Emmie Mears

Oddly prescient, I started reading this in the aftermath of the US election and had to stop and read something that was less terrifying. As a bookworm (my stats this year don't include all the unpublished manuscripts I've read, they easily double my count), I adored the idea of the book within the book being the key. I rather wished that came into the ending a bit more than it did.

I also loved the queer representation here. It's awesome to imagine a world where poly, queer families can be a norm. On that alone, this had me smiling.

With such a complex, vivid, and chilling world building, I suspect my expectations on the ending were VERY high. To me, it pulled the punch. I felt like it could have gone a bit darker, or more complex, than what it did.

Still. Worth the read for the uncanny mirror it holds up to American society. It obviously wasn't intended as a warning against the fascism that is perilously near the surface, but it couldn't have been better timed for it. Be like Rose and Beo. Resist, believe, and never give up what you know to be true.… (meer)

It is not the fault of this novel that I took so darned long to finish it. But it is to its credit that I did. I had to know what happened, despite distractions and medical changes pulling me away. I ditched three other novels in the seven months since I started this one. But I couldn't do that with this one. I had to know.

The protagonist is a snarky isolated killer (of demons), and I loved her. The plot did slow a time or two, and my state of mind allowed me to set it aside (metaphorically as I read ebooks) and read and write other things. But I kept returning, and that is the key. I had to know how this played out. And I was well rewarded; the climax is such that I could not tell what would happen, and the end sets up the sequel nicely if a little heart-breakingly. It's a solid and well-plotted fantasy. If you like smartass protagonists, you'll enjoy this.… (meer)