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juushika 's review for:
Apex Magazine Issue 105, February 2018
by Jason Sizemore
[For clarity, this is just a review of "A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" by Alix Harrow.]
There's a point where books (or, well, short stories) about books tip into self-congratulatory rhapsodizing, and a point where well-intended social justice slips into a white savoir complex, and this stands at the intersection of both. I love it in theory, and the increasing inclination in portal fantasy metanarratives to interrogate the ethics of escapism is hugely relevant to my interests. And in practice, it's sympathetic--but also sanctimonious and twee in ways that directly undermine the intended themes.
There's a point where books (or, well, short stories) about books tip into self-congratulatory rhapsodizing, and a point where well-intended social justice slips into a white savoir complex, and this stands at the intersection of both. I love it in theory, and the increasing inclination in portal fantasy metanarratives to interrogate the ethics of escapism is hugely relevant to my interests. And in practice, it's sympathetic--but also sanctimonious and twee in ways that directly undermine the intended themes.