A review by iviarelle
The Only Purple House in Town by Ann Aguirre

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Having a big bag of mixed but mostly positive feelings about this one. On the one hand, I relate all too hard to Iris, and I really do love the shape of this story. On the other hand, the ending felt really rushed, leaving me with a bit of a sour aftertaste on the whole thing. I'd hoped that having somewhat less scale than the previous book set in this world would mean the ending might get more time and space to breathe, but it didn't, and it's not sitting so well for me.

Particularly, the resolution of the conflict is just too fast. Iris flies to see Eli, he rushes her into his bedroom while Liz is out in the living space, and there's just a cursory apology and promise never to lie to her again before they fall into bed WHILE LIZ IS STILL OUTSIDE THAT DOOR?! Not to mention the fae "blessing" that if he causes Iris even a moment of sadness he'll die on the spot, like, that's not how healthy relationships are built no matter how cute it sounds in the moment.

But everything else felt so good, I can't take more than half a star away.