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Honor & Heresy
Instagram sensation Max Francis makes his highly anticipated debut with this atmospheric, gothic, dark academic fantasy of two scholars racing each other to find answers to an invasion in a haunted library, perfect for fans of Katabasis and A Study in Drowning.
Roy Dawnseve cares more for philosophy than battle. But, in a society that shuns literature in favour of their ongoing war, Roy must face a difficult choice: brave the front lines or investigate the identity of their foes in the Orphic Basilica, an ancient, abandoned library.
When Roy chooses to unravel the mystery, it soon becomes clear that the Orphic Basilica isn’t without its own horrors. Strange voices echo down the halls, ghosts roam the bookshelves, and those who stepped foot in the library have either emerged insane or were driven to their own demise.
Roy’s partner in the investigation is Percival Atherton, a manipulative, enigmatic and distractingly charming scholar who has no qualms about belittling Roy. As a fierce snowstorm isolates them from civilisation, Roy and Percival must grapple with their tormented pasts, an unexpected romance, and an age-old conspiracy whose secrets are certain to wipe Northgard from history.
Filled with all the yearning of a rivals-to-lovers romance, the intrigue and fear of a dark academia, and the wonder and discovery of an epic fantasy, Honour & Heresy is ultimately a story of self-discovery amidst the chaos of war and a long, cold winter.
Roy Dawnseve cares more for philosophy than battle. But, in a society that shuns literature in favour of their ongoing war, Roy must face a difficult choice: brave the front lines or investigate the identity of their foes in the Orphic Basilica, an ancient, abandoned library.
When Roy chooses to unravel the mystery, it soon becomes clear that the Orphic Basilica isn’t without its own horrors. Strange voices echo down the halls, ghosts roam the bookshelves, and those who stepped foot in the library have either emerged insane or were driven to their own demise.
Roy’s partner in the investigation is Percival Atherton, a manipulative, enigmatic and distractingly charming scholar who has no qualms about belittling Roy. As a fierce snowstorm isolates them from civilisation, Roy and Percival must grapple with their tormented pasts, an unexpected romance, and an age-old conspiracy whose secrets are certain to wipe Northgard from history.
Filled with all the yearning of a rivals-to-lovers romance, the intrigue and fear of a dark academia, and the wonder and discovery of an epic fantasy, Honour & Heresy is ultimately a story of self-discovery amidst the chaos of war and a long, cold winter.
412 pages, Hardcover
First published April 21, 2026
About the author
Max Francis
1 book949 followersHi, I’m Max Francis! I was born in Melbourne, Australia and completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing at RMIT (Melbourne Campus) in 2021. Since I was young, I’ve dreamed of becoming an author and have been writing science-fiction/fantasy novels for over a decade now. If I’m not plotting the best way to break readers’ hearts, I’m probably reading a fantasy or romance book that will break mine.
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January 15, 2026
Coming soon.
Did Not Finish
May 2, 2026DNF at 20%; therefore, not rated. If I did have to rate the reading experience of that small part, I think I could negotiate with myself enough for 2 ⭐
How do I talk about a book I wanted to DNF by chapter two? I’m so sorry, if this weren’t an ARC, I would just drop it and quietly remove it from my tbr, but I tried to push through, at least to the halfway point. It’s been three days of trying, though, and I genuinely can’t 😭
Honour & Heresy sounds incredible on paper. Queer dark academia in a fantasy (?) world, haunted gothic library, rivals to lovers. YES PLEASE! And most of the early reviews made it look like a promising debut.
I’ll be honest, as always - the story has good bones, it truly does. But dear god does it need an editor brave and patient enough for some serious excavation work because the skeleton is buried under a very clunky and messy writing, nonsensical word choices, scenes that just don’t flow right (if you’re used to a mental cinema imagining everything, it’s like the movie is constantly glitching), stilted dialogue, and world-building that doesn’t make much sense with how vague and unexplained it is.
That last part could probably be remedied later on, but after some conversations with Evie (thanks girl, you saved me a little mental breakdown by assuring me I’m not just the odd one out with this lol, much appreciated ❤️), it wouldn’t be enough.
With how intriguing the world sounds at first, the only place that’s actually described is the old basilica/library that the characters spend time in. And maybe some readers like the feeling of isolation, but it was more frustrating than eerie - I guess I’m not a fan of one single stage sitting in a void where there should be richness instead.
I was hoping that meeting the other MC Percival would kindle some intrigue if Roy himself didn’t manage, maybe a good chemistry between them, but alas. I fear that if I push through some more, I’ll get myself into a reading slump, and I’m not willing to risk it.
On a more...well, not positive, but at least neutral note - I think fans of Ben Alderson might really enjoy this. I got a similar reading experience from his latest release (The Haunting of William Thorn), so if that kind of storytelling is actually your cup of tea, Honour & Heresy might be just for you.
Still, thank you to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this e-arc.
How do I talk about a book I wanted to DNF by chapter two? I’m so sorry, if this weren’t an ARC, I would just drop it and quietly remove it from my tbr, but I tried to push through, at least to the halfway point. It’s been three days of trying, though, and I genuinely can’t 😭
Honour & Heresy sounds incredible on paper. Queer dark academia in a fantasy (?) world, haunted gothic library, rivals to lovers. YES PLEASE! And most of the early reviews made it look like a promising debut.
I’ll be honest, as always - the story has good bones, it truly does. But dear god does it need an editor brave and patient enough for some serious excavation work because the skeleton is buried under a very clunky and messy writing, nonsensical word choices, scenes that just don’t flow right (if you’re used to a mental cinema imagining everything, it’s like the movie is constantly glitching), stilted dialogue, and world-building that doesn’t make much sense with how vague and unexplained it is.
That last part could probably be remedied later on, but after some conversations with Evie (thanks girl, you saved me a little mental breakdown by assuring me I’m not just the odd one out with this lol, much appreciated ❤️), it wouldn’t be enough.
With how intriguing the world sounds at first, the only place that’s actually described is the old basilica/library that the characters spend time in. And maybe some readers like the feeling of isolation, but it was more frustrating than eerie - I guess I’m not a fan of one single stage sitting in a void where there should be richness instead.
I was hoping that meeting the other MC Percival would kindle some intrigue if Roy himself didn’t manage, maybe a good chemistry between them, but alas. I fear that if I push through some more, I’ll get myself into a reading slump, and I’m not willing to risk it.
On a more...well, not positive, but at least neutral note - I think fans of Ben Alderson might really enjoy this. I got a similar reading experience from his latest release (The Haunting of William Thorn), so if that kind of storytelling is actually your cup of tea, Honour & Heresy might be just for you.
Still, thank you to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this e-arc.
February 23, 2023
i had the honor of beta reading h&h and i’m so glad i was able to. this novel really showed me what it means to dedicate yourself to writing. there is no sugarcoating—no cheesiness tipped into the lines to make it more digestible for the readers—which is something i’m not used to seeing in recent releases. i had forgotten what it meant to be attached to characters and a story without the overwatered tropes and archetype characters.
this novel is genuinely unique in every way imaginable.
as i was reading, i had to be patient and let the characters show me what was going to happen, instead of anticipating the ending. this is not a forgettable novel; it’s shocking, heartwarming, maddening, and devastating all at once.
it’s incredibly hard to find an author that is a good storyteller and writer, but you when you find both, it can make all the difference. max francis truly is a force to be reckoned with.
this novel is genuinely unique in every way imaginable.
as i was reading, i had to be patient and let the characters show me what was going to happen, instead of anticipating the ending. this is not a forgettable novel; it’s shocking, heartwarming, maddening, and devastating all at once.
it’s incredibly hard to find an author that is a good storyteller and writer, but you when you find both, it can make all the difference. max francis truly is a force to be reckoned with.
November 13, 2025
I received a free copy from Harper Voyager via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Release date April 21st, 2026.
I thought this book's haunted scholarship and queer romance premise sounded interesting, so I gave it a shot. In Honor & Heresy, young Roy lives in a world where scholarship is illegal and punishable by death. Caught out by the ruling governor, he's sent to his city's ancient library with one task: discover the secret of the armies that invade Northgard, or die.
I've consistently had a bad time with books where the first line of the cover copy describes it as a "Tiktok sensation", but I decided to give this Instagram sensation a shot. Unfortunately, my first instinct was correct. The book is written in an attempt at a formal style that obviously isn't quite fluent. Each descriptive word is ever so slightly wrong and the overall effect grates horribly. In addition, the text is also impressively overwritten. Why have one mediocre sentence when you can have ten instead. Stuff some more unnecessary adjectives in there, and why don't we stop the plot dead for three pages for a little light description. I don't say this lightly, but I found the prose almost entirely unreadable. I haven't had such a bad experience since When the Moon Hatched, and I dnf'd that one with extreme prejudice after about ten pages.
The actual characters are cardboard-flat stereotypes: the sweet sister, the cruel older brother, the scheming ruler, and so forth. The one exception is Roy and his love interest Percival, who are each allotted one trauma apiece. Their romance is propelled Percival's instant, groundless hostility rather than by any real chemistry. In one of Percival's first on-page appearances, Roy startles him by entering a room, and he knocks over his own ink bottle. Percival screams that Roy is an imbecile, and then grabs and threatens Roy when he apologizes and attempts to mop up the ink. Highly unpleasant, and also pointless in a world where there's not even any tenure to fight over. In a book where the romance is a central element, ugly squabbling is a poor substitute for attraction.
I found the other central element, the dark academia, to be equally underwritten. For a book that's supposedly focused on research and scholarship, I don't think Francis has the faintest clue what higher-level historical research looks like. In Honor & Heresy, the work of a historian is depicted as consuming books in a series of Instagram-pretty montages. To be fair, both Percival and Roy are entirely self-taught, but what about writing, let alone primary sources...? In addition, the central premise of a world where books are banned and historians are executed was straight out of the ill-advised YA dystopia trend of 2010. It may be possible to pull this premise off with dignity, but not with such vague and politically naive worldbuilding. Give me a nice bureau of government propagandist historians or something, rather than climactic speeches where Roy declares that historians are an oppressed people.
Clunky prose, poorly written characters, and barely defined worldbuilding. We might have parted on better terms had I been able to dnf at about page 20, but alas, the commitments of an advanced copy. Not recommended.
I thought this book's haunted scholarship and queer romance premise sounded interesting, so I gave it a shot. In Honor & Heresy, young Roy lives in a world where scholarship is illegal and punishable by death. Caught out by the ruling governor, he's sent to his city's ancient library with one task: discover the secret of the armies that invade Northgard, or die.
I've consistently had a bad time with books where the first line of the cover copy describes it as a "Tiktok sensation", but I decided to give this Instagram sensation a shot. Unfortunately, my first instinct was correct. The book is written in an attempt at a formal style that obviously isn't quite fluent. Each descriptive word is ever so slightly wrong and the overall effect grates horribly. In addition, the text is also impressively overwritten. Why have one mediocre sentence when you can have ten instead. Stuff some more unnecessary adjectives in there, and why don't we stop the plot dead for three pages for a little light description. I don't say this lightly, but I found the prose almost entirely unreadable. I haven't had such a bad experience since When the Moon Hatched, and I dnf'd that one with extreme prejudice after about ten pages.
The actual characters are cardboard-flat stereotypes: the sweet sister, the cruel older brother, the scheming ruler, and so forth. The one exception is Roy and his love interest Percival, who are each allotted one trauma apiece. Their romance is propelled Percival's instant, groundless hostility rather than by any real chemistry. In one of Percival's first on-page appearances, Roy startles him by entering a room, and he knocks over his own ink bottle. Percival screams that Roy is an imbecile, and then grabs and threatens Roy when he apologizes and attempts to mop up the ink. Highly unpleasant, and also pointless in a world where there's not even any tenure to fight over. In a book where the romance is a central element, ugly squabbling is a poor substitute for attraction.
I found the other central element, the dark academia, to be equally underwritten. For a book that's supposedly focused on research and scholarship, I don't think Francis has the faintest clue what higher-level historical research looks like. In Honor & Heresy, the work of a historian is depicted as consuming books in a series of Instagram-pretty montages. To be fair, both Percival and Roy are entirely self-taught, but what about writing, let alone primary sources...? In addition, the central premise of a world where books are banned and historians are executed was straight out of the ill-advised YA dystopia trend of 2010. It may be possible to pull this premise off with dignity, but not with such vague and politically naive worldbuilding. Give me a nice bureau of government propagandist historians or something, rather than climactic speeches where Roy declares that historians are an oppressed people.
Clunky prose, poorly written characters, and barely defined worldbuilding. We might have parted on better terms had I been able to dnf at about page 20, but alas, the commitments of an advanced copy. Not recommended.
February 21, 2023
Max laughed at my distress.
April 26, 2026
E-ARC generously provided by Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!
4 stars. Atmospheric and downright terrifying at some points, Honor & Heresy is a solid gothic dark academic debut that makes me excited for more from Max Francis.
4 stars. Atmospheric and downright terrifying at some points, Honor & Heresy is a solid gothic dark academic debut that makes me excited for more from Max Francis.
Want to Read
February 9, 2023life has no meaning if i don't get to read this
Read
March 26, 2026DNF at 100 pages. It felt so overwritten. Each sentence could have been half the length it was. Lack of world building. I had zero idea why we were doing the things we were doing. Or if it was explained, it’s because the prose is so wordy it got completely lost in the filler words. And finally, I read about 4 chapters of Percival entering the story. And he said the word “Darling” approx 70,000 times.
December 28, 2025
there will come a time in your life where someone (me) will recommend a book to you. this book will be honor & heresy by max francis. it is important that you listen. i will look you in the eye, shake you a little, and thrust the book in your face--just not without some stipulations.
are you a fan of wordy, sprawling literature? can you handle page upon page of straight, probably drab information? do you find a character endearing when they are, quite honestly, unlikeable?
does a poorly executed ending ruin a book for you, even when the journey there has been so wonderful?
honor & heresy is many things. it's part ghost story, part romance, part love letter to literature. a terrible, frozen war sits at the edge of each page, out of sight from our main characters but never out of mind. chapters upon chapters are spent with the boys spilling over books, over old secrets, mysteries and, eventually, each other. they yearn and they weep. they sink into companionship while thousand-year dust eagerly welcomes the fresh faces. it's certainly not for everyone--but for the right person, honor & heresy bleeds tragedy twined with wonder from every page.
the problem (or my problem, at least) lies in the story's final hurrah. with the mystery solved and our heroes equipped to save the day, the story began to feel clunky. gone was the romantic creak of an old library staircase. gone were the lingering glances, the teasing quips, and the hands staying ever just out of reach. no more would there be the simple fascination of this strange library they'd been tossed into--just a mess of ideas, too many for one book to cobble together, trying to wrap up in too short a time.
i fell in love through the first 60–70% of the book and felt oddly betrayed through the rest. but i did, however, appreciate the characters enough to stick with them to the end. my reward was closure: knowing that the story i’d spent so much time with, the characters i adored, found their happy end.
given everything, the book is still worth a read to me. percival might have charmed me a little too much to think otherwise. 💕
are you a fan of wordy, sprawling literature? can you handle page upon page of straight, probably drab information? do you find a character endearing when they are, quite honestly, unlikeable?
does a poorly executed ending ruin a book for you, even when the journey there has been so wonderful?
honor & heresy is many things. it's part ghost story, part romance, part love letter to literature. a terrible, frozen war sits at the edge of each page, out of sight from our main characters but never out of mind. chapters upon chapters are spent with the boys spilling over books, over old secrets, mysteries and, eventually, each other. they yearn and they weep. they sink into companionship while thousand-year dust eagerly welcomes the fresh faces. it's certainly not for everyone--but for the right person, honor & heresy bleeds tragedy twined with wonder from every page.
the problem (or my problem, at least) lies in the story's final hurrah. with the mystery solved and our heroes equipped to save the day, the story began to feel clunky. gone was the romantic creak of an old library staircase. gone were the lingering glances, the teasing quips, and the hands staying ever just out of reach. no more would there be the simple fascination of this strange library they'd been tossed into--just a mess of ideas, too many for one book to cobble together, trying to wrap up in too short a time.
i fell in love through the first 60–70% of the book and felt oddly betrayed through the rest. but i did, however, appreciate the characters enough to stick with them to the end. my reward was closure: knowing that the story i’d spent so much time with, the characters i adored, found their happy end.
given everything, the book is still worth a read to me. percival might have charmed me a little too much to think otherwise. 💕
April 15, 2026
2⭐️
Thank you to HarperVoyager for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!
This was a book that sounded great in theory to me! I had requested it when I saw it in their email, as I was very interested in this mysterious-sounding dark academia novel. Once I started reading it, I did think it was promising at the start, but the more I read, the more it felt like the plot was going nowhere. And on top of this, I found it to be wildly verbose. It felt as though they were trying to meet a word count. On top of this, and not to mention the prose that felt so forced, I just kept feeling so taken out of the story. And my god, if I had to hear the word "darling" one more damn time, I swear I would just implode.
I think this book was trying to be too many things. Was it horror? Was it dark academia? Was it an epic fantasy? I don't think they really knew, and the plot felt sort of flimsy and lost. There were echoes of a larger world around them, but we spent too much time in the library to learn much of it. On top of that, it really wants you to believe this is some sort of enemies-to-lovers story. We need to stop just throwing this term around where it has no meaning. There was some nonsensical argument upon our main characters' first meeting, and Percival was rude for merely no other reason than to serve this purpose. Their chemistry was lacking, and the relationship was very rushed once Percival finally said one kind thing to Roy. Poor Roy, you can do better.
Honestly, the author being called an "Instagram sensation" on the back of the book should have been my first red flag. It sort of discredited and cheapened things for me.
I do believe there was an idea here, so I don't feel that this is a one-star book for me. Maybe it just needed to go through more rounds of editing, I'm not sure. Maybe I will give the author one more try with a new story in the future.
Thank you to HarperVoyager for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!
This was a book that sounded great in theory to me! I had requested it when I saw it in their email, as I was very interested in this mysterious-sounding dark academia novel. Once I started reading it, I did think it was promising at the start, but the more I read, the more it felt like the plot was going nowhere. And on top of this, I found it to be wildly verbose. It felt as though they were trying to meet a word count. On top of this, and not to mention the prose that felt so forced, I just kept feeling so taken out of the story. And my god, if I had to hear the word "darling" one more damn time, I swear I would just implode.
I think this book was trying to be too many things. Was it horror? Was it dark academia? Was it an epic fantasy? I don't think they really knew, and the plot felt sort of flimsy and lost. There were echoes of a larger world around them, but we spent too much time in the library to learn much of it. On top of that, it really wants you to believe this is some sort of enemies-to-lovers story. We need to stop just throwing this term around where it has no meaning. There was some nonsensical argument upon our main characters' first meeting, and Percival was rude for merely no other reason than to serve this purpose. Their chemistry was lacking, and the relationship was very rushed once Percival finally said one kind thing to Roy. Poor Roy, you can do better.
Honestly, the author being called an "Instagram sensation" on the back of the book should have been my first red flag. It sort of discredited and cheapened things for me.
I do believe there was an idea here, so I don't feel that this is a one-star book for me. Maybe it just needed to go through more rounds of editing, I'm not sure. Maybe I will give the author one more try with a new story in the future.
Want to Read
March 21, 2026Pre-read
This should be in my April Locked Library box 👀
This should be in my April Locked Library box 👀
Did Not Finish
March 18, 2026***Thank you to the publisher for offering me this eARC on NetGalley***
This was rough. It’s an early DNF for me.
The immediate problem for me is the prose. It reads like an early draft for a writer who is still finding their voice. It feels like every sentence is bogged down by parenthetical phrases in an attempt to sound smarter. Maybe if this book had been read aloud at some point during the editing process to actually HEAR how all these words sounded out loud? Then we wouldn’t be in this situation. The order of the words comes off weird. Sentences drag on and on. It’s not natural sounding. And it’s like there’s simple words that are replaced to sound more “academic,” like a thesaurus was on hand at all times. I just struggled a lot with this prose right off the bat and I can’t bring myself to care about Roy and…whatever this story is trying to say.
It’s a shame too. The cover is great and the commissioned artwork of the two main characters was enticing.
ALSO! Stop saying content warnings are located in an author’s pinned Instagram post. You can’t view an Instagram post easily without an account and pinned posts get replaced all the time. Just print the content warnings in the book!
This was rough. It’s an early DNF for me.
The immediate problem for me is the prose. It reads like an early draft for a writer who is still finding their voice. It feels like every sentence is bogged down by parenthetical phrases in an attempt to sound smarter. Maybe if this book had been read aloud at some point during the editing process to actually HEAR how all these words sounded out loud? Then we wouldn’t be in this situation. The order of the words comes off weird. Sentences drag on and on. It’s not natural sounding. And it’s like there’s simple words that are replaced to sound more “academic,” like a thesaurus was on hand at all times. I just struggled a lot with this prose right off the bat and I can’t bring myself to care about Roy and…whatever this story is trying to say.
It’s a shame too. The cover is great and the commissioned artwork of the two main characters was enticing.
ALSO! Stop saying content warnings are located in an author’s pinned Instagram post. You can’t view an Instagram post easily without an account and pinned posts get replaced all the time. Just print the content warnings in the book!
Want to Read
January 1, 2023I can't remember the last time I've been this excited for a book release.
Did Not Finish
March 9, 2026DNF @25% but skimmed to the end
I hope this book goes through extensive edits before publication, because that was painful to experience. You cannot just plop your reader into the story with little to no background knowledge or worldbuilding. I was watching everything from far, far, FAR away rather than experiencing it with the characters. Also, the author used words I know, but gave them different meanings in this world I didn’t know—just poor planning on all sides. The immediate disgust of MC2 to MC1 was ridiculous, and the overuse of the term “darling” made me want to tear my hair out. Not good, in my opinion.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review.
I hope this book goes through extensive edits before publication, because that was painful to experience. You cannot just plop your reader into the story with little to no background knowledge or worldbuilding. I was watching everything from far, far, FAR away rather than experiencing it with the characters. Also, the author used words I know, but gave them different meanings in this world I didn’t know—just poor planning on all sides. The immediate disgust of MC2 to MC1 was ridiculous, and the overuse of the term “darling” made me want to tear my hair out. Not good, in my opinion.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review.
November 14, 2025
I like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing this book up as a 'read now'.
Welp.
I came in looking for a fantasy with M/M vibes, instead I get weak M/M vibes with a plot that literally is stretched out for the sake of the two characters talking and talking about their intellectual obsessions.
Somehow in this world 'research' and 'historical documentation' is banned, except in this forbidden 7 story library. The mysterious group called ' The Old Ones ' are fighting with this long standing city. The governor has allowed a scholar to come and raid the library for insight on who the Old Ones are and, work alongside another. Oh, did I mention Scholars are frowned upon?
Cue these two characters having the equivalent of a gay Rosencrantz & Gildenstern are dead for chapters upon chapters. Meanwhile, spirits of forgotten scholars are trying to tell the the truth.
I feel cheated. There was some weak M/M feelings, a weak plot (because lol, education and historical documentation banned), but there is hardly any world building that when they start putting the pieces together regarding the Old Ones I couldn't give a fuck because I didn't care or feel for the city they were trying to save.
This book is going to be the Wes Anderson of the lit world 2026. It'll appeal to some but I'm not one of them.
Welp.
I came in looking for a fantasy with M/M vibes, instead I get weak M/M vibes with a plot that literally is stretched out for the sake of the two characters talking and talking about their intellectual obsessions.
Somehow in this world 'research' and 'historical documentation' is banned, except in this forbidden 7 story library. The mysterious group called ' The Old Ones ' are fighting with this long standing city. The governor has allowed a scholar to come and raid the library for insight on who the Old Ones are and, work alongside another. Oh, did I mention Scholars are frowned upon?
Cue these two characters having the equivalent of a gay Rosencrantz & Gildenstern are dead for chapters upon chapters. Meanwhile, spirits of forgotten scholars are trying to tell the the truth.
I feel cheated. There was some weak M/M feelings, a weak plot (because lol, education and historical documentation banned), but there is hardly any world building that when they start putting the pieces together regarding the Old Ones I couldn't give a fuck because I didn't care or feel for the city they were trying to save.
This book is going to be the Wes Anderson of the lit world 2026. It'll appeal to some but I'm not one of them.
November 25, 2025
I really really wanted to like this more as a M/M dark academia set in a library is so up my alley. However, this was mostly just pages and pages of characters thinking and occasionally talking about thinking with nothing really happening. The world building was also a bit shallow as I still don’t really understand why “scholars” are forbidden (like all scholarship, some banned subjects?) and the politics was all over the place. I like subtle world building through context clues but felt mostly in the dark the entire book (and as wordy and verbose as it is that just mostly annoyed me).
I found myself knowing I was supposed to be shocked or invested when certain things occurred or were revealed but just didn’t have the world building or emotional connection to actually care. I’m hopeful this all was mostly just debut novel issues (and would read give this authors next work a try) as the final third picked up a bit - but by then I was kind of just speeding through to finish as parts 1 and 2 are a slog.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I found myself knowing I was supposed to be shocked or invested when certain things occurred or were revealed but just didn’t have the world building or emotional connection to actually care. I’m hopeful this all was mostly just debut novel issues (and would read give this authors next work a try) as the final third picked up a bit - but by then I was kind of just speeding through to finish as parts 1 and 2 are a slog.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early ARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 4, 2023
BRO I WANNA READ THIS SO BAD FRFR
IVE SEEN REELS AND QUOTES. PLEASE I NEED IT BEFORE OCTOBER
IVE SEEN REELS AND QUOTES. PLEASE I NEED IT BEFORE OCTOBER
May 15, 2026
1.5/5 stars
Honor & Heresy is a dark academia fantasy by debut author Max Francis. Roy is a young scholar in an island state that villifies scholarship and books, only his aristocratic heritage and powerful mother has prevenyed his capture. But the Governor has other plans for him and he is forcefully sent to the Orphic Basilica, an ancient library that has driven those that would do it harm to madness and suicide. He has six months to research and learn the nature of the Old Ones, the enemy they have been at war with for years. His only other companion is Percival, a fellow scholar that is abrasive and attractive, who is determined to see Roy as a rival rather than a collaborator. But isolated within this library, they are forced to interact with the deadline looming and the library seeming to have a mind of its own.
I’m gonna be straight up honest here. I was so looking forward to this book, and I read it the day I received my preorder, but this was just bad. It was a pain to get through, I kept almost nodding off reading it, and I was wanting to DNF already after just the first 50 pages. I’ve read worse written books than this (those full of grammatical and editing errors) that I’ve rated higher because this managed to be worse but with the opposite problem. It is massively overwritten while having very little to say. Pages will go by with nothing whatsoever happening.
You can tell Max Francis thought he was doing something here, but this was just terribly executed. He is no RF Kuang that can deliver so much dry information and scholarship well within her storytelling, but here it just felt so empty. It is verbose without much content, and there’s a lot of words that either say the same thing or nothing at all. The editor should have reined him in. Barely anything happens in the first 80% of the book, and the only actual story is in the final 20% and it is only because this part was actually sort of interesting that I even gave this a half star over a one-star rating. I suspect that the book’s relatively okay rating on Goodreads is because people who are reading it are just DNF-ing the book and not giving it a rating.
I wanted to like both Roy and Percival, but the story just made it difficult. Roy is just always in tears while Percival is just dripping with pretension and saying ”darling” every chance he gets. The purported enemies-to-lovers is just them arguing for no apparent reason when they first meet, and that continues on when I don’t even know what they are arguing about exactly. Everything is just unnecessarily antagonistic. Their interactions are often inexplicable with conversations feeling unnatural and their reactions seemingly disproportionate.
The world it is set in is just very vague, and not set up enough to make the premise make sense. Like how is it that they have no idea who their enemies are? What makes the Governor think researching will provide answers to defeating them? As for Roy and Pervival’s investigation, they seem to be more led along than actually leading the way. The story has them taking leaps and connections that don’t quite link up (or at least not adequately telegraphed to us). Also, what was even the point of Roy’s sister’s involvement when that entire subplot that was just essentially 2 letters before it abruptly ended?
Honor & Heresy is a poorly executed book that sounds much better than it actually is.
Honor & Heresy is a dark academia fantasy by debut author Max Francis. Roy is a young scholar in an island state that villifies scholarship and books, only his aristocratic heritage and powerful mother has prevenyed his capture. But the Governor has other plans for him and he is forcefully sent to the Orphic Basilica, an ancient library that has driven those that would do it harm to madness and suicide. He has six months to research and learn the nature of the Old Ones, the enemy they have been at war with for years. His only other companion is Percival, a fellow scholar that is abrasive and attractive, who is determined to see Roy as a rival rather than a collaborator. But isolated within this library, they are forced to interact with the deadline looming and the library seeming to have a mind of its own.
I’m gonna be straight up honest here. I was so looking forward to this book, and I read it the day I received my preorder, but this was just bad. It was a pain to get through, I kept almost nodding off reading it, and I was wanting to DNF already after just the first 50 pages. I’ve read worse written books than this (those full of grammatical and editing errors) that I’ve rated higher because this managed to be worse but with the opposite problem. It is massively overwritten while having very little to say. Pages will go by with nothing whatsoever happening.
You can tell Max Francis thought he was doing something here, but this was just terribly executed. He is no RF Kuang that can deliver so much dry information and scholarship well within her storytelling, but here it just felt so empty. It is verbose without much content, and there’s a lot of words that either say the same thing or nothing at all. The editor should have reined him in. Barely anything happens in the first 80% of the book, and the only actual story is in the final 20% and it is only because this part was actually sort of interesting that I even gave this a half star over a one-star rating. I suspect that the book’s relatively okay rating on Goodreads is because people who are reading it are just DNF-ing the book and not giving it a rating.
I wanted to like both Roy and Percival, but the story just made it difficult. Roy is just always in tears while Percival is just dripping with pretension and saying ”darling” every chance he gets. The purported enemies-to-lovers is just them arguing for no apparent reason when they first meet, and that continues on when I don’t even know what they are arguing about exactly. Everything is just unnecessarily antagonistic. Their interactions are often inexplicable with conversations feeling unnatural and their reactions seemingly disproportionate.
The world it is set in is just very vague, and not set up enough to make the premise make sense. Like how is it that they have no idea who their enemies are? What makes the Governor think researching will provide answers to defeating them? As for Roy and Pervival’s investigation, they seem to be more led along than actually leading the way. The story has them taking leaps and connections that don’t quite link up (or at least not adequately telegraphed to us). Also, what was even the point of Roy’s sister’s involvement when that entire subplot that was just essentially 2 letters before it abruptly ended?
Honor & Heresy is a poorly executed book that sounds much better than it actually is.
April 6, 2026
A strong debut full of pearls of wisdom and tears
Want to Read
August 11, 2024I am convinced that this is never releasing
Did Not Finish
April 14, 2026dnf at 35%
I really wanted to give this one a good shot but I just couldn't get into it. I don’t enjoy this kind of academia enough to be invested in Roy and Percival’s discussions, as overwritten as they feel. By 35% I would’ve hoped to be fairly invested in the plot itself, however it’s even worse I’m bored.
Percival calling Roy “Darling” all the time is giving me the ick, I’m hoping there’s some kind of reveal that explains it or maybe he just loves a pet name but I’m not enjoying it. I also really don’t like love interests that are openly antagonistic to the MC and the MC is just like “omg he’s hot”. Like what do you mean in your second interaction he yelled at and grabbed you for something that was barely your fault and you thought that was kinda hot?? I'm a little worried.
I don’t know if it’s the excessive use of long words/turn of phrase or something else but it was starting to feel like a chore to pick this up.
I am curious about the mystery of it all, there are some compelling plot lines, why are scholars being persecuted? What’s going on in the Basilica? Why is Percival the way he is? But unfortunately I don’t think I can push through to find out.
Thank you HarperCollins and NetGalley for this ARC.
I really wanted to give this one a good shot but I just couldn't get into it. I don’t enjoy this kind of academia enough to be invested in Roy and Percival’s discussions, as overwritten as they feel. By 35% I would’ve hoped to be fairly invested in the plot itself, however it’s even worse I’m bored.
Percival calling Roy “Darling” all the time is giving me the ick, I’m hoping there’s some kind of reveal that explains it or maybe he just loves a pet name but I’m not enjoying it. I also really don’t like love interests that are openly antagonistic to the MC and the MC is just like “omg he’s hot”. Like what do you mean in your second interaction he yelled at and grabbed you for something that was barely your fault and you thought that was kinda hot?? I'm a little worried.
I don’t know if it’s the excessive use of long words/turn of phrase or something else but it was starting to feel like a chore to pick this up.
I am curious about the mystery of it all, there are some compelling plot lines, why are scholars being persecuted? What’s going on in the Basilica? Why is Percival the way he is? But unfortunately I don’t think I can push through to find out.
Thank you HarperCollins and NetGalley for this ARC.
April 25, 2026
flat characters (being gay and traumatised didn’t help them), poor world-building, and writing that’s strangely formal and dense, reads at times like it’s trying to be intelligent. but i guess the ancient, haunted library was pretty cool (until the end).
May 20, 2026
Where do I even begin.
The best way to describe this book is that it was a mess. I kept reading because I was so baffled by it and how little everything came together. I kept waiting for an "Aha!" moment where suddenly everything would make sense, but that moment never came. I've never been more confused by a book.
The characters acted nonsensically, particularly Percival, whose backstory I had guessed almost from the moment he was introduced. At least with Roy we could follow his thought processes, but he too swung wildly between emotions while never holding onto one for very long. He went through several depressive and suicidal episodes but always got over them very quickly; even when his sister--the only family in the world who he cared for and who cared for him, mind you--was brutally murdered by the Governor, Roy was upset for a few pages and then largely moved on. Even upon seeing the Governor again for the first time since his sister's death, Roy didn't think about her even once. It was difficult to care about anything when I wasn't convinced that the characters themselves even cared.
The one thing I can say is that the prose itself was extremely well-written. It had the bones of a great story and yet none of them connected in any meaningful way. Like the characters, the world-building fell flat, and the conclusion to the great war against the Old Ones was so bizarre and narratively dissonant that I felt robbed. What did any of it mean? I genuinely have no idea.
The best way to describe this book is that it was a mess. I kept reading because I was so baffled by it and how little everything came together. I kept waiting for an "Aha!" moment where suddenly everything would make sense, but that moment never came. I've never been more confused by a book.
The characters acted nonsensically, particularly Percival, whose backstory I had guessed almost from the moment he was introduced. At least with Roy we could follow his thought processes, but he too swung wildly between emotions while never holding onto one for very long. He went through several depressive and suicidal episodes but always got over them very quickly; even when his sister--the only family in the world who he cared for and who cared for him, mind you--was brutally murdered by the Governor, Roy was upset for a few pages and then largely moved on. Even upon seeing the Governor again for the first time since his sister's death, Roy didn't think about her even once. It was difficult to care about anything when I wasn't convinced that the characters themselves even cared.
The one thing I can say is that the prose itself was extremely well-written. It had the bones of a great story and yet none of them connected in any meaningful way. Like the characters, the world-building fell flat, and the conclusion to the great war against the Old Ones was so bizarre and narratively dissonant that I felt robbed. What did any of it mean? I genuinely have no idea.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2026
E-ARC provided by Harper Voyager for an honest review - thank you!
I’m really struggling to put my feelings into words for this one because I’ve been looking forward to reading this book for years. I enjoyed elements of this book, and I can see how others may really enjoy it, but unfortunately it just never pulled me in and a lot of things fell flat for me.
I noticed in the acknowledgments that the original manuscript was much longer, and I can’t help but feel like a lot of details ended up being edited out. I think the bones of this story and the world were left in, but all the juicy worldbuilding details were cut.
Without those details the world felt hollow and I couldn’t get immersed in the story, which also meant that I wasn’t really invested in the characters or their mission. The twists and turns didn’t excite me and the emotional moments didn’t hit like they should have. The pacing of the romance also felt odd to me, and the prose felt needlessly complex.
Pros: loved the vibes, the setting, and just the library overall. If you pick up a copy of this book, I hope you love it. I will absolutely read more books by this author, and I hope he continues to write more MM dark academia fantasy because those are truly the best vibes.
I’m really struggling to put my feelings into words for this one because I’ve been looking forward to reading this book for years. I enjoyed elements of this book, and I can see how others may really enjoy it, but unfortunately it just never pulled me in and a lot of things fell flat for me.
I noticed in the acknowledgments that the original manuscript was much longer, and I can’t help but feel like a lot of details ended up being edited out. I think the bones of this story and the world were left in, but all the juicy worldbuilding details were cut.
Without those details the world felt hollow and I couldn’t get immersed in the story, which also meant that I wasn’t really invested in the characters or their mission. The twists and turns didn’t excite me and the emotional moments didn’t hit like they should have. The pacing of the romance also felt odd to me, and the prose felt needlessly complex.
Pros: loved the vibes, the setting, and just the library overall. If you pick up a copy of this book, I hope you love it. I will absolutely read more books by this author, and I hope he continues to write more MM dark academia fantasy because those are truly the best vibes.
Read
June 23, 2026Dnf @10%
Literally went days hour reading and found myself dreading my best reading time….
Literally went days hour reading and found myself dreading my best reading time….
June 14, 2026
DNF'd at 38%
Quite literally some of the worst writing I have ever read. I had to switch to the audio 6% in because the grammar and sentence structure was horrific and clearly had not seen a competent editor.
The audio was not enough to save it however. The narrator's tone was completely off and at times monotonous. Percival calling Roy "darling" quite literally every 5 seconds was not cute or endearing it was just annoying. The premise? Interesting. Gay dark academia seems right up my alley but it was just drivel.
Quite literally some of the worst writing I have ever read. I had to switch to the audio 6% in because the grammar and sentence structure was horrific and clearly had not seen a competent editor.
The audio was not enough to save it however. The narrator's tone was completely off and at times monotonous. Percival calling Roy "darling" quite literally every 5 seconds was not cute or endearing it was just annoying. The premise? Interesting. Gay dark academia seems right up my alley but it was just drivel.
April 27, 2026
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for approving me to read this book, I’m rating it 3.25 stars.
I liked the premise and the characters, but I wasn’t sold on the enemies to lovers vibe sadly. The library and the gothic acadmic atmosphere carried this for me personally.
The story was slower than expected, but it made up for it in the world building, I like the war torn world it depicted with this being abit of a last hope effort to find the library and use its resources to turn the tide. It builds and has some dark themes that kept me locked in to the end.
I liked the premise and the characters, but I wasn’t sold on the enemies to lovers vibe sadly. The library and the gothic acadmic atmosphere carried this for me personally.
The story was slower than expected, but it made up for it in the world building, I like the war torn world it depicted with this being abit of a last hope effort to find the library and use its resources to turn the tide. It builds and has some dark themes that kept me locked in to the end.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Honor & Heresy was one of my most anticipated reads for this year. Ever since the blurb was released, I was hooked. So it pains me to say that I ended up not loving it as much as I'd hoped.
The blurb had everything I wanted - m/m romance, Gothic dark academia, a haunted library, a war torn fantasy world - this should have been everything I ever wanted and more. But as I read on, and on and on, the plot and characters just felt...flat. The story was slow, which would have been fine if it felt like something was happening in those slow spaces, but the story felt less slow for the sake of storytelling and more like it was simply meandering.
While I wanted to love Roy and Percival (and I really did for the majority of part one) the more the story carried on the less love I felt for them. Percival called Roy "darling" a total of 86 times. I highlighted the first twelve before I started losing my steam. I wanted their romance to be this epic rivals to lovers slow burn but it was kind of all over the place.
I don't know if I should re-read this at a later time, maybe I'm the problem? Maybe I need to try again in a different setting, at a different time, as an audiobook? I had such high hopes, so maybe my expectations were just too high and if I come back to this later my opinion may change but for now I'm putting Honor & Heresy down as just okay.
The blurb had everything I wanted - m/m romance, Gothic dark academia, a haunted library, a war torn fantasy world - this should have been everything I ever wanted and more. But as I read on, and on and on, the plot and characters just felt...flat. The story was slow, which would have been fine if it felt like something was happening in those slow spaces, but the story felt less slow for the sake of storytelling and more like it was simply meandering.
While I wanted to love Roy and Percival (and I really did for the majority of part one) the more the story carried on the less love I felt for them. Percival called Roy "darling" a total of 86 times. I highlighted the first twelve before I started losing my steam. I wanted their romance to be this epic rivals to lovers slow burn but it was kind of all over the place.
I don't know if I should re-read this at a later time, maybe I'm the problem? Maybe I need to try again in a different setting, at a different time, as an audiobook? I had such high hopes, so maybe my expectations were just too high and if I come back to this later my opinion may change but for now I'm putting Honor & Heresy down as just okay.
June 7, 2026
3,5 ✨
Attention, ce one shot de dark academia gothique comporte plusieurs descriptions graphiques !
Je pense que ce livre ne sera pas pour tout le monde mais si vous aimez les ambiances atmosphériques, les mystères et les personnages torturés, ça pourrait être votre tasse de thé !
La prose est mine de rien assez lourde et il y a beaucoup d’informations données. J’ai été très intriguée par l’enquête de Roy et Percival mais la dernière partie du roman m’a quelque peu laissé sur ma faim je l’avoue. Je trouve quand même que l’histoire a une pâte unique et de beaux messages.
Roy m’a beaucoup touché, c’est quelqu’un de sensible qui est profondément traumatisé et malgré cela rempli d’espoirs. Percival n’est pas loin du cliché du BG smug au passé mystérieux mais l’évolution de leur relation était intéressante.
C’est dans leur volonté de s’aider l’un l’autre qu’ils vont puiser de la force et tomber progressivement amoureux..
En dehors de leur bulle, j’ai eu l’impression de voir ce que l’humanité pouvait faire de pire (et de meilleur aussi parfois). L’auteur a bien su retranscrire le pouvoir de l’oppression d’un régime quand les connaissances sont détruites. Même la saison hivernale est là pour renforcer cette sensation de désespoir.
Merci à NetGalley pour ce SP.
Attention, ce one shot de dark academia gothique comporte plusieurs descriptions graphiques !
Je pense que ce livre ne sera pas pour tout le monde mais si vous aimez les ambiances atmosphériques, les mystères et les personnages torturés, ça pourrait être votre tasse de thé !
La prose est mine de rien assez lourde et il y a beaucoup d’informations données. J’ai été très intriguée par l’enquête de Roy et Percival mais la dernière partie du roman m’a quelque peu laissé sur ma faim je l’avoue. Je trouve quand même que l’histoire a une pâte unique et de beaux messages.
Roy m’a beaucoup touché, c’est quelqu’un de sensible qui est profondément traumatisé et malgré cela rempli d’espoirs. Percival n’est pas loin du cliché du BG smug au passé mystérieux mais l’évolution de leur relation était intéressante.
C’est dans leur volonté de s’aider l’un l’autre qu’ils vont puiser de la force et tomber progressivement amoureux..
En dehors de leur bulle, j’ai eu l’impression de voir ce que l’humanité pouvait faire de pire (et de meilleur aussi parfois). L’auteur a bien su retranscrire le pouvoir de l’oppression d’un régime quand les connaissances sont détruites. Même la saison hivernale est là pour renforcer cette sensation de désespoir.
Merci à NetGalley pour ce SP.
May 27, 2026
Honour and Heresy had an interesting premise and some strong ideas, but unfortunately it never fully captured my attention. While I appreciated the world-building and could see the potential in the story, I found myself struggling to become invested in the characters and eager to pick the book up.
There wasn’t anything I actively disliked, but I kept waiting for a moment where the story would truly hook me, and that moment never quite arrived. As a result, it ended up being a solid read rather than a memorable one.
Overall, Honour and Heresy was enjoyable enough, but it lacked the spark that would have made me feel fully immersed in the story.
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager/Harper Collins for my aARC.
There wasn’t anything I actively disliked, but I kept waiting for a moment where the story would truly hook me, and that moment never quite arrived. As a result, it ended up being a solid read rather than a memorable one.
Overall, Honour and Heresy was enjoyable enough, but it lacked the spark that would have made me feel fully immersed in the story.
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager/Harper Collins for my aARC.
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