3.5 - Thank you so much to TBR and Beyond Tours, Elias Cold & Page Street Publishing for the complimentary copy of the book!

This book is out now!

I was drawn to this book from the title and this cover! This book was so different compared to other YA books I have read. I am not sure what genre to classify it as but I guess YA historical fiction - horror. I was nervous going into it as I thought it was going to be British historical but it turns out it was not.

There was a lot of things that happened in this book and occasionally I had to pause what I was doing and revert to the text to make sure I heard correctly. And yet all the pieces came together!

This was told from 3 point of views - Phyllis/Phillip, Wycliff and Lucent. Phillip our fearless lead whom got this magical ability to steal body parts from people. Which leads us to Wycliff who Phillip stole his nose but after learning his sister went missing something change for Phillip. How does Lucent tie into this? Lucent is his partner in crime. My heart was sad for Phillip as he loved Lucent and considered him family but he was just a business arrangement. I appreciated that the author gave us the perspective of Wycliff and Lucent.

I just love how Phyllis turning into Phillips.  I love how the other characters question it but then just kind of go with it without any sort of ramifications. I was just so happy that could be who they wanted to be pretty much just start over in this new body. They truly felt so much happier when they were wearing men’s clothing.

The audiobook was narrated by Em Grosland who is a new narrator to me. I thought they did a great job! Even though they didn’t change their voice when the POV changed, I was able to follow pretty well. Their voice had a nice tone that made listening a breeze.

This book had a bit of romance, a bit of adventure and overall a fun time! Looking forward to see what the other does in the future!

Thank you to TBR & Beyond and Page Street YA for the ARC. All thoughts are my own.

This book is so much more than a YA horror novel. As absurd as the synopsis may sound at first glance, what unfolds is an astonishingly layered story brimming with heart, wit, and the kind of unexpected tenderness that sneaks up on you between moments of gothic absurdity and razor-sharp commentary.

With a Regency-inspired setting that leans heavily into the grime beneath the glamour, this book explores not only the twisted back alleys of a fantastical world but also the very real power dynamics of class, gender, and identity. The privilege of titles, the social weight of masculinity, and the vulnerability of queerness in such a structured world are all examined with care.

Phillip (or Phyllis, depending on where we meet him in the narrative) is a trans protagonist wielding one of the most original magical abilities I’ve ever seen in fantasy—he can remove body parts, his own and others', with ease. What might sound grotesque on paper becomes a strangely intimate form of self-exploration and rebellion, a metaphor for bodily autonomy and transformation that never feels heavy-handed.

The writing is clever, heartfelt, and beautifully strange. It balances fast-paced plotting with introspective moments, delivering a story that is equal parts dark fairytale, mystery, and coming-of-age. This book manages to be grim, hilarious, and hopeful all at once, with messaging that runs far deeper than its bizarre premise might suggest. The found family elements, the slow-burn self-acceptance arc, and the unraveling of toxic attachments were especially well handled.

I couldn’t put it down. This book overdelivers at every turn, and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time. An absolutely standout read.

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A trans teen steals and ransoms body parts with magic begins to investigate a string of missing girls after escaping their partner's situation and falling in love with one of the missing girls. Phyllis has magic and works with their partner Lucent to steal and ransom body parts. Phyllis thought they could be in love with Lucent and that Lucent loved them...but his love comes with conditions and Phyllis is sick and tired of Lucent's love and wants a better love...so they run away and becomes duke Phillip. As Lord Phillip of Rabbiton, Phyllis gains a title and begins investigating the missing girls. and begins to fall in love with one of the girls.Yet when Phillip discovers the girls they aren't dead... or rather undead and now Phillip has to find out what his magic entails and what happened to the girls. This started off with a promising story but just became boring and lackluster sadly. I wish I could have liked it more but the story itself just got boring and the characters never really got to evolve and become intriguing. I just didn't feel the romance and the overall stakes just didn't feel there. Sadly, this was a miss for me but I do think that other readers should give it a go just to read the unique story.

Release Date: May 13, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Page Street Publishing | Page Street YAor sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This was very difficult to get through. I won’t be sharing a review of this book on other review sites because I have no desire to drag a trans+ book online, but the lack of coherent plot, poor character development, and wonky pacing made this less than enjoyable to read.

The Duke Steals Hearts & Other Body Parts is filled with excitingly unsettling magic, an abundance of power struggles, and very lovable undead girls that'll steal your heart along with our dear chaotic Duke.

I am certain this is something i would have ADORED as a teenager. In my late 20s, I still ate this one up. And in a dark regency setting with Trans and Queer rep?! YES PLEASE. There were definitely a slew of bad decision making (honestly, very on brand for the age group of the characters) that had be simultaneously sighing in exasperation and unable to to put the book down. In this book, Elias Cold creates characters that you want to see make it out (and make out maybe?) on the brighter side and see them emerge victorious over inner turmoil, toxic relationships, and corrupt systems.

This is one that I would definitely recommend to YA readers and readers who like chaotic main characters, eerie regency vibes, and a bit of body horror. I'm also excited to see Cold's future work!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

First and foremost, thank you to the publisher and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I loved this story and it was definitely worth the read! The magic in this book was really different from anything else I've read!

Yet another book that is not at all bad, but very Not For Me! The voice and prose are distinctly YA (which I can’t fault it for, because it IS YA, but there’s YA with complex prose and YA with simpler prose, and this is the latter, which I just don’t enjoy), but I have to applaud the unusual magic Cold came up with, especially with how it interacts with the MC being trans (which he’s not yet quite articulated to himself at the start of the book). I also feel like the storyline is pretty unique; there’s something about it that feels unusual, in a very refreshing way. I think it’s that the MC already cares about the missing girls before he knows any of them personally? I can’t remember the last time I saw a story built around someone setting out to rescue complete strangers, and I approve very much!

Basically: a book I’d happily hand over to the teenagers I know, and an author I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on. (I think they have an Adult debut this year under another penname…? Must investigate!)

Rated 3.5 on Storygraph.

Phyllis' life is complicated- she can take the body parts off of others through magic, leaving the perfect ability to collect limbs, hold them for ransom, and then collect cash. At least, Phyllis does that following Lucent's direction. Lucent, who so graciously puts up with Phyllis because he says no one else will. Lucent, who reminds Phyllis of how bad her life would be without him in it. Lucent, who is so distant and uncaring, but reminds Phyllis that he is the only one that loves her. Lucent, who would never believe Phyllis if she told him she wanted to be a boy.

But when Phyllis learns their latest mark is the brother of yet another missing girl, it puts life into perspective. In trying to figure out what happened to Adeline, Phyllis comes up with the persona Duke Phillip of Rabbiton. And suddenly life makes sense. Phillip is confident. Phillip is free to be who he wants to be. Phillip feels right. But when Phillip figures out what happening to the missing girl, he is in for a whole lot more trouble.

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This story felt like a regency cozy book with a twinge of horror. I enjoyed the storyline as I never felt like I knew what might happen next. It hooked me in and it was an easy read. I liked the overarching theme of breaking away from toxic love, becoming yourself, and what happens after you've burned bridges.

The book switches from 1st person POV (Phillip) to 3rd person POV (everyone else), which I thought was a unique and effective way to tell the story. Sometimes the narrative did seem heavy handed, however, where things were told instead of shown. Phillip was my favorite character, as we got to see more of his emotions and motives, but overall the characters felt a little too surface level and while I enjoyed the book I was not emotionally attached to the world or the people in it.

The book is alright, just not really what I was looking for in my current reading slump. I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it but if someone asked if they should read it I would say yes.

Thank you for accepting me for this tour. I will be updating this soon. Awesome cover had a classic vibe.

this book was really fun and a great palette cleanser! i also really enjoyed the mystery aspect, highly recommend you pick this up when it releases in may!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

How can you understand your magic if you haven't explored your own identity? Mysterious disappearances propel Phillip, a crafty thief with the unsettling power to detach others' body parts at will, into an aristocratic realm where status is paramount and the dead roam. This fast-paced novel leads readers through a journey of the eerie and self-exploration. Featuring strong trans representation, fans of Andrew Joseph White's "The Spirit Bares Its Teeth" (Peach Tree Teen), who seek a lighter read, will appreciate this gothic tale infused with a hint of romance.

WOW. What a ride. 👀 i can’t believe this was considered a YA. The characters, story, environment just wowowowowowowo. Dark and action packed . Highly recommend

Living his whole life among circus folk, Phillip has always lived on the edge of society. His current hobby is holding body parts ransom; since childhood, he's had the ability to disconnect and re-connect body parts, and few people would want to go outside without a nose. However, he is forced to reconsider his money-making methods after stealing the nose from a young man named Wycliff, who is already depressed now that his sister has been kidnapped--the most recent of a series of kidnappings that have befallen the town.

My introduction to this book was positive. The premise sounded interesting--I was down for a trans teen playing a goreless version of Repo! The Genetic Opera, I enjoy a good rhyming title (though personally, I'd take 'Other' out--I think 'The Duke Steals Hearts & Other Parts' has a better syllabic rhythm, but that's just me), and I enjoyed the old fashioned wood-cut feeling of the cover. Unfortunately, my excitement became disappointment when I started the first chapter and read this line in the second paragraph:

"Moist fingers the color and texture of drowned slugs clawed and pressed ravenously into her windpipe."

Oh. That's not a very good line at all. Phillip's chapters, which are in first-person and include a lot of introspection, aren't as awful to read and make up the bulk of the book, but when it comes to other perspectives, the prose does the writing equivalent of not knowing what to do with its hands. Descriptions of other characters and environs are bare-bones--I don't think the city the characters reside in is even given a name--and the setting is vaguely 1800s and vaguely European, though not much detail is given to architecture or technology. I don't think this is bad per se, but it fits into my biggest complaint for this book--I don't think it should have been a book.

This might sound like an insult, but I don't mean it in this way. I think Elias Cold's strength is in characters and set pieces, rather than stories and prose, and 'The Duke...' would work better as a graphic novel or even an audio drama. I understand why they went with a novel--you don't need to find someone to draw or other people to do voices, but I think the narrative voice weighs down the novel and makes it less enjoyable. Phillip seems like a character you'd find on an obscure artist's tumblr, where they've drawn thousands of detailed comics featuring him that only answer some of your questions, and I mean that with praise.

Seriously, how COOL is this concept?

Not a lot surprises me these days as the market is very oversaturated, but this hooked me from the start.

A limb-poppingly fantastic read with diversity.

i am definitely too old for this book, but i definitely would have adored it at about 14, so that's something, and I am going to review it like I was in the correct age group. Overall, I enjoyed reading the book, and the characters were fun, but I am not really a big fan of the way that transmasculinity was depicted(this is personal it's not problematic I just don't like it), and also I still don't get how the magic system works all that much. One of those books where the aesthetics are the best part of it

I don't have a lot to say aboutt this one. I thought it wasn't very good, that the narration was struggling and I had issues with the storytelling. Overall it lacked stakes and emotional attachment. The way information is revealed is off. I don't even know what this book wanted to say.

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

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

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

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/5

The Duke Steals Hearts & Other Body Parts is a creative, immersive YA fantasy with a powerful plot and fascinating characters.

This one was lovely. I adored the characters, and each character’s development was great. They felt real, and I especially loved the explorations of sexuality and gender. The love stories were captivating, and I enjoyed the satisfying ending. The magic system was fascinating and imaginative, and I enjoyed the world-building. The plot was intriguing, and the pacing fit the story well, although a few parts felt choppy. Elias Cold’s prose was beautiful, and they presented a wonderful story. This one did not hook me throughout the story as much as I was hoping, but it was an overall entertaining and powerful novel that is a great addition to YA shelves.

Thank you to the publisher for the free ARC!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Page Street YA for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is such a gem! I loved the whole, incredibly flawed cast of characters and was happy with how it all wrapped up!

I recommend checking out this book when it is released!