Leah’s ARC Review of “The Scarlet Throne” by Amy Leow

By: Leah

The Scarlet Throne

• Author: Amy Leow
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: September 10, 2024
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: The False Goddess #1

Originally posted on Leah’s Books.

Thank you to Orbit and Angela Man for sending me a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

CONTENT WARNING: disordered eating, blood, murder, violence, gore, references to child abuse, mention of rape

Plot Summary

POWER IS EVERYTHING. SHE WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO KEEP IT.

Binsa is a “living goddess,” chosen by the gods to dispense both mercy and punishment from her place on the Scarlet Throne. But her reign hides a deadly secret. Rather than channeling the wisdom of an immortal deity, she harbors a demon.

But one cannot remain a living goddess forever. When her temple’s priests decide that Bisa’s power has come to an end, a new girl, Medha, is selected to take over her position as goddess. But Binsa refuses to be discarded into a life of uncertainty as a young woman, and she strikes a deal with her demon: She will sacrifice her people’s lives in order to magnify his power, and in return, he will help her seize control from the priests once and for all.

But how much of her humanity is she willing to trade for the sake of ambition? Deals with demons are rarely so simple.

A dark, heart-thumping political epic fantasy by debut author Amy Leow—full of scheming demons, morally grey heroines, talking cats, and cutthroat priests—The Scarlet Throne is a delicious tale of power and corruption.

Overall Impression

You might have noticed, but I tend to read a lot of fantasy novels. It’s always so interesting to read debut authors, and see them showcase their talents. I was incredibly impressed by this one, and it was the kind of book that took me a long time to read because I wanted to savor it rather than just fly through it. 

Let’s start by discussing the author’s note. I was fascinated to learn that this is inspired by and seems to read like a homage to Nepali culture and beliefs (I chose to use ‘seems to’ because I am not Nepali, and know nothing about the culture, although I will definitely be learning more about it after this). The author starts off the book with an author’s note, explaining the inspiration for the story and the reason she chose to be inspired by these living goddesses, and how she decided to not only use the idea of the living goddesses, but kept them in a Nepali-inspired setting since cultures aren’t just cut and paste where you can lift something out of one setting and place it into a different one and still have it make sense. I respect her openly discussing this prior to the start of the novel, and sharing how she also included some aspects of South and Southeast Asian culture that she grew up with and was exposed to. In addition, the way that fantasy elements were worked into the story and the culture were done wonderfully. All of the aspects of the story flowed together seamlessly, and it all felt very authentic; as if I could pick up a map and find this country on it, and make a trip there.

Binsa is a character who I found easy to empathize with, for most of the story. She is very much a morally gray character right from the start. But as her own backstory is slowly revealed over the course of the book, we realize that she has had almost no agency in her own life, and the only exception is one single event that had created shockwaves for her future. Living goddesses like Binsa are selected at around age six, and raised in a temple complex with only one member of their family able to accompany them, so Binsa was accompanied by her manipulative and abusive mother. 

The living goddess, known as a rakhti, is chosen as a young girl and retired by the time they hit puberty, typically. Binsa has been manipulated into fearing what would happen when she has to retire from a young age, and she had come from poverty and has nothing to return to. She is forced to resort to extreme methods to stave off puberty and stay childlike as long as she can, including food restriction (I listed this as a disordered eating content warning), just so that she can’t be forced to give up her position. However, Binsa is already serving as rakhti for a noticeably long time. And to make things worse, she isn’t even hosting the goddess—she’s hosting a demon that her mother bequeathed to her. 

Ilam is another really intriguing character. Yes, he’s a demon, but he fully embraces his nature. Since he is bound to Binsa, they have conversations, and I loved learning more about what he knows and the way in which they interact with each other. Being bound to a demon also allows her to channel magic from the demon, but as always, it comes with a cost—deterioration of the body and the mind. Initially, Binsa is contentious with Ilam, being dead-set against using blood magic after seeing what it can do to a person. But as she becomes aware of another factor that can threaten her position besides puberty: the priests intent to dethrone her. 

There were so many things about this book that I loved. The different plot threads all weaving together to reveal the big picture later in the story, the changes that Binsa undergoes which I didn’t expect, and a fascinating look into aspects of a culture I know absolutely nothing about. After reading about the idea of a living goddess, I’ll definitely be looking to learn more about the culture without the fictional or fantasy elements. I strongly recommend this book, which feels as though it was written by a veteran author, rather than a debut, and I am already looking forward to seeing where the rest of the series goes. This would be a great read for you if you like diverse fantasy, political intrigue, and morally gray characters, although the talking cat doesn’t hurt either.