What a fascinating, odd little journey. It's such a short book that there isn't much I can say about the plot without spoiling the entire thing, and I recommend going into it knowing as little as possible — I unfortunately saw a post comparing this story to another story (that I won't name, for obvious reasons) and it spoiled the entire premise for me, so if you're reading this review and unaware of what Comfort Me With Apples is about, I'd stop right here and go pick it up!

I'm not sure that I would consider this a thriller or horror (honestly, it struck me more as a fantasy parable), but I did enjoy it immensely, especially the last few chapters. I loved the play on apple types and I found the writing to be very lovely, though I will admit that I'm glad it was only just over 100 pages, as I don't think the story or the writing style would've held up as well in a full novel. This was a delightful, bite-sized introduction to Valente's writing and I look forward to reading more from this author!