Okay, huddle up my fellow lovers of anything queer, tragic, magic and dark academia; this one is for us! Oh, and if undiluted yearning is your thing then you’re not gonna want to miss this either.

I have so many thoughts about this book, but most of them wander straight into spoiler territory, so I’ll keep myself contained. This is a book best experienced in its full, spiralling intensity.

Thoughts Be Bloody is a Hamlet retelling that places Horatio Bithersea at the centre and gives him a depth I feel is missing from the original play - he is also trans in this retelling.❤️‍🔥

The novel explores identity, loneliness, insecurity, loyalty, obsession, and the way fear of returning to isolation can twist itself into fierce devotion. It shows how ferociously we cling to the person who feels like they brought light into a dark room - even when that loyalty forces us to question who we are and who we’re becoming.

It’s a story about wanting, losing, and grieving so deeply it threatens to consume you. And threaded through all of this is a sharp examination of classism: how privilege shapes opportunity, how neglect shapes everything else, and how those divides echo through every hallway of the school and every branch of its magic.

Horatio tells the story himself, but the telling is so vivid that the line between hearing his memories and living inside them blurs. The structure won’t be everyone’s preference - it’s strange, nonlinear, and intentionally disorienting - but Patrick Auden makes that choice work beautifully. The writing itself is alive, pulsing with Horatio’s fear, devotion, and unraveling.

As the tragedy unfolds (and it is a tragedy; it wouldn’t be Hamlet otherwise), Horatio’s reality frays in a way that is exquisitely depicted. My heart sped up in rhythm with his, and the gothic atmosphere wrapped itself around every scene. It’s one of the most atmospheric books I’ve read in a long time, with prose that is both gorgeous and unsettling. I found myself postponing picking it back up because I didn’t want it to end.

The magic system is another standout. It expands steadily without becoming confusing, and the rules are both clear and flexible, shaped by ongoing magical research. The school and its magic aren’t just a backdrop; they’re integral to how the book handles classism and the ways knowledge and power are distributed.

The novel also offers an unflinching depiction of how loneliness, insecurity, and isolation can make someone vulnerable to manipulation. Horatio and Hamlett’s toxic dynamic is a striking example of how easy it is to lose yourself trying to become what someone else wants, especially when that person is charismatic and knows exactly what buttons to press. If you haven’t experienced that kind of relationship yourself, this book offers a clear window into how quickly self‑blame and rationalisation can take root - how easy it becomes to convince yourself that you are the problem, that they’d never do that, and forgive them when they do it anyway.

Of course, this is shaped by Horatio’s point of view, and there’s plenty to analyse from Hamlett’s side as well - but I’ll leave that to another reader.

It only feels appropriate to touch a little on how Thoughts Be Bloody holds up as a retelling of Hamlet. Doing so without spoilers for anyone who hasn’t read, seen, or heard Shakespeare’s play is, of course, its own challenge. Even so, the novel marvelously preserves the structural DNA of the original. The truth is ever‑shifting, and in Horatio and Hamlett we see revenge complicated by hesitation and emotional paralysis.

If it isn’t already clear: I loved this book. I honestly can’t believe it’s a debut novel.

Thank you to DAW and Netgalley for the ARC. The thoughts above are entirely my own.

I don't know if it's because I've been out of the genre for so long, but this is exactly what I mean when I say I love to read fantasy romance! For my first Victoria Aveyard book, I really couldn't have asked for a better introduction. Tempest feels like a pirate adventure, historical fantasy, political drama, and slow-burn romance all smashed together, and somehow it works ridiculously well. I just can't begin to describe how much I needed this.

The atmosphere alone had me totally absorbed and fully immersed. Aveyard writes details so well and I genuinely felt like I could be a part of this world. I loved reading about all the sights, sounds, and smells so much. This is a world that I could envision so well. It helped that it has such strong Pirates of the Caribbean vibes, but with a much more complicated story underneath it. Aveyard also does a fantastic job bringing in commentary about class, colonialism, power, women's roles, and the ways people justify their choices when survival is on the line. I also really appreciated that this isn't just go, go go with pirate battles and action-packed scenes. There's a lot of character-driven moments to push the story forward.

The dual timeline structure was one of my favourite things about the book. Every chapter gives you another little piece of the puzzle, slowly revealing how Cat became the person we meet in the present and what happened to all these relationships along the way. It made me constantly question what I thought I knew, and the gaps between the timelines created so much tension. I was especially desperate to find out exactly what happened between Cat and Val and what deal Cat made with Jasper. I'm such a sucker for dual timeline and I think this is my first time reading it in a fantasy romance book? LOVED! Need more, in fact.

I listened to the audiobook and I did enjoy my time with it, however, I wish it was a duet. The narrator could not do male voices very well and all the men sounded the same which was pretentious. It was difficult to tell who was speaking.

Honestly, I loved this book. The writing is gorgeous and the world is incredibly immersive so there's nothing more I could ask for, except less use of certain phrases ("tempest," I'm thinking about you). Anwyay, I'm so, so excited for the next book!

*Many thanks to Harper Voyager for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.