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Between Two Fires —
Christopher Buehlman
DNF – 32%
Thomas, a disgraced knight, has lost his faith in God and men alike. He’s been traveling with a group of brigands, searching for food and pleasure in a plague-ravaged France, but when his travel companions go too far, Thomas intervenes to protect a young, orphaned girl. At her insistence, Thomas begrudgingly agrees to guide the girl on her journey to Avignon. She claims angels have sent her on a mission to stop the spiritual battle responsible for the Black Death, and Thomas has a role to play. Unfortunately, neither of them knows what it is.
Review
I love historical fiction. I love stories based around a real or fictional religion. So, I thought this would be the perfect book for me. The novel did pull me in quickly – jumping into a tense moment, but the tension dissipated and didn’t pick back up quickly enough to hold my interest.
The plot is slow moving, which isn’t necessarily a problem, but the horror and character moments weren’t impactful enough to carry the story. I lost interest about a fifth of the way into the book. I enjoyed it enough to see where it went, but after another 40 or so pages, there still wasn’t enough plot or character development to keep me invested. It didn’t feel like we were building up to anything, but I’m open to giving it another try in the future.
Ultimately, this just wasn’t for me. It has a strong setup, and I like the writing. But, I needed more. I’d love to hear what others thought about Between Two Fires. If you’ve read it, what did you think?
Content warnings: antisemitism, cannibalism, death, gore, homophobia, pedophilia, rape, sexual assault, violence
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