Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

TBH, this isn't the best book. The writing style is humorous (good!) but it's very dialogue heavy, with not enough dialogue tags which makes it confusing to follow, especially when there are multiple characters in conversation (bad!). I also struggled heavily with the pacing. It starts out ok, but towards the middle everything slows down to the point of nothing happening, until it suddenly picks up again, and then it's full speed, non-stop action until the end.

THAT BEING SAID. I had lots of fun reading this! This book fully delivers on the premise. A wizard turns back time to stop the evil king from destroying the kingdom but the king is the wizard's ex-husband and he catches feelings again? Sign me up!!!

Going into this, I was a little worried about the potential age gap between Cyril and Eufrates, given that the Cyril is an older guy going back in time to his younger body, but this was quickly resolved in a way I am quite satisfied with.

There is a sort of love-triangle situation, with Cyril catching feelings for someone else, but I really didn't care for it. I found it entirely unconvincing, like, why are we bothering with this farce when OBVIOUSLY these characters are not ending up together.

I also wished there was more interaction between Cyril and Eufrates, like they actually don't interact that much. Cyril mostly talks to Tigris, whom I love VERY much, so I am completely fine with that, but since this is supposed to be a romance between Cyril and Eufrates I feel like they should have interacted more? Between all the ongoing plotting and scheming, most of their interactions are Intense Charged Moments™️, which is fine, but I want more relationship building stuff.

This book is also pretty light on the world-building. There's nothing wrong with this, as most of the focus is on the plot and the romance anyway, so don't go into this expecting intricate world-building and magic systems.

I know this review sounds negative, like I have a lot of things to criticise, but this book really was a lot of fun! The dynamic between Cyril and the other characters are very entertaining, and I know I criticised the amount of dialogue at the start of this review, but I loved how much time the characters spent just talking to each other. The characters are also really over-the-top and dramatic, in a way that I found silly and endearing.

I noticed that some of the negative reviews for this book bring up that fact that it's marketed as a cozy fantasy, but the plot has action and pretty high stakes. That is true, but this works in my favour as I personally enjoy fantasy with more action anyway. (Although I agree that this book shouldn't have been marketed as cozy fantasy. While the writing style and settings does feel like cozy fantasy, this book has pretty intense moments that are not in line with the genre.)

A few of the other reviews also state that this book should have been marketed as MG. I strongly disagree. While the writing style is simple and humorous in a manner that may appeal to middle graders, a lot of the content is straight-up not appropriate. Like, the first chapter literally has a graphic depiction of suicide.

Anyway, if you're looking for a funny, high stakes adventure with romance, do be sure to check this book out!

Thank you to Angry Robot and NetGalley for the DRC.

I was really intrigued by the plot summary of this book and was looking forward to an intricately plotted, time travel story. The book summary makes it clear that this will also be a cozy book which I thought was interesting given that the premise sounded less than cozy. What this ultimately translated to for me was a very slow paced, low action, and at times meandering book. I definitely think this book will appeal to people who can get onboard the kind of cozy vibe this author set out to create and just simmer for awhile with the characters. But I personally did not find the writing style engaging enough or the characters interesting enough to not feel this was a bit of a slog to read. However, I really do believe this comes down to personal taste of writing style and mood so I can believe others may love it.

I adored this book! Reading Shoestring Theory gave me the cozy vibes of Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes, but with higher stakes and more romance. I saw myself in the adorably anxious Cyril and spent the story rooting for a second chance for him and Eufrates while LOLing at Cyril’s moments of being completely oblivious. Speaking of those two as a couple, the banter between Cyril and Eufrates was superb and SPOILER ALERT their epic love declarations had me swooning a bit. Also I’ve decided that there need to be more cat companions in fantasy books even if they are the main character’s bestie turned into a cat, because cats just make everything better. Anyway, Shoestring Theory left me feeling warm and fuzzy, I think it’s the perfect book for when you are feeling down or want to escape from reality with an adventure romance. This book definitely made it onto my favs of the year list and I hope that Mariana chooses to re-visit Cyril and Eufie some day.

Read this book now! I mean it it was so good. It is mages and courts, but Mariana did such wonderful world building, it is different too. It’s a second chance romance at its core. But I don’t think I have ever read such a true to life exploration of just being so angry and disappointed by your ex. It was just chef’s kiss to watch Cyril and Eufrates fight and snarl and try to stop their love. But it was also court intrigue and swashbuckling. All of the main characters are queer without judgement , which for me just added to the world the author created. I want to spoil everything so I can really tell you how amazing it all was, but I won’t, I will only insist you read it. I read an ARC.

I'm this was such a unique book! While it had a relatively familiar overarching plot, the other elements made it quite different than anything I've read. I wouldn't necessarily consider this a cozy fantasy due to how dark and severe much of it is, but I will say it has that cozy vibe to it.

I found Cyril to be unlikable, but I loved Tigris and actually liked Eufrates too. And of course Shoestring! This is a very character driven story and I found the world and magic system interesting, would love to read more of it!

For fans of Can't Spell Treason Without Tea, The Spellshop, and The Honey Witch!

Lovers to enemies to lovers

This second chance story is beautifully woven throughout time and place.
After his King Husband has brought the kingdom to the brink of doom Cy makes a last ditch attempt to save it by travelling back in time and stop it from ever happening.
Once back in his past body Cy realises he has accidentally also brought back the evil king. In a comedy of errors Cy then manages to turn the future queen into a cat and have himself whisked away to a foreign kingdom.

This story delicately shows the power of manipulation and its far reaching consequences. How self-worth can save a kingdom and true love can surpass many trials.

2,75⭐️

I recognize Mariana Costa by their art on social media, ones that I enjoy both visually and through the lore they post snippets of. To say I was curious about her writing debut would be correct.

From the blurb we can imagine a rather grand story, full of intrigues, plot twists (it is, in the end, a story about time traveling) and complicated characters' relationships. But what is worth acknowledging is the recommendation for cozy fantasy readers. Because <i>Shoestring Theory</i> is a slow, low action tale. And i believe tale is a key word, as the world-building is just enough, not too little information, yet not to much, to not take the attention from the main thing.

The main thing being, I believe, characters. Through the text it is visible that the author is also a visual artist, descriptions of certain looks are detailed. Sometimes it felt like comic-to-text movement, which isn't a disadvantage, just a peculiar and certainly original feature of this title. However, sometimes the pacing feels unfinished – the first half wonders around exposition, backstory, setting the basic plot points for the future, but lacks interactions between main characters. Yes, Cyril and Tigres have plenty of conversations, but between the mage and his husband is only (greatly written, may I add) conflict balancing between love and hate. But later, as they discover more, its base becomes long-winded. There were moments with too little or too muhh dialogue, making the story quite uneven.

I may not be the fan of the pacing, either, yet for completely different reason. The blurb suggests a lot, while all promised aspects have their place, the overall story appears rather... slow. Fantasy aspects, like magic, were not explored enough for me – I must admit, Costa has many great ideas, ones that work and charm the reader, but it's further developed into character based book. Some resolutions I found good, some were lacking the spark.

Overall, I feel like <i>Shoestring Theory </i>represents a unique thing in literature, presenting narration that is rather absent. The author is not a classical debut writer, she does not use typical language nor frames of action. I found that intriguing, refreshing even. Besides the fact I expected to be slightly more engaged in the story, I think it will be a good title for many readers

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4.75 rounded to 5
I’ll be the first to admit that it was better than I was expecting it to be! I’m not a huuuge fantasy reader (as in complex magic systems, etc) so this one was right up my alley.
There is just ‘something’ I can’t quite pin down atm of why I’m not giving it a full 5 (I just finished it at 1:47am lol so I’ll prob come back)
It sorta reminded me of Emily Wilde (which is one of my fav books) in the sense that it’s cute, cozy adjacent (mostly due to some topics) and has magic without me feeling overwhelmed.

Would def recommend and I’m kinda shocked a sun box hasn’t picked it up! I feel like it’d make a great book box pick. I got an ARC but I’m really excited to purchase

3.5 Stars

This was a silly little book. I did enjoy my time with it but I have some complaints.

Shoestring Theory is easy to read and rather fast paced so you definitely don't get bored.
While it does touch on some in theory darker topics (suicide, invasion, murder etc) it was written in a very light hearted way with jokes and quirky dialogue so I couldn't take those that seriously. So I don't mind it being marketed as cozy (the comp to L&L however is not good).

The world-building is fine for a fantasy lite, that is you get the gist but for me it could have been a bit more in depth.
The characters are also fine, likeable but also a bit underdeveloped. Especially everyone who isn't Cyril.
Now the plot I did enjoy but I did see it coming and that for the sole reason that vibe that Cyril isn't the most intelligent person and I therefore did not believe him. Which I really don't think was intended.

As others pointed out the ending, especially Cyril and Eurfates reuniting, felt very rushed, to the point where the "and they lived happily ever after" felt a bit forced. Cute, but I would have liked more hurt.

I applied for the arc of the book through NetGalley and knew even if I didn’t get it through there I’d be buying it asap I loved the premise of the books so badly!
And I’m so glad I got it because I could not put this down!! This book in my opinion is a perfect starter for people just getting into reading fantasy as it moves a lot faster than most (making it far easier for me to justify staying up late to finish it!!)

A fair cute book, Shoestring Theory is a fantastic book for people looking for a lighter romance read set in a delightfully magical world.

While I wouldn’t call this book cozy fantasy as its comp titles do, I would still say that this book is fairly lighthearted, and makes for a fantastic feel good read. From the depiction of middle-aged queer folks, to the themes of family, to the adorable in-law relationship between Tigris and Cyril, Shoestring Theory is incredibly heartwarming.

While personally this book wasn’t for me, due to the ill-paced first 1/3, a personal dislike for romance, and to be honest, an overly predictable villain who I spotted the first time we met him, I still found this a pretty cute read. Furthermore, past the initial hump, the book became a much easier read as we grew familiar with the delightful characters of Cyril and Tigris. My favourite character, by far, was Tigris, though Cyril and Eufrates don’t lag behind either.

TLDR; A cute, heartwarming romance, Shoestring Theory is most suited to folks who want an easy read with decent pacing.

What a wild, whimsical ride with Shoestring Theory, a queer, time-bending, friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romance that’s equal parts heartwarming, hilarious, and mind-bindingly magical!

Set in the broken kingdom of Farsala, we follow the once powerful (and very guilt-ridden) Cyril Laverre, former Grand-Mage and husband to the now-deranged King Eufrates.

After a decade of hiding out in a seaside shack with his sassy cat familiar, Shoestring, Cyril’s life takes a sharp turn when Shoestring dies, triggering a desperate last ditch effort to rewrite the kingdom’s tragic history. The twist? Cyril time-travels back to a happier, simpler time, when his romance with Eufrates hadn’t yet blossomed, and the kingdom was on a very different path. But magic comes with strings…..dangerous ones.

The story is packed with quirky, lovable characters, including the formidable Great Aunt Tig, a royal who might have saved Farsala, and Ganache, a crow familiar who steals the show with sharp wit.

Cyril's journey to fix the past is filled with awkward love quadrangles, hilariously complex magic, and the most bizarre friendship-to-romance roller coaster you could ask for. And let’s not forget the angst of time bound magical oaths , because what's time travel without a bit of heartache?

Costa’s writing is a perfect blend of light, fanfic like fun with just enough emotional depth that kept me hooked. It’s a charming and chaotic mix of fantasy and romance that feels like an episode of your favourite magical sitcom, but with higher stakes, like, the future of the world!

Shoestring Theory is perfect for anyone who loves queer fantasy with a side of absurdity, magical mischief, and endearing characters that make you want to jump through time with them. Fans of Legends and Lattes will feel right at home here. Cyril’s redemption arc, the hilariously complicated relationships, and the delightful mess of time travel make this one enchanting read.

Shoestring was a quirky, easy to read high stakes fantasy novel.

This was an okay debut and would be a good book for someone new to the fantasy genre. The plot is fast paced and the banter between the characters could be quite humorous.

However, I found the world building, magic system and character development were lacking. Cyril is the most fully developed character and the entire story is told from his POV which is a shame. For someone who is supposed to be 'the greatest mage of his generation', he isn't proficient in a lot of areas of magic. He then pulls off these ridiculous feats of magic seemingly out of nowhere and without explanation. Also, his self-loathing whilst endearing at the beginning begins to grate around the halfway point.

Tigris on the other hand was AMAZING. I loved her ferocity and self-sacrificing. I found her to be hilarious, brilliant and very likeable. I would have loved to have her POV and more character development.

The Margraves siblings were adorable together and I did really enjoy the friendship between all three characters.

Also more books with adorable familiars please! Ganache needed more time in the spotlight.

2.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you Netgalley and Angry Robot Books for the opportunity to read Shoestring Theory and to provide an honest review.

If you want time travelling gay husbands who fall under the friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers trope in a grounded, easy-to-read fantasy book, Shoestring Theory is for you. I enjoyed Shoestring Theory with its flowing prose and simple worldbuilding. It's definitely a good start for people looking to get into fantasy without getting bogged down by pages and pages of worldbuilding exposition. Mariana Costa's book is quick, easy, and intriguing.

That being said, however, I don't think Shoestring Theory should be getting marketed as a cozy fantasy due to its simplicity. It is entirely an epic fantasy, targeted at audiences not familiar with the landscape of fantasy fiction. Shoestring Theory is in fact quite dark and deals with some surprisingly heavy topics for a book with Legends and Lattes as a comp title. The stakes were exceedingly high with Costa not shying away from grittier topics- something that doesn't quite fit the cozy fantasy's low-stakes, lighthearted nature.

All-in-all, Shoestring Theory was a good read, but be aware that you will not get a conventional "cozy fantasy." 4/5 stars.

Finally, another gem in my pile of digital ARCs! I am so glad that I found it on Netgalley and requested for the ARC because I absolutely loved everything about it. The expectation was that it’s going to be your typical cozy fantasy story wherein every trope will be thrown at you and you just have to deal with it. I am so glad that Shoestring Theory offered a lot of new things which put a smile on my face.

For a debut novel, Mariana Costa did a wonderful job with Shoestring Theory. She has a good grasp about what she wanted the readers to feel and how to make them invested with the lovely characters. The story’s prose is akin to poetry, lilting and magical. The main characters Cyril and the Margrave siblings (Eufrates and Tigris) were just plain adorable in their own quirkiness. It’s very refreshing to read something that you did not expect for a character to do. Surprise, surprise, surprise! Cyril, who was deeply besotted with his husband, Eufrates, suddenly decided – after years of marriage – to kill the latter. It was pure delight to see Cyril, a seemingly innocent mage, take grievous matter into his own hands and do things that are purely out of character. What could have driven such an endearing character to such actuations against the equally endearing Margrave siblings?

Shoestring Theory has a perfect balance of being enchanting, surprising, and grisly. Mariana Costa certainly knows the recipe to make an atmosphere that was both cozy and spine-chilling as the plot moved forward. A lot of things happened and revealed gradually in the book that I didn’t see coming. Even the antagonist carved a space in my heart because who wouldn’t love such despicable and cunning villain? The romance was also something that you can look forward to because it elicited a lot of feelings from my end. With the past and present timelines, it was interesting to read the progression of the romantic relationship between Cyril and Eufrates and how it became a perverse kind of love as they plotted against each other.

I don’t think I could give Shoestring Theory enough praises because it’s perfect for me. It gave me all the things that I need in a cozy fantasy story. It’s a standalone so no pining for the next story although I would appreciate it very much if it has a second installment as long as Mariana still has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. It has characters, both main and supporting,that are unforgettable including the familiars. It’s gender inclusive. The story is refreshing with a well-executed plot. It ended wonderfully with all the loose ends tied up nicely and the conflict resolved without resorting to crazy deux ex machina. I have not yet read Legends and Latte but do I look like I care? What I only care about is that I thoroughly enjoyed this one and I seriously wish that you do yourself some favor and pick this worthwhile read.

I had so much fun with this Arc. Time travel and magic is a good combo. And a familiar with the name shoestring. Perfect read for the spooky season.

This had two things that I enjoy a lot, I loved the time-travel elements and that the friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers worked in this story. It had that fantasy element that I was hoping for and thought the characters worked overall in this world. It had everything that I was looking for and was glad everything felt like it was supposed to in this world. I was hooked from the first page that Mariana Costa wrote and it left me reading till the end.

I feel like this had all the potential to be a really fun, engaging book, but it just didn't hit the mark for me.

I think the premise is really cool (though having the comp title be Legends & Lattes is definitely... a choice? I feel like the bulk of this book is much darker and more introspective than cozy). The problem is that the author doesn't fully commit to, well, anything. For starters, you've got the magic system, which is partially where the title of the book comes from (the other is the main character's familiar, named Shoestring). The magic system hinges on being able to essentially peer into the world and see the "threads" of magic and weave them to make spells. At least, that's sort of what I think the author was going for. Unfortunately, the magic system is woefully underexplained for how prominently it features throughout the book.

Then, you've got the main character, Cyril, who is the only POV we follow throughout the entire book. He's very introspective and, while normally I wouldn't mind that, he's also self-centered in a way that never fully gets challenged in any meaningful way. His "woe is me" act also tends to grate and makes him a character that frustrates more often than elicits sympathy.

This ties into the fact that the secondary characters are also just not fully realized. You can see flashes of fun characterization when Cyril is bickering with the Margrave siblings (well, mostly Tigris). Euphrates is a complicated character because I feel like he could definitely be more complex than he actually is? And his relationship with Cyril felt hollow from the on-set, so when the enemies finally became lovers again it didn't really hit the mark.

I also feel like the ending felt way too rushed to be satisfying, especially given how dark and grim the beginning of the book started.

Lastly, this book definitely needs some trigger warnings at the beginning. Even though the synopsis gives you some indicator of what you're getting into, it doesn't fully delve into how intense some of the scenes can be.

Overall, interesting bones of a story and characters than never got fully fleshed out, even at the end.

*4.5*

This book was SO SO SO good. Of course I start every book with the hope to love it, but I didn't expect to adore this one so much. It may not seem so from the trigger warnings I listed above, but I really read this book as a cozy fantasy, even though I see that some themes dealt in it veer more from the genre.

This is the story of Cyril, a Grand Mage at court, obliged to self-exiliate when his husband, King Eufrates, starts to use an iron fist and discard everyone's feeling. Cyril, now in his fifties, decides to cast a spell in order to go back in time and prevent the darkness to spread in his husband's oul, before he was power hungry. He wants to save his husband's sister from dying, so she can become queen and not him.

The premise was so intriguing, I knew I had to read this book. Cyril was such a rootable main character, and I loved to read his story, he's such a powerful mage, but he doesn't believe in himself at all. I just wanted to see him gain confidence and start to see himself for who he is.

His relationship with Eufrates is so strange, but also so loving. The main reason this book didn't get a 5-star rating for me is because I really hoped to see more of them reconnecting, sadly though the main chunk of this happens at the 80% of this novel, and while it was satisfying it wasn't enough for my romance-reading heart.

The rest of the book though was so good, I loved the setting and the classic fairytale feeling this story has (with some twists and turns that are not so classical and I adored). Also, there are some revelations that I really didn't expect, I don't know if this is on me for being too naive, but I was still very surprised.

Also, I think this book is perfect for Fall, so I highly recommend to read it once it comes out in October if you read Fantasy!

This is such a weird book. I think it's being marketed as cozy fantasy, and that's not accurate. While it is largely character driven, the stakes are quite high and the book feels quite heavy.

The book follows court mage Cyril, and at the start of this book he is near fifty and seperated from his husband, King Eufrates, who slowly turned into a tyrant during his rule. Cyril is determined to fix everything and casts the most powerful spell to date: he turns back time to when he was in his twenties and with all the memories of his near fifty years tries to make sure the worst does not come to pass. However, due to an unfortunate spell he cast at his wedding binding him and Eufrates together, Eufrates is also back with all his memories.

The book is single POV told by Cyril, who is simultaneously an idiot twenty year old and a weary fifty year old, and I'm quite impressed how both feel true. I liked Cyril as a character, he loves deeply, tends to self sacrifice and blame himself for what has gone wrong, and sometimes misses what is right in front of him. I really liked his arc about learning to stop self sacrificing and really fight for what he wants.

Eufrates was... interesting. In the early portion of the book, I couldn't imagine how he and Cyril would ever end back together, but some events happen I will not discuss because of spoilers and I do like how it turns out and where Eufrates's arc goes.

Tigris was a delight to read about. She's Eufrates's older sister and the rightful heir to the throne, but in the original timeline she died suddenly, leaving Eufrates on the throne. Now, Cyril is determined to keep her alive so Eufrates never becomes king. He strings Tigris along into his schemes, and Tigris doesn't hesitate to make her opinions known. Watching these tree together, it's no surprise everything went wrong with Eufrates and Cyril in charge because Tigris is the only one who seems at all competent.

The world building was minimal, and I think for a story like this that works as it's far more character driven with quite a unique plot and the world building mostly existed to support the plot. It's a typical medieval kingdom with knights, a court, etc, and the magic system is not super developed but there are different branches of magic and as a court mage Cyril has to be a jack of all trades. I don't think there was anything super unclear to me, it was all basic but did what it needed to do.

Plot wise, I found it quite a unique concept, and there's a twist I didn't see coming at all I really enjoyed, and I loved to see how this played out especially in the end.

Would recommend this to fans of Rose Black, Emma Denny and Alexandra Rowland and anything who likes character centered queer fantasy