The Half Life of Valery K

i love love love pulley's way of developing the relationships between her main characters, which happens quietly, without grandeur and dramatics, but with a heart-achy truth to it. even after reading only two of her books it's clear there's a style to it, but she pulls it off. and valery is a wonderfully compelling character. honest and real and kind and so dedicated to reducing suffering despite all he's been put through. you just want to hug him through all of it (carefully).

the issue i take, which is something i also noticed in the kingdoms, is the sudden... disappearance of women from the narrative. Spoilerin this book in particular i don't think i can really make a good case for why anna and the kids had to be left behind. we did not get to spend nearly enough time with valery and shenkov afterwards to process the meaning of that decision and the impact it must have had on shenkov, and because of that it feels just a little bit too easy to whisk the woman away. i appreciate pulley's dedication to giving her queer characters a somewhat safe and happy ending. i just don't think that has to be nor should it be at the cost of the women.