Sometimes, whether it is due to distraction or procrastination, those reads do not always make their way into a review. Not because there was anything wrong with them, but simply because work, writing, editing, or just plain life demanded a shift in priorities. So, with that in mind, I want to take a few days to catch up and share some thoughts on those stories I missed.
There is magic to be found within its pages, along with truly despicable villains, but you need to be patient before those aspects are fully revealed. Adam and Winter are such a fantastic pairing, discovering themselves and the world as they go, and it is their shared journey, providing such a sweet counterpoint to the sourness of society, that makes this such an addictive read. There is a scene near the end, taking place through a keyhole, that was probably my favorite of the entire book.
We get to explore the complexity of pain as pleasure, and we even get to see Charlie wield the whip. There is humor to this chapter as well, with the discovery of a collar by Charlie's parents leading to a conversation that had tears rolling down my cheeks. There are plenty of erotic moments to interweave with the romantic ones, and much to my delight we get to see Charlie find her way into subspace, which I think Lennox described beautifully, including the aftercare and coming down.
There is death in this story, and yet there is also life, and undeath, and things in between. Some of those story threads I suspected were coming to an end, the but ones I enjoyed most were the ones that left me asking, "Whoa, did that really happen?" You need to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy these stories, willing to pay attention and invest your time in what Troop has crafted, but the rewards are more than worth it. The story does meander and times, and is hardly your traditional narrative, but that is part of its charm.
What distinguished this final chapter most for me, however, was the way it sort of bridged - and I use that word deliberately, because this is a story of bridges and Bridges and travelers and Travelers - from supernatural horror to mythic urban fantasy, tying together all the mysteries. There is a line near the end about an "ability to exaggerate the mundane" and that is what Troop does so well, exaggerating, elevating, and excavating the magic beneath the mundane.
Were it not for Sam, I would have given up on this early on, but I wanted to see how she fared, to find out whether she found the acceptance the world so cruelly denied her. I needed to know that she would be okay, that she could navigate the cruelties of the world without the one person who understood, accepted, and supported her. There are some good people in the story and there is some warmth and joy to be found, but it takes wading through a lot of transphobia to get there. It was a difficult read, but with some tightening of the narrative, a little more focus on the present, and the right casting, this could make a brilliant film.
