Oh my god, I am so unwell. This I finish this book or did it finish me? The Red Winter is a queer, dark, historical fantasy (and is easily going to be one of my favourite reads of the year oh my god it consumed me).

This one is for the readers who:

· have an interest in the mythological origins of gods and the occult
· prefer books about love, rather than romances
· like books where the author trusts the reader
· enjoy morally complicated characters
· like queer love stories that emotionally devastate you
· are drawn to genre-defying books

We follow Sebastian, a man who willingly shares his body with a demon. Sebastian is recounting his and Antoine's story, which is also the story of The Red Winter and the hunt for the Beast that plagues Antoine's village. I could talk for days about the world building and magic system here tbh. I genuinely enjoyed every part of it and the scope of the world Sullivan created, but the characters stole the show for me. The dynamics between the characters are messy, nuanced, and unique. I want to say more about the world and characters, but there is so much mystery and intrigue and longing and foreboding tragedy in the story that it's best to uncover this for yourself.

Sebastian's character is driven by his and Sarmodel's need to feed off of spiritual energy, but his narration still remains so full of humanity; Sarmodel is very much not human, but is still full of love for Sebastian. And the dynamic between them! Genuinely hilarious duo that also had me weeping at the bond between them at one point.

(It also contains one of my favourite tropes: Sebastian and Sarmodel don't seem particularly threatening from their own first person POV, but when we swap POVs for part of the story, we see just how intimidating and ruthless they can be.)

Apart from this book ripping my heart out, this was such a beautifully crafted story. The prose left me hanging on every word, the themes really worked for me, and it featured incredibly tight plot work (which, considering there were 3 alternating timelines and a few subplots in each, is impressive). It also dabbles in so many different genres: an epic fantasy feel, historical fiction setting, a heart-wrenching romance, horror elements, a unique tone with well-delivered with and humour. I have absolutely no idea how this is Sullivan's debut book, but I am distraught I can't read more of his work.

While this was Antoine's story, and the romance between Sebastian and Antoine is truly the heart of it, there is definitely scope for more in this universe and Sebastian certainly has a lot more to tell us.

Thank you SO much to Tor & NetGalley for the ARC! This book is all I can think about.