skybridge

euphory.gay · @euphory.gay@bridge.neodb.net

Rated Deeplight 9/10

Wow. This is one of the best YA/children's novels I have ever read. It's stylistically bold (Lovecraftian horror?), thematically rich, and develops the relationships between its characters so, so well. I can see why Hardinge shares with Pullman what she does.

I am not a child. I am, based on my experience reading this book, too old for it to really have been written with me in mind. Some ideas are, in my opinion, a bit overestablished, with conversation after conversation establishing the dynamic of the dysfunctional, abusive friendship that is the core of this novel. But what it accomplishes thematically -- blending fear, power, and the sublime into one coherent message of finding one's identity amid turbulent change -- is downright beautiful. As I read, I tried to think: what would this have meant to me if I had read it in middle school? And I think it would have meant quite a lot. I wish I had known about it then.

Highly recommended.

#book

Published 2025-09-21 19:05 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere