Such a memorable reading experience. The musical suggestions combined with beautiful prose and a character driven story created a slow, self-reflective reading atmosphere that was a pleasure to dive into each time I picked it up. I loved the concept and the skillful way the author wove her characters’ lives and perspectives together. Poignant, lyrical, thoughtful.

What it sometimes lacks in interesting content it makes up for with heart. Conclusion: libraries are the greatest. 😭

Solomon’s treatment of gender, sexuality, race, class, and neurodiversity is phenomenal. They don’t pause to explain or clarify any of it. You just have to catch up or be left behind and I loved that. Their way of confronting our tendency to put things in boxes permeates the entire story. The on and off pacing slowed the story down for me a bit, but overall I was enthralled. Very excited to see where Solomon goes from here.

Empathetic, clear-eyed, nuanced.

Jemisin’s world-building is *perfect* here, but there was too much of it and too little character development/plot/exploration of themes for my taste. The themes got really interesting mid-way through but then dwindled again, and the nature of the relationship between the main characters was confusing to me. But again the world she builds is fascinating and so well-thought out. I’ll definitely be back for the second book, because I’ve heard it’s good, and because it’s Jemisin.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would! It kept me interested from beginning to end and the narration is excellent.