A review by b00k15hwyrm
Life is Strange: Steph's Story by Rosiee Thor

4.0

#ReadHarder2024 

-Read a book based solely on the title- 

  Today (2024, June 26) I finished the audiobook Life is Strange: Steph’s Story by Rosiee Thor, narrated by Katy Bentz. This story follows Steph Gingrich after the first Life is Strange game. The audiobook spans 8 hours and 34 minutes and is read by Steph’s in-game voice actress. 

  As mentioned earlier, the story follows Steph post-Life is Strange. More specifically, it follows after the scenario where the town is sacrificed and Chloe is spared while leading to her appearance in Life is Strange: True Colors. After Arcadia Bay is in ruins, she moves in with her dad in Seattle, Washington. For the most part, Steph gets adjusted enough. She gets a job at a gamer-themed cafe called Save Point. 

  One day on her shift, she meets a girl named Izzie. Steph develops feelings for her after learning more and more about her. Izzie is a punk guitarist, and as Steph puts it “a girl who likes girls.” This leads to the origin of their band Drugstore Makeup in which Steph offers to be her drummer after Izzie has a falling out with her previous band, Vinyl Resting Place. 

  Although the interest in each other is mutual, their relationship is full of bumpy roads and does get messy at some points. This is caused by Steph’s trauma from the storm along with home life issues and Izzie’s struggles navigating life as a transgender woman all the while still pursuing her dreams of being a musician. After competing in a battle of the bands is when things get emotionally messy for the two. 

  A favorite moment of mine is when Izzie, Steph, and their friends are hanging out at a Pride festival. I projected a bit, but since it’s not something I can experience at the moment, reading about a group of friends hanging out at Pride was nice. 

  Now to 180 the niceness because this is a sapphic love story with inevitable heartbreak- as mentioned in the book’s description. I liked when Jordie called Steph out for her M.O.’s (Many Offensives), which composed of Steph moving faster and faster in her relationship after every fight. There were moments where, romantic and otherwise, Steph would lash out on others and her behavior reminded me of Chloe in the first game. It was so frustrating and I hate-love that so much. I also liked how there wasn’t a definite “bad-guy” in the relationship and that it was two different people who wanted two different things. 

  I recommend the book to anyone who enjoys the Life is Strange series first and foremost. 

As well as those who enjoy bittersweet love stories. A bonus I gave myself for reading a nice(emotionally messy) sapphic story was that it was during Pride Month. ~*~❤️🧡💛💚💙💜~*~ I’d give this book a 4/5.