H. E. Edgmon

Recommended: for some people
For anyone who will love morally gray characters, for a book where tons of people are trans (and almost no one is cis het!) and that MATTERS, for some kind of confusing magic lore, for a lot of high school kids with no supervision or reliable adults
Pub date: Nov 28, 2023

Thoughts:
This book was kind of meh for me, but I think it has a lot to offer to people who are interested in it who are not me.

What dragged this down was primarily the fact that it felt like not much actually happened. This is a young adult book, and there was a lot of time where they were all just... in school. Doing classes. Hanging out at a party. It does focus mostly on their interactions and building the relationships, but BOY was this book a lot of exposition. It suffers badly from "book one" syndrome where it got all the boring setup out of the way and maybe book two will be way more exciting since it can move on to the action.

The other thing that dragged this down was that despite all that endless exposition, I was still confused about some of what happened in the characters' lives. There's a key element that was supposed to be a twist but I had already thought that's the way things were the entire time since it was never made very clear that it WASN'T, so the "twist" came and I was like, didn't we already know that? Duh? It also seemed like Gem didn't really think about the stuff they were told. (view spoiler)

There's a lot of duality of self in this book, in a lot of ways. Gem is trans, as are a ton of other characters. There's a line that's approximately "there are no cis het gods" and I thought that made a lot of sense, and it's also reflected in their pantheon. Besides that there's also the human / god issues with identity that Gem struggles a lot with through the whole story. One character with she/they pronouns is referred to at times by she and at other times by they. I couldn't quite figure out why they were used at a specific time, but best guess is that it was roughly based on how they were presenting at the moment. Anyway, I did get a little tripped up sometimes identifying who was being referred to, but appreciated the commitment to that personal representation.

Good and evil are two of the obvious duality conflicts in this book. The discussion around this was nigh endless, but was very interesting to me. Be ready for some philosophical discussions though. One idea I enjoyed reflecting on was that some people are "evil" just because their needs conflict with or are the opposite of your own. Damn, yo.

I ran into some other issues towards the end. It's easiest to talk about them in spoilers though instead of trying to be vague, so read below if you're ok with a larger twist spoiler and a character-relationships thing that I'd consider more of a minor spoiler.

Twist spoiler: (view spoiler)

Minor-ish relationship spoiler: (view spoiler)


Final note: the trigger warnings at the start of the book scared me enough to feel hesitant about reading it but after finishing they actually seemed way more dramatic than the book actually was to me. Also? FUCK that ending, y'all. 😐

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review.… (plus d'informations)

I wish I could give this book more than five stars. After finishing the Witch King & Fae Keeper earlier this year, I have been anxiously awaiting the next story from H.E. Edgmon and this clearly did not disappoint.

I cannot thank the author enough for the beautiful vulnerability in these pages. Even the acknowledgments had me in tears. I have never felt so deeply seen in a story, like the author was able to peek into my heart and turn those hidden pieces into words. I learned things about myself that two decades of therapy haven’t been able to unearth.

The characters felt so well developed I could almost reach through the page and hold them. The evolution of magic / powers through the book by the members of the pantheon had me holding my breath as the action played out. The way complicated thoughts & emotions were handled, while still holding onto the fears so many of us try to keep hidden in the darkness.

While this book may not be for everyone, this book felt like the love letter I wish I could give to my teenage self.… (plus d'informations)