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A review by undervmountain
Summer in the City of Roses by Michelle Ruiz Keil
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This was an interesting picture of life for two siblings in the summer of 90s Portland, but I don't know if it was me or the author's writing style that had me completely confused and have to skip back some pages to realise what I'd missed. I think the final third took such a weird turn even I found it jarring.
The first two thirds are simple enough - we meet Iph and Orr, two siblings that find themselves torn apart after their father sends Orr to boot camp, which he escapes. Orr moves in with a girl band, Iph is found by George, a non binary Robin Hood style figure, and she meets people from various walks of life as she searches for Orr.
Two things lost me completely, partly because I'm terrible at remembering blurbs. I somehow didn't realise it wasn't set in the modern day for a while, I guess my brain just thought everyone just casually didn't have phones. Also I don't think the author put it across that George is non binary well enough, choosing to not use pronouns at all, which should have worked but somehow didn't.
The final chapters took an utterly bizarre turn after Iph and Orr meet again, bringing everyone they met into a world of, well, magic. The rest of the story had such a contemporary feel that even though I like bizarre stories, I'm not sure it worked here. The ending just left me feeling a bit sad for the siblings.
The first two thirds are simple enough - we meet Iph and Orr, two siblings that find themselves torn apart after their father sends Orr to boot camp, which he escapes. Orr moves in with a girl band, Iph is found by George, a non binary Robin Hood style figure, and she meets people from various walks of life as she searches for Orr.
Two things lost me completely, partly because I'm terrible at remembering blurbs. I somehow didn't realise it wasn't set in the modern day for a while, I guess my brain just thought everyone just casually didn't have phones. Also I don't think the author put it across that George is non binary well enough, choosing to not use pronouns at all, which should have worked but somehow didn't.
The final chapters took an utterly bizarre turn after Iph and Orr meet again, bringing everyone they met into a world of, well, magic. The rest of the story had such a contemporary feel that even though I like bizarre stories, I'm not sure it worked here. The ending just left me feeling a bit sad for the siblings.