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A review by apostrophen
Autumn's Light by Aurora Rey
5.0
Autumn's Light closes off Aurora Rey's four book trip to Provincetown with a wonderful denouement, and was, I think, my favourite of the bunch.
Before I start, I want to mention I listened to this on audiobook, and the performer nailed the voices yet again—it's always clear who is speaking, the intonations supported the characterization, and the cameos from previous books were perfectly inflected from those books so as an experience, it was smooth and they barely needed reintroduction. This was performed wonderfully.
Mat and Graham just worked together, despite their initial differences. I appreciated where they both came from—Graham being ready to try after a pretty intense ordeal and enough passing time, and Mat keeping her love life separate because of a very clear understanding her family wouldn't handle things well (and given her livelihood was so tied up in her family, at no point did I fault her for these borders). The organic drift as they grew closer felt like just that: organic. Smooth. Which made the putting-on-the-breaks-panic feel totally on-target. I felt their emotional reality, is what I'm saying, and Rey is gifted at this. Ditto their careers and the touches of "day in the life" of the characters at work. I'll never look a gift lobster in the mouth again.
Oh, and as always, the food. I swear Rey's writing makes me hungry every time.
I also really, really appreciated the not-so-perfect family relationship Mat had.All too often, I read queer romance and the idea that a negative family relationship is always resolved, the family members all come around, and that's somehow necessary in romantic fiction always leaves me feeling just a bit frustrated—it's not my queer lived reality, and it's certainly not the common lived queer reality among the many, many queerfolk I know who've lived through similar experiences. The happy ending absolutely can be drawing firm borders or cutting off communication. Being happy without our families, finding new families/chosen families is absolutely a happy ending, and it's not seen in romance as much as I wish it was, so this lack of rainbows and ribbons when it came to Mat's family? This was such a breath of relief.
Even more? I loved the inclusion of other queer people (notably Dom, Mat's trans man co-worker and cousin) and the obvious care put into the crafting of the character. I loved their relationship, loved that Mat and Dom had each other's number, and basically enjoyed every time Dom's adorable self was on the page, really.
I'm a little sad to say goodbye to Rey's Provincetown, but I'm really glad I got to visit.
Before I start, I want to mention I listened to this on audiobook, and the performer nailed the voices yet again—it's always clear who is speaking, the intonations supported the characterization, and the cameos from previous books were perfectly inflected from those books so as an experience, it was smooth and they barely needed reintroduction. This was performed wonderfully.
Mat and Graham just worked together, despite their initial differences. I appreciated where they both came from—Graham being ready to try after a pretty intense ordeal and enough passing time, and Mat keeping her love life separate because of a very clear understanding her family wouldn't handle things well (and given her livelihood was so tied up in her family, at no point did I fault her for these borders). The organic drift as they grew closer felt like just that: organic. Smooth. Which made the putting-on-the-breaks-panic feel totally on-target. I felt their emotional reality, is what I'm saying, and Rey is gifted at this. Ditto their careers and the touches of "day in the life" of the characters at work. I'll never look a gift lobster in the mouth again.
Oh, and as always, the food. I swear Rey's writing makes me hungry every time.
I also really, really appreciated the not-so-perfect family relationship Mat had.
Even more? I loved the inclusion of other queer people (notably Dom, Mat's trans man co-worker and cousin) and the obvious care put into the crafting of the character. I loved their relationship, loved that Mat and Dom had each other's number, and basically enjoyed every time Dom's adorable self was on the page, really.
I'm a little sad to say goodbye to Rey's Provincetown, but I'm really glad I got to visit.