Book reviews: works by Ginn Hale
A bunch of people said they enjoy my book reviews/recs, so I’ll try to do them more often. Starting with three reviews here! Wicked Gentlemen, and the Lord of the White Hell, which came in two books and I am going to review as two books because they are kind of different from each other and I gave them different ratings. They’re all by Ginn Hale.
Wicked Gentlemen
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
(4.5/5)
Heard about this book forever ago and then just...never read it? I think I didn’t know how to find it. But Kindle edition!
This story is sort of a ...fantasy mild-steampunk religion story, but not religion as in that it’s about religion, but that some of the basis for it is that all demons left hell a couple centuries back in exchange for the promise of redemption for their future generations, and sort of...mixed with people. So now hell is empty, as almost a very minor aside to the story, and there are all these people around who are descended from demons, who look different and have abilities, called Prodigals. Also the law enforcement is the church, called the Inquisition, so the ‘cop’ character is actually more like a priest who does investigations, law and punishments are very church-jargon related, things like that.
I wouldn’t really call it a gay romance, or even a romance at all. It’s a fantasy/sci-fi/steampunk where the two characters happen to be gay and get with each other during the course of events, and it really affects very little of anything. It’s a mild subplot. Nevertheless, it’s still interesting and done well, and the characters are very interesting too. Probably the strongest thing about the book is the world-building. There’s just some cool shit in here. Hale’s world-building in general is very strong and folded in really easily to the narrative (it’s like that in Lord of the White Hell, too, nothing ever feels like just exposition) so you learn things or can infer them easily without being talked down to or having to digest huge awkward lumps of explanation. It’s immersive in the best way.
Because so many cool things are mentioned as a brief or almost nonchalant aside (like the whole hell-is-empty-demons-are-now-people thing) this almost feels like a set of side stories to a much larger world/story, and I would frankly love to see something more from the same universe. Even something taking place at the time that demons left Hell, just something like that, because the backstory is actually more interesting than the mystery plots that the character deal with. Maybe she’s got one written and I can’t find it, but it would be super interesting.
Weird things about the book. It’s two short stories and an epilogue-the first short story is 1st person from Belimai, a ‘Prodigal’ (basically a demon-person), and then the second is suddenly switched into 3rd person from Harper (the Inquisition officer), and the epilogue is back to 1st person Belimai. I would have understood a switch between characters but I’m not sure why the person switch as well. It’s kind of weird when it’s being presented as a single novel. It’s really more like two novellas and an epilogue, bundled together. I liked both stories and both POVs, they’re both well-written and Harper’s 3rd limited is just as interesting as Belimai’s 1st, but it is a strange flow.
Another slightly weird thing; I thought the basic setup of Belimai and Harper meeting was kind of forced. I really have no idea why Harper and Edward went to Belimai in the first place. I understand why they wanted to keep their investigation of Edward’s wife’s disappearance under wraps from the church, but not why Belimai was the only guy they could go to. I guess he was like a private detective a while back or something? But that wasn’t really made clear enough. Later on we see how Harper even heard about him and got his business card, but it seemed like in the time between Belimai even having cards made and the present time of the story, lots of years had passed and that he probably didn’t even do that stuff anymore. And then Belimai wasn’t even helpful! Originally, Harper wanted to take him to see a suspect who was a Prodigal himself, to make him more comfortable talking with an Inquisition officer by having another Prodigal there, but (spoilers) he’s killed before Belimai ever gets to talk to him and then the rest of the narrative is Harper and Belimai hanging out and Harper doing ALL the work and Belimai just tagging along until the very end when he basically acts as bait. I guess it smoothes some things out for Harper when he talks to other Prodigals or goes to Hells Bellow (which is where the Prodigals mostly live in the city) but halfway through I was kind of going...wait, why’d they need Belimai again? He’s not being super useful. Any time he is useful it’s by complete accident, like when he happens to find Edward’s wife but doesn’t even realize it, even though he’s seen an image of her before.
Also Belimai does some things in Harper’s story I really wish we had seen his POV on, like going cold-turkey off ophorium (a drug he’s addicted to), since in his story he was like ‘no way am I ever going off this stuff, ever’ and maybe you’re supposed to assume that it means he’s really serious about Harper, because at one point in his POV story he mentioned that all of his lovers have thought they could change/save him by dragging him to church or something but he basically laughed in their faces so maybe he thinks Harper is like The One? And wants to change for him? Iiii have no idea and that’s why I wanted to see some more from his POV when dealing with that subject. But basically his and Harper’s relationship is that very manly-we-don’t-talk-about-it-feelings-what-are-those kind of thing, which works for this story and is done very well because you can see them care about each other even if they don’t really want to admit it to themselves (Belimai mostly doing this), but they aren’t angsting or whining about it. Their relationship is there but not the focus, but what is seen of it is interesting and believable. Also it’s not very explicit; in fact the first sex scene is very very fade to black in a almost-can’t-tell-they-even-slept-together-until-the-morning-after-is-happening.
One thing I thought was interesting was the big damn deal over the not-really-a-big-damn-deal thing with Belimai and Sariel, his ex-lover. When they were young(er? Not sure if the Prodigals have a longer lifespan than people, or how old Belimai was really supposed to be), Belimai got caught and interrogated by the Inquisition and because Belimai was so loyal to Sariel he refused to name-drop him, even though Sariel’s punishment was going to be a minor monetary fee. It meant Belimai was tortured for months by the prayer engines, and then eventually purposefully addicted to ophorium (which I figured was like an ecstasy-meets-opium drug, that’s what it sounds like) and then refused it, so he would cooperate with them. Now, it seems super dramatic over such a small thing, that he went through all this needless torture that physically and mentally scarred him for life and earned him a troublesome addiction that also greatly affects his daily life, but sometimes people do really stupid stuff like that. It was more of the idea of loyalty and not wanting to betray Sariel than what the punishment would actually be. Even Sariel thinks Belimai was ridiculously stupid for doing it. Belimai’s issues about Sariel and their old relationships are pretty interesting; they’re a big part of his character, really.
Harper comes off initially as...not a boring character, but without as many issue-y issues as Belimai (‘cause it’s hard to top torture) until later on when his own self-inflicted mental distress comes up, basically all about Prodigals and his obsession with them and his family and just some very interesting character stuff-some of which covers a tiny bit of the plothole about why he and Edward went to Belimai in the first place, but still not all of it (because still Belimai does not come off as the most qualified to help them, seriously). Both characters are really equally interesting. The writing itself is very smooth and neat and vivid, the whole thing is very engrossing. I’d say that the plots have slight weaknesses, especially the thing with Edward’s wife/Harper’s sister which was kind of...not confusing, but it seemed like what actually happened to her could have been revealed better. And it’s hardly followed up on, even in Harper’s POV story, and she was his sister. I suppose he had more background information on her in the first place, obviously, but that whole story arc seemed to peter out very weirdly.
But overall, I’d recommend it. Especially if you like sort of a mild steampunky/Victorian(???) AU sort of world (honestly the time period was a little vague but there wasn’t a lot of technology around) with some interesting characters and very smooth writing.
Lord of the White Hell Book I
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
(5/5)
Magical boarding school story! Except it’s not, not really. It’s more of a military boarding school story in a world that once had magic but now doesn’t (plot point) and there’s sort of steampunk but in a very mild mild mild way. The main character Kiram is sort of an inventor-genius type and everything he does is sort of a steam-powered/mechanical thing, so that’s where the steampunk comes in. Also in Donamillo’s treatment machines, but that’s really about it. It’s super mild. I’d basically call it fantasy more than steampunk, as it’s kind of a fantasy world (just with no magic) with non-technologically advanced societies that are very traditional/ancient-world like.
Basic plot rundown-Kiram comes to this military academy based on his work with a steam engine he’s building, which allowed him to enroll there. Because he’s not the same religion (or race) as any of the other students, they immediately room him with this young duke Javier Tornesal, who has the curse of the ‘white hell’ on him, which he can sometimes control and sometimes can’t, and may or may not have killed someone with it, but basically everyone is kind of afraid of him and doesn’t want to be roommates with him. Kiram doesn’t give a fuck and doesn’t believe in curses, so he and Javier get put together and instant!attraction occurs, as well as a shitton of problems that all seem sort of disconnected but are all sort of part of the same main problem in the end.
The world-building here is even more epic and detailed than in Wicked Gentlemen, and so much stuff happens in this book that I couldn’t really summarize it well enough. There are three or four important plot lines running through it, as well as tiny plot arcs that add character depth (not just to major characters either) and world details, and while maybe sometimes the book goes off in a direction that feels kind of unnecessary, most of it all gets tied back up into relevancy again and all pays off for having happening. I thought the pacing was good, even the times when Kiram is just wandering around a new part of a town or place or something and you’re getting a description through his eyes. There wasn’t an overload of details, but there was enough that it felt like a solid world and you could get an image of it. There were some details about the differences between the two main cultures (Cadeleonian and Haldiim) that were completely overlooked through Kiram’s perspective, but I’ll get to that later.
The relationship between Kiram and Javier is a BIG part of the book, not a mild subplot like in Wicked Gentlemen. They’re basically working on it through the entire length of both books. Someone on goodreads was like, oh Kiram’s so high-maintenance it would be better if Javier got with this other character, and I was like...are you kidding, JAVIER is the high maintenance one. He’s got this curse that may or may not kill people and everyone’s afraid of it and he has to sleep behind protective wards all the time, he has a blind faith to his Puritanical religion which is the major issue in his and Kiram’s relationship because same-sex stuff is Very No Bueno, he has to keep up his cool player attitude and be all into sleeping with prostitutes in front of Kiram just to impress his rowdy friends, and basically he’s kind of the problem child in their relationship. Meanwhile Kiram is pretty logical and down-to-earth, he has teenager moments because that’s what he is (he’s 17 and I believe Javier is 19), but he has no angst over being gay, he’s 100% fine with that because of his culture which is 100% fine with that, he mostly has angst about not being able to get properly with Javier because Javier (and his religion/race) has so many issues and makes it so damn difficult. So nope, Kiram is not high-maintenance. I actually like him a lot. Both books are from 3rd limited on him, and he’s a good character to be riding along with that whole time. Javier would have had a lot more closeted hand-wringing, and it was really nice to have a teenager-narrated story that wasn’t actually a coming-out/’accepting my sexuality’ tale. Kiram’s gay and he’s not experimenting or confused about it. Also Javier is a more ‘mysterious’ type character, or at least a lot of the plot has to do with figuring out what’s going on with his curse and him in general, so from his POV the story would have been a lot less intriguing.
Random note: Terms were kind of mildly unfortunate to me (and YMMV) but I read “Cadeleonian”, the race that Javier and most people in the book are, as Caledonian the entire damn time. So I was kind of going, what are they Scottish? Why would you use this existing term? until I realized it wasn’t the same. Then Kiram is a Haldiim, a race which has a religion that is called Bahiim. Not necessary for those two to be so similar. It’s not bad in the first book because the religion isn’t very important because Kiram isn’t religious, but it’s huge in the second book. It’s never really confusing, but it’s still like....why would you do that? (I’ve done it, and I’m sorry) Also the Haldiim are descended from another race call the Irahiim or something, but at least that term is only in the glossary in the back.
This is another book without women characters or women in general, and I think that was something that could have been addressed a little more in Kiram’s end-he comes from a matriarchal society and in the second book (which has some ladies) he mentions how weird it is that there are no girls at the Academy, but in the first book when he’s actually there he doesn’t mention it really at all. Being from a society where women basically have all the say, decide all the things, and are a constant determining presence in male lives, the sudden absence of that would really be something different-but Kiram never really thinks about it at all. I found that a bit disappointing, but only when I got to the second book because while I was reading the first I had no idea that his society was like that and that it should have had more of a bearing on his thoughts/behavior. All you know is that his mother paid his tuition, but that’s not specific enough to assume matriarchal society! right off the bat. You also learn that women inherit businesses and property and things in the first book, as Kiram’s mother owns a fairly well-known candy shop and it will be left to his sisters, but again it’s kind of a by-note and I just wanted Kiram to have more reaction to there being no women around.
The Haldiim have kind of an unusual appearance; they’re basically black, or at least very dark/brown skinned, but they’re all light-eyed and blonde and their hair is described as being in really tight curls. Their society was kind of an Indian/Middle Eastern mix (based off food being described and clothing) but they were matriarchal and 100% groovy with being gay. There was a bit in the first book where it seemed like they weren’t perfectly fine with it, as Kiram mentions something about his mother being briefly disappointed about it, but in the 2nd book it’s really basically like nobody cares and it’s just as normal as straight couples. The Cadeleonians, conversely, are basically like bible-thumping Puritanical Christians in all aspects of life. Their society is very controlled and strict and kind of joyless, especially in the military school. They’re all pale, with dark eyes and hair. I thought it would be interesting if Kiram thought more about Javier’s physical appearance being different from his (other than that Kiram is always completely awed by Javier being super attractive) because even though it’s not like Kiram’s never seen a Cadeleonian before, but he did grow up in a Haldiim district and suddenly he’s at this military school where everyone is white and there are no girls at all and I guess I just wanted more culture shock? I felt like it should have had a little more bearing on the narrative, because it doesn’t come across that any of these things are strange, and from Kiram’s POV it should be at least noteworthy that all his friends are whitey mcwhitersons and his teachers are white and his boyfriend is white and there are no girls around at allll. There’s one point in the second book where Kiram is comparing the color of his and Javier’s dicks, basically, and that was really the only time Javier being white was focused on other than ‘omgggg he’s so pretttttttty’. I count these as points against the second book because that's where it's all brought up, so even though it suddenly made the first one slightly weird in comparison, it was all in retrospect and not at the moment of reading it.
One of my favorite parts of this book was Kiram’s friendship with Nestor and Fedeles, and that Kiram’s goals did not revolve around or completely kowtow to his boyfriend. There were things he was always trying to do, and very determined to do them and they involved Javier, but he was not basing his entire life’s actions around him, especially the more dangerous or stupid things he was doing. Anything he was committed to doing had a double purpose, if it was helping Javier it would also help other characters, his friends or someone else - basically he constantly thought beyond himself. Which was really nice, and unusual in any characters, especially teenager ones. And it meant Kiram also had a life and friends and goals outside of his boyfriend imagine that! I love friendship elements in stories, and Nestor was a really cool character, so I loved him being around for pretty much the entirety of both books-he never really drops out or becomes background stock. I wish there’d been a little more with him and Riossa because she seemed very cool, but there was at least enough for me to like the idea of them together.
Lord of the White Hell Book II
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
(4.5/5)
This is a pretty different book, because most of it takes place away from the academy in Anacleto, which is Kiram’s hometown, and it’s much more focused on Haldiim society (and a bit of Cadeleonian, too, but you get most of that in the first book). His buddy Nestor also lives in Anacleto, and he’s getting married in this book as a cross-over event from something that happened in the first, so basically almost all the same characters show up in this book because they come to town for the wedding. Including Javier, who would normally live way elsewhere because he’s the duke of another (country? city? Vague geographical set of boundaries) called Rauma. And he’s the only one left of his line, due to the Tornesal curse. So the plot follows them all here, basically!
This book is a pay-off of a lot of the things that happened in the first, but new things also pop up here too. Javier’s involvement with the Bahiim, especially through Kiram’s uncle’s lover, who showed up in the first. All of the stuff with Kiram’s family, his old friend/lover Musni, and especially his mother trying to match-make him. And then obviously Javier and Kiram’s relationship stuff, which gets a lot more serious in this one because they’re away from all the Cadeleonian influence and Javier can be a little more relaxed with everything. Then there’s the same plot with the Tornesal curse and what it is, and Kiram and Javier trying to figure out ways to break it, and who the actual Big Bad Guy is (I guessed who it was in the first book, but maybe it was supposed to be that obvious, I don’t know because I’m often pretty good at figuring these things out, I figured out the horrible twist in The Prestige halfway through) and a lot of other things. Both of these books are full of STUFF! They are definitely never boring. In fact that’s a little bit of their problem, is that the switches between all the STUFF going on are often so abrupt and total that it feels like the characters actually forgot about the other plot lines and aren’t worried about them at all until the narrative circles back to deal with them. It definitely doesn’t ruin the books or anything but it is slightly weird at some point where it feels like Kiram should be worried about something or trying to figure out what happened and he’s just....not.
Basically I can’t talk much about this book without spoiling A LOT, because so much is entwined with setups in the first. Overall, I thought it was slightly weaker than the first, especially in certain character relationships and in terms of things actually being resolved, also there’s a TON OF SEX, and while I know that wouldn’t bother a lot of people I kind of got tired of it after a while and wouldn’t have minded it being insinuated or even just inferred that yes, they are still fucking every time they go to bed together.
These there the things I thought weren’t handled as well. Kiram never reconciles with his family after a very large falling out they have, even though there’s a hint that his mother forgives him and isn’t as angry at him as it previously seemed to be, he never interacts with them again once he essentially gets disowned and thrown out. Also I didn’t feel that his conflict with his ex-lover Musni was really resolved either-a street brawl that Kiram kind of wins isn’t a substitute for any sort of emotional catharsis (because that’s what the conflict between them was; emotional) and he never sees Musni again in the narrative after that either. Also Fedeles was such a minor presence at the very end, he really only interacts with Kiram once and I found that disappointing given...everything. Also also, there’s one character who is sort of an antagonistic character to Kiram in the very start of the first book, and then drops out for most of the narrative, and then randomly pops up again at the very end to be working with the Big Bad, when I can’t recall them ever being mentioned in the same sentence previously. It’s not really surprising that he’d be a traitorous character, but he’s out of the narrative for so long it’s not all that effective. Additionally, Kiram and Javier leave the academy really fast and kind of last-second to the end, and while I understand the reasoning it still kind of undercut all of the things that at least Kiram wanted to achieve. I have no idea what Javier’s life goals were, but Kiram’s main one at the start and continuing through the novels were to be the first Haldiim to graduate from the academy. Even if that goal became impossible by the end, I still wish he would have been slightly disheartened or disappointed that he would never be able to achieve it, or maybe even mentioned that he doesn't care anymore. Also there’s no hint of what he and Javier are going to do next. In previous parts of the book Kiram made mentions of running away to Yuan (another country) together, so really that’s the only thing you can assume they might do because it’s the only thing that’s ever been brought up....but they have no money, nobody really to help them out who wouldn’t get in serious trouble for it, and basically the ending is only hopeful in the sense that they’re together, but they have absolutely no apparent options. I thought there might be a third book because of how abrupt and inconclusive the ending is, but there isn’t one (yet at least) and since all the other storylines are wrapped up I do assume it’s the end end. All of this took about an entire half-point off my rating for it entirely, because it just....ENDS. It doesn’t actually feel finished.
That’s why I rated this one slightly less than the first. But together I think it’s a really interesting and well-done story, and it definitely kept me absorbed in it the entire time. I think Ginn Hale is probably one of those authors that just writes really good quality stuff on the whole, with really solid and interesting world building and really thinks a lot about her characters. So I’ll probably be reading more of her stuff once Black March is over.
A final note: these were all ebook/Kindle editions, and I didn't find any formatting issues like I did with Archer's Heart, and I can't remember any typos if there were any. So I was super pleased with that!
Wicked Gentlemen
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
(4.5/5)
Heard about this book forever ago and then just...never read it? I think I didn’t know how to find it. But Kindle edition!
This story is sort of a ...fantasy mild-steampunk religion story, but not religion as in that it’s about religion, but that some of the basis for it is that all demons left hell a couple centuries back in exchange for the promise of redemption for their future generations, and sort of...mixed with people. So now hell is empty, as almost a very minor aside to the story, and there are all these people around who are descended from demons, who look different and have abilities, called Prodigals. Also the law enforcement is the church, called the Inquisition, so the ‘cop’ character is actually more like a priest who does investigations, law and punishments are very church-jargon related, things like that.
I wouldn’t really call it a gay romance, or even a romance at all. It’s a fantasy/sci-fi/steampunk where the two characters happen to be gay and get with each other during the course of events, and it really affects very little of anything. It’s a mild subplot. Nevertheless, it’s still interesting and done well, and the characters are very interesting too. Probably the strongest thing about the book is the world-building. There’s just some cool shit in here. Hale’s world-building in general is very strong and folded in really easily to the narrative (it’s like that in Lord of the White Hell, too, nothing ever feels like just exposition) so you learn things or can infer them easily without being talked down to or having to digest huge awkward lumps of explanation. It’s immersive in the best way.
Because so many cool things are mentioned as a brief or almost nonchalant aside (like the whole hell-is-empty-demons-are-now-people thing) this almost feels like a set of side stories to a much larger world/story, and I would frankly love to see something more from the same universe. Even something taking place at the time that demons left Hell, just something like that, because the backstory is actually more interesting than the mystery plots that the character deal with. Maybe she’s got one written and I can’t find it, but it would be super interesting.
Weird things about the book. It’s two short stories and an epilogue-the first short story is 1st person from Belimai, a ‘Prodigal’ (basically a demon-person), and then the second is suddenly switched into 3rd person from Harper (the Inquisition officer), and the epilogue is back to 1st person Belimai. I would have understood a switch between characters but I’m not sure why the person switch as well. It’s kind of weird when it’s being presented as a single novel. It’s really more like two novellas and an epilogue, bundled together. I liked both stories and both POVs, they’re both well-written and Harper’s 3rd limited is just as interesting as Belimai’s 1st, but it is a strange flow.
Another slightly weird thing; I thought the basic setup of Belimai and Harper meeting was kind of forced. I really have no idea why Harper and Edward went to Belimai in the first place. I understand why they wanted to keep their investigation of Edward’s wife’s disappearance under wraps from the church, but not why Belimai was the only guy they could go to. I guess he was like a private detective a while back or something? But that wasn’t really made clear enough. Later on we see how Harper even heard about him and got his business card, but it seemed like in the time between Belimai even having cards made and the present time of the story, lots of years had passed and that he probably didn’t even do that stuff anymore. And then Belimai wasn’t even helpful! Originally, Harper wanted to take him to see a suspect who was a Prodigal himself, to make him more comfortable talking with an Inquisition officer by having another Prodigal there, but (spoilers) he’s killed before Belimai ever gets to talk to him and then the rest of the narrative is Harper and Belimai hanging out and Harper doing ALL the work and Belimai just tagging along until the very end when he basically acts as bait. I guess it smoothes some things out for Harper when he talks to other Prodigals or goes to Hells Bellow (which is where the Prodigals mostly live in the city) but halfway through I was kind of going...wait, why’d they need Belimai again? He’s not being super useful. Any time he is useful it’s by complete accident, like when he happens to find Edward’s wife but doesn’t even realize it, even though he’s seen an image of her before.
Also Belimai does some things in Harper’s story I really wish we had seen his POV on, like going cold-turkey off ophorium (a drug he’s addicted to), since in his story he was like ‘no way am I ever going off this stuff, ever’ and maybe you’re supposed to assume that it means he’s really serious about Harper, because at one point in his POV story he mentioned that all of his lovers have thought they could change/save him by dragging him to church or something but he basically laughed in their faces so maybe he thinks Harper is like The One? And wants to change for him? Iiii have no idea and that’s why I wanted to see some more from his POV when dealing with that subject. But basically his and Harper’s relationship is that very manly-we-don’t-talk-about-it-feelings-what-are-those kind of thing, which works for this story and is done very well because you can see them care about each other even if they don’t really want to admit it to themselves (Belimai mostly doing this), but they aren’t angsting or whining about it. Their relationship is there but not the focus, but what is seen of it is interesting and believable. Also it’s not very explicit; in fact the first sex scene is very very fade to black in a almost-can’t-tell-they-even-slept-together-until-the-morning-after-is-happening.
One thing I thought was interesting was the big damn deal over the not-really-a-big-damn-deal thing with Belimai and Sariel, his ex-lover. When they were young(er? Not sure if the Prodigals have a longer lifespan than people, or how old Belimai was really supposed to be), Belimai got caught and interrogated by the Inquisition and because Belimai was so loyal to Sariel he refused to name-drop him, even though Sariel’s punishment was going to be a minor monetary fee. It meant Belimai was tortured for months by the prayer engines, and then eventually purposefully addicted to ophorium (which I figured was like an ecstasy-meets-opium drug, that’s what it sounds like) and then refused it, so he would cooperate with them. Now, it seems super dramatic over such a small thing, that he went through all this needless torture that physically and mentally scarred him for life and earned him a troublesome addiction that also greatly affects his daily life, but sometimes people do really stupid stuff like that. It was more of the idea of loyalty and not wanting to betray Sariel than what the punishment would actually be. Even Sariel thinks Belimai was ridiculously stupid for doing it. Belimai’s issues about Sariel and their old relationships are pretty interesting; they’re a big part of his character, really.
Harper comes off initially as...not a boring character, but without as many issue-y issues as Belimai (‘cause it’s hard to top torture) until later on when his own self-inflicted mental distress comes up, basically all about Prodigals and his obsession with them and his family and just some very interesting character stuff-some of which covers a tiny bit of the plothole about why he and Edward went to Belimai in the first place, but still not all of it (because still Belimai does not come off as the most qualified to help them, seriously). Both characters are really equally interesting. The writing itself is very smooth and neat and vivid, the whole thing is very engrossing. I’d say that the plots have slight weaknesses, especially the thing with Edward’s wife/Harper’s sister which was kind of...not confusing, but it seemed like what actually happened to her could have been revealed better. And it’s hardly followed up on, even in Harper’s POV story, and she was his sister. I suppose he had more background information on her in the first place, obviously, but that whole story arc seemed to peter out very weirdly.
But overall, I’d recommend it. Especially if you like sort of a mild steampunky/Victorian(???) AU sort of world (honestly the time period was a little vague but there wasn’t a lot of technology around) with some interesting characters and very smooth writing.
Lord of the White Hell Book I
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
(5/5)
Magical boarding school story! Except it’s not, not really. It’s more of a military boarding school story in a world that once had magic but now doesn’t (plot point) and there’s sort of steampunk but in a very mild mild mild way. The main character Kiram is sort of an inventor-genius type and everything he does is sort of a steam-powered/mechanical thing, so that’s where the steampunk comes in. Also in Donamillo’s treatment machines, but that’s really about it. It’s super mild. I’d basically call it fantasy more than steampunk, as it’s kind of a fantasy world (just with no magic) with non-technologically advanced societies that are very traditional/ancient-world like.
Basic plot rundown-Kiram comes to this military academy based on his work with a steam engine he’s building, which allowed him to enroll there. Because he’s not the same religion (or race) as any of the other students, they immediately room him with this young duke Javier Tornesal, who has the curse of the ‘white hell’ on him, which he can sometimes control and sometimes can’t, and may or may not have killed someone with it, but basically everyone is kind of afraid of him and doesn’t want to be roommates with him. Kiram doesn’t give a fuck and doesn’t believe in curses, so he and Javier get put together and instant!attraction occurs, as well as a shitton of problems that all seem sort of disconnected but are all sort of part of the same main problem in the end.
The world-building here is even more epic and detailed than in Wicked Gentlemen, and so much stuff happens in this book that I couldn’t really summarize it well enough. There are three or four important plot lines running through it, as well as tiny plot arcs that add character depth (not just to major characters either) and world details, and while maybe sometimes the book goes off in a direction that feels kind of unnecessary, most of it all gets tied back up into relevancy again and all pays off for having happening. I thought the pacing was good, even the times when Kiram is just wandering around a new part of a town or place or something and you’re getting a description through his eyes. There wasn’t an overload of details, but there was enough that it felt like a solid world and you could get an image of it. There were some details about the differences between the two main cultures (Cadeleonian and Haldiim) that were completely overlooked through Kiram’s perspective, but I’ll get to that later.
The relationship between Kiram and Javier is a BIG part of the book, not a mild subplot like in Wicked Gentlemen. They’re basically working on it through the entire length of both books. Someone on goodreads was like, oh Kiram’s so high-maintenance it would be better if Javier got with this other character, and I was like...are you kidding, JAVIER is the high maintenance one. He’s got this curse that may or may not kill people and everyone’s afraid of it and he has to sleep behind protective wards all the time, he has a blind faith to his Puritanical religion which is the major issue in his and Kiram’s relationship because same-sex stuff is Very No Bueno, he has to keep up his cool player attitude and be all into sleeping with prostitutes in front of Kiram just to impress his rowdy friends, and basically he’s kind of the problem child in their relationship. Meanwhile Kiram is pretty logical and down-to-earth, he has teenager moments because that’s what he is (he’s 17 and I believe Javier is 19), but he has no angst over being gay, he’s 100% fine with that because of his culture which is 100% fine with that, he mostly has angst about not being able to get properly with Javier because Javier (and his religion/race) has so many issues and makes it so damn difficult. So nope, Kiram is not high-maintenance. I actually like him a lot. Both books are from 3rd limited on him, and he’s a good character to be riding along with that whole time. Javier would have had a lot more closeted hand-wringing, and it was really nice to have a teenager-narrated story that wasn’t actually a coming-out/’accepting my sexuality’ tale. Kiram’s gay and he’s not experimenting or confused about it. Also Javier is a more ‘mysterious’ type character, or at least a lot of the plot has to do with figuring out what’s going on with his curse and him in general, so from his POV the story would have been a lot less intriguing.
Random note: Terms were kind of mildly unfortunate to me (and YMMV) but I read “Cadeleonian”, the race that Javier and most people in the book are, as Caledonian the entire damn time. So I was kind of going, what are they Scottish? Why would you use this existing term? until I realized it wasn’t the same. Then Kiram is a Haldiim, a race which has a religion that is called Bahiim. Not necessary for those two to be so similar. It’s not bad in the first book because the religion isn’t very important because Kiram isn’t religious, but it’s huge in the second book. It’s never really confusing, but it’s still like....why would you do that? (I’ve done it, and I’m sorry) Also the Haldiim are descended from another race call the Irahiim or something, but at least that term is only in the glossary in the back.
This is another book without women characters or women in general, and I think that was something that could have been addressed a little more in Kiram’s end-he comes from a matriarchal society and in the second book (which has some ladies) he mentions how weird it is that there are no girls at the Academy, but in the first book when he’s actually there he doesn’t mention it really at all. Being from a society where women basically have all the say, decide all the things, and are a constant determining presence in male lives, the sudden absence of that would really be something different-but Kiram never really thinks about it at all. I found that a bit disappointing, but only when I got to the second book because while I was reading the first I had no idea that his society was like that and that it should have had more of a bearing on his thoughts/behavior. All you know is that his mother paid his tuition, but that’s not specific enough to assume matriarchal society! right off the bat. You also learn that women inherit businesses and property and things in the first book, as Kiram’s mother owns a fairly well-known candy shop and it will be left to his sisters, but again it’s kind of a by-note and I just wanted Kiram to have more reaction to there being no women around.
The Haldiim have kind of an unusual appearance; they’re basically black, or at least very dark/brown skinned, but they’re all light-eyed and blonde and their hair is described as being in really tight curls. Their society was kind of an Indian/Middle Eastern mix (based off food being described and clothing) but they were matriarchal and 100% groovy with being gay. There was a bit in the first book where it seemed like they weren’t perfectly fine with it, as Kiram mentions something about his mother being briefly disappointed about it, but in the 2nd book it’s really basically like nobody cares and it’s just as normal as straight couples. The Cadeleonians, conversely, are basically like bible-thumping Puritanical Christians in all aspects of life. Their society is very controlled and strict and kind of joyless, especially in the military school. They’re all pale, with dark eyes and hair. I thought it would be interesting if Kiram thought more about Javier’s physical appearance being different from his (other than that Kiram is always completely awed by Javier being super attractive) because even though it’s not like Kiram’s never seen a Cadeleonian before, but he did grow up in a Haldiim district and suddenly he’s at this military school where everyone is white and there are no girls at all and I guess I just wanted more culture shock? I felt like it should have had a little more bearing on the narrative, because it doesn’t come across that any of these things are strange, and from Kiram’s POV it should be at least noteworthy that all his friends are whitey mcwhitersons and his teachers are white and his boyfriend is white and there are no girls around at allll. There’s one point in the second book where Kiram is comparing the color of his and Javier’s dicks, basically, and that was really the only time Javier being white was focused on other than ‘omgggg he’s so pretttttttty’. I count these as points against the second book because that's where it's all brought up, so even though it suddenly made the first one slightly weird in comparison, it was all in retrospect and not at the moment of reading it.
One of my favorite parts of this book was Kiram’s friendship with Nestor and Fedeles, and that Kiram’s goals did not revolve around or completely kowtow to his boyfriend. There were things he was always trying to do, and very determined to do them and they involved Javier, but he was not basing his entire life’s actions around him, especially the more dangerous or stupid things he was doing. Anything he was committed to doing had a double purpose, if it was helping Javier it would also help other characters, his friends or someone else - basically he constantly thought beyond himself. Which was really nice, and unusual in any characters, especially teenager ones. And it meant Kiram also had a life and friends and goals outside of his boyfriend imagine that! I love friendship elements in stories, and Nestor was a really cool character, so I loved him being around for pretty much the entirety of both books-he never really drops out or becomes background stock. I wish there’d been a little more with him and Riossa because she seemed very cool, but there was at least enough for me to like the idea of them together.
Lord of the White Hell Book II
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
(4.5/5)
This is a pretty different book, because most of it takes place away from the academy in Anacleto, which is Kiram’s hometown, and it’s much more focused on Haldiim society (and a bit of Cadeleonian, too, but you get most of that in the first book). His buddy Nestor also lives in Anacleto, and he’s getting married in this book as a cross-over event from something that happened in the first, so basically almost all the same characters show up in this book because they come to town for the wedding. Including Javier, who would normally live way elsewhere because he’s the duke of another (country? city? Vague geographical set of boundaries) called Rauma. And he’s the only one left of his line, due to the Tornesal curse. So the plot follows them all here, basically!
This book is a pay-off of a lot of the things that happened in the first, but new things also pop up here too. Javier’s involvement with the Bahiim, especially through Kiram’s uncle’s lover, who showed up in the first. All of the stuff with Kiram’s family, his old friend/lover Musni, and especially his mother trying to match-make him. And then obviously Javier and Kiram’s relationship stuff, which gets a lot more serious in this one because they’re away from all the Cadeleonian influence and Javier can be a little more relaxed with everything. Then there’s the same plot with the Tornesal curse and what it is, and Kiram and Javier trying to figure out ways to break it, and who the actual Big Bad Guy is (I guessed who it was in the first book, but maybe it was supposed to be that obvious, I don’t know because I’m often pretty good at figuring these things out, I figured out the horrible twist in The Prestige halfway through) and a lot of other things. Both of these books are full of STUFF! They are definitely never boring. In fact that’s a little bit of their problem, is that the switches between all the STUFF going on are often so abrupt and total that it feels like the characters actually forgot about the other plot lines and aren’t worried about them at all until the narrative circles back to deal with them. It definitely doesn’t ruin the books or anything but it is slightly weird at some point where it feels like Kiram should be worried about something or trying to figure out what happened and he’s just....not.
Basically I can’t talk much about this book without spoiling A LOT, because so much is entwined with setups in the first. Overall, I thought it was slightly weaker than the first, especially in certain character relationships and in terms of things actually being resolved, also there’s a TON OF SEX, and while I know that wouldn’t bother a lot of people I kind of got tired of it after a while and wouldn’t have minded it being insinuated or even just inferred that yes, they are still fucking every time they go to bed together.
These there the things I thought weren’t handled as well. Kiram never reconciles with his family after a very large falling out they have, even though there’s a hint that his mother forgives him and isn’t as angry at him as it previously seemed to be, he never interacts with them again once he essentially gets disowned and thrown out. Also I didn’t feel that his conflict with his ex-lover Musni was really resolved either-a street brawl that Kiram kind of wins isn’t a substitute for any sort of emotional catharsis (because that’s what the conflict between them was; emotional) and he never sees Musni again in the narrative after that either. Also Fedeles was such a minor presence at the very end, he really only interacts with Kiram once and I found that disappointing given...everything. Also also, there’s one character who is sort of an antagonistic character to Kiram in the very start of the first book, and then drops out for most of the narrative, and then randomly pops up again at the very end to be working with the Big Bad, when I can’t recall them ever being mentioned in the same sentence previously. It’s not really surprising that he’d be a traitorous character, but he’s out of the narrative for so long it’s not all that effective. Additionally, Kiram and Javier leave the academy really fast and kind of last-second to the end, and while I understand the reasoning it still kind of undercut all of the things that at least Kiram wanted to achieve. I have no idea what Javier’s life goals were, but Kiram’s main one at the start and continuing through the novels were to be the first Haldiim to graduate from the academy. Even if that goal became impossible by the end, I still wish he would have been slightly disheartened or disappointed that he would never be able to achieve it, or maybe even mentioned that he doesn't care anymore. Also there’s no hint of what he and Javier are going to do next. In previous parts of the book Kiram made mentions of running away to Yuan (another country) together, so really that’s the only thing you can assume they might do because it’s the only thing that’s ever been brought up....but they have no money, nobody really to help them out who wouldn’t get in serious trouble for it, and basically the ending is only hopeful in the sense that they’re together, but they have absolutely no apparent options. I thought there might be a third book because of how abrupt and inconclusive the ending is, but there isn’t one (yet at least) and since all the other storylines are wrapped up I do assume it’s the end end. All of this took about an entire half-point off my rating for it entirely, because it just....ENDS. It doesn’t actually feel finished.
That’s why I rated this one slightly less than the first. But together I think it’s a really interesting and well-done story, and it definitely kept me absorbed in it the entire time. I think Ginn Hale is probably one of those authors that just writes really good quality stuff on the whole, with really solid and interesting world building and really thinks a lot about her characters. So I’ll probably be reading more of her stuff once Black March is over.
A final note: these were all ebook/Kindle editions, and I didn't find any formatting issues like I did with Archer's Heart, and I can't remember any typos if there were any. So I was super pleased with that!