Good but I think it was too much rushed. It could have gone slowly and be greatest. The story line is a mess and for me it's just the art, the happy ending and the slave subject who got me.
Yaoi, Smut, Historical, Slavery, Royalty This story is extremely touching and cute, although it does still bring up tough topics like abuse, slavery, and sexual assault. I do also feel like the rape scene was not necessary, there could’ve been a better way to introduce their romantic relationship. But, I personally feel like the author did a great job of telling the story in a way that wasn’t offensive and more educational and beautiful. I loved all three of the main couples in the story, although my favorite was Fritz. Love how the story was just the right length too; not too long, not too short.
This story was cute enough I guess, but . . . I really gotta question the author's line of thinking lmao because why would you write a slavery story . . . Where a whole tribal race is enslaved . . . And they're a racial group of exclusively black people? I don't think you really thought that through.
Or maybe it was thought through, and it was a purposeful decision, which if so, ties into a pretty big issue I have with this story at large—it's just so sloppy. If the decision to have the Spinels be a group of black people was a purposeful decision to call back to real-world slavery, I think the handling of it was incredibly poor. The author clearly has no ill intent, and I'd say it wasn't even particularly offensive, it's just incredibly clear that the author wasn't suited to take on such a complex theme. They couldn't write the theme of slavery all that well, and it's even worse if it was trying to be purposeful in its ties to real life.
The way the repeal of the slave trade was done in the story is the clearest example of what I mean by it being sloppy, both in its handling of slavery itself but also just general storytelling. It's sloppy because it happens out of nowhere. There's no lead-up to the prince deciding to roll back slavery, nor is the aftermath really talked about in depth. The prince just does it because the man he likes is dating a slave and he wants him to be happy, so if that means letting him be with a Spinel then so be it. And we don't really see much of his thought process, we don't see him mull over the options and how he came to the conclusion he did, since you have to keep in mind he's not a main character. There's such a huge thing apparently going on in the background that we don't know about that ends up hugely affecting our main characters, which I thought was just kind of . . . Odd. If you're going to have such a huge storyline, the author should have pivoted from the main POV occasionally to show the progress of the prince and his decision.
Another word to describe my issue with the way everything was handled would be 'aimless,' which is rather perfectly showcased by the way Dev and the search for his parents is handled. For the first half of the story, Dev is (very halfheartedly, mind you) trying to search for his family after being separated from them as a child due to the new slavery laws. There's not really any progress in the search for them until Rowell takes Dev to a noble party where Dev finds an old friend of his, who's now also a slave. His old friend then reveals that his family died . . . And that's kind of it. Dev doesn't question it, doesn't try to find out how they died, where they died, when they died, nothing. He just kind of goes "damn, sad," and moves on. Despite being what should be such a heavy topic, it feels like there's just such a lack of impact.
For what it's worth, I did like the main couple. They were cute. The slave x master context gave them a pretty interesting dynamic, I thought it was unique how casual it seemed to be. Rowell never treated him like a slave yet Dev constantly called him master, and I don't think Rowell tried to ever make him stop. I kind of liked it? I think? It was at the very least interesting to see that despite their relationship being unconventionally healthy for the setting they were in, their roles weren't outright ignored for that. I also liked the progress of their relationship; it was clear straight from their first meeting there was a string of attraction connecting the two, and you could really feel it. Also, in the first 10 chapters Dev rapes Rowell, and it's super romanticized, and I loved that. Despite being an assault, Rowell could see how tormented Dev was and so accepted the situation and didn't let it change how he viewed him—if anything, it made him more attracted to Dev. And I fucking loved that idgaf
The art too is also great. It's genuinely just really beautiful. Dev had this great balance of beauty, of being both femininely pretty but also so handsome. Loved him
Story was eh. Art is fucking GORGEOUS though so it wasn't terrible. Pretty cliche honestly but with the exception of Garnet and Gary (which had a sweet ending still, I suppose) I loved all the pairs.
