Synopsis (From Goodreads)
Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in this defiantly joyful adventure set in California’s San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts.
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six.
When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka’s ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She’s found her final candidate.
But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn’t have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan’s kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul’s worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.
As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.
My Review
4 out of 5 stars
This book is pitched as Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. I definitely agree with the Good Omens comparison. It’s a little quirky with a Queen of Hell teaching star violinists in exchange for their soul and an alien family turning their spaceship into a donut shop in LA. I think The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (TLWSAP) comparison is maybe due to the Aliens? But I don’t quite get those vibes. TLWSAP is very warm and fuzzy while this one is a harder read. Our virtuoso, Katrina Nguyen, that the Queen of Hell, Shizuka Satomi. ends up choosing to teach is transgender and disowned by her family. She’s on the run with no money and just the violin on her back with hopes of a friend she knew from two years ago may take her in. Her life is difficult and full of challenges that she had to overcome. Shizuka is there to support Katrina and help her see that being a person isn’t a big deal. That warm fuzzy acceptance is there, but it’s still not without external conflicts. Also, in regards to the alien family, the aliens are an allegory for United States immigration, so there’s definitely some commentary there that also isn’t warm and fuzzy. I enjoyed this book a lot more because of the conflicts that the characters have to face and overcome, but I just want to temper those looking for warm fuzzy feels. Again, it does still have an overarching message of acceptance, but TLWTAP doesn’t acknowledge the dark path to get there.
Hm, can I say anything more about the book without comparing it to it’s pitch? That honestly wraps it up pretty nicely. It covers the main reason why I liked it– it was quirky and I learned about some of the experiences transgenders and immigrants might face. It’s definitely more character driven than plot, and the quirkiness is a large draw. At it’s core, it has a lot of heart, and you’ll find yourself rooting for Katrina Nguyen to overcome it all and succeed in her music.
Thank you to the publisher for providing a free eARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
See this review on Goodreads and on StoryGraph.
Mad Scibrarian 