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A review by jbellomy
Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
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
Star ratings were not made for books like this. I found it alternatively baffling and gorgeous. My main gripe(?) was the writing style. "Overwritten" doesn't really capture it. Descriptions of the most mundane acts are described in sideways, flowery prose, which is often my jam--it worked for me ~70% of the time--but I could never get a full grasp on what I was looking at, & never felt grounded in the slightest. Probably intentional (given the strange-yet-grounded nature of the magic) but it hampered me in several ways:
- it took a ridiculously long time for me to finish this, even though I mostly enjoyed it, because I only picked it up when I was in the exact right mood
- I have the feeling I missed a lot of romantic build-up. I kept waiting forSam's character to materialize in a way that only really happened for me in the last 40ish pages of the book.
- idk, it just made me feel kind of stupid in a way that was frustrating?
I prefer prose that goes in and out of the slippery, verbose description to provide something solid to hold onto every once in a while. I'm harping on this because it was the one recurring issue that stopped this from becoming a new favorite. Low magic, angst, sweat, blood, academia, ghosts?!?!, GHOSTS AS METAPHOR?!?!?, GHOSTS AS **GAY REPRESSION** METAPHOR?!?!?!?!??! -- come on, that shit's MY shit. There were so many moments, sometimes whole chapters, that worked so so well. At one point I felt like I was on drugs.
(EDIT: it has just been revealed to me that Mandelo once wrote Kavinsky fic, which is fucking hilarious because initially my review was just going to be "Dream Thieves for 20-something freaks" but that felt too trite.)
Anyway, I'll probably give Mandelo another try, but it might take me a while.
- it took a ridiculously long time for me to finish this, even though I mostly enjoyed it, because I only picked it up when I was in the exact right mood
- I have the feeling I missed a lot of romantic build-up. I kept waiting for
- idk, it just made me feel kind of stupid in a way that was frustrating?
I prefer prose that goes in and out of the slippery, verbose description to provide something solid to hold onto every once in a while. I'm harping on this because it was the one recurring issue that stopped this from becoming a new favorite. Low magic, angst, sweat, blood, academia, ghosts?!?!, GHOSTS AS METAPHOR?!?!?, GHOSTS AS **GAY REPRESSION** METAPHOR?!?!?!?!??! -- come on, that shit's MY shit. There were so many moments, sometimes whole chapters, that worked so so well. At one point I felt like I was on drugs.
(EDIT: it has just been revealed to me that Mandelo once wrote Kavinsky fic, which is fucking hilarious because initially my review was just going to be "Dream Thieves for 20-something freaks" but that felt too trite.)
Anyway, I'll probably give Mandelo another try, but it might take me a while.