It's very well written and does exactly what the author appears to be aiming for, and I'm not at all surprised it achieved high sales figures (one of Anders' stated aims iirc). It's also not aimed at my demographic or reading preferences, but many of my friends read it back around 2016 and enthused about it and I can see why.
It's structured like a traditional "coming-of-age" fairytale: only the two protagonists are fully real characters (this isn't an insult to the writing - it's clearly part of the style), the story proceeds through a series of vignettes, and despite the content having extremely disturbing moments there's a "happy" ending (which Anders earned by constructing the novel so carefully).
The themes are personal "coming-of-age" in the traditional sense of becoming an adult who is capable of being responsible for oneself and others, and love in a variety of forms (romantic, familial, twisted, community/society, nature/habitat - loving relationships generally and how finding balance within those is The Quest). There isn't overt transness (2016 and aiming for a bestseller, obv) but there is a lot of nerd-as-outcast and personal transformation as expected from a contemporary coming-of-age fantasy novel.
The vignettes, and this isn't spoilery because it's irrelevant to the themes of the story, are each based on Anders' internal List of Genre Tropes Millennials Like (no, rly) from magical boarding school to giant mecha, lol (again - she was intentionally trying to write a popular novel and she made it work).
All this stood out from the pack a lot more in 2016. Worth reading if these themes are your bag - it's about 430 pages but it's a fast read. Might mess with readers' emotional comfort zone but it has a relatively upbeat ending.
Warnings: substance abuse, disordered eating (and sleeping) almost valorised in one incidence, and because it's set in similar world to ours but in the near future also background environmental collapse but with a more upbeat ending than might be expected from the content.
Since my trans-related reading spree a couple of months ago this was the last transy novel on my TBR so I'm glad I read it and I very much admire Anders' skill as an author, even if her faves aren't mine. :-)
Ooh, thank you for the detailed response. I didn't know that context about what she was aiming for, that's also good to know. I don't normally go for coming of age stories but I'm still intrigued, so I'll have to get it out when I'm in the mood.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2025-03-27 10:37 am (UTC)It's structured like a traditional "coming-of-age" fairytale: only the two protagonists are fully real characters (this isn't an insult to the writing - it's clearly part of the style), the story proceeds through a series of vignettes, and despite the content having extremely disturbing moments there's a "happy" ending (which Anders earned by constructing the novel so carefully).
The themes are personal "coming-of-age" in the traditional sense of becoming an adult who is capable of being responsible for oneself and others, and love in a variety of forms (romantic, familial, twisted, community/society, nature/habitat - loving relationships generally and how finding balance within those is The Quest). There isn't overt transness (2016 and aiming for a bestseller, obv) but there is a lot of nerd-as-outcast and personal transformation as expected from a contemporary coming-of-age fantasy novel.
The vignettes, and this isn't spoilery because it's irrelevant to the themes of the story, are each based on Anders' internal List of Genre Tropes Millennials Like (no, rly) from magical boarding school to giant mecha, lol (again - she was intentionally trying to write a popular novel and she made it work).
All this stood out from the pack a lot more in 2016. Worth reading if these themes are your bag - it's about 430 pages but it's a fast read. Might mess with readers' emotional comfort zone but it has a relatively upbeat ending.
Warnings: substance abuse, disordered eating (and sleeping) almost valorised in one incidence, and because it's set in similar world to ours but in the near future also background environmental collapse but with a more upbeat ending than might be expected from the content.
Since my trans-related reading spree a couple of months ago this was the last transy novel on my TBR so I'm glad I read it and I very much admire Anders' skill as an author, even if her faves aren't mine. :-)
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Date: 2025-03-27 09:34 pm (UTC)