This is book 2 from a series, and I’m a sucker for reading books in the right order 😬

Could you read this book without book 1 🤷🏼‍♀️ I suppose you can, but I don’t know if all your questions were gonna be questions to begin with if you read book 1 first, does that make any sense?

About the book, I liked the world building and the characters, it was on some parts a bit long, but on the other hand, I appreciated it a lot later in the book 🤗

Overall I liked it and the idea behind it.

Thank you for the arc, 4 star 🌟 read

I liked this book even more than the previous one, Lord of the Last Heartbeat. For me, the amnesia plot wasn't a problem, nor was the dark setting of the novel, which basically takes place in an alternate version of a world that exists for those after death. Sort of. In any case, I'm glad that there were content warnings at the start.

Ari is a dove-soul which basically means he has died as a human in the past and then come back to life again. This only happens with those who have some sort of inner strength, enough to make the transition. He has wings and the ability to heal others. What he doesn't have is his memories from before he came to Serenity.

I like the way that May Peterson deliberately did not set this in our world. She makes a note about this in the authors note at the beginning as well, and the result was that we had a world without real world expectations superimposing on top of it.

Right at the start of the book, Ari meets a human called Hai, someone he is drawn to for reasons he can't explain. Especially without any memory of him. The start of this novel does suffer a little bit from the lag of establishing a new world, but it does well in establishing Ari as a character before really bringing Hai and the romance plot in.

World building takes up a big part of this novel, larger I would argue than the romance itself. This isn't a bad thing at all, because the world that's explored is kind of amazing to read through. Additionally, there's a really good reason for all this exposition as Hai ends up telling Ari bits about the life that he can't remember.

Their relationship is quite sweet and satisfying. Although I would say that Hai's personality is quite soft, he is incredibly kick ass when the situation warrants it. Which, in this story, is a lot.

Perhaps it is my fault for jumping into a fantasy series on book 2. That's not always the best thing to do. But while I enjoyed May Peterson's writing and for the most part enjoyed the journey through The Immortal City, I was also lost and left with questions. I'm not sure if those questions would have been answered had I read book 1 or if they are just questions that I'm supposed to have, regardless of on-page worldbuilding. I liked this book. It didn't wow me, but there was also nothing explicitly wrong with it. I will definitely try Peterson again. But for me, The Immortal City was just okay, with a few hot scenes and some lovely writing. Nothing wrong with that!

This is the second book in a series and it's excellent.
Great character development and world building, excellent storytelling and style of writing.
It's a complex and layered story, engrossing and highly enjoyable.
I can't wait for the next book by this author, strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I read and reviewed May Peterson’s début novel Lord of the Last Heartbeat last year, and although I liked the concept behind the story, the world it was set in, and the main characters, I found the author’s overly florid writing-style difficult to navigate; the words got in the way of the story to the extent that it was almost impossible, at times, to work out what was happening, and the language was so overblown and dense that it was hard to picture the events in my mind’s eye.

So why did I pick up The Immortal City, book two in The Sacred Dark series? I was intrigued by the premise – an immortal being with no memories dreams of being able to regain them – and I wanted to see if perhaps the author had reined in the flowery prose and made it easier to actually understand her story without having to re-read two sentences out of every three in an attempt to make sense of what was going on.

Well, there was some success on that score because I did find The Immortal City to be more accessible than the previous book in that I found the story easier to follow; and incidentally it’s not connected to Lord of the Last Heartbeat by setting or characters (other than a couple of brief mentions of Vermagna and a “great lord of bear-souls” there), so I don’t think I missed out on anything by not being able to precisely recall the events of that book.

This one is told entirely from the point of view of Ari, a young man who, when he died, was reborn as a dove-spirit with numerous magical gifts including supernatural strength, immortality and the ability to heal others’ wounds. Oh, and he’s got wings and can fly. He also knows that he must have sold his memories to the powerful Lord Umber, who rules over the city of Serenity where Ari resides – but he doesn’t know why he sold them, or remember anything about his past life. He doesn’t even know how long he’s been in Serenity, but of late, he’s been thinking more and more about the possibility of regaining his memories – not that he has the faintest idea how to go about it or if it’s even possible. When a beautiful young man – Hei – literally falls into his arms, Ari is inexplicably drawn to him, and becomes even more preoccupied with the idea of finding out about his past. When Ari and Hei are together it feels somehow right – but when Umber takes an interest in Hei, Ari realises that there’s more to Hei’s sudden appearance in his life than random chance, and the two are drawn into an epic battle for Serenity.

It’s fairly easy to work out who Hei is – or who he is to Ari at least – and even though we only see Hei through Ari’s eyes, the reader is made aware that he knows much more than he’s letting on. There’s epic magic, the evilest of villains and the worldbuilding is sound – it’s not scrupulously over-detailed but not written in such broad strokes that it all feels superficial. I liked the author’s exploration of the relationship between self and memory and knowledge; the city of Serenity comes to life in all its decadence and strange other-wordliness, and best of all, the chemistry between Ari and Hei is pretty intense and there’s a real sense that theirs is a love that endures and never, ever gives up.

BUT. The pacing flags in places, there are pockets of repetition and sometimes the descriptive prose gets in the way of the events playing out (again). Maybe I’m just stupid, but I didn’t quite understand what happened at the end, and – is it a spoiler when I say that Ari does regain at least some of his memories, but we never find out how he died or why he sold them? (Or at least, I can’t see that he did.)

After two books which I can only give middling grades, I’m going to say this author probably isn’t for me. I found the storylines in both this and the previous books to be interesting, I liked the characters and the worlds in which the stories are set, but the writing just doesn’t work for me. I feel a bit like the Emperor Joseph II, who said there were “too many notes” in Mozart’s opera Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, because, to my mind, this author uses too many words! While Mozart quite correctly responded that he used as many notes as were necessary, May Peterson’s wordiness comes at the expense of clarity. And I’m saying this as someone who is generally verbose!

Opinions on Lord of the Last Heartbeat seem to have been divided between those who loved it, and those who, like me, had issues with the writing; I suspect the same will be true of The Immortal City. Ultimately, the book’s imaginative storyline is done a disservice by overly dense, flowery prose that leads to a lack of lucidity.

May Peterson’s second fantasy romance, THE IMMORTAL CITY (Carina Press, 330 pp., digital, $4.99), gives us lost souls unearthing a forgotten past. Ari is an immortal dove-soul with wings and the ability to heal. He has sold his memories to the sinister Lord Umber for reasons he cannot remember, and spends his days lurking in the statue fields where mortals come to die. When he impulsively rescues a youth named Hei, their connection begins a chain of events that unravels the city’s very existence.

Amnesia, a familiar trope in romance, becomes epic in Peterson’s hands, as befits the fantasy setting. Trust, we see, depends on memory. You can’t know someone’s a threat if you’ve forgotten what they’ve done. But remembering can be a wound — Ari’s slow piecing together of the truth brings pain even as it brings clarity and the knowledge of what it means to love someone beyond death, beyond memory, beyond time itself.

How to put my thoughts about this book into words.

Its daring - dangerously imaginative. We explore a city (both lost and removed from time) within a world we only catch glimpses of. Like Ari - one of our main protagonists, we don’t fully know what is happening around us until 63% of the way through the story. May Peterson somehow makes that work.

Ari, an immortal re-awoken in the city of Serenity, who has lost all of his memories to his previous life in exchange for his re-awakening as a moon soul, has taken his second chance at life not as a new start but as an early grave. The complete amnesia leaves him vulnerable to the iron-grip forces that govern Serenity: Lord Umber and his lackey the cat-soul. But then we, alongside Ari, meet Hei, and serenity doesn’t stay dead - Ari begins to feel alive. With hidden motives, Hei and Ari are inexplicably drawn towards each other as Hei pursues his own quest through the city.

Their relationship isn’t about being soulmates, or a love that transcends the stars, no Ari’s love is like muscle memory and their relationship develops as more of the past is uncovered. Ari’s trauma and Hei’s spirit must succeeded against forces that govern not only Serenity but their own identities and yet through perseverance, their bond only becomes stronger.

The Immortal City explores magic based in payment and bargains, where everything comes at a price but who gets to decide the cost. Peterson’s lush world development on moon-souls, susceptibility to silver, and the immortal vs mortal relationships created a fresh new and exciting place to explore and I would love to read more about the world outside of Serenity. There is an interesting cast of secondary characters - Kaiwan and Tamueji, but I wish for almost more about them.

Note: this book does contain strong themes regarding trauma, attempted assault and explicit scenes.

May Peterson’s debut novel, Lord of the Last Heartbeat, was an absolute stunner, lush in its world building and written in a lavish prose that complemented the dream-like quality of the story. To say that she repeated that success in her latest novel, The Immortal City, would be true, but this book is in no way a mere replica of the last. It’s stunning in its own right, in the landscapes she draws, the characters she creates, and she has left me anxious, yet again, for the next book in the series to see where her imagination might ask readers to follow next.

At its heart, this is the story of a love that defies the limits of reality. Peterson has called upon us to believe in a promise—that the heart never forgets true love—and to follow her characters, Ari and Hei, through tests and trials and a clear and present danger to prove that notion. There are enemies to vanquish along the way, allies to secure, and faith to restore, all while they rediscover a timeless love.

There is a particular magic at work in this book as well as a particular villainy, and Ari and Hei face it all with a fervency that tries their bond but only succeeds in strengthening it as they cross each hurdle. Every scene that leads readers to the crucial moment in which Ari and Hei must face their greatest challenge, and a powerful adversary, is dense with the imagery of a world in which humans and the sublime coexist.

May Peterson is an author who’s books are a welcome addition to my collection of favorites. I loved this book every bit as much as her first.

This author hooked me on their work with Lord of the Last Heartbeat and just doubled down with the Immortal City. Just the premise of the storyline, Ari being reborn as a dove-soul with healing abilities, drew me in. This wonderfully imagined world is utterly fascinating and highly entertaining. Ari and Hei were wonderfully complex characters and I loved watching them connect and interact with each other. I really enjoyed this return visit to the world of the Sacred Dark and I hope I don't have to wait long for my next one.

*I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley*

Included as a top pick in bimonthly August New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached).

I think the most important thing for me to say up front is that KJ Charles also liked this book and if you won’t take my word for it, listen to KJ Charles. Please go buy it, or request it from your local library. I received this as an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honets review.

I’ve thought a lot about how to describe this treasure of a book. I keep coming up with movies for comparison. Imagine if Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire, Blade Runner, Momento and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind had a baby, and the baby had it’s own internal glow. May Peterson blends the alienation, gritty mystery and corruption with an ethereal lightness. It’s equally lush and spare.

Ari died and as happens sometimes in this world, came back to life as a dove-soul. He has wings, the ability to heal, and no memory of his life before a couple of years ago. Many people come to the mountain city of Serenity to lose their memories or to seek life after death. The lack of memory, not knowing himself, leaves Ari numb and disconnected. Ari meets Hei and feels a pull of attraction. As Ari tries to piece together who he is and how Hei fits into his life, he comes to see the corruption in Serenity.

Hei is seen entirely through Ari’s eyes. It takes a bit before Hei becomes a multi dimensional character, because it takes awhile for Ari to see him that way. Ari initially thinks he is sweet, tender, and vulnerable. Hei is all of those things, but he is a sweet, tender, murder baby. Hei has come to Serenity looking for two people and vengeance. Hei’s passion is like a beacon in the mist for Ari. It gradually becomes clear that Ari and Hei were lovers before Ari died and Hei has come to avenge his death.

The Eternal City is as much about love as it is about trauma. Ari’s lack of memory makes him vulnerable to manipulation, but he still chooses Hei. Despite the amnesia, he has a bone deep connection. It made me think of visiting my Granny in her later years when she didn’t remember me. She would start telling me stories about her brown-eyed great grandbaby who she loved so much. She didn’t know me, but I made her think of someone she loved and that made her happy. I bring up this personal anecdote because Ari’s connection to Hei doesn’t feel like a “fated mates” situation, but like a muscle memory. It’s never that Hei and Ari are meant to be together, but that they choose each other. Hei chooses the Ari that doesn’t remember him, and Ari chooses Hei even when he is uncertain of Hei’s motives.

This isn’t a light book, but for all the trauma it delves into, it never feels heavy. I really hope this book finds it’s audience. I would like to read more May Peterson.

I want to tell you I enjoyed this novel. After forcing myself to finish Lord of the Last Heartbeat and reading all the glowing reviews written about it, I thought maybe it was just time/place affected my enjoyment of the story. That's not it. The writing style doesn't work for me and this world just doesn't interest me.

Part way through this is a DNF.

This is the first May Peterson novel I’ve read but I can’t wait to go back and read her debut because her writing is absolutely stellar. I’ve heard great things about her first novel but haven’t gotten around to reading it and I will me remedying that immediately. Peterson created a wonderful romance that takes place in an incredibly detailed fictional world. Seriously the world building is next level and I was completely sucked in. Ari and Hei are two incredibly dynamic characters and from the moment they are introduced to the reader the chemistry between the two is evident and flourishes throughout. Highly recommend if you love fantasy romance with dark elements. Also if you’ve read Peterson before you won’t be disappointed.