Somehow, so much and absolutely nothing happens in this book. It's beautifully written and decorated with desire and viscera. Lumen is a complicated, sympathetic character - a little girl fed myths and legends and allowed to play in fairy rings, and then expected to grow into an adult unbelieving of magic. This novel encapsulates that coming of age feeling, in which nothing goes right, everything hurts, and you have to constantly resist the desire to peel open your skin like a fruit to see if there's a realer version of yourself hiding underneath. I adore strange and creepy little girls being written as such and allowed to revel in their existence as is. Lumen may not be a good person, but as she reflects, we may not really know who we are without others upon whom to reflect ourselves, and not all that is kind or loving is good.