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I'd recommend this to people wanting a historical, positive view of Sapphic relationships in 40s San Francisco ... flagging content warnings for racism, homophobia and domestic abuse in particular. The characters are interesting, the plot vivid, yes sometimes people launch into relationships very quickly indeed ... and it wraps up neatly. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of comic book art.
I would be less keen to recommend it to people attracted to any of the other genres -- sci-fi is a "blink and you'll miss it" explanation ofmulti-dimensional theory , magical realism & fantasy are "magic when it's plot-convenient".
(Current hot take: books can't be both. Either Magic is a Thing, in which case Fantasy ... or else it's a background quirk in an otherwise contemporary or historical story, in which case Magical Realism.)
I would be less keen to recommend it to people attracted to any of the other genres -- sci-fi is a "blink and you'll miss it" explanation of
(Current hot take: books can't be both. Either Magic is a Thing, in which case Fantasy ... or else it's a background quirk in an otherwise contemporary or historical story, in which case Magical Realism.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Medical content, Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent
- Character development, description, motivations = all wonderfully drawn.
- Historical setting = fascinating, with insight into a range of classes and roles.
- Relationship = very slow-burn romance, which felt appropriate for the characters and story. No instalove round here!
- Murder mystery = based to a degree on real events, which was a problem for me in that Spoiler:
we end up proving that a guy did some murders but not others, with no reasons given. . Quite true to life in that respect, but not quite what I was in the mood to read.
Overall recommendation: I personally enjoyed Silence of Bones more; both have a focused, smart female MC, but if you also want a gentle romance, and minimal religious aspects, this might be the more obvious choice.
Lovely story of Paama, her terrible husband, and how being true to herself helps her navigate their marriage, the djomi (undying ones) who have Plans for her, and the wider world she's a core part of.