A review by wardenred
Tenderness: A Kink & Showtunes story by Xan West

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

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

4.5

She tried to picture them filling the space with their sounds and their bodies and the smells of potluck, but the apartment felt so damn empty. Like there was a gaping hole Mara had left. She could see gaps in the bookcase, empty places on the walls. Everywhere, things would be missing, all these tiny holes reminding her she’d been dumped.

A lovely, aptly named short story about a queer found family coming together to support one of theirs through a sudden break-up. There's something about Xan West's style that always resonates with me so deeply. On the surface, it's rather simplistic, with a lot of repetitiveness and telling instead of showing, but it takes but a couple of pages to get completely engrossed in all the kindness and humanity hidden in each word. Despite the sadness of the situation at the heart of the story, it's so entirely hopeful and warm and full of friendship and love. Pretty much the definition of slice of life and found family. I want more of the same! Maybe I should re-read Their Troublesome Crush soon—I did have to dig out my copy anyway to double-check I was remembering correctly who everyone was. 

I do wish there was a bit more... ambiguity? Complexity? To the break-up itself, rather than straightforwardly painting it as a situation where the MC is better off alone anyway, just as long as she can sort out the practical/financial matters. But at the same time, the story depicts the immediate aftermath of the break-up and it kind of makes sense for the character to focus on those aspects to pull through. Though I guess if I didn't remember Judith from the full-length novel, I might have felt differently on whether it makes sense or not, so there is that.

However, given that I did remember Judith well enough, it was easy to overlook this and just bask in the vibe of supportiveness and chosen family love. Also, I just want to note that the story contains the most relatable depiction of dealing with a stress-induced migraine ever, as well as the most relatable depiction of that viscerally scary and healing experience of being seen and cared for. Big kudos for those.

I'm sad that Xan West is no longer with us to deliver more stories about these wonderful fictional people in that wonderful unique style. But I'm grateful that I can read and re-read the books they had written.