a third of the way through and this is heading for 6-star territory at warp speed

okay there seems to be a ridiculous anachronism but the author could easily write it out of everything i've read so far, so i messaged the grr admins hoping they'll pass it on to her

still swooning

points for not pretending things don't smell

--
ETA: Ooof, okay, finished. Apart from the anachronism I mentioned above, & which I hope the author will fix in the month before publication (PLEASE!!!!), I found almost nothing to complain about, which as anyone who reads my knows is saying a lot.

Some things to know:
1. Although Cold Comfort is a love story and the ending is somewhere between hopeful and HFN/HEA, with the MCs together and safe, I wouldn't call it a genre romance. Don't expect romance-novel beats; do expect a realistic depiction of an unusually atrocity-heavy war. (Ives isn't piling on -- for more, see Robert Gerwarth's harrowing The Vanquished .)

2. Ives doesn't explain slang or historical and literary references. I know this will irritate some readers -- me, I'd rather highlight now and Google later than try to ignore shoehorned explanations; FWIW, the narrative and characterizations are clear even if you don't pick up the details of who's at war with whom and why. But if you don't have any knowledge of the Russian Civil War at all, then it's probably worth skimming Wikipedia before you start reading. Yes, I 100% believe it's worth doing some prep for this book, that's how much I'm swooning over it.

3. Both Sasha and Francis are mentally ill. Their illnesses aren't prettified and there's no sense at the end of the book that they're all better now and everything will be fine.

4. This book has some of the hottest, tenderest, most sheerly gorgeous sex scenes I've ever read. I had qualms about implied rimming at one point, but let's pretend Sasha had a chance to bathe first.

Some passages I highlighted:There wasn’t anything new in seeing people alongside the tracks [the MCs are on a troop train in retreat]. They’d always been there. They’d been there when the crops had started to rot, the vehicles started to rust, when the farmers were shooting all their horses. People had marched with us, against us. They had been us, for a few months, and then they hadn’t been.
*
The ground was getting so stiff and stern that this would be one of the last times we’d be able to dig [a grave], though it probably wouldn’t be the last time we’d have occasion to. As it was, our sticks and shovels scratched fleas on the back of an elephant.
*
Confident men were a foreign language to me. I never learned to speak them, move them, look them. I’d made my peace with it.
*
I thought a lot about kissing. I thought a lot about kissing other men. I tried to be objective; I thought about how a man’s mouth would feel, not how it would make me feel. How stubble would feel under my hands. Wrapping my fingers in short hair. Not that [Sasha's] hair was particularly short anymore. I thought about the smell, the feel of wind-weathered, weather-beaten skin. I didn’t think about his hands on mine. His hands in my hair. I didn’t ever think about another man kissing me.
*
I licked, long and determined, up the heavily ridged skin beneath his balls, up to the root of his cock. He tasted of heavy, brackish water and the pathetic, mould-ridden towel he’d used to dry himself after showering. I licked again, trying to wash that taste away.
*
[Of Lake Baikal:] It was so cold, I was told, that bodies didn’t decay. It was so old that the gods formed it themselves. It was so deep, that if you fell in, it would take you over a day to fall to the bottom. Falling all of those miles.
Okay, you're getting the idea.

Ives misuses a word from time to time and is prey to the I/me hypercorrection ("between you and I" and the ). The word "huff" suddenly appears about halfway through and as usual overstays its welcome. There's that one anachronism that could be so easily fixed. In short, I wish to God I had had the copyediting of this book, because crappy books are one thing and who cares, but a brilliant book that could have used a few tiny touch-ups here and there before publication is agony to the editorial mind. Cold Comfort is brilliant and I will read anything at all Ravella Ives ever writes.

Sincere thanks to the author and Gay Romance Reviews for the ARC. Now, off to do some Googling of the references I didn't catch.arc bloody-brilliant historical ...more37 s15 comments Kathleen in Oslo447 97

This was an exquisitely written, moving, and somewhat disorienting book that I suspect will be quite divisive. Not in terms of subject matter -- although this will not be for everyone: the misery and slog of retreat, the physical squalor they're living in, and, not least, the painful pasts and presents of the two men (CW for suicidal ideation by both MCs; mental illness; deaths by suicide of family members; deaths by accident or illness of other family members; combat deaths of side characters; child abandonment; and period-typical homophobia) make it an emotionally wringing read. But I mostly suspect it will be divisive simply because this is one of those relationship-driven, essentially plotless stories where the action (which exists -- there is stuff happening) is significantly less important than the process and the journey.

This book is very interior, very partial -- our narrator is giving us obscurities, glimpses, asides, small insights -- and very much lives or dies based on whether you feel invested in these two damaged men and their relationship, and care enough about them to see them through this frigid, perilous, but also dull and disheartening journey. For such a contained book, there are many characters and relationships, concisely but vividly described; we are dropped into this group and immediately enmeshed in their dramas, friendships, annoyances, and loyalties. The main relationship is, of course, between Francis -- generally called Ransome -- and Sasha, and their tentative connection, growing into a deep and encompassing trust and love, was beautifully done. But there are also the other officers -- confusingly, and frustratingly, we have a Harris, a Horrocks, and a Haddock, which: why??? -- and the soldiers in their nominal charge, as well as the excellent, obscure Mitya. All these relationships read as fully fleshed out, even if the characters have relatively little page time; and Ransome's feelings of loyalty, obligation, inferiority, and dogged determination are what first make us trust him, even as he often keeps us in the dark. Sasha, meanwhile, is haunted by failures -- not all his, but felt as such -- and absences, and remains more enigmatic. Sasha is seeing someone slowly and acquiescently dissolving and then gradually, oh so gradually, reappearing and taking form again. We end on an appropriate-feeling HFN, as Sasha and Francis embark on a journey that is still just beginning but is tentatively, hopefully staked out.

I knew nothing about the (complex and quite confusing) fiasco that was the Allied powers' intervention in Russia before, during, and after the Bolshevik revolution, and was well-served by ancientreader's recommendation to read up on it beforehand ("read up", she says, as if she did anything more advanced than peruse Wikipedia). Not absolutely necessary, but it should help you orient yourself in a rather disorienting landscape.

But regardless of the assured elegance of the prose, this book will only work for you if you buy Ransome and Sasha's connection and can give yourself over to mesmerizing, somewhat obscure, both intimate-and-detached storytelling. This is a slow book that rewards careful attention, which is to say, that some readers will probably find it mind-numbingly dull (and that's ok!). It is a war book with relatively little war. There is no glory or greater purpose here: it is about the cruelties and indignities and all the hopelessness of persisting on a path that is decided for you, one that ultimately leads nowhere. And how, even on this path, there can be sparks of light and connection. How sometimes even the most broken among us, can find them.

I got an ARC from GRR and this is my honest review.arc best-of-2023-reads book-hangover ...more22 s6 comments patrícia325

Well, this was a long and cold journey... I spent 3 days in the head of Francis, and let me tell you... God... it was a struggle.

This was a good story, with a lot of historical facts but no context in the beginning. The writing was beautiful but complicated. Lots of old English terms, and yes, google was a BFF reading this.

The magic of this book is how Sasha and Francis are together. Those few moments were truly perfect and kept the cold away. They were so intense and raw together. So vunereble, but also so in tune with each other, either talking, slitly touching, kissing, or finding pleasure together. Love it.

But other than these fleeting moments, the story was boring and told by a very depressive man who fell in love with a more depressing man. So there's that.

To the end, the pace increased, and so many complex things happened... God, war is such an ugly place that makes good men lose their minds.

So 3.5 stars because I really am intrigued by this author and am curious to read more.



arc_10 s Dumbledore11214505

When the war is lost, what else is worth winning?

Lt. Francis Ransome is newly promoted and completely miserable. After a year and a half of fighting in Russia’s revolutionary fallout, his regiment is retreating across the bitter Siberian wilderness, the war lost. Home has never been so close and yet so far, and any breath could be their last. When they stumble upon the remains of a Czech evacuation, they offer what help they can, but out here, it’s every man for himself.

Francis is instantly drawn to Sasha Jandá?ek, a handsome but withdrawn young soldier. The attraction is mutual—and enthralling—but it could spell the end for them both. Despite their best efforts, hesitance grows into friendship, and friendship blossoms into something else. Together, they struggle to conceal both feelings and fear in a world that won’t accept either.

As war stalks their footsteps and relentless winter gnaws on their morale, the journey home becomes a fight for survival. Francis and Sasha face the threat of discovery, death, and one burning question: even if they make it home, what future can they possibly have together?


Review:

This was a surprise recommendation by Amazon and it was a very good one. It is a historical with strong romantic elements rather than a full blown romance and it is a pretty well researched historical. Please heed the warning though, it is taking place during the Civil War in Russia, at the time when troops from many countries were trying to exit it or more specifically to run away from it. It is a painful read, a realistic one as well as far as I am aware and horrors of war were shown as part of the story, not to dial up the angst of the story to eleven.

The story shows the soldiers who are trying to leave the hell of the revolutionary Russia and all they had to endure on the way out. Does the war shows the worse or the best in people living through it? I always thought that the war can show both and it really depends on the people, so we see people doing things to survive, but also something bringing an almost dead soldier to die in a relative comfort and safety ( relative is the key word here) just because they could not bear the thought of him dying alone for example.

And there is that building romance between Sasha and Francis. It would have been so easy for me to roll my eyes if the author overdid romance in the midst of war, not because people cannot have romance and love in the middle of war, but because war comes first, before anything else. Somehow though I thought author managed so well to mix romantic storyline in between everything that was happening and did not overdone it at all.

I was soo rooting for Sasha and Francis to make it against all odds after the war with all their traumas and I was grateful for the ending we got.

I have to say that I cannot judge whether English in the story sounded exactly how people spoke in 1919-1920s, however I can definitely say that it did not sound quite modern to me and I do hope that it fit the time well.

A-This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full reviewgay-romance historical-fiction4 s1 comment Coco100 3

Beautifully written book. Stark and bleak (they are retreating through Siberia and I swear I could feel the cold) cut through with moments of such loveliness and beauty. The main characters growing connection and relationship is so beautifully done and completely won me over. One niggle is the supporting characters in the book - they kind of blended into one or just didn't feel fully realized. The book is from Francis' POV so perhaps this reflected his introversion/trauma but when some of the supporting characters became more relevant to the plot near the end of the book, I think this lessened the impact for me. I also didn't enjoy the few moments of foreshadowing as it kind of took me out of the flow of the narration. Anyway, the beautiful moments make it well worth a read despite these minor niggles. I look forward to reading this author's next book.4 s Shawna (endemictoearth)2,073 32

I kindly received an ARC from Gay Romance Reviews back in November. I had some biggish life events that prevented me from picking it up and then the holidays intruded, and having started the book and read a couple of , I knew this was going to take concentration and Big Brain energy. Then I get a horrible virus followed by a different infection. So . . . nearly two months later, I'm recovered enough to give this book my time and attention.

There's a lot of good to be found in these pages, and there are moments of brilliance in the prose, BUT I've not had to work as hard at a book in a while. I mentioned in my review of Blackouts by Justin Torres that I went running off to learn more about the people and events mentioned while I was reading, but I felt compelled to find out more, the book gave me what I needed to continue in the story. In this book, I felt I needed to look up a lot just to understand what was going on. That a lot would have been lost on me (and no doubt much more WAS lost on me) without stepping away from the book to educate myself at several points.

I wish a few things would have been included or moved around to make this book easier to navigate and appreciate, but as it is, this book seems at times to be almost purposefully inaccessible, as remote as the land the characters are traveling through. A map would have REALLY helped, and a super quick rundown of the history as a preface, rather than in an author's note at the end. A lot of the poetry and other literary references contained in the book are also accounted for after the book ends, and a note about that at the beginning would have been helpful, too. I didn't need citations for those on page, because I fully agreed that this character would have had reams of poems locked in his memories, but looking up one copied quotation led to only one hit on the search: a link to the Google Books preview for this very book.

I also had some questions about how the book's timeline was constructed/conveyed. Some choices I admired. The building action at the end was somewhat frustrating, but I can step back and concede it was effective in making me feel things about these characters and their situation. But we kept getting these little flash forwards or flashbacks, the time slippery an eel, which when layered with the dense history that you had to either pause and go read three to five Wikipedia articles to get a tenuous grasp on, or just let it wash over you and miss a lot of significance. I opted for a patchwork approach, and maybe it wasn't the best tactic. The time issues are ly to make us feel (even more) unsettled in the narrative, to question our unreliable narrator, and feel how surreal the experience they've gone through (are going through?) truly was.

Use of words 'hypnagogic' rankled (although, after having looked it up once, seeing it again wasn't as confusing; possibly the author figured the same thing). Some of the language feels period appropriate, some feels pretentious for any era.

My gripes aside, I do recommend this to readers who want a bit of a challenge. I suggest reading the author's note at the back before starting, and checking out some wikipedia articles on the Siberian intervention in the Russian Civil War before diving in.

Early on, the book has a lot of atmospheric camaraderie, and Ransome and Sasha's burgeoning connection is lovely to read about. My favorite passages are Ransome using flights of fancy to escape the horrors of their present condition and imagines Sasha and himself safely secreted at his family home, clean and warm and content. Those moments contrast tragically with the horrific reality they are enduring.

We see both the horror and mind-numbing boredom of war, which is rare. Uncomfortable and disturbing, but essential. As a debut/first published work, this is an accomplishment. I will not deny the writing, and it's why I'm rating this four stars. I will be interested to try future books from this author, and see what subjects and themes are featured in the next work.2024 arc lgbtqia ...more2 s Notforgoodgirls12

Exquisite. This should have got the marketing and cover budget of The Whalebone Theatre or In Memoriam. Wonderful prose, haunting and heartbreaking and brilliant. 1 Lydia Devlin387 2

This is an absolutely stunning book and I wish I could give this more stars.
A gorgeous slow burn romance set in a time period many people are not aware of. There are mistakes, which have already been mentioned in another review,so I'm not going to repeat that which has already been said.
I really took my time reading this, savouring every word,every use of correct language particular to this time.
I was hooked by this from the very first words. Totally invested in not just the two main characters, Francis and Sacha,but every single one of the characters they interact with. The underlying foreboding as they travel oh so slowly towards home and safety. The joy laced with uncertainty as Francis and Sacha grow closer together,as to what is going to happen when they reach their final destination.
I could say more about this,but, I won't,as I don't want to spoil this beautifully written story for anyone.
I received an arc copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews and this is my honest review.
2 s AnnabelAuthor 6 books19



2023 first-world-war lbgtqa ...more Manon Lavoie146

I can't say I d the story because it was so dramatic in its starch reality. I believe that war was well portrayed. The long boring stillness of waiting for something to happen, sometimes for days. The fear gripping your guts at the idea of battle.
Then, all of a sudden, the attack, the noise , the blood, the death, the war raging around you. The loss of comrades, the mistakes that are going to haunt you for the rest of your life !!
I really felt it while reading the book.
At the same time, the beautiful friendship between Sasha and Francis. The discovery of their love ! So beautiful !
I recommend this book but be aware of the darkness in those men's souls. It is hard to read ! Honey Gred40

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I'm not exactly sure which category this book belongs in except for the category of one fantastic book. It's hard to define exactly what you're reading except that you are SO glad that you are reading it. It is not a traditional MM, or historical fiction, but something better. Enough of that, This is an amazing book and I hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as I did.2 s PaperMoon1,627 68

Fantastic WW1 M-M romance that does not pull back on the brutalities and atrocities of war/combat and the emotional and psychological impact upon men at the front-lines. What impressed me the most were the descriptive passages of scenery, weather etc ... I was totally drawn in and immersed into Francis and Sacha's world for the entire duration of the read. 5 s Tanya13.8k 68

He has been promoted but he is miserable with it as the war has been lost. All he wants is to go home but it is not possible yet. He will meet another man who may just turn his life upside down. Will they become a couple? How will it go? Can he finally get home? See how it will all go Ida Umphers4,398 35

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