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joelteon's review
5.0
So many emotions you deal with
Sarah has packed this novella chock full of raw, deep emotions and I am so here for it. I don't think there is much more I can say other than just read her books. Any of them. Do yourself that favour and become engrossed in the deep, beautiful words she puts into every page.
Sarah has packed this novella chock full of raw, deep emotions and I am so here for it. I don't think there is much more I can say other than just read her books. Any of them. Do yourself that favour and become engrossed in the deep, beautiful words she puts into every page.
mxsallybend's review
5.0
Last year, when I had the great pleasure of getting an early look at Of Honey and Wildfires, I talked about it being a painfully beautiful book, a story that was as overwhelming as it was all-consuming. What I don't think I properly addressed was just how emotionally wrecked it left me, however, and that's where I want to begin talking about Oh, That Shotgun Sky.
Sarah Chorn is as much a mistress of emotions as she is of words, and she somehow builds a romance out of nothing more than furtive glances, stolen words, and shared experiences that rivals just about any traditional love affair in genre fiction.
This is a story that didn't just tug at my heartstrings but twist them, torture them, and stomp all over them. I felt such love for Sally and Eloise from the start, wanting them to have what the world had always denied them, and the closer a wounded Eloise came to death, the more I seethed against the cruel hand of fate. I cannot put them into context for you, as you'll never understand without reading that far yourself, but there are three words near the end of the story that absolutely broken me - and they're not "I love you."
Two-thirds of this story is comprised of the simplicity of women surviving on their own, despite the harshness of a cruel world and crueler men around them. We have Sally, Eloise, Grace, and Bekah from the brothel, fleeing blindly into the darkness, wanting nothing more than to live and love, but prepared to settle for dying free. In their journey, they come across Abigail and Bertie, a pair of women who seem to have that found freedom to live and love, but they have a story too, one just as full of pain and sorrow.
Rounding out the tale is two men, Saul and Ned, who are damaged in their own ways, both products and remnants of the Company. It's through them that the story connects most directly with Of Honey and Wildfires, and I love how Sarah explores the consequences of that story through them. The two should be mortal enemies. At least one of them should be dead the moment they meet. They're nothing alike. And yet, somehow, they complete one another, with one providing purpose and the other sanity. For the women to survive, it's men like this that must do the healing, and the way they all come together, free of Shine and free of Company expectations, is wonderful.
As with any of Sarah's books, the writing here is sheer artistry, full of starkly beautiful words and painfully beautiful phrases that invite you to pause and admire the language, but which never interfere with the pacing of the story. It's largely a quiet story, full of deep thoughts and deeper feelings, but it's bookended by a pair of violent scenes, both of which end lives while beginning others. For a side-story to the overall Songs of Sefate, a novella-length bridge between Of Honey and Wildfires and the upcoming Glass Rhapsody, Oh, That Shotgun Sky is a wholly satisfying tale that provides closure and hope and leaves me hungry for more.
If you're not already reading Sarah Chorn, do yourself a favor and get her books in your hand as soon as possible. She's a writer, a storyteller, and (I swear) a witch with powers to get inside the head and heart unlike just about anybody else in the genre.
https://beauty-in-ruins.blogspot.com/2021/02/fantasy-book-review-oh-that-shotgun-sky.html
Sarah Chorn is as much a mistress of emotions as she is of words, and she somehow builds a romance out of nothing more than furtive glances, stolen words, and shared experiences that rivals just about any traditional love affair in genre fiction.
We stare at each other across a room full of ash and char, the remnants of everything we’ve ever known. All that pain and heartbreak. All our secret, shared glances, and moments of wanting, but not being able to have.
It all happened here, in the space stretched between us. I’ve never been alone with her. Never told her how I feel. And yet the truth lays naked and waiting, sprawled out between us, waiting for us to explore it.
This is a story that didn't just tug at my heartstrings but twist them, torture them, and stomp all over them. I felt such love for Sally and Eloise from the start, wanting them to have what the world had always denied them, and the closer a wounded Eloise came to death, the more I seethed against the cruel hand of fate. I cannot put them into context for you, as you'll never understand without reading that far yourself, but there are three words near the end of the story that absolutely broken me - and they're not "I love you."
Two-thirds of this story is comprised of the simplicity of women surviving on their own, despite the harshness of a cruel world and crueler men around them. We have Sally, Eloise, Grace, and Bekah from the brothel, fleeing blindly into the darkness, wanting nothing more than to live and love, but prepared to settle for dying free. In their journey, they come across Abigail and Bertie, a pair of women who seem to have that found freedom to live and love, but they have a story too, one just as full of pain and sorrow.
You can go ahead and fall off the edge of the world if you want to, but you damn well better wait for me, because wherever you go, I follow.
Rounding out the tale is two men, Saul and Ned, who are damaged in their own ways, both products and remnants of the Company. It's through them that the story connects most directly with Of Honey and Wildfires, and I love how Sarah explores the consequences of that story through them. The two should be mortal enemies. At least one of them should be dead the moment they meet. They're nothing alike. And yet, somehow, they complete one another, with one providing purpose and the other sanity. For the women to survive, it's men like this that must do the healing, and the way they all come together, free of Shine and free of Company expectations, is wonderful.
As with any of Sarah's books, the writing here is sheer artistry, full of starkly beautiful words and painfully beautiful phrases that invite you to pause and admire the language, but which never interfere with the pacing of the story. It's largely a quiet story, full of deep thoughts and deeper feelings, but it's bookended by a pair of violent scenes, both of which end lives while beginning others. For a side-story to the overall Songs of Sefate, a novella-length bridge between Of Honey and Wildfires and the upcoming Glass Rhapsody, Oh, That Shotgun Sky is a wholly satisfying tale that provides closure and hope and leaves me hungry for more.
If you're not already reading Sarah Chorn, do yourself a favor and get her books in your hand as soon as possible. She's a writer, a storyteller, and (I swear) a witch with powers to get inside the head and heart unlike just about anybody else in the genre.
https://beauty-in-ruins.blogspot.com/2021/02/fantasy-book-review-oh-that-shotgun-sky.html
rpmrangers's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
emhamill's review
5.0
This little novella is an interlude that takes place immediately after Of Honey and Wildfires, and it packs a lot of emotional punch in a tiny package. More of Chorn's achingly beautiful prose, characters who are jagged pieces of walking, breathing reality, and the poisonous beauty of shine, the fictitious magical substance which infects everything in this world.
It definitely whet my appetite for the upcoming Glass Rhapsody novel. It has a lovely, hopeful feel to the ending, so I'm setting myself up for devastation in the next book, lol.
It definitely whet my appetite for the upcoming Glass Rhapsody novel. It has a lovely, hopeful feel to the ending, so I'm setting myself up for devastation in the next book, lol.
plot_head's review
5.0
Review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Oh, That Shotgun Sky picks up directly following the events in Of Honey and Wildfires (you can read my review of that here.) We follow a new cast of characters as they try to come to terms with the destruction of the Boundary and their newfound freedom from Shine Company. Like before, Sarah has managed to sift through the weeds of my soul, take hold of my feelings, and completely rip them from my chest. To be fair to the author, I had an idea of what to expect coming in to this fresh out of her previous novel.
“That’s what love is. It ain’t all soft and pretty; it’s hard and biting, too. It’s a hungry wolf, and you just keep feeding the beast bits of yourself.“
Sarah’s excellent characterization continues, with a new cast of characters who all bring their individual desires and fears to the table. Even though my time with them was much shorter, I developed an even stronger connection to Ned, Saul, and Sally than I did to Arlen and Cass. My favorite was Ned, the straight-edge, former Shine Company enforcer, suffering from burnout to the Shine he never purposefully ingested. His chapters were some of the most heartbreaking, feverish scenes I have ever experienced and watching a disease that he didn’t earn take its toll on his psyche was brutal. His POVs read like a bad trip laced with heartache. There’s also something to be said about the way his addiction is discussed in-world. I thought the commentary on addicts, especially addiction as an often misunderstood disease, was quite refreshing to read.
That this was a novella served the story very well, I think. Oh, That Shotgun Sky pulls no punches, while delivering the complex, emotional story that I have come to know as Sarah’s style. It is also one where after reading I was left with a profound sense of hope, which honestly was very helpful after the gut wrenching journey that the prior novel took. I felt like I could breathe a smidge easier while waiting for the next Sefate novel.
“I know it hurts something awful, but you will get through this. You will breathe again, and you will breathe easier than you ever have before.”
Oh, That Shotgun Sky took everything that I loved about the previous entry, Of Honey and Wildfires, and improved upon every bit of it. Sarah excels at pulling on your heartstrings and making you feel everything that the characters are going through and her writing style practically oozes with empathy. If I wasn’t sold on her as an author before, I certainly am now. If you like your fantasy biting, painful, and full of melodrama, then I recommend this series wholeheartedly.
"Possibility is a knife. I’m balanced on its edge. I can feel it cutting."
You can read this and other reviews at FanFiAddict.com!
Oh, That Shotgun Sky picks up directly following the events in Of Honey and Wildfires (you can read my review of that here.) We follow a new cast of characters as they try to come to terms with the destruction of the Boundary and their newfound freedom from Shine Company. Like before, Sarah has managed to sift through the weeds of my soul, take hold of my feelings, and completely rip them from my chest. To be fair to the author, I had an idea of what to expect coming in to this fresh out of her previous novel.
“That’s what love is. It ain’t all soft and pretty; it’s hard and biting, too. It’s a hungry wolf, and you just keep feeding the beast bits of yourself.“
Sarah’s excellent characterization continues, with a new cast of characters who all bring their individual desires and fears to the table. Even though my time with them was much shorter, I developed an even stronger connection to Ned, Saul, and Sally than I did to Arlen and Cass. My favorite was Ned, the straight-edge, former Shine Company enforcer, suffering from burnout to the Shine he never purposefully ingested. His chapters were some of the most heartbreaking, feverish scenes I have ever experienced and watching a disease that he didn’t earn take its toll on his psyche was brutal. His POVs read like a bad trip laced with heartache. There’s also something to be said about the way his addiction is discussed in-world. I thought the commentary on addicts, especially addiction as an often misunderstood disease, was quite refreshing to read.
That this was a novella served the story very well, I think. Oh, That Shotgun Sky pulls no punches, while delivering the complex, emotional story that I have come to know as Sarah’s style. It is also one where after reading I was left with a profound sense of hope, which honestly was very helpful after the gut wrenching journey that the prior novel took. I felt like I could breathe a smidge easier while waiting for the next Sefate novel.
“I know it hurts something awful, but you will get through this. You will breathe again, and you will breathe easier than you ever have before.”
Oh, That Shotgun Sky took everything that I loved about the previous entry, Of Honey and Wildfires, and improved upon every bit of it. Sarah excels at pulling on your heartstrings and making you feel everything that the characters are going through and her writing style practically oozes with empathy. If I wasn’t sold on her as an author before, I certainly am now. If you like your fantasy biting, painful, and full of melodrama, then I recommend this series wholeheartedly.
"Possibility is a knife. I’m balanced on its edge. I can feel it cutting."
You can read this and other reviews at FanFiAddict.com!
theirresponsiblereader's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Free.
That’s such a dangerous word. Sure does look pretty sitting in the space between us like that, all glittering and gem- covered. But I can’t help but wonder how much pain is on the other side of it. After all, even diamonds cut.
What’s Oh, That Shotgun Sky About?
This novella happens in the shadow of Of Honey and Wildfires with everyone trying to come to terms with the events of the novel’s ending. The Boundary has fallen, the Shine Territory is no longer walled off from the rest of the world—access isn’t as shut off. No one knows what that means. No one is ready for this “New Normal.” All anyone is sure of is that things are different now, now’s the chance to start over.
This novella chronicles some people taking advantage of the confusion, the lack of status quo to do something else with their life. We see a grieving outlaw, a Shine Company man hunting that outlaw while he tries not to die himself, and a group of camp prostitutes (essentially prisoners) who are enjoying the freedom they now have (however temporary it may be).
Without intending to, these all come into contact with each other and offer (and receive) help in these crazy days.
Yeah, that’s vague—but it has to be. I could give all the salient plot points in one healthy paragraph if I wanted to. But you don’t read these books for the plot, or even character–you read this series for Chorn’s gorgeous prose.
Love, Grief, Fear, Confusion, and a little Hope
There’s honesty in walking through the world with open wounds. No lying about the pain that’s carving me up. No hiding the injury that’s cleaving me in two. Don’t think I’ve ever been this true.
I don’t know what to do with all I’m feeling. No one ever told me that love is an ocean. That to love, you must let yourself drown.
“There is part of me that ain’t never coming back. I gave it up willingly, you understand? I gave it all to him. That’s what love is. It ain’t all soft and pretty; it’s hard and biting, too. It’s a hungry wolf, and you just keep feeding that beast bits of yourself.” I fix her with my eyes. Feel them punch all the way through her soul. “Listen to me and listen well: Love devours.”
(yeah, I couldn’t pick one line to illustrate this point)
While there’s not a lot of plot, and we don’t get a lot about what the various characters do or think—we get a thorough understanding of what they feel—three or four of the characters in particular, with a few others to a smaller extent. They have deep feelings, deep and raw, and those feelings reveal more to the reader than anything else they might do, say or think.
You cannot read this novella and not feel what these characters are going through—the emotions are practically tangible, and Chorn puts them so beautifully
So, what did I think about Oh, That Shotgun Sky?
It’s a special kind of torture to survive after the one holding your heart has died. It twists a soul something awful. Not a person in this world deserves this.
Okay, I had to cram one more quotation in.
I’m not crazy about the characters, the plot left something to be desired for me. But I could read sentences like that all day long and not get tired of it.
Last year, when I wrote about Of Honey and Wildfires, I said: “So, yeah, I didn’t like this as much as I wanted to. Many of you will wonder what’s wrong with me after you read it (a few of you will think I’m too generous). But I am glad I read this—it’s been a long time since I’ve read a book so carefully written as Of Honey and Wildfires…It’s raw, honest, open, and beautiful. I didn’t love it, but I commend it to you.” Switch out the titles, and I can’t think of a better way to talk about this.
(and like last year, I’m going to skip the stars for this one—they’d just distract from what I had to say—if I could decide how many to give)
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