Y’all. This is a wild book.

So, first thing I should say about this is that this book contains so much queer angst. And listen. That’s not a criticism. I feel for Katrina. It’s just a statement of fact. There’s a lot of transphobia and more general queerphobia (including slurs, and one instance of deadnaming) in this book, and Katrina is very traumatized by everything she has had to endure. So I just want anyone going into this book to be aware of that.

NOW LET US TALK ABOUT MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS BOOK. It’s something of an incongruity that almost almost doesn’t work. This book - tonally speaking - is very serious. This book is feat of storytelling in how it takes characters that are sheer ridiculousness and manages to somehow not only fit and be important to the story, but also have great character arcs themselves.

So let’s discuss the characters, okay?
1. First, we have Katrina, a sad, scared trans violinist with no formal training.
2. Next, there’s Shizuka Satomi, a woman frequently referred to as the Queen of Hell, who is training violinists and then taking their souls. (Already, I’m sure you see a large chunk of the plot here.)
Sounds like fun, right? Well, buckle up, buttercup.
3. THEN we have Lan Tran, the matriarch of a FAMILY OF ALIENS who are on Earth SELLING DONUTS.

I honestly just want an entire book of the Tran family selling donuts on Earth by way of Becky Chambers. (Maybe I need to read Wayfarers #4 soon.)

There’s other bits that are ridiculous in their own way too, but I’m not going to spoil anything. What can I say? I had a great time with this. I half read the book and half listened to the audiobook (which is great, btw). The ending was wonderful. This book lays it on a little thick with the metaphors, but I’m a particularly dense human being and I probably would have missed it if it was subtler.

All in all, this was great. Highly enjoyed.

(They bought a donut shop and they’re SELLING DONUTS.)

CWs: transphobia, queerphobia, mentions of domestic and child abuse, slurs, off page rape, death threats, on page death of minor character (but no gore), deadnaming.