Review by starrysteph - The Strange Beautiful

starrysteph 's review for:

The Strange Beautiful by Carla Crujido

4.5

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Strange Beautiful was a masterful conjuring of fables all woven together with one major overlapping element: a set of apartments in Spokane.

Each unforgettable tenant comes to life and boldly leaps off the page. Some are earnest, some are spiteful, and some are fragile. The stories ranged from chatty bears to time traveling phones to mannequins coming to life, and I enjoyed each one more than the last.

We’re leaping through time, starting in 1914 and ending in the present day. I enjoyed the little easter eggs in each chapter with winks and links to the other tenants. It’s a historical story of a city and a rumination on shared humanity and cyclical connections, with sprinkles of magic and surrealism within each narrative.

It’s an enchanting collection where past and present are continuously united. It can be unsettling at times, and the main characters often face traumatic endings, but there are threads of beauty & hope in each tale.

I’ll definitely be reflecting on The Strange Beautiful for a long time.

CW: war, body horror, ableism, death, murder, suicide, classism, epidemic/pandemic, addiction, drug use, infidelity, animal cruelty, animal death, body shaming, fatphobia, racism, xenophobia, sexism, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, sexual content

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

Content Warnings