Exquisite Ruin
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3.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In this darkly romantic reimagining of the Minotaur myth, a sorceress and a demon are entwined in sensual battle to escape a deadly maze and reclaim their freedom.
In this deadly maze, the most dangerous thing may be the passion between them.
Sadaré wakes in a labyrinth, remembering nothing except that she is a powerful sorceress. Her only companion is a hostile immortal named Daesra—beautiful, dangerous, and demonic—who bound his divine soul for power and revenge.
Despite their animosity, the two have no choice but to work together to reach the center and defeat the monster who prevents their escape. But the longer they wander, the more deadly and alive the maze becomes—and the more Sadaré finds herself drawn to Daesra in ways she can't explain.
As sorceress and demon develop a tenuous truce, the labyrinth gives Sadaré glimpses of their shared history of passion and pain that make her question everything she knows. Unlocking the secrets of her past may be the only way to survive and heal their entwined fates—but as she learns more about the betrayals that brought them to the labyrinth, Sadaré begins to fear that the monster at the center could be Daesra...or even herself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
YA author May (Court of the Undying Seasons, written as A.M. Strickland) makes her adult debut with this sensuous if puzzling romantasy retelling of the Minotaur myth. Sadaré, a witch with a gift for drawing magic from pain, wakes up in a labyrinth, unable to remember who she is or how she got there. With her is a beautiful, minotaurlike daemon named Daesra, who hates Sadaré, holding a grudge from their tangled past, which only he remembers. To escape, the pair must defeat the monster at the center of the labyrinth. By traveling through a series of mirrors scattered across their path, Sadaré slowly regains her memories—including the truth about her kinky and tumultuous relationship with Daesra. Reluctant allies, the duo must overcome deadly obstacles and their conflicted feelings for each other if they hope to make it to the center of the ever-changing maze—but Sadaré's past bargain with a god causes an unexpected setback to their quest for freedom. The morally gray main characters come across as immature, but their enemies-to-lovers dynamic—enhanced with plentiful, if often out of place, BDSM-infused flashbacks—will draw in romantasy fans. Less successful is a massive late-stage plot twist, which readers will struggle to wrap their heads around. This starts with a fascinating premise, but falls short in execution.
