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leelaamanda's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
ohclaire's review
3.0
I liked this book until the climax. The world was neat, and I love the concept of a town with a yearly curse, but I just didn't care about any of the characters. However, I really appreciated the happy ending for the Strasburg exiles.
valenpolack's review against another edition
Half the time I didn’t know what the fuck was going on and the other half I just didn’t care
nicjmorrow's review
Just not feeling this. There are so many perspectives doing cool things that I would love to focus on but it feels like none are fleshed out enough to be invested in.
jpiasci1's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
colorcrystals's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
This was an absolutely stunning, powerful, enchanting story of self-acceptance of identity and love.
The story is presented in two timelines and 3 points of view. Lala is a Romani girl in 1518 forced to hide her heritage and her love for the trans boy her aunt has raised. The second timeline is in the modern day, with our narrators being Emil and Rosella. Emil is Romani, and has purposefully not learned his family’s history to distance himself from it. Rosella is Latina and proud of her family and heritage, but still strives to fit in with the other girls.
I have to be honest, it took a little bit for me to really get into the book. But once I hit like the 50% mark, I was hooked. The prose is absolutely gorgeous. The terms “rich” and “lucious” come to mind. This is a very lyrical, poetic style that made the audiobook particularly nice to listen to. It artfully tackled topics racism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia in the most perfect way. The characters were wonderfully developed and multifaceted. My only issue was that it took so long for me to get truly sucked in.
The story is presented in two timelines and 3 points of view. Lala is a Romani girl in 1518 forced to hide her heritage and her love for the trans boy her aunt has raised. The second timeline is in the modern day, with our narrators being Emil and Rosella. Emil is Romani, and has purposefully not learned his family’s history to distance himself from it. Rosella is Latina and proud of her family and heritage, but still strives to fit in with the other girls.
I have to be honest, it took a little bit for me to really get into the book. But once I hit like the 50% mark, I was hooked. The prose is absolutely gorgeous. The terms “rich” and “lucious” come to mind. This is a very lyrical, poetic style that made the audiobook particularly nice to listen to. It artfully tackled topics racism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia in the most perfect way. The characters were wonderfully developed and multifaceted. My only issue was that it took so long for me to get truly sucked in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Classism, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy and Antisemitism
distant_ships's review
3.0
I actually read about the dancing plague and became weirdly obsessed with it (how? why? what happened???) so I knew I had to read this book which featured a retelling of it.
It didn't totally come together with me with the two storylines. I think I would have enjoyed sticking with the one in the past and having it more fully developed.
It didn't totally come together with me with the two storylines. I think I would have enjoyed sticking with the one in the past and having it more fully developed.
sheilafromhr's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
heather1999's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.0
phoenixinthecity's review against another edition
5.0
This is a fantastic retelling of The Red Shoes from 3 POVs over two timelines that span 5 centuries. We are first introduced to the girls: Rosella, whose family makes beautiful shoes in the present day; Lala, a Romani girl in 1508 Strasbourg, who meets Alifair, the trans boy that she will fall in love with; and finally Emil, the boy who’s Lala’s descendant in the present.
I read this with a sense of impending dread for Lala and Alifair as the fievre de la danse - an actual historical event(!) - overtook Strasbourg in 1518, which is echoed 500 years later when Rosella is overcome by a pair of red shoes she had stitched herself. I won’t say more to avoid spoilers but rest assured that there is a beautiful ending full of trans and queer joy.
A-M McLemore also wrote a trans remix of The Great Gatsby called Self-Made Boys which was just as brilliant a reimagining as Dark and Deepest Red.
I read this with a sense of impending dread for Lala and Alifair as the fievre de la danse - an actual historical event(!) - overtook Strasbourg in 1518, which is echoed 500 years later when Rosella is overcome by a pair of red shoes she had stitched herself. I won’t say more to avoid spoilers but rest assured that there is a beautiful ending full of trans and queer joy.
A-M McLemore also wrote a trans remix of The Great Gatsby called Self-Made Boys which was just as brilliant a reimagining as Dark and Deepest Red.