Any beauty and the beast or fairytale retelling masterfully told with woven storylines is a favourite of mine! Thanks for a fabulous book. Enjoyable and immersive.

the way I was crying in the breakroom at work because of this books. Part coming of age style character exploration, and equal parts adventure, this is one I will not forget any time soon

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to the free advanced digital copy of this book.

I absolutely loved this novel.
Such a great story with defined characters and a great plot.
What drew me in the most was how fleshed out the characters were
The writing style was fluid and relateable.
The cover was fascinating as well.
A reviting read overall
Definitely recommend adding this to your TBR!

The interconnectedness of this novel is one of its best features. We begin by telling the tale of Darragh, a trans guy who left his family because they couldn't accept who he really was and has since worked as a sailor. But in between Darragh's exploits, we are treated to brief fairy tales that are included in a book of tales that Darragh has acquired and that are centred around the Enchanter, a supernatural being who resides in the forest.

This book is for you if you want to read a book that has non-binary, queer, and non-gendered characters and reads like an old-fashioned fairy tale.

DNF at 30%. While I suppose this book was pleasant, for what I read of it, I can’t say the writing style made it particularly engaging. Maybe one day I’ll come back to it, as it has good reviews, but right now it’s just not holding my attention. 2.5 rounded up to 3 since I perhaps haven’t given the book enough of a chance (but I’ve dnf’d for lower percentages)

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

More like 2.5

The Story of the Hundred Promises was pitched as a loose queer retelling of Beauty and the Beast. This alone was enough to make me want to read this story. I also loved to hear that there was transgender representation.

However, even if this sounded right up my alley, I wasn't engaged in the story and couldn't develop any connection with the characters. And if the characters don't convince me, that really tampers my overall enjoyment. Obviously, this is very personal, and I still think the book could be perfect for other readers as the fantasy elements are great and the writing is very beautiful.

*Thank you NetGalley for this digital copy of The Story of the Hundred Promises in exchange for an honest review

I love the inclusivity in this, it has trans and non-binary characters who have depth to them and were more than labels. The world building was equally well thought out and I’d gladly revisit in future. One minor issue is that the middle section drags on a bit but still absolutely worth reading. The book’s biggest strength is how much the writer obviously cares about character representation

Love, love loved this! All the queer representation. Fairytale retellings. Wonderful magic. Life lessons along the way. What else could you possibly need.

I really liked how there was the fairy tale story, and then the POV of the actual event happening. I think that gave a unique insight into how oral history can become muddled.

I really enjoyed seeing all the representation of different gender identities and sexual preferences, the aromantic rep was also so incredibly well done.

This was such a great read.

This was such a nice read! I am very impressed by the writing and the premise and the QUEERNESS!!!

We love a good queerification of a classical fairy-tale. Sure, it was very, very loose, but I'll take it :)

I enjoyed the 2 main characters and their interactions, and the world was so fun to immerse myself in.

Overall a solid, solid read!

First of all, this is a very, VERY loose queer Beauty & the Beast retelling.
I think that the readers who pick this up and expecting a straight up queer BatB retelling is going to be disappointed. The only things connected to the original lore was its uses of the magical transformation and the "Enchanter' character.

That being said, I enjoy the layers and complexity of the story, the callouts for rigid laws and societal norms, with plenty of LGBTQ+ identities being represented in a queernormative world.

The Enchanter's role here is explored more and I think e should be a 2nd main character aside from Darragh.
I liked how we could delve deeper into eir past, and the exploration of eir gender. It's like a story within a story.

However there's something that bothered me, I think it was a bit weird when the book decided to use the dead pronouns and gender for the MC?
I am aware that the author's trying to do a 'before' thing, but it would be more trans-friendly if the book uses the current/preferred pronouns and gender for a trans-character, even when referring about the past.
If it said "a boy who's afraid of growing breasts" I guess it will still make sense, and the audience will still pick up that he's trans. Because so far I have never met a cis male who's so scared of growing breasts, even though some cis men are a bit booby.
(I am not trans but I discussed it with my trans friend, but I'm open up to learning more).

2.5 not sure if I should round up or down.

I read this because the main character was a trans man and this was fantasy. Right before starting it I saw it was a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I have read enough retellings to know in advance that this book will have nothing in common with Beauty and the Beast but i was expecting fairytales vibes. Instead I got a badly-negotiated balance between fairtyale and high fantasy which was unpleasant to read.

I was enjoying the book at the beginning. The prose was good and it had the masculine transmasc protagonist in a high fantasy world I was expecting. The plot was engaging : will he forgive his horrible dad in his last moment ?

I went in having heard about this being a queernormative world and indeed trans people exist in so many forms there are codified ways to introduce yourself, tattoos etc. Except that the protagonist was rejected by his dad for being trans. (A dad who owns a shipping company and therefore has interacted with sailors or at least a captain which we are told early on are very trans friendly). I was slightly bothered by incoherent worldbuilding but this nothing compared to what comes next.

And them came the Merrigan chapters. I am going to be honest the book was too long for a fairytale retelling already and we could have done without it. Maybe just Frederik's flashbacks from his point of view would be nice. The Merrigan chapters just destroyed the entire worldbuilding of this book. My pet peeve is when authors try to be inventive with queer and gender worldbuilding but they clearly don't understand the ways they've been historically all connected to each others. The premise in the Merrigan chapters is that the king doesn't gender non-conformity (in a parodic law of what the actual medieval world used to be) and Merrigan is sentenced to death for not respecting the law. The thing is : Merrigan is offered to choose eir gender ie "binary" transition is possible. You could tell me that there are countries that accept this transition and bot gender non conformity but only if the person is a straight (another form of gender conformity) trans person. Ah but see the kingdom is okay with gay marriage since the princess later marries a woman. She even marries a baker's daughter which is even more shocking considering this is a noble-- non-noble marriage and the entire point of the law was to control the population. It made no sense to introduce a queernormative world and cherrypick which oppression would still exist. It shows a superficial understanding of what to oppression really are. Since the author was trying to create a fantasy society with different oppression than ours they (can't find their pronouns on their online social media) could have thought this through better because it just felt like tumblr with a fantasy coating. This sounds like a rant but if I am reading high fantasy, solid worldbuilding is a must.

Honestly I rounded down to 2 stars for pulling that fantasy age gap trope at the end.

DNF 42%

I was super excited to receive an ARC of this book when I heard about it, but unfortunately it fell flat for me!

There were a few things about it that I did actually really enjoy despite DNF'ing it. I thought that this was wonderful in its explorations of queerness and gender, and I loved seeing the way that aromanticism was approached! It was super refreshing in that aspect as a reader who is both trans and on the aromantic spectrum! The setting was also very interesting and I liked seeing the cultural differences in approaches to gender and introductions!

Ultimately, the primary reason that this wasn't hitting the right marks for me boiled down to the writing style. This story was trying to be written like it was a fairytale, and there were definitely points that I could feel that in the prose, which I enjoyed, but the majority of what I was reading felt very dull and slow. Ultimately, reading this began to feel like more of a chore or an assignment that I was doing for a grade, rather than something I actually wanted to do.

Maybe other readers will enjoy the writing style, and I absolutely would still recommend it if you're looking for more trans and aromantic representation in adult fantasy, but this wasn't the story for me.

This is the fairytale we need! With no prince to save aprincess but an adorable trans!sailor searching for his family, jis fairy good person and - final,ly - true love.
I loved every bit and liege and part of this so much. There are so many diverse characters, so much representation and such a great world building including the usage of pronouns and absolutely nothing about it feels forced. Plus there is the element of fairy tales but with a twist and a change of perspective.
This is a book for every queer person questioning where their ever happy after in a fairy tale is. It is here! This is our book! And no matter how often we were disappointed by the world surrounding us, there is love and hope. If Merrigan managed to get emself out of er hiding spot in the woods, so are we!
Read it, this is pure magic!

Many thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of this title...even if I'm a little late! 4.5-5 stars

"A name was no small thing. Names were identity, or at least the herald of it in the world, for a name could travel ahead of a person and linger behind them."

---
Before even beginning the story I was intrigued by this book. Not only was the cover simple yet gorgeous, but the description of the story was sweetly straightforward while hooking me with the final line.
"The Story of the Hundred Promises is a big-hearted fantasy suffused with queer optimism."

The manner in which gender and queer culture as a whole is explained and shown in the book is beautiful. I appreciate the explanation of the Spivak pronouns by Neil Cochrane and I hope that it's a method that will be used more often in modern media. Along with the pronouns the world was fleshed out to have various cultural ways of expressing who you are to others. Using a person's titles, and sailor's tattoos alongside the blessings/rituals were all great ways to tell someone how you identify yourself as well as just introduce yourself in general. We are even shown how these shifts in culture came to be.

I do want to state that the author is smart to say this is a "loose retelling of 'Beauty and the Beast.'" Do not think of this as a Beauty and the Beast story. I started this book thinking of certain moments of the "Beauty and the Beast" story instead of focusing on what was actually happening, trying to see a connection. Don't get me wrong, there are strong references and obvious connections, but it's a good re-telling in that it uses similar themes and story beats without doing the EXACT same story. Going with this mindset made those connections feel more like cool easter eggs than anything else.

Our two main characters, Darragh and Merrigan are amazing. While they do feel like fairy-tale characters to some degree they are more emotionally engaged and wise than some classic fairy-tale characters. There are moments when Darragh and Merrigan came come off as too trusting or too kind but it's also the kindness of these characters that I love and it makes me emotionally connected to them both. As both of these characters have suffered and struggled to get to this point in their lives, their kindness is that much more beautiful.

The story is also fantastic in showing that while they both have gone through so much their journeys are not yet over and finding and supporting each other pushes them that much farther into a happier self. The entire story is about self-discovery even in a world that seemingly is already more outwardly accepting than ours, it's a strong story about humanity overall. This is perfect when your story incorporates the world's fairytales and folk tales as part of a character's history. The usage of the fairytales was so much fun while also setting up characters long before we meet some of them when we get to Merrigan's section, kind of like more easter eggs.

The characters are captivating and the world is shown as an ever-evolving place, as it should be. I really enjoyed how the queer culture was written as it just made sense and the writing itself was extremely beautiful, it was such a pleasant read. I highly recommend this book!

I can barely begin to adequately express how wonderful this book was. The fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast, reimagined with a trans boy, was always going to be something that I would enjoy, but the delight of The Story of the Hundred Promises goes far beyond that.

The most wonderful thing about it is the world-building. This goes further than anything else I’ve ever read with the concept of “gender is a social construct”, by pointing out that not only is gender constructed, but the way in which it interacts with our lives is too.

For instance, our main character Darragh introduces himself sometimes as “Darragh he Thorn”. This is a custom which exists in some of the places in the book, the structure of “[given name] [pronoun] [family name]”. In other places, he introduces himself as “Goodman Darragh”. Not only do the customs vary from place to place as he travels around, but none of the customs match modern Western ones. It’s so wonderfully thought-out. Before a person introduces themself with their gender, the narration consistently uses neutral pronouns for them. It is delightful.

The use of the e, em, eir, eirs, emself pronoun — while signposted in a note at the beginning of the book — is so natural throughout the book. I can only commend Neil Cochrane on this. Fair play. Not only does the pronoun feel natural, it feels normal: and not only that, but widespread.

Yet more world-building that i really enjoyed: the sailors’ tattoos. Darragh is a sailor; he and his fellow sailors wear a variety of tattoos to communicate things to each other. Where “[given name] [pronoun] [family name]” and “[honourific] [given name]” are too formal for the rough sailors, Darragh has a mermaid’s-purse with a harpoon to indicate that he is to be referred to as male, and a friend of his wears interlocking triangles to show that she enjoys the company of other women. Darragh has a three-faced head to show he is trans. It’s wonderful.

Additionally, while many of the queer characters do experience negativity from others on the basis of their queerness, this reads on the whole as individual cruelty rather than a small part of more consistent or organised bigotry. When Darragh’s father does not believe Darragh to be a man, or when [redacted]’s friend refuses to believe they cannot experience romantic love, these do not feel like common experiences.

It was refreshing and happy to see it acknowledged that these things happen in a story that also tells us that discrimination is not an inherent part of society.

As a side point, I really enjoyed the enormous number of Celtic names in this. Just good fun.

The exploration of Merrigan’s feelings about eir genderlessness and what it means for em was, I thought, beautifully done, and the word “gender-kin” is just perfect.

To finish up a very very positive review, I must note that Neil Cochrane has done a tremendous job of making the narration sound like a fairy tale without it sounding in any way stilted. Bravo.

Please, please go and read this.

This story was everything I wanted it to be and more! The romance, the inclusion, the setting, the pace — it all worked for me. While it did take me a bit to ease into the world, when it picked up it REALLY picked up and I was hooked all the way through. I loved our MC Darragh and was deeply invested in his journey. Merrigan's arc was beautiful and I love how the author weaved in little hints of the Beauty and the Beast story. I wouldn't call it a retelling. but it definitely honors bits and pieces of the tale in wonderful ways throughout. The writing was very lyrical which may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think it matched the tone perfectly. I loved the use of neo-pronouns and the asexual rep, which I rarely see in a story like this. It was beautiful, haunting, thought-provoking, with an ending that left me in joyful tears. Honestly, it was a 5-star read for me

Thank you to Netgalley and Forest Avenue Press for the digital arc in exchange for an honest review!

DNF at 16%. The main character doesn't seem to have a lot of personality so far, I don't really understand why Darragh is going on this quest, and I just haven't been able to get into the story or the little fairy tale interludes. I like all the queer rep, I'm always happy to see more books with trans main characters, so I'll keep it in mind if I think it'll make a good recommendation for someone, but I don't think this book is for me. I don't rate DNFs, so I'm going with 3 stars because I have to choose something here.

This was a relatively engaging story full of magic and adventure. The one thing that kept me from rating it higher is that some of the pacing was off. As well, since it was 3rd person's POV, it took a while to connect with the characters, and while I eventually did, I don't think I connected as much as I wanted to.

3.5 stars rounded up

The Story of the Hundred Promises is a fairytale-based fantasy about a trans man who sets out to find the reclusive enchanter who gave him the magic thorn that helped him transition. He does this with the intention of asking em to to help keep his father alive, so that he can have a reckoning about his father's rejection of him.

Darragh makes for an interesting MC, likeable but with understandable anger, and I also really liked a lot of the supporting characters.

However, the best element of this book for me was its world-building, which included excellent inclusion of trans, non-binary and aromantic characters. It's set in a world where different gender indenties have been normalised (though not entirely, as seen by Darragh's father's transphobia) and there are systems to know another person's gender indenty instead of assuming, such as through how they introduce themselves or other makers (like tattoos that denote their gender). However, this world was not always like this, as we see through the enchanter's POV.

Another aspect that worked well was this swap in POV, as we see first the world how it currently is through Darragh's POV, and we also see the tales of the enchanter as told in story books, and then we swap to the enchanter's viewpoint and see eir life from childhood, including how the world used to be and the reality of what the stories were based on.

Speaking of the tales, I always enjoy stories within stories and this was put to good use here, looking at how the same story can be told in different ways.

My only real issue is I thought the pace dragged in the middle and I think this is because this is where Darragh and the enchanter met and (possible spoiler?) the romance between them felt a little forced, which really disconnected me from the last third of the novel.

Overall though, still a good read with interesting characters and fascinating world-building.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.