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A review by booksthatburn
Sigils of Spring by A.K. Faulkner
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
SIGILS OF SPRING weaves together the search for a therapist with the intrusion of a ghost hunter and a side of kidnapping, forcing Quintin to work through some issues in unexpected ways. As per usual, what Quintin and Laurence are trying to accomplish in their personal lives is disrupted by the intervention of someone wildly out of their control, and not at all welcome. Some things happened in RITES OF WINTER that were traumatic for both of them, let alone all the childhood shit that Quentin is newly poised to deal with if only he could get the right tools.
I don’t think I’ve said this nearly as often I should have, the narrator is a delight, easy to listen to, and managing to convey a variety of voices with ease. I'm reading the whole series by audiobook and having a great time.
Quentin is trying to find a therapist he’s comfortable with, one where he can work through his issues and be a better person, a better partner, and perhaps someday stop having nightmares about the abuse he endured as a child. Unfortunately, some guy with a YouTube channel and way too much time on his hands has decided to harass Quintin until he confesses to being haunted by his mother's ghost. The actual answer, that he’s telekinetic, would just make things worse, so Quentin, Laurence, and the kids have to hide away from a crowd of enthusiastic ghost hunters hoping to see proof of something that isn't happening. Quentin can't prove a negative, and the ghost hunters won't take no for an answer.
The kidnapping itself is both introduced and resolved here. Because it’s mentioned in the book's description I was expecting it to happen much earlier than it did. My advice to any other readers in the same position would be to enjoy the story that’s happening, since things take a while to escalate to that point. This is not the last book in the series, far from it, and it leaves several things for later. Some are related to therapy, plus dealing with the aftermath of the kidnapping. The teasing nature of the epilogues are leading toward something far more substantial with Rufus, but that hasn’t fully materialized yet.
It’s technically possible for things to make sense to someone who tried to start with SIGILS OF SPRING, partly because Quentin's need to find a therapist means that we get convenient summaries of much of what has happened that he’s trying to work through. Because the series is organized into distinct arcs, grouped by the titles, this is the second book in the second sequence, and anyone determined to jump into the series partway through would do much better with RITES OF WINTER as their starting point.
As is usual for this series, SIGILS OF SPRING is a very character-driven book. The setting is grounded in a particular part of California (with brief forays elsewhere in the last two books), and the generally realistic setting allows for fun specificities to come through without trying to explain all the details of this place. I've never been to California and don't need to in order to get what's happening. The worldbuilding as to place is light, but specific. The worldbuilding around psychic abilities, magic, and deities unfolds gradually throughout the series, letting each book carry only as much as is relevant. This method generally avoids infodumps, except when one of the characters is the one learning the information for the first time. Even then, the specifics are paired with explanations of relevance in a way that generally keeps the details from feeling like a lecture.
In many respects, Quentin and Laurence's relationship has gotten to a much more comfortable stage, it’s everything else that gets stressful. At least as far as the big questions of "do they want to be together for the long term" and "do they have the goal of trying to make this work", the answers seem to be "yes and yes", they're just figuring out what that looks like. In RITES OF WINTER, Quentin made a commitment involving Laurence that's more serious and binding than even marriage would be, and Laurence is trying to process that and take it as the declaration of sincerity that it is. I didn't discuss it in my review of RITES OF WINTER because it's towards the end and would be too much of a spoiler, but I love the way that Quentin bound himself to sharing an afterlife with Laurence without needing to stop being an atheist. It lets him stay true to himself while also taking seriously the fact that Laurence's belief system features unequivocally extant deities. It's also part of him accepting how much he'd been abused, understanding that he'd need an afterlife's respite to deal with as much as he could instead of being immediately reborn as a new person who didn't remember the damage but held on to the pain. Since he lived two decades of his life in a state very much resembling that possibility, he's especially determined not to inflict that state of pain without memory on any future version of his soul.
I don’t think I’ve said this nearly as often I should have, the narrator is a delight, easy to listen to, and managing to convey a variety of voices with ease. I'm reading the whole series by audiobook and having a great time.
Quentin is trying to find a therapist he’s comfortable with, one where he can work through his issues and be a better person, a better partner, and perhaps someday stop having nightmares about the abuse he endured as a child. Unfortunately, some guy with a YouTube channel and way too much time on his hands has decided to harass Quintin until he confesses to being haunted by his mother's ghost. The actual answer, that he’s telekinetic, would just make things worse, so Quentin, Laurence, and the kids have to hide away from a crowd of enthusiastic ghost hunters hoping to see proof of something that isn't happening. Quentin can't prove a negative, and the ghost hunters won't take no for an answer.
The kidnapping itself is both introduced and resolved here. Because it’s mentioned in the book's description I was expecting it to happen much earlier than it did. My advice to any other readers in the same position would be to enjoy the story that’s happening, since things take a while to escalate to that point. This is not the last book in the series, far from it, and it leaves several things for later. Some are related to therapy, plus dealing with the aftermath of the kidnapping. The teasing nature of the epilogues are leading toward something far more substantial with Rufus, but that hasn’t fully materialized yet.
It’s technically possible for things to make sense to someone who tried to start with SIGILS OF SPRING, partly because Quentin's need to find a therapist means that we get convenient summaries of much of what has happened that he’s trying to work through. Because the series is organized into distinct arcs, grouped by the titles, this is the second book in the second sequence, and anyone determined to jump into the series partway through would do much better with RITES OF WINTER as their starting point.
As is usual for this series, SIGILS OF SPRING is a very character-driven book. The setting is grounded in a particular part of California (with brief forays elsewhere in the last two books), and the generally realistic setting allows for fun specificities to come through without trying to explain all the details of this place. I've never been to California and don't need to in order to get what's happening. The worldbuilding as to place is light, but specific. The worldbuilding around psychic abilities, magic, and deities unfolds gradually throughout the series, letting each book carry only as much as is relevant. This method generally avoids infodumps, except when one of the characters is the one learning the information for the first time. Even then, the specifics are paired with explanations of relevance in a way that generally keeps the details from feeling like a lecture.
In many respects, Quentin and Laurence's relationship has gotten to a much more comfortable stage, it’s everything else that gets stressful. At least as far as the big questions of "do they want to be together for the long term" and "do they have the goal of trying to make this work", the answers seem to be "yes and yes", they're just figuring out what that looks like. In RITES OF WINTER, Quentin made a commitment involving Laurence that's more serious and binding than even marriage would be, and Laurence is trying to process that and take it as the declaration of sincerity that it is. I didn't discuss it in my review of RITES OF WINTER because it's towards the end and would be too much of a spoiler, but I love the way that Quentin bound himself to sharing an afterlife with Laurence without needing to stop being an atheist. It lets him stay true to himself while also taking seriously the fact that Laurence's belief system features unequivocally extant deities. It's also part of him accepting how much he'd been abused, understanding that he'd need an afterlife's respite to deal with as much as he could instead of being immediately reborn as a new person who didn't remember the damage but held on to the pain. Since he lived two decades of his life in a state very much resembling that possibility, he's especially determined not to inflict that state of pain without memory on any future version of his soul.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Murder, and Death
Minor: Self harm, Sexism, Eating disorder, and Ableism