5 ⭐️ but I would give it more if I could.

Wow. This book really just did that huh. My emotions are all over the place, I am sobbing, I am SHREDDED. This is a beautifully heart wrenching story. I read this in one sitting because I quite literally could not put it down. How is this a debut novel?! I can't say anything other than that this was incredible and I am so thankful to have read it.

I'm not usually a sci-fi reader, and I also typically always read fiction with romance elements in them. But when I read the description of this book I just knew I needed to read it. Now, this book is not a romance. But, it is a tale of the bonds that run deeper. It's a tale of love. It is a tale about grief and loss, pain and hope, found family and the most beautiful queerplatonic relationship. And oh, I could write forever on the presentation of Capitalism in this book. I don't think I've ever read a book quite like it - for me it was unique in it's beauty.

As far as the writing and organisation of the story, I found it to be phenomenal. The way that information was slowly revealed to Remy, and therefore the reader, created such a convincing and emotional journey of growth and discovery. I really like when books have epigraphs at the start of chapters, but not when they're just there for the sake of it - I found these epigraphs to really enhance the narrative and world building, and I loved that. I didn't feel confused by the world or the tether system, I found the world building to be really effective. The writing style is absolutely beautiful, almost lyrical at points, and highly engaging. The narrative was obviously fast paced due to the nature of the withering curse, but I found this to be really effective and I loved the way the story moved.

I don't think there is more that I can say, other than that this was such a beautiful book.

Thank you so very much to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for giving me the pleasure of reading this arc in exchange for an honest review. And thank you Jules Arbeaux. Thank you for writing this story.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I originally gave it 4 stars, but revised it to 3 because there were just so many things that bothered me about it. It only gets as high as 3 for two reasons: firstly, the main character is aroace (as am I), I have rarely seen a book that handles that so well and aroace rep means the world to me; secondly, even if I felt like the execution was lacking in places, I really liked the story.

I'm going to start with the positives, in case anyone only wants to read this far. I was fascinated by the magical system - bonds tying people to each other in different ways - and the way that the bonds weren't divided into romantic, platonic, familial etc but more by their characteristics: intellectual, instinctive, several other kinds which I confess I don't remember right now. There was no hierarchy of relationship, everyone has bonds which can change or fade with time but none is necessarily more important than another, and I just thought it was a really interesting concept overall.

I also really liked how Remy's aroaceness was handled, in that largely, it wasn't. I feel like a lot of the time, when a character is written as aroace, it can dominate their story, and so I don't tend to see aroace characters for whom their conflict is about something other than their identity. I appreciated it being brought up relatively early, and then not mentioned again. It doesn't influence his every interaction, it simply is, he doesn't have any love interests and it's not an absence (proving that stories can be perfectly compelling without them and that a great many of them might benefit from literally any other kind of relationship dynamic instead, but that's a separate discussion not directly relevant to this book). I don't think I really realised the extent to which so many books rely on romantic tension to drive the plot until I read this without, and it's like a breath of fresh air.

However, I do feel like this book requires you to suspend your disbelief beyond a reasonable extent for a lot of it. Perhaps I'm just overly critical, but it felt to me like there were a lot of contradictions in the way the book's world was assembled and the characters' motivations. For instance, the leader of the world where Remy lives seems to have almost a stranglehold on information, providing propaganda that Remy and most of the people he knows (before the plot really kicks off) accept without question - except, there appears to be next to no surveillance, no overly patriotic (or suspicious, or callous) neighbours turning people in and the world's most notorious criminal was known and liked by young children, even in the capital city, and has been operating for 10+ years. The world seems relatively queernorm, which is nice, there's a nonbinary character who just is, and it's mentioned briefly that Remy's brother was attracted to all genders - except Remy's school also enforced gender norms aggressively, punishing him when he dared to wear a shirt that was not 'for boys' and making the act of doing so such a risk that he considered it to be on par with the daring acts of his idol at the time, the previously mentioned notorious criminal. Remy grew up on the governmental propaganda that made him believe everyone on the 'Isles' were criminals and deserved their punishment, and also hated Idrian Delaciel so much that he intended to kill him personally - yet after a day with Idrian and a few hours on one of the Isles, he has apparently shed every single bias he's ever had and is wholeheartedly on the side of the man who was responsible for his brother's death, along with all of that man's friends.

Also, as much as I liked the concept of the tethers, I really struggled to conceptualise how they worked. It seemed possible to form bonds with people you'd never met - such as Remy with Idrian - and yet they are supposed not to influence how people interact, only reflect it. How can that be so when you can know upon meeting someone that you're fate-bound to them? Surely that would affect how you perceive them. The different types - both location and colour - of tethers was introduced slowly, and often after they'd first been mentioned in the text, so I found it hard to keep track of everything and would have really benefited from them all being explained succinctly at the beginning or something. Who knows, maybe they'll add that in the final version, I am only reading an advance copy. I found it hard to understand as well how people could not be bonded to each other but still get along well - or perhaps they were, and it just wasn't mentioned? - and I'm not clear on how a bonded relationship differs from one that isn't, especially since the tethers in theory can have varying thickness depending on the strength of a bond, so does someone have a very thin tether connecting them to everyone they've ever interacted with, even in passing? I'm also not clear on how they develop, whether they're always there and you find out who they connect to over time or can be produced spontaneously without one having always existed. So, overally, a great idea, but could have done with a bit more fleshing out, in my opinion.

I really wanted to like this book. I'd heard good things about it, I'd heard going in that there was aroace rep and I thought that it could have been an absolutely brilliant story were things a little different. In the end, though, I ended up rather ambivalent, and looked at this book to rate it purely from an analytical perspective, really, because it didn't compel me. I look forward to what the author writes next, however, as I think there is great potential there, it just wasn't quite realised in this book.

Lord of the Empty Isles is a scifi-fantasy debut that was just absolutely spectacular. It’s been five years since Remy Canta’s brother died of a death curse, murdered by Remy’s once childhood idol—interstellar fugitive Idrian Delaciel. When Remy finally has the last ingredient needed to cast his own death curse on Idrian, the curse goes wrong and rebounds on himself too, linking their lifespans together. So Remy must hunt down Idrian and infiltrate his criminal crew to find a way to fix the curse before it’s too late. But as Remy gets to know Idrian, he learns that his vengeance may bring more devastating consequences than he could have imagined as Idrian is more than just the evil villain he thought him to be.

Again, I cannot emphasize how much I absolutely loved this book. But be forewarned that this may not be for everyone and some may need to be in the right mindset before reading it. The books is a devastating tale of grief and loss, of the love for family and the bonds that tie people together, and of just how far some people will go for those they love. In the midst of undercover infiltrations, interstellar heists, mysterious curses, a conspiracy to the very top of the government, and a race against the clock, the book still managed to bring me to tears so so many times with its soul.

Remy is a man still reeling from the murder of his older brother, the man who raised him and the only family he had left, and he is blinded by his hate and single-minded quest for vengeance. It was honestly gutwrenching just reading about his love for his brother and his anger for what happened that it will make you actually root for him to get his vengeance. Meanwhile, Idrian is a morally gray man who does what he does for a reason. He is a man beloved by his people for bringing them hope in their bleak existence and hated by others for what he represents. There is a certain parallel you can make with his people’s plight and what is going on in the world right now.

There is no romance here (Remy himself is actually aroace), and that is not to the book’s detriment. Instead, it features queerplatonic relationships, bonds greater than that of friends and beyond that of family or lovers. The book has a magic system of sorts involving different kinds of bonds between people (think tethers), and it demonstrates the different types of relationships from romantic to the platonic. Together, Remy and Idrian help each other grow and heal to break the cycle of violence that has lead them down their dark paths. It is about confronting their conflicts and learning to understand if not forgive the actions that have been done. There are several noteworthy scenes of them just interacting (their initial confrontation when all is revealed and another towards the end) that were so exceptionally powerful that it still manages to make me tear up just thinking about it.

Lord of the Empty Isles is a moving and devastating cozy scifi-fantasy blend featuring an aroace protagonist, a found family, and queerplatonic relationships on top of its epic scifi story. Be ready to cry.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC.

This book was really really nice!!! It had wonderful writing and the protagonists and characters were vibrant and full of life. I finished it in a day!!

As for the world building. I really got some Snowpiercer vibes in the beginning, with how the people of the Isles were treated ans how information was manipulated from the government to influence public opinion, something which seemed really interesting and well thought out. However, as much as I liked the bond system and the tethering, it felt confusing to me personally and it took me a while to get used to the type of bonds and tethers you can have. I really enjoyed the snippets from books and poems in the beginning of the chapters, since it hints at a greater world and history, which I would not mind to explore again.

I really liked the fact that the protagonist is aroace and it doesn't play any role in the story whatsoever. He is not defined by that and I really liked that. Also, the diversity of the main cast was really nice and they complimented each other perfectly.

I found the climax of the book, the final showdown, a bit rushed. I did not think I would go down this smoothly, and the fact-spoiler- that the Chancellor was trumped because the inside of the office was broadcasted felt a bit incomplete in my opinion.

Finally, I loved the way the author portrayed the emotions that became the driving force for the protagonist, such as grief, healing and acceptance. It was beautifully written!

DNF’ed at 50%. I really wanted to like the concept of this one, with the concept of different bonds between people, but I think the execution of it as well as the story itself was too clumsy. It has taken me weeks to get to the halfway mark because the story hasn’t captivated me the way I wanted it to. What is great about the book is the diversity and amount of good representation. This story just wasn’t for me, unfortunately.

Thank you to Hodder and Stoughton and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

DNF. I tried really hard to get into this book but ended up giving up. The plot sounded like it should have been interesting but for some reason it never grabbed my attention. Maybe I'll give it another go sometime in the future.

I loved this, it was incredibly well written, and I absolutely loved the diversity and the character representation. Having an Ace-spec and gender-non-confirming lead, found family AND queer platonic relationships?? I adore this book and am super excited to read the next part.

This was a really tough book to read. That's not a criticism—but you need to be in the right place to read it. So much pain, so much cruelty (not perpetuated by the MCs, though they do plenty of harm). It was just really hard to read, given the world we live in.

Okay, enough of that. The story itself, and the writing, were marvelous. I loved the main and supporting characters and would gladly read about this world again and again. I went back and forth between four and five stars and finally settled on four, mostly because the climax didn't entirely work for me. <spoiler>It seemed too easy—I kept expecting the Big Bad to have another trick up his sleeve (and there was something about a needle that I think was mentioned and then simply vanished...). I expected there to be more fighting to be done after the initial broadcast of the message, and the fact that it was like "Oh, everything's going to be fixed now" felt like a copout after all the hard work leading up to it.</spoiler> Despite that, it was an excellent book, and I'll definitely look forward to more from this author.

My thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

This book was so unique and interesting. The world building and magic/powers were easy to follow and understand. There’s themes or grief, revenge, and ultimately humanity. The characters were flawed and relatable.

I am obsessed with this book. I finished it in only two days, I couldn't stop reading.

This is a science fantasy set on planet that has been destroyed by an eco disaster in the past. To survive, the people built a couple of fake moons where they could sustain themselves for a few hundred years and by now the planet has recovered and people are living. However, to prevent another ecological disaster there are some strict rules for the living, and any criminals are sent to the empty isles, those moon.
I thought this was a very interesting setup, and the world building was clear and easy to follow, everything is explained timely without there being major infodumps.
Remy lives on the planet, and he believes the people living on the empty isles are all dangerous criminals who deserved their fate. Five years ago, his older brother, who practically raised him, died of a withering curse ordered by interstellar fugitive Idrian Delaciel. Remy has been craving revenge ever since, and now he finally has all that he needs to cast his own withering curse. The only problem with such a curse is that it also targets everyone who is fatebound to the target, a very rare kind of bond, only it turns out Remy is fatebound to Idrian. Meaning that when the curse kills Idrian, Remy also dies.
The only way to slow down the curse is to spend time around Idrian, but as they set out together and with his found family crew, Remy realizes Idrian is not the villain he always believed and the empty isles isn't filled with dangerous criminals. And if Idrian dies, the people on the Empy Isles who are dependent on his supplies will too.


This is a book about grief and revenge and how some people do bad things because they're pushed into situations where all choices are bad. It shows how the need for revenge often harms the person wanting revenge more, and shows this quite literally with Remy's withering curse backfiring onto him. It goes into some complicated politics with eco-fascisms, and has the main character learn that not everything as it seems.
I love how the book doesn't try to justify everything Idrian does. I'd say he's a good person. Not all of his actions are good, and some of the people who get hurt absolutely did not deserve this. But he was also pushed into this situation by other people, and it's not his fault that he has to make these impossible choices. It doesn't make it right, but it makes it a fault of the system too.

I loved the characters in this book, they are all very developed and felt real to me. Remy is consumed by the need for revenge, and cannot let go of his grief for his brother. Idrian wants nothing more than to keep the people on the empty isles alive, and has to make some impossible choices to do it. There's some great side characters too, and a found family ship crew. I'm especially obsessed with Yves, an inhabitant of the empty isles and the closest thing they have to a doctor.
There's a developing queer platonic relationship between Remy and Idrian, and it follow the structure of enemies to relationship in that sense only it's not romance (Remy is aroace). I think it was very well done here, it really develops in the way Remy view the world and Idrian, and it doesn't move too fast, Remy slowly learns to see that Idrian is not the person he believed. Yet at the same time he's still the person who killed his beloved brother.

I'll buy this book when it comes out and I'll probably buy anything this author writes, would recommend it to people who love the slow development sort of enemies to lovers but would like to see this with a non romantic relationship, people who love complex politics and people fighting injustice and fans of science fantasy.
It is not super sciency or difficult to understand in that sense, the science fiction part is really the space travel and the ecological world building. There's also a magic system that relates to the connections between people that I found interesting.

I always enjoy reading more books with Aspec characters, and especially with queerplatonic relationships. And whhile the characters in this book are fine and the relationships realistic, overall the book was rather forgetable. What annoyed me the mist is that it builds up a very detailed magic system, spends way to much time explaining it and then never seems to use it enought to justify that much detail. It was an ok, kinda quick read bit nothin memorable or extraordinary. Bit of a disapointment unfortunately.

Lord of the Empty Isles is an Excellent debut novel, with intriguing world-building and emotionally complex characters . Anyone who loves a found-family story should check this out.

✰ 3.5 stars ✰

“To heal
you must cut down
to the beating heart of things.
You must prepare to ruin.”

I doubt there's any fate worse than accidentally binding yourself to your sworn enemy with the very spell you aimed to curse them with. But, that is the cruel and twisted fate of nineteen-year-old Remy Canta when a withering spell he aimed solely at the man responsible for killing his older brother, Idrian Delaciel - once upon a time his childhood hero, now interstellar fugitive rebounds, linking his own lifespan to him and every other member of his criminal crew. 😥 'How funny. How rare, how impossible to be bound to the man who ruined his life.' And the only way to keep it in check - becoming a member of the crew as they scale the stars and open space in a high-speed adventurous journey that would forever change his views on life and his opinion of the very man he thought he would never forgive. 🌠

“Remy would never cut Cameron away. Pain is a small price to pay for keeping this last piece of him close.”

Amidst all the action and danger, the trials and tribulations, the torment and the torture, there lies a heart-wrenching story of one young man coping with the loss of his brother - unable to fully grieve in order to let his soul settle in peace. It is not just about retribution - it is about realization of what led to his death and coming to terms with it. It's about facing a reality that has been shielded from you, only to discover how much he has been unaware of all these years. 'Cameron deserved more than I ever gave him. Seeking justice for his death is the least I could do. I don’t know what kind of brother I’d be if I didn’t at least try.' 🥺 Remy is a protagonist who has only one aim in mind - rid himself of the curse, so that he can exact his timely revenge on Idrian - and only him; for perhaps, it has always intended to be that way. He never meant to involve others in his quest for vindication, and that is where the heart of his character stands out - guilt. It is that guilt that leads him to uncover so much more that he was not aware of - to be a part of his crew and see lands and people that he never knew existed or concerned himself with.

I enjoyed Remy's interactions with all the supporting cast - namely, Tirani, Yves, and of course, Idrian. I loved the friendship with Tirani - his soul-sister, his best friend and confidante, his link to his home and heart - the support system to his conscience and his righteous state of mind. A beautiful friendship that he would sacrifice anything to protect her tears and heartache. 🫂 💛 'The people who love us, they don’t want us to hurt ourselves to earn their loveor forgiveness or suffer because they’re gone.' I enjoyed getting to know Yves - a complex multi-faceted character whose actions may be questionable and single-minded, at times, but in the end, his heart and intentions are in the right place. He comes off as slightly uncaring to Remy's plight, but somehow, he is the one who cares the most. And as the author slowly peels off the layers to these characters and the rest of the supporting cast, I enjoyed how each of them carried their own weight, were pivotal parts to the story that made me sympathize with them - in more ways than one. 👍🏻

“But in this dark, hopeless place, he’s a symbol, and Remy no longer knows what face he can show the man who preserves with one hand and destroys with the other.”

I ate every morsel of interaction between Remy and Idrian Delaciel—self-proclaimed Lord of the Empty Isles. All that bitter anger, that relentless hurt, that desperate desire to make him pay for what he'd done to him - it was described perfectly. But, so too was the gently coaxing way in which Remy saw the person that Idrian really was. I loved their dynamic, their banter, the fight or flight moments when Remy was drawn towards him and started to see perhaps he wasn't the villain he thought him to be. 😟 For each little bit that he learned more about him, a part of him wanted to learn just as much more - to have him closer to him as a friend and not an enemy. 'The world is full of sharp and unlovely things, but Idrian isn’t one of them.' How he defied everything that he thought he was, earning his respect and care and wanting to stand by his side rather than facing him as an enemy. That he could feel guilty over hurting him, even when it was his sole intention was to finish him off. The quiet shift in Remy's feelings was very subtle, but I liked how it felt so very natural - like a gradual sinking in that he was slowly processing. 🩶🩶

“Healing feels like betrayal, like releasing a fragile, precious thing kept from crumbling only by the pressure of his hands.”

But most of all, I love that this is not just a sci-fi story; this is the story of healing and forgiveness - a chance to overcome the shadow of revenge and heal his grief-stricken heart from the tragedy that drove him to focus on one thing and one thing only. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 The bond he had with his brother, Cam, is never forgotten; it is nurtured and tended to - a reminder of happy days gone and the urge to live up to all that he was, losing himself in the process because of that loss. It is how life had lost all meaning and existence seemed pointless, simply because he was so hell-bent on revenge. 'Why did he ever think more death could pay for a life?' Remy's growth in understanding that part of himself was beautifully captured; it shined in certain moments, most significantly in one heart-wrenching moment that I could feel his loss and sadness - viscerally so. It was so very palpable - that haunting ache that I had to read that scene twice; I definitely teared up at it - it was a really powerful and moving scene. 😢

There was a great balance of humor and angst, levity and tragedy, action and respite that I appreciated. Although, one thing that I should mention is that I wasn't so much confused about the explanations for certain fate-bound tethers, but it did make the writing confusing. If that makes any sense? Like, I understood what it was intending to say, but it made the writing less fluid. I also couldn't help but draw a few similarities to Fullmetal Alchemist, which may or may not be accurate; so that may have marred my overall opinion on it. Towards the ending, I also felt the writing slacken a little bit; it became a bit too repetitive and the pacing lost a little fluidity to the steady momentum I had been enjoying. 🙁 I know it's more about reaching a climax as we near the end of the journey, but as it veered into a more political stand-off with a slightly predictable plot reveal that I couldn't hype myself up to care about. I did appreciate the path to get there - it's just the destination didn't feel very well-rounded. 🙍🏻‍♀️

Still, it was an enjoyable and engaging read, with an absolutely stunning cover that was also one of the reasons that drew me towards it. 🤩 I'm not normally a fan of science-fiction, but the cover was too irresistibly stunning for me to resist, along with a very enticing blurb, so I knew I had to give this a chance. 👏🏻👏🏻 And I am glad that I did, because there truly was a very touching and emotional story packed underneath that resonated with me. 'A person shouldn’t be easy to sum up. That’s what makes a life matter.' I never felt bored at any time and I was interested in seeing how far Remy would have to go to find a way out for himself and the others. I also felt that there were a few hints to suggest that there is the possibility of a sequel, and if so, then I will be sure to stop by. ✨🌌💫

*Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First, I saw the cover and thought, "I need this book on my shelf." Then I read the blurb and decided that I needed this story in my head. Now, after I’ve read the last page, I simply can’t get it out of my head anymore.

Lord of the Empty Isles is a book that will dare you to put it down. Every page will guide you to the next, making you lose your sense of time and space as Jules Arbeaux fully immerses you in this incredible world she has created.

If I had to boil down the plot to one line, it would probably be, "A clash between grief, love, and hope." I immediately fell in love with the characters which, while keeping me invested in the narrative, was heartbreaking because I simply wanted nothing more than to see them hug it out. But the world isn’t that simple. It never is. And aside from the colorful cast of characters and the incredible world-building, I simply kept going because I kept wanting answers to two questions: How did it come to this? Where do we go from here?

Remy and Idrian were the heart of the story for me, and the network of emotional bonds they’ve formed with the characters around them was way more satisfying and heartwarming for me personally than most of the romance subplots I usually read.

Overall, Lord of the Empty Isles is an incredible, heartwarming story set in a vivid and unique world, filled with amazing characters that will stay with you long past the final words. It’s a magnificent debut, and I can’t wait to see more of Arbeaux's work in the future.

One of the most original and refreshing LGBTQ books I've ever read. There is absolutely nothing else like it out there. An aroace-spec and gender non-conforming lead and a glorious queer found family? In a fantasy book to boot? This is the kind of thing the sci-fi and fantasy genres should have been exploring all along! What's the point of having the entire universe at your fingertips if you stay inside rigid gender and sexuality structures? What a boring way to explore the galaxy! But this? Now, this is exciting! And not just the queer stuff, the actual story had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. So much at stake, so much adventure, and so much love to be had along the way. Jules Arbeaux has a fan for life in me!

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape + NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and provide and honest review.

An incredible, gut-wrenching story full of hope and loss and love, LORD OF THE EMPTY ISLES was a masterpiece. The genre-bending was incredible and the world and magic that Arbeaux crafted was utter perfection. This book shattered me and put me back together stronger than before. I fell in love with Idrian, Remy, and the found family gathered around the both of them. It was also incredible to read such a gorgeous queerplatonic story with ace rep.

This was one of those books that was addicting. I read it straight through pretty much. It was fast-paced and tense and I was hooked almost immediately. It was incredibly emotional and I was on tenterhooks throughout.

The portrayal of relationships and bonds between people is fascinating and heartfelt. There is no main romance in this book and it didn't matter, the relationships and emotions between the main cast of characters are far more impactful than I feel a romantic relationship would have been. There is so much emotion in this book but it doesn't overwhelm the story.

The start of the novel was a tiny bit rocky, right of the bat I wasn't super keen about Remy but that changed fairly quickly and the writing itself was impossible to pull away from. This book is very focused on the characters and their dynamics with one another but it is by no means lacking in plot. A lot is going on in this novel and neither the plot nor the character development suffers because of the detail invested in the other. The action scenes are succinct and dynamically paced and very easy to understand and get through. The chapters alternated between slow and meandering and incredibly fast-paced and packed full of action and it worked incredibly well. The chapters were also fairly short which I believed helped with the face and ease of reading. The one thing I wish was developed slightly more is the world-building. Whilst we are told a lot about the world this story takes place in, I still feel like there's a lot left still to be said and I wish it were a little bit more expansive.

The set up of this story is grim and a little desolate, there are very little true 'joyful' moments in this but the ones that there are hit all the harder.

This was exactly the kind of sci fi I love and it was a beautiful, incredibly well-written debut and I'm excited to read more by this author in the future. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

I'm a simple person — when I see found family, queer-platonic relationships and The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet mentioned I'm interested, especially after seeing that stunning cover. And behold, the promises lasted.
The way this book handled relationships is so refreshing — there is no actual romance and it doesn't need it. This book perfectly shows that relationships don't need to be romantic to work. The connections between friends and family can be just as strong, if not stronger.
While I think the comparison with The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is rightfully made, they both contain ragtag crews, found family and a good dose of spaceships, but they have very different vibes. Lord of the Empty Isles is significantly more grim and dystopian than its comparison. There is a high focus on the less fortunate and what it costs to let them survive, making it a less cosy but very reflective read.

My main critique is that it lacked direction in the middle. The story became more episodic. Plot-wise it did make sense, they had errands to run and lives to save, but I'm personally less interested in seeing them go on a little field trip when they have a lethal curse going on.
But the well-written character interactions did get met through it and made it a great read overall.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodderscape for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

"Lord of the Empty Isles" is a sci-fi novel written by Jules Arbeaux, here at her debut.

A planet resurrected from the ashes of a climate disaster and controlled by a seemingly benevolent system. Three moons, once a refuge, turned into a terrible prison. A world characterized by magical bonds, which bind people together. Two sworn enemies unexpectedly bound by fate and a deadly curse. These are just some of the ingredients that make up "Lord of the Empty Isles," a compelling, heartwarming and engaging novel that completely won me over. An exciting book, full of feelings, which really warmed my heart. A tale of hatred, revenge, remorse and grief. A story of hope, forgiveness and friendship. A novel deeply focused on relationships between people, with a wonderfully touching found family and a magnificent enemies to queerplatonic relationship! I really loved everything about this book, from beginning to end, and can express nothing but kudos!

The story takes place on the planet of Verdine, resurrected from the ashes of a climatic cataclysm that killed many people and pushed the survivors to seek salvation on Alta, Fluora and Toxys, the moons around the planet. Verdine is now a thriving, verdant planet full of life, ruled by a Chancellor and subject to strict and oppressive rules. I was fascinated by this world building, simple but well-drawn, described in a vivid and evocative way. The magic system based on bonds then is incredible! In "Lord of the Empty Isles" people are bound to each other through bonds, of various colors and placed in different parts of the body, invisible to ordinary people. The color and position of the ties indicate their particular nature, their characteristics. Bonds can change, fade and even rot, which requires therapeutic treatment. There are two types of people who can use them: weavers, who can see and identify the bonds of others, except their own and those of the people they are bound to, and withers, who can cut the bonds, to the exclusion of their own, and cast a withering, a curse as deadly as it is illegal, leading to the slow and painful death of the target. Seriously, I have nothing but compliments about it!

The story proceeds fast and dynamic, full of action and events, accompanied by a brisk pace and short chapters. More frenetic scenes alternate with quieter ones, with sometimes funny and sometimes heartbreaking situations, in a perfect balance. The passionate narration affected me tremendously, reason for which I found myself laughing, smiling and crying out loud at alternating moments. I followed everything with great interest, without boredom or heaviness, arriving at the end fully satisfied.

Remy, protagonist with his only third person pov, won me over! Remy is a wither, parentless, deeply marked by the death of his older brother, who raised him and to whom he was very close. Remy lives consumed by grief, regrets, and the desire for revenge. In fact, his brother was struck by a withering, which killed him slowly and painfully, ordered by the interstellar pirate Idrian Delaciel. Remy wants to kill him with the same curse, he drags himself forward thanks to this purpose, until he gets the final ingredient: the blood of the criminal himself. Too bad that when he casts the spell, the unthinkable happens: he discovers that he is fatebound to his brother's killer, which makes him cursed in turn. Since the only way to slow the curse is to stay close, Remy sets out to find Idrian, setting events in motion. Remy is a complex and tormented character portrayed fantastically! I felt a lot of his suffering, his inner conflicts, and I loved his healing journey, his evolution.

And what can I say about the other characters?! I loved them all! From Tirani, weaver and Remy's best friend, to Idrian and his criminal crew. They are involving, complicated and well portrayed characters with whom I connected a lot. Tirani impressed me with her goodness, her dedication and her loyalty to Remy. Idrian and his gang captivated me with their being morally gray, forced into difficult choices and wrong actions, with which they have to live. In general, they are all broken characters, marked by losses or painful events, who find in their group, their friendship and their purpose, the strength to continue.  As mentioned above, the found family that develops in this book is wonderful! The way in which Remy at first reluctantly approaches Idrian and his crew, full of hatred and prejudice, and then slowly begins to open up touched me deeply. Seriously, the queerplatonic relationships in this book are pure emotion and I found myself sobbing repeatedly reading certain scenes!

All in all, "Lord of the Empty Isles" is a magnificent debut, characterized by a heartwarming story, incredible characters, and a spectacular found family! I can't wait to read more from the author!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm so sad I didn't like this one! I will say, my major issue was the way in which it was written. Something about the style of writing combined with the tense chosen, I just really, really couldn't get on with it. I don't know why, because I have read other books with the same tense choice which have been fine, but this one was not good for me personally.
Good things, I really liked the various relationships between the different characters and the story didn't feel particularly slow. The action scenes were good and went at a rapid pace, with a sense of urgency.
I did have a few other things I didn't like overly, one being that I felt the bonds were very overcomplicated for no reason. The different colours would have been fine, if not then also having the additional meanings of where they were joined and it all felt rather info-dumpy, whilst being a bit unclear.
Then a couple of other things, which are probably more of a personal irritation, but I hate when a character is referred to by multiple different names, even within the same paragraph. The character was called either Delacial or Idrian, changing from sentence to sentence, seemingly regardless of who was thinking or speaking about him, which was hard to keep track of, especially initially when he was introduced with a bunch of other new characters. I also don't like deliberate miscommunication/lack of communication, especially when it becomes irrelevant immediately as the deception is found out. In the same vein, I couldn't see any reason towards the start why the MC wouldn't be even given a tiny hint of where they were going or what to expect. I know it's to create tension and mystery for the reader, but I don't think it's very realistic in how people would actually behave. The treatment of the prisoners also seemed extremely excessive and I couldn't really see why it was to the degree it was.