Behind the Crimson Curtain

The Crimson Curtain #1

by E.B. Golden

A magical con artist and an actor turned revolutionary fight for freedom in an atmospheric fantasy debut where layered secrets and daring love clash on a stage of war.

On the coal-choked island of Luisonn, the tyrannical Stav Regime breeds rebellion among the working class. Firin, a face-changing con artist trained by her domineering father, dances between fake lives to escape punishment for her crimes—until armed rebels topple the regime. With freedom finally within her grasp, she discovers one of the heroes is her former lover, Bregan, who introduced her to her second the theater.

As the flames of revolt settle, Firin joins Bregan on the stage. She’s determined to create a life with the honorable man she never forgot. But like the past, love and truth are hard to hide—especially when one of Firin’s victims, now president, chooses Bregan as his right-hand man. Haunted by the sacrifices of revolution and devoted to the new government’s success, Bregan quickly rises in its ranks…

In a web of war and false identities, Firin must choose a side. But is the price of freedom her heart?

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy, Dystopia, Fiction, Ebooks, Adult

434 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2024

About the author

E.B. Golden has always been a wanderer, both inside and outside her imagination. Although born and raised on the coast of Maine, she spends most of her free time exploring the mountains of southwest Colorado with her husband and daughter, and sometimes their cats. Since she learned to hold a pen, she’s used speculative fiction to make sense of a nonsensical world, and when she’s not writing, she’s usually traveling or coaching other writers, because the world always needs more stories.

Reviews

[Muffinsandbooks]

3,75⭐️
Vraiment, le côté intrigues politiques, complots et trahisons, tout est siiii bien fait ! C'est extrêmement original, intelligemment mené et j'ai trouvé ça hyper intéressant que les personnages (surtout Firin) soient aussi morally grey. Par contre je dois avouer que c'était si intelligent que ça m'a parfois perdue mdrr et j'ai aussi trouvé que que le côté théâtre était parfois amené de manière un peu forcée ? Genre je vois ce qu'il apporte à la fois à l'ambiance, à l'intrigue et aux personnages mais y a des moments j'avais juste envie de dire "mais sans rire vous pensez pas qu'il y a plus urgent que votre représentation ???". I don't know... en tout cas j'ai beaucoup aimé malgré tout !

[kaitlyn]

dnf @ 23%

[jagodasbooks]

This action packed book about a con artist and actor made my head spin. Always something was going on, dual time pov, revolution, romance... I really liked before pov, about Firin's past and her previous jobs. The romance was going on too fast and didn't really like Bregan, he was lowkey irritating. The ending was interesting, but not *that* interesting, I probably won't be tempted to read the next book. Also there's kinda a little theatre in this book about a the theatre, but the atmosphere was cool. However the whole world was very confusing and was lacking more descriptions, it was just chaotic and has a lot of made up names without any explanation. Overall just mid, won't be in my head long

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

[Anna]

I enjoyed this a lot but I wish I had known it is part of a series/ends on a bit of a cliffhanger 😖

If the goal was to get me to pre-order book 2…well played

[Stacey Candy]

DNF - The FMC was really unlikeable and there was nothing to make you want to invest in any of the other characters. I got about half way through and gave up and on it.

[Kevin Black]

Oh, no. You do not spin a whole novel's worth of a story and then leave on a cliffhanger. That loses one ⭐ automatically.
Then there's the sense starting halfway through the book that the author had deliberately picked backstories for the two main characters that set them on an inexorable course towards their mutual hurt.
Related to that problem is that halfway through the book, one can see roughly how it must end.
And finally, the obnoxious conceit shared with it seems every romantic comedy, namely that our lovers can't possibly tell each other the truth.
For me, these flaws overshadow the author's real skill in imagination, characterization and writing dialog.

[Faenny]

DNF 40% : il m’avait mis en panne de lecture j’a essayé de le reprendre mais j’arrive pas
j’aime pas les prota donc ça n’aide pas

[Reece]

I had to DNF this at 68%, and there was a decent chunk before this that I was only skimming. It was ruining my mood. Watching someone make bad decision after bad decision, knowing that shit is going to get worse, with absolutely nothing redeeming on the horizon... I couldn't even get into the romance because Firin is kind of a POS and Bregan deserves better. Feh.

[Ric]

Don’t. Female character is horrible, two thirds through and she is still a lying con artist.

[Rebecca McPhedran]

With a lush setting, this book takes the reader on a journey of political intrigue, shapeshifters and a politically active theater group.

The female main character has had a very troubled past, and seems to constantly be trying to outrun her traumatic upbringing. When she meets a young actor, she finally feels like she can be her true self; but the past is harder to bury than she thought.

[Emily]

These characters are far too unlikable to want to continue after a cliff hanger ending. What a disappointment this book was.

While I started out sympathetic toward Firin and Bregan because they were victims of a harsh world at a young age, when we see them several years later (the “now” timeline as opposed to the “then” timeline) they are just stupid and selfish. I found myself not caring if they got together at all. I think the only thing that kept me reading was my desire to figure out what was actually happening in this country they live in.

Which brings me to the fact that the world building was quite weak. The totalitarian regime they were rebelling against didn’t make sense. The fact it toppled in one night after generations had failed in rebellion made less sense. Other countries kept getting mentioned but I couldn’t figure out the point of them except to describe most of the characters as coming from them. But why would they come to these shitty islands that are controlled by a colonizing dictatorship that forced the citizens into specific, inescapable classes? There was zero explanation, zero history to provide context to why the world is the way it is. It made the rebellion and class war feel anticlimactic.

I won’t continue, but thanks Prime Reads, I guess?

[Aleksandra]

Oh the plot twists… I really didn’t expect to be this shocked while reading this book; I’m positively surprised!

Firin is a very complex, gray character, who wants much and is ready to do even more to obtain her goals… I was pissed by her choices at times, but in the end I understand her actions due to her past, because of how she was treated by her father etc… Especially when I read that one piece of information regarding her father’s face (no spoilers) somewhere in the final chapters. It really had me crying hard. I think I truly can’t judge Firin, I can only be a passenger in her journey to her true self.

I’m really excited for book 2, can’t wait to see how Firin and Bregan’s story unravels 🤭

[Donna Foster]

In this fantasy action adventure (part one of two) story every character is skipping around in different acting personas from start to finish.

[Kelsey Smith]

This book is a stunning piece of art.

I got so completely lost in this new world that E.B. Golden created and I want more! I will be picking up the second book as soon as humanly possible.

You need this on your shelf. You need Firin and Bregan in your hearts.

[Dayanara Ryelle]

An interesting concept with poor execution.

[Joleen Reis]

Slow to start but it picked up in the end. Ending on a cliffhanger is the worst, but it made we ready for book two. Hopefully it starts picking up speed faster in the sequel.

[Lamyareads]

Un coup de cœur ❤️‍🔥

Ce roman nous plonge entre le « avant » et le maintenant, la double temporalité est parfaitement maîtrisée, tout est fluide, facile à suivre, et au fil des pages tout s’explique et se rejoins.

Firin est un personnage attachant malgré qu’elle change, se durcit, devient jalouse, possessive. Elle glisse peu à peu dans l’ombre de son père entre Secrets, mensonges, et non-dits…
Elle est prête à tout pour ne pas perdre ce qu’elle a gagné. Son évolution est profondément humaine, et douloureuse ❤️‍🩹

Bregan quant à lui, un homme amoureux, un battant qui abandonne l’homme de cœur qu’il est pour devenir quelqu’un prêt à tout pour obtenir des réponses, même au prix de douter de ceux qu’il aime 😔
C’est une lente autodestruction, juste humaine. Ils deviennent ce que tout 2 détestaient.

Et pourtant, au milieu de ce chaos, leur romance est magnifique 🥹 Fragile, intense, vraie et profonde ❤️
Le théâtre devient leur refuge, le seul endroit où ils sont libres, loin de ce monde 🎭

On suit l’évolution de deux êtres profondément humains, imparfaits, qui se perdent en croyant se sauver. 💔
Et au milieu de tout ça, un found family absolument incroyable, lumineux dans une dystopie sombre et percutante 🥀
Ils luttent pour la liberté mais une fois obtenue, est-ce vraiment celle qu’ils voulaient ?

C’était une lecture marquante, profonde et percutante, une lecture qui fait réfléchir. Je n’ai qu’une hâte c’est que le tome 2 soit traduit !! 🥹

(merci encore à gleeph & calix) 💕

[Sarah]

Honestly, I was more invested in an Amazon First Reads book than I thought I ever would be but that was the most aggressive cliff hanger I have ever experienced in a book and I am NOT here for it after 400+ pages of build up!!! So many loose ends? So many things unexplained? So many “otherworldly” names that were hard to keep track of? So much theater? (I actually didn’t hate the theater as much as I thought I would). Overall, dissatisfied.

[Debora]

Confusing structure, but interesting premise

I wish the author had used a chronological structure instead of jumping from past to present. With two characters' points of view, one in first person and the other in third person, the jumps in time didn't seem worth the hoped-for build up of suspense.

However, the premise of a shape-shifter in the theater was interesting. I didn't care much about the politics, and the main character lost my sympathy because of her poor choices, but I still finished the novel to know the ending.

[Octavia]

Struggled to finish. Glad I did because it did get slightly better…but the huge importance of theatre while people are literally dying and the government is being overthrown…just seemed odd.

[Emma - envoleelivresque]

(dnf)

[Claren G]

This was one of the most beautifully written books I’ve read in a long time. Heavy on the politics which usually isn’t my jam, but I was hooked. The plot, the characters, the theatre imagery, the scandal. I was so invested in the different decisions being made for the “right” reasons. Talk about perspective!! And so many parallels to real life today. I wanted to cheer for Firin but her character also keep breaking my heart. Quickly diving into book 2.

ARC: netgalley in exchange for honest review

[Rachel Betancourt]

3.75 ⭐️

The magic system was interesting, and the post-revolution atmosphere gave shadow & bone/six of Crow vibes, which I loved. As a reader, I was confused at some parts. The characters kept confusing me. I felt lost sometimes with where the characters and story were going. Idk if it's intentional or not. The chaos of post revolution is realistic, but the relationships between the characters didn't seem so in some places. It's an odd combination but also refreshingly different? It's hard to describe honestly. I loved the twists and turns in this though.

I'll definitely be continuing the series because I really need to know what happens next!

[Alessio]

Je l’ai fini y’a longtemps, je m’en rappelle plus trop mais je sais qu’on se fait chier même si y’a un bon potentiel… comme quoi les femmes peuvent changer de visages à leurs guises (belek). La relation est bien toxique, STOP AUX DADDY ISSUES et le boug vengeur est un peu has been mais c’était quand même ok. Je ne remercie pas pour autant la vendeuse du ernster de la cloche d’or …

[Becca]

A kindle first reads for August. I was intrigued by the synopsis and made this my pick for the month. No regrets. This reminded me of Sarah J. Maas in some ways but also Scott Lynch's wonderful Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard Series) in others. Glancing at reviews someone else mentioned that this story is similar in styling to Erin Morgenstern and V.E. Schwab. And, I have to agree with that as well. Another reviewer mentions Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone. and yes, also a similar style/story. And by those above comparisons, I mean a style/genre, not a fan fic copy. The way my library is sorted I would put all these authors together in a section called high fantasy/adventure/romance.

Though occasionally it felt a little slow, I enjoyed the story, setting, magic, and characters. I will have to admit that one of the two main characters, Firin, really annoyed me and I found her frankly kind of mean girl/evil, but then, the more I read the more I started to better understand her and where she was coming from. I even pre-ordered the second in this series though it is a ways off (Aug 2025). But I would like to see where the story goes and how the author grows as a writer.

Breakdown of stars:
Enjoyment: 4
Writing: 3
Characters: 3
Plot: 4
Readability: 4
Setting: 4

['S just my opinion]

DNF at 58%

The premise is interesting—people who can change their features at will. What do they use this power for?

BUT NOTHING HAPPENED for the first half of the book. If the plot wasn’t going to be advancing along, then at least world build! Halfway through I still don’t have a clear view of who the various political groups are and what they’re about, which seems a bit necessary given that a revolution is what the story is centered around.

At 51%, the main character had her “Yer a wizard, Harry” moment. [All apologies—but I can’t think of a good substitute for that quote at the moment. I’ll edit if my brain generates another.]
It felt way too little and way too late. Why hadn’t she questioned her ability more? Sought out more information? It seems odd that she just accepted what she had been told at face value. [Face value, get it?]

The main character seems hell bent on mulling over her options and then picking the worst, most bone headed one imaginable.
The love interest seems too naive to be working as an investigator.
In all, I don’t believe any of the characters motivations are remotely logical—they’re acting as they do for the sake of the plot, which is barely there—and I definitely don’t like either one enough to waste more time on this book.

[femmefiction_]

A must-read for fans of Fantasy and romance

Behind the Crimson Curtain is a captivating tale that explores freedom and love during a time of revolution.The story follows Firin, a con artist with magical shape-shifting abilities, and Bregan, an actor turned rebel, as they navigate their complex relationship amid political turmoil.

I found the world-building immersive and it enhanced the story without being overwhelming. I really enjoyed the dual POV, and I empathized with both Firin and Bregan as they confronted their pasts and desires.

My favorite character was Firin -flawed yet determined,and her struggles with having a second-chance at romance felt authentic. Especially within a regime that employs shape-shifters as spies! That added intrigue and horror as the thought of that being possible is mind boggling.

Firin and Bregan have a love story that has both passion and heartache,all while dealing with their own struggles.
I found this book unique and thought-provoking, and left me on a cliffhanger…ready for book 2. I Highly recommended this for anyone seeking a thrilling romantasy.

[C Barnes]

Boring and confusing

This is probably the first time I have not finished reading a book, and the first time I tried to read a book for over 3 months. I usually finish a book in one sitting, even if I have to read through the night. The protagonist is evil and this makes it hard to empathize with her plight. I got to 50% and will delete this book from my library.

[Jan]

Imaginative "romantacy" with an ending that leaves you wanting more...!

[Stephanie]

Sometimes I read a book for the plot. I just hope that I find the plot along the way.