You Always Cry At Endings

Just to get this out of the way: yes, I have read and loved most of SJ's Cute Mutants universe books. You do not have to have done that in order to read this. In some ways it might actually be an interesting entry point into their work. Who knows?

This is one of those books I'll be thinking about for a while. The author has been referring to this novella as “genre-bent” in their social media posts about it, and I think that's perfect; the way they move through various genre conventions, and lovingly poke at them along the way, is an essential part of the plot of the book, and to elaborate further would be to spoil it.

The way SJ writes in second person present tense is also integral to the book. The tense in itself tends to get some flak, but in this book it does serve to bring you into the events at hand, sometimes reaching out of the page to describe something you did recently, or are doing as you read the words. And again, to elaborate further would be to spoil.

One more thing I will say is that, if you read this all the way through, it rewards a second read. The earlier parts do make sense the first time around, but reading it the second time unveils a different layer to all of it. It's a very beautiful read, and it forced me to look at myself in a slightly different way by the time the title delivered its promise. Absolutely highly recommended.