Tears of the Trufflepig is a wild ride through the underground world of filtered animals - a technology that allows artificially produced animals, even of now extinct species. But to my surprise, this book is strongest not in its exploration of the technology or its worldbuilding, but in the character-driven narrative of its protagonist, Esteban Bellacosa who's wedged himself firmly in my heart.⁣
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I didn’t leave this book feeling like everything came together, and I have a lot of unanswered questions, but the book isn’t *failing* to answer them so much as intentionally avoiding doing so. And though the plot doesn’t ever make sense of itself, I found a satisfying conclusion in the character’s growth instead. ⁣
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This book delivered on expected weirdness, while simultaneously not matching my expectations at all, but I’d recommend it if any of the above has you interested. I know I definitely want more folks to come chat with me about it!