Best Served Cold

Heat Before Serving

There’s a limit to how much grimdark fantasy I can take, and Best Served Cold found that limit. The book begins with echoes of Victor Hugo—a sense of grand tragedy and sweeping revenge—but quickly settles into a relentless bleakness where nobody is allowed a good time. Not even a little bit.

Part of my struggle might have been circumstantial: this was a book to fall asleep to, and fall asleep i did many times. I experienced sections out of order and never quite found my footing in the story. But even discounting my non-ideal reading experience, I lost steam. There are only so many partially failed assassination attempts you can read before fatigue sets in, physically and mentally.

Surprisingly, the closest thing to hope in the whole book is Shivers’ redemption arc, and even that feels deeply pessimistic. It might have been more interesting if it weren’t already the brightest thread in such a dark melange.

In the end, I have to admit I didn’t give this book a full chance—I ended up not finishing it. Perhaps there’s a powerful story here for readers who are more attuned to the relentless darkness, but for me, the combination of grim tone and repetitiveness didn’t land.