The Longest Autumn is a book where a magical artifact breaks and causes terrible consequences for literally everybody, and the main character is the prime suspect. Tirne swears she’ll do anything necessary to restore it, a vow that gets her in trouble. The sheer amount of trouble she gets into is really bold too, there’s no shortage of tension here.

There are a lot of things I really liked about this novel. The worldbuilding was fantastically creative! A pantheon of seasonal gods and myths to support how it formed that seems to have taken inspiration from Greek/Roman mythology, but isn’t a one for one imitation. There are holidays too that aren’t just reskinned fantasy Christmas and New years. Autumn himself is very fleshed out, as most of the characters are. The temple is a living place, with people bustling about. Additionally, there’s a lot of LGBT reps here. A character going by they/them, multiple same sex pairings, and an aromantic character (seriously, props for the aromantic one, I’ve never seen it in fiction before and the A needs some more reps!) These are all treated as normal too.

My main gripe with the novel is WHY IS IT SO SEXUAL ALL THE TIME?!?!

If I weren’t reading an ARC (Thanks NetGalley!), I’d have stopped at the second chapter. Fire and Shadow, it starts in the second chapter! AND IT NEVER STOPS. Remember the fun worldbuilding I said something about? The holiday in question is one where they basically celebrate sex, all get drunk at a dance and then go have sex with each other after. Remember how I mentioned the temple? Yeah, there are no doors so Tirne tells the reader she can hear everyone having sex as she goes down the halls. Everyone seems to be in an open relationship too, I swear, no one knows the meaning of monogamy. Tirne has sex with three other characters and turns down a fourth, one of which she hates at times but keeps going back to because spice I think??? That one actually goes somewhere plot wise though, not like the first sexual encounter that’s pretty much irrelevant.

None of those things are bad per se, but they make the book very different from what it’s marketed as. The way probably more than half the chapters had some reference to sex WILL turn readers away because it’s not advertised at all in the cover or blurb. It’s a shame, because I really was invested in the mystery, but the resolution was more about the sex which made me a little disappointed.

Also, the prose isn’t quite doing it for me. It’s like one out of every five words could be cut with nothing of importance lost. To many ly words, I think.

The Longest Autumn by Amy Avery is a fantasy standalone novel about Tirne, Herald of the god, Autumn, who gets stuck in the human realm when the mirror, the connection with the realm of the gods, breaks.

The official description says that Autumn brings with him life-threatening danger and a forbidden romance. I have mixed feelings because I thought it would be more mystery and more romance. Tirne has several romantic pursuits throughout the novel and I wasn’t sure which was heading towards being end game, but I actually liked that the romantic elements felt more realistic than a HEA of romance genre books.

Avery lays the foundations of the mystery early, from the first chapter, though it’s not a traditional mystery in which Tirne investigates, but rather an add on while she’s trying to survive stuck in the human world with her debilitating migraines. I appreciated the representation of someone with chronic illness, but Tirne as a character didn’t have much growth nor much in the way of agency. Everything happened to her, nearly to the very end when she made one choice for herself.

Overall, it was an interesting standalone with a satisfying resolution. I’m interested to see what else this author may have coming.

Favorite quote: I hesitate. “I’d be a heretic.” Almost a whisper, his reply. “Then be my heretic.”

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for allowing me to read this book as an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Pros:
- Interesting world building.
- Quick read.
- Satisfying conclusion.
- Good representation that felt realistic.

Cons:
- The first person POV is rough at first and Tirne is quite passive.
- The other characters weren’t well developed.
- Yet another rendition of the young woman/ancient man trope with Tirne and Autumn.
- Tirne’s strained relationship with Laereda is told but not really shown. In Chapter 8, Tirne says everyone will see Laereda’s true colors, but as a reader I wasn’t shown what those were so I didn’t understand Tirne’s dislike of her and vice versa.

I was so excited about this book! The premise sounds intriguing, a bit like a Hades and Persephone story.
Is it?
I have no idea; the overly poetic prose had me DNF at 10%

"The Longest Autumn" is a debut novel, and an impressive one at that. A mixture of mystery and romance, along with a pinch of Greek mythology vibes (vibes, because this is not a one-to-one retelling), "The Longest Autumn" will likely make anyone who is into the "new adult" genre and who enjoys a certain coziness quite content. It certainly kept me interested - I wasn't entirely sure who Terne would end up with, a fact that led to some good character building as she navigates the uncertain world around her. She also suffers from chronic headaches, which I relate to as well (I feel you girl; migraines suck).

I did not vibe with the writing style - first person and slightly purple. The writing felt very YA and overly detailed - if you're into Maggie Stiefvater, you won't have an issue with it. It's not a style that works for me, but there's nothing *wrong* with it.

Once this book was complete, my thoughts were: "That was pleasant", nothing more. It's going to be one I struggle to recount in a few weeks, but wasn't it nice while it lasted.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would given the description. The worldbuilding was interesting and unique, reminiscent of Greek myth (Hades and Persephone with the passage of seasons). But the pacing was very slow. I'm a patient reader but after many chapters with no much happening, I had trouble staying engaged and caring about the characters. I suppose the writing wasn't my thing. I would still recommend this book to fans of Greek mythology inspired fantasy.

This book had a solid storyline but was a slower start than I’d hoped for. Otherwise I really enjoyed the characters and the seasonal/ritual aspects.

I devoured this book in the span of hours (an endorsement in itself). Solid fantasy (romance?) with unique season-based world-building that is easy enough to follow, though the romance was largely between our heroine and a different character than the one being promoted. Also, the ending may be too much of a downer for hard core fantasy romance fans wanting a HEA/HFN. Romance aside, I wish our heroine had been better rewarded for her trials (she seems to settle for so little after giving up so much in the end). Another thing I did not connect with was how characters manipulated our heroine by taking advantage of her chronic illness. This made it hard for me to root for one of the love interests.

Oh man, I don’t even know where to begin with how much I intensely disliked this book. While it is certainly an ode to Greek mythology and has the threads of a good story (the seasons are halted because the magic that allows one to pass into another has been cursed), it was muddled by all the sex. sex. sex. I was in a sort of weird place of awe about how much bed hopping happened between gods and consorts, heralds and sorcerers, acolytes and other acolytes. There was about 20% of the book which I enjoyed (it involved deprivation and character development) and then the ending just wrapped up too neatly *and* I was annoyed by the author’s choice regarding the main character’s romantic fate. Why finish it, you ask? Well, I’m not a speed reader for nothing and I suppose I kept hoping “The Longest Autumn” wouldn’t feel quite so long. Alas, this book was not for me.

In a world where the seasons are gods, a woman chosen by Autumn must shepherd the souls of the dead to their resting place until a mirror that fuctions as a portal shatters and changes everything.

I liked the story more than I did the writing style. It's likely a very personal take but it just made be feel very disconnected from Tirne, almost like someone else was telling me what happens rather than the first person account it is.
But it is an interesting world, I quite liked the aspect of the gods not being able to understand human emotion very well because it's a perspective we hardly get to see in stories. And also the way gender isn't much of a precursor to anything.

From the first page, the writing captured my attention. The story felt atmospheric and vivid. Perfect for the autumn season and for anyone who loves the autumn season in general. (Like me!) The cover/title drew me in immediately and I’m glad the rest of the pages kept me in.

{Thank you to NetGalley and Amy Avery for this ARC! I was not paid for my review. All opinions are my own.}

The Longest Autumn was the fantasy I didn’t know I needed. This novel has the poetic prose comparable to Rebecca Ross’.

I only have two criticisms: it started slow, and it could’ve been longer.

I wish I had someone to talk to about this book because the ending had me both hopeful and devastated. I became more attached to the characters than I thought I would in the beginning.

The story unfolds slowly, and the world builds upon itself as it goes on. I appreciated the sexual and gender fluidity of the characters in this world. The migraine representation was also very well done and not something I often see.

Overall, it’s a gorgeous story full of mystery, love, overcoming obstacles, and discovering who you truly are without your labels. I highly recommend this beautiful novel and can’t wait for everyone to experience it.

A really wonderful debut.I was excited to read The Longest Autumn the description drew me in and from the first pages I was involved.Beautiful writing an author to follow.# netgalley #flatiron

So at first I was ready to give this 5 stars easy. But after taking some time to think about it, I really did not feel like Tirne had a satisfying conclusion. It sort of followed the trope of FMC gives up her powers for the greater good and, while that's not a bad thing, it is just something I have grown weary of. Still very good! 4/5

“The Longest Autumn” is a compelling story about the girl who escorts Autumn to the human realm every year. A perfect read for the transitional season from summer to autumn. The lush writing-style fits in line with a mythological retelling. The world-building was interesting and understandable. This felt like such a unique story. I was so invested in the outcome of this tale, intertwined with romance and mystery.

Thank you Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Unfortunately I don't have a whole lot to say about this one, except that while I liked it, it's ultimately forgettable for me and I didn't fall in love with it like I wanted to. It felt fairly slow-paced (especially the first quarter) and while the concept was interesting, neither the characters nor the writing grabbed me like I wanted it to. The worldbuilding, though, was a step above what I'd expected, which is always a plus. Generally speaking, I liked the chronic illness representation too--but agency. The protagonist lacked so much agency so for a lot of the book, it felt like it was going nowhere. Three stars for concept and engagement, though parts were slow.

This was a fantastic debut novel! I really enjoyed the unique world this took place in, and how the world building and introduction of the main religion of the story (worship of the seasons as gods) was done right as the main driving plot of the story unfolded. This book had a little bit of everything you could ask for in a fantasy novel- mystery, espionage, betrayal, illicit romance, multiple types of relationships, magic, and LGBTQ+ representation. The book was really exciting and I had a hard time putting it down!

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of The Longest Autumn! This book gave me mixed feelings but I ultimately did give it 4 stars because I did enjoy the story overall! The first half of the book drags and it’s hard to push through but by the end you are anticipating what is to come next. I felt like this story had a lot of back and forth going on with its main character, you didn’t really know who she was supposed to end up with or if there would be romance. I did feel like the final reveal at the end was lackluster and wish the author did something more crazy with it. I enjoyed the characters, loved the world, and seeing the seasons all had gods and the ritual aspects as well!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Avery does some really interesting world building here. I actually ended up reading the whole book over the course of this evening because I became so invested in the story. The various intrigues of this world were fascinating.

This wasn't as much of romance as I was expecting. There was a secondary romance that was honestly more compelling to me.

I think more interactions between Autumn and Tirne would better establish their relationship and his growing personality. He acted more passive than I expected with the disaster depicted throughout the book.

There was one heck of a plot twist that I really appreciated! Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone who's a fan of magical intrigue! I'll be keeping an eye out for future books from this author. I feel like there are so many aspects of this world she's created that would make for great future works!

I had a hard time rating this book, so I’m giving it a neutral 3 stars. I didn’t dislike this book, but I also didn’t love it. I was expecting more romance between Autumn and Tirne based on the blurb I read. Despite that, Tirne did have other partners throughout the book that I did like.
I found Autumn to be a bit flat of a character. He just didn’t feel like a God, he felt a man who has no understanding of him emotions and just does what the general public wants him to do. Tirne was often frustrating, finding clues as to who broke the mirror but not sharing them because she didn’t want to get people exiled, immediately choosing to disregard her friends as suspects just because they’re her friends when in all reality it would take someone close to you to curse you like that.
Some things that I really did enjoy about this book; the idea that Gods are fallible, regardless of your religion. The idea that there are always 2 sides to a story and you often find people only listening to the side they want to hear. The world building and the changing of the seasons with the coming of each God. I also loved Sidriel’s character. It’s always the person who seems the most evil that has the most growth and you have the most to learn from. I think this book had a very solid foundation, I was just bored through the first half which took away from my enjoyment of the last 25%.

Thank you to netvgalley and Flat Iron books for this opportunity to read rate and review this arc which will be available January 16, 2024.

What a unique premise. It was a fully realized world with fleshed out characters and loads of fun to read. The main character Tirne is one of four humans selected to usher the turns of the seasons. She ushers in autumn. However the enchanted mirror that separates the worlds breaks when she and Autumn step through trapping them. As the stay in the human world begins to humanize Autumn, makes Tirne have emotions towards him and what ensues is quite awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed it.