Then I realized she is the enemy, but in an enemies-to-lovers story, emphasis on lovers.and then Ayla. My girl queen pussy queen shit "as she should" boss. I loved her from the moment I saw her. Though we never got to see her cut kinoks dick off, we still fell in love with her. Because WHO. FUCKING. WOULDN'T. She was so smart from the beginning, and she's not even old enough to drink. I think her biggest strength is her versatility. She is so good at picking up hints and adapting to her environment. And to be honest, this makes a lot of sense for her. She lives in the dirtiest and most dangerous part of the kingdom, so she has to always watch her back and adapt to whatever situation she's put in. She's like Aladdin if Aladdin was a badass independent hand-to-hand combatant. And then her relationship with Crier. UUUUGGGGH. This put the slow in slow-burn folks. Thye like barely kissed and I was so angry. And I loved the way Ayla hated Crier and Crier was completely obsessed with Ayla. Polar opposites, am i right?Anyway, I need the next book I.M.M.E.D.I.A.T.E.L.Y (I don't know if i spelled that word right)LATER BITCHES----------------currently readingI am ready to simp til my heart hurts!!

4.5 stars I really liked this story. The world building was not only interesting but quite easy to understand especially because of the multiple texts from books from the library. I think those texts made the story more interesting especially because of the "mysterious" writing about the past behind the Automae. Since we mentioned the Automae I want to say that I loved their story. The past, development and now the ruling of them over humans was not only interesting but critiqued the very present and real life issue of culture appropriation and stealing. Crier, the Automae, was a great main character that really developed throughout the story and her pov in this book was not only interesting but such a great contrast to Ayla. Ayla is still my favourite from the two. Her past was very very detailed and a giant part of the plot of this book and her thirst for revenge and justice is not only something explainable because of her past but also reasonable. Her character was really detailed and I loved seeing how her feelings changed and also got stronger throughout the book.The side characters were also really good and detailed especially the enemies of the story which is always great. I could tell how evil they were and was excited to see the main characters fight against them. On top of that the entire plot was just great. The pacing was good and I was so excited to read the sequel right after finishing it.

rep: lesbian poc mc, bi poc mc, poc cast, side mlm & wlw couplesReview also on Reads Rainbow. ARC provided by the publisher.If you know me at all, you know that I haven’t been big on fantasy in the last year or so. But Crier’s War? It’s the kind of fantasy I can get behind even now, when I’m not really a fan of the genre. And there are two main reasons for this: 1) it’s a little bit character-driven (not the way contemporary novels can be, no, but it’s there) & 2) it’s heavy on the romance.Now, the thing about romance in Crier’s War is that Varela knows exactly how key the slowburn element is to the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope, knows exactly the pace at which it should develop. Yes, the romance is visible basically since the moment the girls meet (and what a meet-cute they have!), but it’s so graceful, it progresses so naturally, it makes such perfect sense. No insta-love here! (I can think of one other example of a gay fantasy series with those exact qualities that also used them the way they were designed by gods and I won’t name it, but if you know, you know.)And of course it’s impossible to talk about romance in Crier’s War without saying how gay it is. Which I think might be my favourite part about the book. Not just the fact that two girls share a bed and pine after each other - though obviously it was the reason I wanted to read it in the first place - but how natural it was. The fact that neither of them questioned the relationship in this particular regard even once. The world Varela created is completely void of homophobia and it’s a beautiful sight to behold. It’s visible in more ways than this one, as well. There are a number of offhandedly mentioned couples throughout the story and so many of them are gay! And not a single comment about that! Not a single person wonders how it was possible that a servant married his beloved stable boy. So often authors come up with those intricate worlds, where everything seems magical & where our laws have no place, and they still feel the need to include homophobia. Not Varela. She gives us an incredible world, not simply a black-and-white one, but one where gay people are so natural, there isn’t even any need for labels. For that alone I will always be grateful. Crier’s War is heavy on the gay romance, yes, but that’s not what it actually hinges on. We're introduced to a world where the tension between humans and Automae has been brewing for years & the reader’s view on both sides changes throughout the story, with every new piece of information, with every new betrayal. It’s a carefully woven tale with the stakes that just keep rising and a cliffhanger that makes one wish for a time machine. Any fantasy fan would be satisfied. Any gay fantasy fan would be in love. 

Really enjoyed this one! The story was exciting, well paced and I found it very original.I loved Crier and her confliction and (obviously) the relationship that was growing between her and Ayla.My only criticism is that I found certain characters, particularly Ayla, were lacking slightly in depth and characteristic

“Do not be ashamed of your fear, Lady Crier.” representation: own voices queer (f/f) romance, POC cast??? (I see this in a lot of reviews, but I felt like the physical descriptions of characters was quite poor, so can't confirm). [trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]✧·ﾟ: ✧·ﾟ: 4 . 5 s t a r s :·ﾟ✧:·ﾟ✧I loved this soooooo much and the audiobook was so good! Enemies to lovers romance, themes of what it means to be human, war and angst.... wow, we stan. Gimme book 2!!!!! “Humanity is how you act, my lady,” said Jezen. “Not how you were Made.” trigger warnings: war themes, abandonment, loss of loved ones, on page and off page death of side characters, grief, blood, violence, rats (like... a lot of rats).

Sapphic yearning, worldbuilding excellence, and some of the most beautiful writing I've seen in the pages of a YA. Need. More!

My review Lately, everyone just couldn't seem to stop talking about this new slow burn, enemies-to-lovers high-fantasy book and I knew I needed to read it as soon as possible. I actually thought this was going to be a standalone so you can only imagine my surprise (delighted actually) when I figured it wasn’t over. Crier’s War has such a cool and inspiring concept that really left a jumble of thoughts I’m still trying to process.After the War of Kinds that ravished the land of Rabu, the country is trying everything to get back on its feet. It has been almost 48 years after the creation of the first Automa – a constructed, unnatural creature made to resemble humans in every way but their feelings and the other Kind has almost completely oppressed humans and adopted their culture as their own. Ayla is a war orphan, her work in a palace using her only as a cover for her actual whereabouts – an apprentice for one of the human rebel leaders. The hate towards the “higher” Kind that has been building up for years has been getting to its peak and it is only a matter of time before a complete offense against the Automa arises. Crier is the daughter of the most powerful man in the kingdom; ambitious and smart, with influential fiancée and bright future, but also one big problem that could ruin her life. Two enemies are forced to work together and find a way among court’s schemes and fights bigger than any of them imagined if they want to save their futures and ones they care about the most. A court where gossip quickly turns into an enigmatic web of schemes and politics is not a place to play with. I really enjoyed Varela’s writing, her easygoing and intriguing worldbuilding that uncovers a world full of rotten rulers and histories gone wrong. The more I think about this book, I find myself discovering various layers of human nature and the inevitable curse of history repeating itself in an infinite doomed cycle. The problematics have risen between two Kinds – if one is superior, does that mean it should hold itself accountable over the other? Because how can the stronger side not see itself as somehow responsible for the other, without the urge to trample them and subject it to its rule – I don’t know. And what is to be done if one of your greatest creations adopts your culture and oppresses your entire race into oblivion? I guess as long as there is power there won’t be equality or anything close to peace.Crier is an ambitious and intelligent heir with insightful and revolutionary ideas for both Kinds and their further coexistence, but who would listen to ideas of a seventeen-year-old girl? She is an Automa – a better, stronger, upgraded version of the human race that was supposed to look down on them as animals, but her whole life she was drawn to them, almost as she can sympathize with them. When she found out her Design is flawed – meaning she carried a fifth column that enables her to feel passion, Crier spent a good time of this book figuring out how to deal with feelings she physically wasn’t supposed to have. Her kind wasn’t supposed to feel, but she can’t do a damn thing when it comes to beautiful Ayla who she’s supposed to hate. She finds out she isn’t the only one with a vision, but pursuing that goal might take away her entire future and everything she’d worked for. Unexpected alliances and dangerous spywork will bring her on the verge of a war with her father and her Scyre, but Crier is ready and she won’t be afraid to embrace her vision.“Justice was a god, and Ayla didn’t believe in such childishthings. She believed in blood.” Ayla is supposed to hate Crier by every principle - she even planned her assassination in her head more times than she can count. But when she finally has the chance to do it, there is something about Crier that strikes her and makes her falter. Ayla has only had one thing on her mind for the last eight years and that is vengeance for her family. Love is a weakness and it’ll make her hurt even more if she lets anything in again, but wars aren’t won by brute force. What she needs is something big – knowledge that could destroy the entire royal line and bring down the entire Automa population. Battling her feelings with an urge to avenge her family, she’ll find out she has more allies on the court than she thought, but everything comes with a price. She’s suffered too much already, but as it seems her fight is far from over.I loved everything about this book, except pacing was a bit inconsistent and dull. This book took a lot of time to build tension and plot necessary for a revolution, which made it a bit monotone and boring for my liking. Action scenes were few to none, and even schemes and plans seemed transparent from time to time. Even though I can see where everything’s going and that the first book was an introduction of a sort, I wish it was a little bit more interactive and dynamic. “If a spider weaves her web to catch flies and catches abutterfly instead, what does the spider do?She eats the butterfly.”Blog TwitterTumblr

I LOVE SAPPHIC FANTASY SO MUCH BLESS NINA VARELA FOR WRITING THIS BOOK *sobs*It was honestly REALLY GOOD. Perfectly constructed romance, and I loved the socio-politics of the world. And of course, Crier and Ayla are my soft children! My sweet, sweet children. I love how Crier was instantly fascinated with Ayla - much like how you’re immediately fascinated by a beautiful bird - and it developed from there, whilst for Ayla is was very much a gorgeous build up that she tried to resist and UGH my heart.I’ve come to realise I’m a big fan of the handmaiden / lady dynamic that comes up a lot in sapphic romances - Crier & Ayla gave me big Sabran and Ead vibes (from PRIORY) and it made me really happy. (Also the tide pool scene, my heart)*throws this book at everyone* READ IT. Great worldbuilding, great characters, great plot. I read it in under 24 hours, after all. > 4.2 stars!! (or even 4.5 because I can't stop thinking about it aaaaa i am obsessed)