Despite its lulls, I had a good time with this book. But sadly, it didn't really turn out to be as memorable as I was hoping it would be.

This novel's strong points were definitely its worldbuilding and the storylines with Elera, Rafaeis, and Viri. Those kept me reading when the court politics POVs were putting me to sleep.

I loved how the author incorporated Southeast Asian influences into the worldbuilding without making it feel so forced. Reading about the food that the characters were eating, the places that the characters were traveling to, and the religions and mythologies felt like they all naturally belonged together. It was all very lived in instead of shoehorned in just for the rep.

I also loved the found family aspect of Elera, Rafaeis, and Viri's storylines. It was very Witcher (young girl who's the Chosen One + world weary antihero warrior + equally as capable love interest), but make it Southeast Asian and reverse some gender roles.

Sure, the gruff antihero with a heart of gold is an overdone trope, but this didn't read like the author went to the Build a Trope store and wrote it to market. Elera felt like a real person who was forced to do things she had no control over, and is now trying to do her best with what little power she has.

The court politics storylines with Khall and Naias weren't my favorite. While I liked seeing the behind the scenes scheming and ruling, their romance and couples' problems read like a roller coaster of YA feels to melodramatic soap opera and distracted me from the story. If this were kept to a minimal, or if there hadn't been any romance between them (just a will they? won't they? trope would even work), then I would've given this book a higher rating.

Despite my complaints, I had no regrets picking up this book and I'll gladly read more from Elaine Ho in the future.

Thank you to Left Unread and NetGalley for this arc.

Cry, Voidbringer is a standout debut that offers a gripping narrative filled with emotional depth, political intrigue, and complex, multidimensional characters. The book unfolds through three distinct and engaging perspectives: Hammer, a soldier struggling to survive; Viridian, a child with god-like powers; and Naias, a commander determined to prevent history from repeating itself. These intertwined stories explore themes of resistance, loyalty, and the cost of sacrifice.

Ho’s writing is immersive and evocative, creating a world where the personal and the political collide in a series of intense and emotionally charged moments. The world-building is intricate, portraying a society on the brink of change, filled with nuanced moral dilemmas that force characters to confront their values and their roles in a war that is more than just black and white.

The pacing is steady, allowing for deeper character development and giving readers the time to fully connect with each narrative thread. The emotional depth of the characters—particularly their struggles with identity and loyalty—adds a richness to the plot, making this more than just a typical fantasy tale. The book also incorporates queer relationships in a natural and meaningful way, adding to its authenticity and depth.

While the novel deals with dark, heavy themes, it’s also full of hope and resilience, leaving readers with a sense of anticipation for what’s to come in future installments. The conclusion, while satisfying, opens doors for further exploration, making this the kind of book that stays with you long after you've turned the last page.

Cry, Voidbringer is an outstanding read, offering a perfect balance of intrigue, character growth, and world-building. It will appeal to fans of character-driven fantasy and those who enjoy books with emotional weight and moral complexity.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

As I read and read and read, so many books, my taste gets broader, there is so much to read. But there is one thing I'm always looking for, no matter the genre or subject. I want to read an author who is trying to SAY something. "Zee," you may say, "all authors are trying to say something." Well, yes, sort of, but I mean an author that isn't just trying to entertain you. While there's nothing wrong with that, I want an author who wants to rock my world, shake my foundations, they have a point and they're going to MAKE IT.

Elaine Ho didn't say something here...she said like 30 things. Or something, I don't even know. Did you ever read Animal Farm and the teacher said "you can read this on many levels, it's like an onion, you can read it again in college and study it more in depth each time." That's this book. So, what does Elaine say?

Let's do a quick plot summary. Two soldier slaves, Hammer and Raf, kidnap a girl named Viri with god powers from the group they are at war with, who have already kidnapped the girl once. She's chained and in bad shape. And she grows on these two soldiers, at least one of whom thought they had no heart left to give. Found family. The queen without her kingdom, whom the soldier slaves belong to, is Khall. She's in a relationship with Naias, who was a slave like Hammer and Raf but has wormed her way to the queen's side as her lover, trying to abolish the enslavement of children into war (the way both she, Hammer and Raf became soldiers.) The queen uses Viri, the queen uses Naias, Hammer and Raf try to protect Viri, and the cycle of oppression goes round and round.

Hammer, Raf and Viri try to fight the system from the bottom, while Naias tries to fight it from the inside, closer to the top, but she is never at the top. And she ignores and gives up too much trying to stay up high, betraying the very people she tries to help.

Now just a handful of the many lessons.
1. Found family - the interactions of these characters should be studied at length. While the chose each other in a way, their traumas and situations shoved them together forcefully, in a way that makes you question whether we actually choose our found family, or if our traumas choose them for us, and if that's the case, are they any better for us than our original family was?
2. No matter how high you rise in an oppressive system, you are still oppressed, you are simply now also the oppressor. The system is designed to be a ladder in which you must hurt the people under you more and more the higher you rise. So in your attempt to rise inside the system to help your fellow oppressed, you're doing much more harm. You cannot fix this, because it's the system working as it was designed. It must be completely dismantled, broken, burned.
3. Oppression doesn't exist just from the outside. Hammer accepts it into her soul, loses her joy, gives everything and hardens her heart. Raf rebels in his own way, he won't let them take his joy, his ability to love, his ability to still be hurt, and that itself is a kind of victory. Hope is rebellion.
4. There are tribes in this book that come in later, and the adoption of the oppressor's ways in order to fight the oppressor, and the damage it does to the societies of the tribes is discussed.

I could go on all day but I don't want to spoil anything. Read this with a friend or your book club. Discuss this. Study it, annotate it, read it again.

Can't wait to read the sequel.

I really enjoyed the world building and the magic in this book. I really loved the idea of it all but I found myself wanting more. It felt like there was so much backstory that could be brought to light but maybe that’s just me wanting more.

Cry, Voidbringer by Elaine Ho
Rating: 2.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book early.

I started this book confused. The first half went by, and while things eventually started to come together, it still lacked emotion during that time. The pace was too fast, and I was often left thinking some moments and descriptions needed more care. The characters felt inconsistent — their actions didn’t always make sense, or I couldn’t make sense of them because there wasn’t enough explanation behind their choices.

I felt like Khal was the most unlikable of all. She was insufferable. The only connection that worked for me was between Hammar and Rafaeis’ romance. For the most part, we’re told that the characters had a relationship of some sort and a shared past, but it was never properly shown.

Yet despite all this, I still enjoyed the story. The action scenes were written well, and I was engaged. I’m still unsure about the fourth wall break — it was sudden and unexpected. The shifts between POVs also took a while to get used to.

I’m giving it 2.5 stars because the core idea was genuinely interesting. I loved the drama, the potential, and it entertained me. It’s still improvable, but it had its moments.

Gosh this book tried so hard to be an epic fantasy and still it wasn’t enough.

First of all, I loved Hammer as a character. I always enjoyed getting her POV and in my opinion she was the only character that had a minimum of depth and development. If it wouldn’t have been for her I probably would have dnf‘ed this book.

For the rest of the story I can only say I was underwhelmed. In my opinion there was an absolute lack in worldbuilding and lore. Especially during the middle of the book there was so much politics and stuff on the other hand that it ended up being well too slow paced since we as readers did not get enough input to actually find it interesting long enough.

Viri as a character had a lot of potential especially ethically. But why on earth did she have to be a child? That literally ruined the whole book for me because her POV was not written as the POV of a child. If she would have been 17 I could have seen her being grown up fast due to her past trauma. But she’s way younger while not sounding a tidbit different from for example Hammer.
For that exact same reason her development also failed to be as impressive as it could have been. Seeing a child becoming the monster in the end would have been much more dramatic if there would have been a change in tone during her POV. Or a different way to describe the experiences. I was completely missing that.

The ending was interesting and was giving an interesting preview- but I don’t think I can ignore the issues I had with this book enough to continue with a sequel.

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC!

This was such a powerful story and the writing was great! I would definitely look into trigger warnings prior to reading if you’re sensitive to trauma and violence!

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of Cry, Voidbringer by Elaine Ho. This book opens up at full speed and throws you in the elaborate world Ho has created. Both the world and the characters are complex, challenging, and powerful, and so each chapter brings a new layer to process.

Cry, Voidbringer is full of political intrigue, relationships that warm your heart as well as ones that chill you to the bone, and perspectives on war from all sides. Ho does an incredible job crafting a story that is both original and reminiscent of the world we know.

As a Bindery supporter for this book, I am thrilled to be connected even in a small way to this project. I believe the world needs stories like this because they show the patterns that destroy us individually and throughout the world. If we’re smart, we will learn how to recognize and avoid these pitfalls. Ho is a voice to watch out for and Cry, Voidbringer is not to be missed

I'm not really into fantasy but I enjoyed this book. I loved the world building and the characters with solid backdrops. Sometimes I felt it a bit mushy but overall it was a great book!!!

Thank you to bindery books for the arc. This book surprised me. I knew it had to be good because I trust a lot of people who have read this so far. And it really didn’t disappoint. Such a layered and dynamic read. At times it was tough to read more due to the trauma happening. I will definitely be rereading this once my physical copy comes in!

Oh my. I need this in my hands YESTERDAY. It's queer normative, Gods are real, all three main characters are compelling, the world-building is extensive without being info-dumpy. Honestly, I'm upset that I got this as an ARC because 1. the cliffhanger was ILLEGAL and 2. I don't know how long I have to wait to read the second book. If you love complex, complicated characters, this is for you. They're awful and doing what they can to survive and it makes the whole story breathe. The last third of the book absolutely flies by, but without making the first two thirds feel slow. This was so so complex without being confusing. Brutal but intimate. This is the kind of book that you don't just think about for hours after reading, it's the type of book you think about forever. There are so many themes present regarding oppression and the idea of trying to change the system from the inside, and the hope of revolution.

In short, this was incredible. I want to say more but I fear it'll spoil the plot. Fans of Black Sun, and anyone who loves fantasy with extensive world-building and complex characters, this is for you.

I really enjoyed this one! It was well-paced, with compelling characters and genuine moral ambiguity. So many books these days will be advertised as having "morally grey characters" and it's almost never really true, so I was thrilled that that's not the case here. There are no easy answers in this book, and the most unsympathetic characters are still very human. There are a couple of twists I DID NOT see coming--props to this book for actually being able to surprise my jaded reader self.

The worldbuilding was layered and intriguing, and I'm interested to see the wider scope of things in future books. This one leaves off on a pretty significant cliffhanger, and I will definitely be picking up the sequel to where it goes!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bindery for the opportunity to read this eARC!

WOW! I just wow. Nothing I say about Cry, Voidbringer will do it any justice. All I can say is preorder this book, put it on top of your TBR, and enjoy getting lost in this world.

4.5/5 stars

Whoa this book!

In this epic fantasy we follow the interconnected lives of a soldier, a royal advisor, and a child with magical powers with the potential of changing the outcome of the ongoing war as they do what they can to survive in a system of oppression, each facing impossible scenarios where they are forced to make terrible choices.

The storytelling was masterful, with a mixture of third and first person narratives for different characters to help bring out their personalities in each chapter, and the plot was fast-paced and kept me on my toes at all times.

This was a fantastic debut with an impressive and well developed world that will make you feel the feels and leave you wanting more.

Thank you Bindery and NetGalley for this eARC in return for my honest review.

"Cry Void Bringer" plunges into a morally complex world where survival clashes with the burgeoning responsibility for another. The synopsis paints a grim picture of Ashvi, a kingdom desperate enough to tear children from their homes in a bid to reclaim its former glory. In this broken system, we meet Hammer, a soldier hardened by war and focused solely on self-preservation – a stark reflection of the brutal realities she's endured.
The arrival of Viridian, a child wielding immense and unpredictable power, acts as the catalyst for Hammer's transformation. The synopsis deftly sets up this pivotal shift, hinting at the profound impact Viridian has on Hammer's carefully constructed defenses. The queen's desperate ambition to weaponize Viridian adds a layer of chilling urgency, forcing Hammer to confront the very system that molded her into a survivor.
The central conflict – Hammer's desire to protect Viridian against the queen's machinations – promises a compelling exploration of loyalty, sacrifice, and the cost of liberation. The nuance introduced by the colonized cities' potential resistance to the queen's "liberation" adds a welcome layer of political intrigue and raises questions about the true meaning of freedom.

I wasn’t prepared for Cry, Voidbringer to hit as hard as it did. I went in expecting dark fantasy, but what I got was something a lot deeper—something that stayed with me long after I finished.

The worldbuilding is some of the best I’ve seen in a long time. It feels fully realized without ever overwhelming you with details. Everything you need to understand about the gods, the cities, and the broken systems people are trapped in, you learn through survival moments, not exposition. It’s a brutal world, but it’s also stunning in how carefully it’s built.

The book starts with Hammer, a jaded soldier who’s been surviving for so long she’s almost forgotten what anything else feels like. The beginning is a little slower as it follows her younger years and how she ended up where she is, but once the story picks up—with the introduction of Viridian and the impossible choices that follow—it becomes impossible to put down.

Hammer, Viridian, Naias, and Khall are some of the most complicated, believable characters I’ve read in a long time. None of them are easily heroic, and every choice they make feels both inevitable and heartbreaking. Viridian is caught between being a child who deserves protection and a weapon everyone else wants to control, and that conflict sits at the heart of the story. Watching Hammer slowly, painfully start to care again wrecked me.

This isn’t an easy book. It’s violent, both physically and emotionally. It digs into colonialism, survival, complicity, and grief in ways that never feel cheap or easy. But there’s also something stubbornly hopeful underneath it all—a quiet belief that survival and healing are still possible, even when the world has taken almost everything.

Cry, Voidbringer is one of the best books I’ve read in years. Elaine Ho’s writing is sharp, devastating, and full of heart. I’ll be thinking about these characters—and everything they fought for—for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

i cannot recommend this book enough, and i must stress the importance of actually taking in what it is saying. although, the text itself will directly address you and make you understand so the only way someone could miss the messages portrayed is willful ignorance.

amongst the stories of corruption, oppression, war, grief, loneliness, betrayal, colonialism, tyranny... there is also a story of hope, and of love, and of power in resistance. There's found family, and moments of true humanity, and a deeply rich fantasy world that just keeps impressive right to the very end.

unfortunately for me, this is in fact the first in a series and so ends on a cliffhanger. it would not be the first ARC i have read a long time before release that i finished already desperate for the next book but this is definitely the worst.

i can't wait to buy this when it is released in October.

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is heavy. It is brutal. There are gory moments.
But the violence that lingers most is the emotional kind.
Still, there is light here. There is connection. There is tenderness in the cracks. And there is an insistence, quiet and unwavering, that healing is not only possible, but worth reaching for even if it hurts

This was beautiful, the last third had me gripping my kindle, unable to put it down. i loved the twists, the rage, the heartbreak, all of it. i can't wait to see the hype this book will get when its released.

Thank you to #netgalley for providing an e-arc of this book! Cry, Voidbringer releases on October 25, 2025.

Y'all this book. THIS BOOK. I have been SHAKEN to my very core. I was stunned speechless. I was screaming and crying. I love a good found family story and this book delivered just that - then ripped it away from me along with my heart. The void it left me, if you will...

The fact that the character CONFRONTS the readers about their judgments. I physically recoiled.

As a book lover, I will never stop reading and supporting authors from Palestine, Sudan, the DRC, the so-called Xin Jiang region, and any places that are being occupied and exploited. That said, I must admit the fact that books have also been used as not just mere distracting entertainment but also propaganda by the empires. The fact that certain (yt) authors have no qualms writing about the justice of violently resisting an evil empire yet refuse to acknowledge, let alone support real life resistance (looking at you Brandon Sanderson). The fact that readers can read these books and fail to take absolutely anything away from them. Reading and supporting marginalized authors are important but they can't be the only things we do. They are not enough to stop the exploitation, occupations and genocides.

Bleak tales like Cry, Voidbringer should never be treated as just entertainment, one that people read and go "aw that was so sad but so moving" and then forget all about. They must become reminders that we need to keep resisting in our own ways, towards a liberated future for all of us.

Wow. I don’t have the right words to do this book justice. Cry, Voidbringer is not for the weak. It is gritty, it is heartbreaking, and it is INCREDIBLE. I have no idea where Elaine Ho pulled this from in her brain but I really hope she has a lot more where this came from. Perhaps the best fantasy I’ve read in quite awhile.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bindery for the opportunity to read this eARC!