(no subject)

[skygiants]

Reminded today by aamcnamara that I should get around to writing up Uncommon Charm, the first book in Neon Hemlock's 2022 novella series, which I did indeed find extremely charming!

The narrator/heroine is Julia, a Bright Young Thing who has gotten kicked out of her 1920s' girls' school and banished back to a dreadfully dull existence with her magician mother, enlivened only by the surprise arrival of her surprise cousin Simon; Simon is a.) illegitimate b.) Jewish c.) talented and interested in magic and thus has been sent to train with Julia's mother when his initial stay with his father and aristocratic half-siblings did not turn out to be a great success.

Julia and Simon are not much alike, but they have a shared queerness as well as a shared willingness to overturn some of the less pleasant stones in their complex family history and this is enough to form a stalwart bond as well as driving the book forward -- or maybe not forward so much as around, or inward; the plot of the novella is not really about forward motion and much more about moving through and reconsidering the past and the ripples it leaves on the present. The past in this book holds some fairly dark things, which for years have been lightly and politely skated over; Julia's narrative voice is light and bright and witty also, which works in interesting tension with the scathing excavation of family ghosts (both figurative and literal) at the center of the book.

I enjoyed it a lot! It's quite short but I think the brevity works to tell a story about a specific moment in what's clearly an ongoing story -- I don't mean this in the sense that there has to be more (although I would enjoy more) but more in the sense that a number of characters make fairly brief appearances on the page and all of them give off a vibe of having rich and complete lives to get back to once they're off the page again.

While I'm at it I also read the second novella in the Neon Hemlock series, Let the Mountains Be My Grave, which did not really work for me at all. The plot was fine -- it's about gay Italian partisans using weird divine magic to fight Nazis who also have weird divine magic -- but the dialogue is often heavy-handed and the characters felt pretty one-note. For example, literally everything the communist love interest says can be more or less summed up in this poignant farewell moment:

"Fuck, Veleno," Rame whispers, "I think I've fallen for you harder than capitalism will under the proletarian revolution."

So right now we're at a 50% hit rate which honestly is not bad! Looking forward to seeing what I think of the next two!

Comments

[asakiyume]

Ha! A story could have one (1) line like the one you quote from the one with the gay Italian partisans. But not more. And ALL lines being like that, ouch.

You're very good in this writeup at hinting about the darkness in the story you like without at all revealing what it is! (That sounds backhanded but I don't mean it to be: I'm genuinely impressed. If anything I have more respect for the darkness, not knowing what manner of darkness it is.)

[skygiants]

lol thank you! The fine art of writing up books without spoiling them completely is ... one that I often fail at so I am glad you found it successful here. :D

[conuly]

"Fuck, Veleno," Rame whispers, "I think I've fallen for you harder than capitalism will under the proletarian revolution."

I just laughed for three minutes straight.

[movingfinger]

I'm sure this sounds super romantic and sexy in Italian.

[skygiants]

I ALSO DID THE SAME WHEN I READ THIS LINE

[chestnut_pod]

If that poignant farewell moment knows it's hilarious, I would be very happy to give that a shot…

If not, I am still very happy to learn about 1920s Jewish magicians!

[skygiants]

I would love for someone else to read it and tell me if it thinks the jokes are on purpose, tbh -- I've been feeling guilty that perhaps it's been supposed to be funny the whole time and I've simply been judging it too harshly. I need a second opinion!

[sovay]

Julia's narrative voice is light and bright and witty also, which works in interesting tension with the scathing excavation of family ghosts (both figurative and literal) at the center of the book.

Okay, cool.

I am really sorry that the magical gay Italian partisans didn't work out, because otherwise I would be all over that milieu.

[skygiants]

Yeah me too! I was stoked for the premise! but alas. perhaps it will be the opening point of a broader magical gay Italian partisans subgenre ...

[sovay]

perhaps it will be the opening point of a broader magical gay Italian partisans subgenre ...

I would be delighted with this outcome.

[osprey_archer]

"Fuck, Veleno," Rame whispers, "I think I've fallen for you harder than capitalism will under the proletarian revolution."

This is hilarious! But I'm assuming it's actually meant to be heartfelt? Oh, dear.

[kore]

Just imagine poor Gennady's reaction!

[osprey_archer]

Gennady whispers it in Daniel's ear as Daniel tries to fend him off by smacking him in the face with a pillow, but Daniel is laughing too hard to aim properly.

Apparently in the 1960s, "Hey, comrade, want to build communism together?" (in a tone laden with heavy irony) was a big pick-up line in Moscow.

[kore]

AWW I still love them <33

"Hey hey baby wanna hammer my sickle?" ....no, that needs work.

[skygiants]

asdj;kfldj;s thank you extremely for this delightful Honeytrap bonus extra in my post

[evewithanapple]

"Fuck, Veleno," Rame whispers, "I think I've fallen for you harder than capitalism will under the proletarian revolution."

Wasn't this a joke tumblr post? I swear this was a joke tumblr post.

[skygiants]

I would believe it!! but the thing is that every one of Rame's lines is like this ....

[evewithanapple]

Oh no, wait, I figured it out - I was thinking of the Mountain Goats. "Our love is like the border between Greece and Albania."

[lirazel]

The first one sounds fun!

"Fuck, Veleno," Rame whispers, "I think I've fallen for you harder than capitalism will under the proletarian revolution."

Is this...at all tongue-in-cheek?

[skygiants]

I would love to believe that it is! I think I need a second opinion to tell me if the jokes were on purpose ... the thing is that the overall tone of this book was so grim that every one of these lines just bodied me out of left field.

[copperfyre]

Uncommon Charm sounds great! And I’m going to be thinking about that line from the magic Italian partisans book all day and giggling every time.

[skygiants]

Although the book overall did not work for me, the line tbh will stick with me forever, and is that not craft?

[adrian_turtle]

"Fuck, Veleno," Rame whispers, "I think I've fallen for you harder than capitalism will under the proletarian revolution."

I thought you were the one who pointed me towards Beyond the Pale, by Elena Dykewoman (of blessed memory), which felt somewhat similar. Only that one was catnip, somehow.

[skygiants]

asjdkf;sdskj I would not have thought to draw the comparison tbh but I see where you're getting it from .... anyway yes I did enjoy and write about Beyond the Pale and it did sometimes approach this tone but never quite so, uh, directly, IMO.

[lilysea]

Uncommon Charm, the first book in Neon Hemlock's 2022 novella series, which I did indeed find extremely charming!

Thank you for the review, it does sound interesting! ^_^

It's a shame about the second book in the series...

[skygiants]

Not everything in an imprint is going to be for everyone I suppose! Still excited to read the third and fourth they put out this year.