”This is the paradox of tolerance, the treason of free speech: We hesitate to admit that some people are just fucking evil and need to be stopped.”

This story is a fascinating response to The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. It does a phenomenal job of making the reader ponder what might it look like if we actually fought for a world of tolerance, love, and safety.

The description of hatred as an infection that has to be purged from a society, not by eliminating the ones who are hated but by those doing the hating is a fascinating inversion of how the world so often works.

Short and thought provoking. A beautiful challenge: ”Now. Let’s get to work.”

**The work is available for free online via lightspeed magazine if anyone wants to check it out. Honestly, might expand my review later or add some forum posts because it is such a packed short story.

I really wanted to enjoy this book because it is such a fun, fresh take on the magical world/school existing within the modern world. Especially for a generation that grew up on "magic in plain sight" fiction, getting to see a parental perspective into a new imagining of a magical world seemed like it would be really interesting.

Unfortunately, the characters and pacing were both a miss for me. While the concepts the story is grappling with (especially seeing magic as a stand in for disabilities was very interesting- the struggle for a parent who wants their kid to be "normal" and the strain that puts on a marriage).

I think a lot of my frustrations could be fixed with some big shifts to pacing. The first almost 70% of the book is spent with Vivian wallowing in self pity, forcing her husband away, and trying to fit in with the "gate keeper" moms the way her parents did. Spending so much time in this space (while relatable) was so frustrating and exhausting. Additionally, this meant the last 30% was just an avalanche of character development and discovery! And this might be some personal bias- but I really prefer a more evenly paced book. I know many books these days tend to have the "avalanche" finale and it does work in some ways because when you finish the book, you're finishing it on the high of the crazy adventures crammed into the finale of the book. I think that a good finale can help readers forgive a rough start (or in this case 70%) to a book, but I just am not feeling all that gracious today 😂

Pacing aside, I just wanted more from the characters! I wanted to get to know Aria more. I wanted to get to know the other parents more. I wanted to get to know the different magical creatures more! We do get some cool insight in the last 30%, but it just made me even more frustrated that it felt so crammed in at the end instead of dispersed throughout the story.

I was really hoping this book would fill my heart the way House in the Cerulean Sea did the first time I read it a few years ago, but this just couldn't compare. The lack of character development (or even just exploration) outside of Vivian really hindered this story and made me feel like I was missing out on getting to know the world Rozakis created.

It is a fine book, but I had high hopes that just weren't met.