Summer in the City of Roses

NOMINATED FOR THE 2022 URSULA K. LE GUIN PRIZE FOR FICTION

A fun YA fairytale-inspired story that gets weirder as it goes on. I particularly liked the themes of found family, (body) positivity, a great take on a non-binary character (I only noticed about halfway through when it became very obvious in the story, because pronouns were never used for the character) as well as some good neurodiversity.

It's a fairly nuanced work, even if it feels like the characters aren't ever in any real danger and the plot always felt a little bit contrived and lost me near the end. Definitely reads like the type of quirky teen read I probably would've adored in high school, but now it mostly left me wanting more.

I loved the way this book was mostly realistic for the first 2/3s, but has enough of a hint of magical realism that when it becomes the main plot of the story, it doesn't feel like as abrupt a change as it might otherwise have been. The characters here are all so fantastic, and I loved Iph and Orr's distinct voices, as well as the different ways they relate to their shared experiences.