I feel that The Carnival of Ash had so much potential with the ideas of massive libraries, poets who'd draw my mind to the greats of history and a fantasy-styled world that reminded me of the Renaissance era of Italy.

What I got was far different and I was left feeling almost betrayed by the author.  Whilst I was hoping for intrigue, magical aspects and The Borgias meets fantasy it felt more like The Borgias met a dark horror.

I think you can tell, I wasn't impressed, however, I kept going and I found myself more and more led astray as I encountered poets who weren't genteel and filled with a plethora of emotions that made them feel almost capable of seeing the different than mere mortals but instead, they were pompous, pretentious and in dire need of a heavy book or two to the nose and jaw to stop their talking. 

There are very trigger-worthy subject matters on the first page and that was also extremely unsettling because there wasn't a single indication of what I'd face. 

(Su*cidal Idolisation, gore, violence including SA, Blood, M*rder, ableism, sexism, misogynistic views, Fatphobia, and familial ab*se)

Whilst the world-building to create this fictional world was incredible - I pretty much hated everything else. I think the author used the book to process his viewpoints on people and I was saddened by it all.

This could have been incredible instead it screamed small man syndrome.