This book took me a lot longer to get through than the other two. Maybe because of the bible-like pages where this book was just so much longer than the others, or maybe it was because of the pacing this time around… Regardless, here we are, in the third book of the series, the final one of this particular story arc before we switch to a new POV with Nesta. And honestly, after “A Court of Wings and Ruin”, I’m very ready for another POV. Well, I want Nesta’s POV. I don’t necessarily care for any more of spooky Elain, either. Perhaps it’s this time in my life where the way Nesta processes her grief and trauma sings to me much more clearly than Feyre’s, but I am so hype for more of my mean girl Nesta after so much of Feyre using/needing her friends and allies to run a distraction for her so she can do something useful.
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This dystopian, post-apocalyptic version of Portland takes an interesting look at the soul and necromancers. In this world, the United States has split into individual city districts, each with their own governing body and with none really seeming to get along. How we got here isn’t really explained, but it’s hinted that it was a nuclear disaster of some sort as the world is plagued by mutants lurking outside of the city’s protective walls. With so much death so readily available, it was only a matter of time before someone figured out how to harness the soul’s energy before the raven’s (think of them as reapers) have a chance to move that soul and their energy into the afterlife. Enter Nyle: a raven drawn to Portland’s dead problem. An overabundance of fate, or coincidence, brings Nyle immediately to Cait, a necromancer who doesn’t know what she is—she’s not a mutant or genetically modified and yet is plagued by the dead—but she is exactly the person Nyle needs to free the dead from Portland. Much like the trapped souls in Portland, an overabundance of luck plagues “Grave Cold”. It feels a bit weird to boil down this novella as a sapphic noir style Supernatural but, in a way, it is. You’ve got deals with demons, supernatural detectives and a secret order of human magi trying to keep them all in line. Not to mention the morally grey angels. So, if you’re familiar with Supernatural, you can see why that comes to mind. But where it diverges is in its discussion of queer relationships and the homophobia surrounding Chicago during this time along with the questionable “therapies” used when someone was outed. For such a quick novella, there was a lot to cover, including the bittersweet heartache that comes with unconditional love. I’m not that familiar with the hoax that this psychological thriller is based on, in fact, I hadn’t even heard of it before this book. All that to say, I don’t really know what is or isn’t pulled from the annals of history, but even a fraction would be a doozy. This book follows Daniel who, in the early 90’s, is experiencing a type of depression that will be very familiar to many people: a quiet type of loneliness and pain where you just want the time to pass and to wake up to something better. For Daniel, a divorced man cheated out of his full pension, that becomes a reality. But when he wakes up from his sojourn of sorts, things only become more complicated. This book, with its medical and psychological thriller elements, felt like it was leading up to a type of moral the entire time, but even now, a day after finishing, I’m not entirely sure I got the message? I’ll just come out and say it: I need more sapphic regency romance like this one! You have Lucy, a burgeoning astronomer trying to take up the mantel of her deceased father all while recovering from crushing heartbreak. And then the Countess of Moth, Catherine, who thought she was done with scientists after her husband’s death, until Lucy shows up on her door demanding to be allowed to undertake the challenge of translating the latest French astronomer’s text into English. Smart, artistic women forging a way for themselves in “proper society” on their own terms where they are given their due AND can remain independent without having to marry themselves off? 10000% yes please! There was only one thing about this book that made it drag at times… |
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