The Duke Steals Hearts & Other Body Parts

It's a shame that Phillip is the only one that gets any sort of true character development. Wycliffe, Adeline's brother and one of Phillip's previous marks, is at first as recklessly vengeful but quickly spirals into selfish, weak observer. Lucent, a former partner in crime, we get only hints of outside of his relationship to Phillip. His character arc changes with the wind so that you feel neither anger nor sympathy towards him by the end. Adeline even has a line that sums up her issue: "I don't think you really see me; you see what you want to see instead." Yet the reader can only take what they are given. As for Madame Beatrice, she is painted as a fearsome, untouchable crime boss, but emerges less than intimidating. All talk and no show more bite it seems. She is subdued so easily that it's a surprise she even lasted as long as she did.

It's safe to say that Part 1 is solid. The characters and plot are established, Phyllis finds their truth as Phillip, Wycliffe is on the prowl, Adeline takes control of her kidnapper, and we're given glimpses into their fantastical world. Part 2 is disjointed, rushed and unfulfilling. There's simply not enough pages for what the author has designed. It deserves proper world building and justice for its colorful cast. But I adored its moments of dark humor and was wholly invested in Phillip's emotional trans journey. This one probably should've been given a three star for its awkward pacing, but it was so delightful and charming in many ways that it earned another half. show less

The ending brought down what had been an enjoyable book for me. Around 80% through the book, I realized how few pages were left and how much story there seemed to be left to tell, and I wondered how it would all fit. And then it didn't. The ending was abrupt. Many of the plot threads felt hastily resolved and some of the characters fell away. First Wycliff, then Adeline and Nyx, started with strong presences in the narrative in terms of their personalities and goals -- Wycliff and Adeline even being point-of-view characters -- before dwindling away. Lucent had a lot of set-up as a complex, tragic villain, but not a lot and not consistent development of those ideas. His main motivation ended up not really seeming to matter to him or show more anyone else. He drops it with very little prompting considering he's been pursuing this one goal for 400 years, killing for it and ruining his own happiness for it the whole time. (Also, if he cared so much about resurrecting his sister or at least tells himself he does, why kill the one man who's been shown to have resurrection powers? At least pretend a bit to consistent goals, you killed your lover for this.) Also, the tragedy of him living so long, but by his nature always falling into the same miserable and inescapable patterns is a compelling concept, but not shown off all that well.

What I liked:
Phillip's coming into himself as a trans man. Despite the fantastical setting and his unusual past, he reads true and relatably as a young trans person figuring it all out, both in his insecurities and fears and in this bright new self-assurance and comfort he starts to find as Phillip.

The trio of Phillip and the two undead girls. They had a sweet friendship developing even if, like many things in this book, I think it could have used more time to keep developing. Their support of each other and attempts to be honest and open with each other (a work in progress but something) were a nice contrast to the unhealthy relationship Phillip had been trapped in.

Lucent's love. Lucent's worst actions are done out of love and to people he genuinely loves. He's not just pretending to manipulate Phillip or Weevil. I think it adds something to the book's discussion of unhealthy relationships to acknowledge that there can be real love, care, and affection mixed with or driving the cruelty. And where other attempts to add complexity to Lucent's character fall flat, this one does work for me. show less

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's really well written... and it's probably one of the most unique things I have fead in a long time. I enjoyed the reader's writing style, the pacing was great.. and the characters developed well as the novel progressed. What a lovely things for a villain to be able to do - steal body parts from people.. and what a world in which that can happen.

It made me uncomfortable that the MC was deadnamed... I have read books before in which the author has used a variety of methods to avoid deadnaming a character. Not sure if that will bother readers... I am sensitive to it.

Overall, a twisted tale... loved the morbid overtones. I didn't always connect well with the characters. Sometimes, their decision show more confused me a little bit. show less