Review: Dangerous Remedy / Am I Tired of Fantasy?

Hey, there book dragons! I hope you’re all doing well. Today I’m reviewing Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn and also asking myself an important question: am I tired of fantasy? Spoilers: I am. Let’s dive in!

{You might also like – Review: Last Memoria by Rachel Emma Shaw}

Title: Dangerous Remedy

Author: Kat Dunn

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: eARC

Publisher: Zephyr

Date Published: 5 May 2o2o

Goodreads Description: Camille, a revolutionary’s daughter, leads a band of outcasts – a runaway girl, a deserter, an aristocrat in hiding. As the Battalion des Mortes, they cheat death, saving those about to meet a bloody end at the blade of Madame La Guillotine. But their latest rescue is not what she seems. The girl’s no aristocrat, but her dark and disturbing powers means both the Royalists and the Revolutionaries want her. But who and what is she?

In these dangerous days, no one can be trusted, everyone is to be feared. As Camille learns the truth, she’s forced to choose between loyalty to those she loves and the future.

I received a review copy from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Story

I’m going to try to sum up my feelings as coherently as possible for Dangerous Remedy. This book is marketed as Six of Crows meets Les Miserables. If you didn’t know, Six of Crows is my favourite book. There’s no discussion about it. I love Six of Crows. So if you market a book as “it’s like Six of Crows” I’m going to compare it to Six of Crows in my mind.

I tried really hard not to. I know no other book will live up to SoC. That is my personal bias, and I am okay with that. You are allowed to disagree with me. However, this has always been about MY reading experience, and I always try to be as objective as possible. BUT that’s not always possible, as I am a human being with my own feelings and opinions.

THAT being said, let’s get into it (winks). The story itself is really great. The premise is unique, I mean who doesn’t want disaster gays running around during the French Revolution? YES PLEASE.

Writing

My real problem with this book is the pacing. Even though Dangerous Remedy starts off with an action scene, there’s very little action for the rest of the book. The pacing is weird, one moment I’m completely enthralled and the next I can’t be bothered. The writing isn’t bad, but I was not a fan of the massive info dumps done through text in the beginning.

Characters

I’m going to level with you, I did not care for any of the characters. Seriously. I’m heartless on a regular basis, but at least I (sometimes) care for fictional characters. Not these. I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters, even though I wanted so badly to connect with Camille because I just love criminal types (yes, I’m looking at you Kaz Brekker).

They all fell flat, although Al was perhaps the only one I really liked. I was on a solid 3.5 stars for most of the book. It just lacked intrigue and atmosphere. However, at around the 80% mark, I started to sit up and really enjoy what was going on. The story really picked up and I became more invested in the characters, earning it another half star.

Overall I just think I’m a little tired of fantasy. When you read so many fantasy books they all start to look the same, but that also means you can distinguish great books from just average ones. Honestly, I was let down by Dangerous Remedy, but I’m still cautiously optimistic for the sequel.

Let me know your thoughts on Dangerous Remedy.

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