stay_cool_mommio 's review for:

5.0

I started this book almost a year ago but then DNFFN’d it because the first chapter was so viscerally horrific that I didn’t think I’d be able to endure the rest until I was in the right headspace. The way ML Wang manages that start with the rest of the book she has written is nothing short of masterful. I read a lot of very tightly structured novellas and short stories and this had that sort of a sailors knot of looping and intersecting themes and ideas that all pull together so satisfyingly by the end. I truly loved it, as much as it was beyond challenging to read at times. I usually write more in my reviews but this one is such a challenge to praise without giving major spoilers. Suffice to say: ML Wang has written a masterful tale that unflinchingly looks at societal horror and what we can do to survive it. And it does so couched within a vivid magical world (with a magic system like computer programming!) and enacted by complex, carefully-wrought characters. 

And as always, the spectacular Moira Quirk makes the audiobook an absolute joy and pleasure to read, despite the dark subject matter.