I liked this little novella less upon finishing it than I do now. It’s been a month since I finished it; should have written a review at the time. Story of my life, print it on a t-shirt. But in fairness to me, I was a bit distracted that weekend from the annual wonderfest known as the Tucson Festival of Books, a beautiful celebration of literacy and imagination and yummy food that is always held on or near my birthday, so happy birthday to me. And Alyssa Cole was there that weekend! So I got to meet her, and it was cool.
Side note, if you have a book festival (or a con) in your area, I highly suggest volunteering. Those types of events are ALWAYS looking for volunteers. For the price of my time and sore feet, I get to meet and escort so many cool authors* (and have actual conversations with them!) every year.
*P.S. Just so everybody knows, Charlie Jane Anders is actually one of the nicest people I have ever spoken with. One of those people who have the gift of making you feel they are genuinely interested in you (even if they are not). That may not sound like a compliment, but it totally is! She seemed very kind.
Anyway, Alyssa Cole is a total badass (she shaved her entire head! I’m in awe of people who can pull that off), and she was a highlight on both panels I saw her speak at. (Also she had a supercool Totoro phone case that both my sister and I were very impressed with.)
All that bragging to say, I don’t really remember why this book made me so cranky when I read it? I think at the time I was annoyed at Fabiola’s POVs. I think I also felt that they fell for each other WAY too fast. I love Likotsi so much, and have from the first book. Her POV had me so into this novella at first, wanting to kill Fabiola for breaking her heart, and then just casually sauntering back into her life like it didn’t matter. The secrecy on her part was frustrating. After we found out what was going on with Fabiola, I forgave her a little, but she still seemed a little quirky to me, too underdeveloped. I think maybe this would have just been better as a full novel? Or at least, I would have liked it better that way.
I did enjoy the non-linear narrative, but as is sort of a pattern with her books, I didn’t really enjoy the sex scenes. Some of the words she uses turn me off (total personal preference) and all the characters are super aware of their nipples at all times? I don’t know.
Anyway, I will continue to read her stuff in hopes of those times when everything lines up just right, because she’s super cool and I want to support super cool, smart authors. I got my favorite book of hers, A Hope Divided, signed 🙂 Love that book.