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korrinstar's review
hopeful
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sofia_the_scholar's review against another edition
4.0
The book is set in a kind of Shakeaspearean era, and it involves Jonathan, who is often mistaken for a girl, but he himself feels more comfortable showing his feminine side (which is totally subjective). It is so refreshing for a writer to talk about LGBTQ+ qualities, especially in Victorian London.
As he runs away from his village, he's trying to find the Fairie Queen, but then he'll find himself in the Globe Theater, where he'll meet Edmund Shakespeare.
I think that it was so magical. The writing was exceptionally good, the dialogue was also so cute, and I could just feel Jonathan's joy, bewilderment, sadness, anxiety. I would really have liked to have him as an actual friend irl.
I'm so looking forward to read more of this author works!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
As he runs away from his village, he's trying to find the Fairie Queen, but then he'll find himself in the Globe Theater, where he'll meet Edmund Shakespeare.
I think that it was so magical. The writing was exceptionally good, the dialogue was also so cute, and I could just feel Jonathan's joy, bewilderment, sadness, anxiety. I would really have liked to have him as an actual friend irl.
I'm so looking forward to read more of this author works!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
kibiiiariii's review
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Trafficking, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Grief, and Outing
thelittle_seokmin's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
magicianactor's review against another edition
5.0
This is such a delight to read! An unconventional take on Shakespearian worlds and characters. I found it a bit of work to get into, but once fully immersed in the world and all its inhabitants, I unearthed nonstop joy until the very last page, and well after! Kudos to the author for creating a very unique piece. Terrific!
allyens's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
m_for_mary's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
stromberg's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
We speak of “identifying with” a character in a story or drama, often merely to indicate we feel some affinity to them—but to “identify with”, in a more thorough sense, is to experience a blurring of the distinction between oneself and the character, much as an actor may “become” the role they play.
Notably, we also speak of “identifying as” a given sexuality or gender. The dual meaning inhering to “identify with/as” blends “being” and “becoming” in a manner very pertinent to how Clarissa Pattern’s Airy Nothing (2021, tRaum Books) dwells on and explores blurred boundaries—between female and male, between gay and hetero, between the mundane and the fae, and between theatre and real life.
Notably, we also speak of “identifying as” a given sexuality or gender. The dual meaning inhering to “identify with/as” blends “being” and “becoming” in a manner very pertinent to how Clarissa Pattern’s Airy Nothing (2021, tRaum Books) dwells on and explores blurred boundaries—between female and male, between gay and hetero, between the mundane and the fae, and between theatre and real life.
Those indistinct borderlands are the regions where John is best suited to live. A country naïf who has run off from his village to the London of Shakespeare’s day (accompanied by a friendly hobgoblin), John longs to prove himself a boy but prefers girls’ clothing and is taken (or mistaken) to be female at every turn. It is never clear whether John is a gay boy, or a trans girl, or a homoamorous but asexual androgyne—and this is eminently suitable in context, as our contemporary taxonomies of gender and sexuality would have been alien notions in the Tudor era. What is clear is that he is tormented by his mismatch with masculinity. He has also grown up faerie-blessed, guided by the fae in herblore and needlework, given to visions of other realities, and apt on occasion to metamorphose without warning. All of which makes him surprisingly suited (in an era when women are barred from performing on stage) to the theatre.
Lost and bewildered in London, the newly arrived John encounters Black Jack, a jaunty cutpurse and mile-a-minute raconteur. But Jack’s street-toughened hustler’s exterior is a shell which, resist though he might, he finds gradually prised open by John’s vulnerability and open-heartedness (not to mention his otherworldliness). Inch by inch the two boys grow to each other; indeed, from their meet-cute onwards, the ultimate trajectory of John and Jack’s relationship is never much in doubt; we read on, not to learn whether they will or won’t, but to experience the development of their characters. This development is sensitively and thoughtfully handled. The novel is informed by questions of identity but is not a manifesto on identity; it is about two particular boys, who they are and who they become, and how each incorporates some essence of the other—again, a blurring of boundaries, this time between self and self.
Through it all, Shakespeare. This London is imaginary, with historical liberties taken for dramatic convenience, but walk its thronged and rumbustious streets long enough and you may cross paths with even the Bard himself. The magic of his lines and the magic of the faeries commingle, imbuing the tale with enchantment of two varieties.
My sole dissatisfaction with the novel is that I was not always convinced by the Elizabethan English usage which occasionally peppers the dialogue. Such thee/thou-ing rarely appears, though—for the most part, characters speak the English of our century—and anyway this is unlikely to bother anyone who is not a pedantic twit like me. This aside, the accessible prose of the narration and the sensitivity and earnestness of the protagonist’s and deuteragonist’s characterisations, not to mention the author’s evident warmth for Shakespeare, make for a charming reading experience—one which well earns the HFC Silver Medal for Best Historical Fantasy that Airy Nothing received in 2021.
zillanovikov's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a story about two kinds of loneliness. John has no place in his village, can't conform to their ideas of gender, can't admit what he sees, friendless and alone. Jack is welcomed across the mean streets of London, easily befriends strangers, but trusts no one and knows no one should trust him. Jack knows how to walk away and bury the pain, except that he can't walk away from John.
Jack and John are both survivors. Jack knows that the way to survive is to do whatever it takes to be ready for the winter, and to bury the dead quickly in your mind. John has magic, the kind of magic misfits and rejects conjure so their minds can escape the pain that their bodies and souls endure. Only in this story, the faeries he sees are real, or real enough. The village is spitefully cruel and the streets of London are anonymously cruel, but he has a way to survive which lets him still be kind, and he is determined to share it with Jack.
I fell in love with both of them.
Jack and John are both survivors. Jack knows that the way to survive is to do whatever it takes to be ready for the winter, and to bury the dead quickly in your mind. John has magic, the kind of magic misfits and rejects conjure so their minds can escape the pain that their bodies and souls endure. Only in this story, the faeries he sees are real, or real enough. The village is spitefully cruel and the streets of London are anonymously cruel, but he has a way to survive which lets him still be kind, and he is determined to share it with Jack.
I fell in love with both of them.
noldorin's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I think "Airy Nothing" is a quite good read mainly due to John, who's very ambiguous. Wether we interpret him as a trans woman, trans man or non binary it doesn't really matter and I really like this aspect.
Aside from John, the characters are quite lovely despite de context of the world they live in and what goes on around them. I got quickly attached to Jack and John and really liked the dynamic they had.
Another bit I like a lot is the Author's Note, explaining why certain lines from Shakespeare were used in each chapters. It gives a bit of a look in the writing process and it's also pretty nice to understand, with contexts, why the lines were chosen.
However what made me not give "Airy Nothing" 4 stars or more is majorly the pace of it. It's, in my opinion, too fast paced.
Everything is very quick and while I chose to interpret it as the way John views the world around him and all the new, overwhelming sensations, it did make it difficult sometimes to concentrate.
Sometimes the switch between what's the real world and John's view could also be confusing and mixing this with the fast pace of scenes it ended up being a lot to process and concentrate on.
Aside from John, the characters are quite lovely despite de context of the world they live in and what goes on around them. I got quickly attached to Jack and John and really liked the dynamic they had.
Another bit I like a lot is the Author's Note, explaining why certain lines from Shakespeare were used in each chapters. It gives a bit of a look in the writing process and it's also pretty nice to understand, with contexts, why the lines were chosen.
However what made me not give "Airy Nothing" 4 stars or more is majorly the pace of it. It's, in my opinion, too fast paced.
Everything is very quick and while I chose to interpret it as the way John views the world around him and all the new, overwhelming sensations, it did make it difficult sometimes to concentrate.
Sometimes the switch between what's the real world and John's view could also be confusing and mixing this with the fast pace of scenes it ended up being a lot to process and concentrate on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Violence