Liralen's Reviews > All Our Pretty Songs

Judging by other reviews, this is largely a love-it-or-hate-it book. It's not hard to see why -- the stream-of-consciousness-like narration, the nameless protagonist, the quiet shift into the paranormal and surreal.

To be honest, the only thing that really bothered me is that this turned out to be not a standalone but the first installment in a trilogy. I like it when things don't end tidily for the characters. I like it when love is not the be all and end all, when characters make mistakes and do things that render them less likable, when they accept -- and like -- themselves as they are but also wish things were different.

How badly I want to save her and how badly I want to be her, beautiful and doomed in a pretty dress. How badly I want someone else to do the saving for once. (page 137)

These are not perfect characters. They fall prey to insta-love and immediate gratification; they are not always fair; they are not necessarily people you would want to trust. They're also a lot more interesting that way.

There's a much higher level of acceptance of the supernatural here than one might ordinarily see, and while that's not fully explained, it adds to the sort of...floaty...tone of the book.

But as for the trilogy: why? I mean, I'll read the second book (and probably the third), and hopefully the writing will be as dreamily purple (not normally a compliment, but I'll make an exception) as it is here -- but whether continuing the story will be an improvement over this appealingly messy ending remains to be seen.

This is a story about love, but not the kind of love you think. You'll see. (page 2)