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123 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 12, 2023
“Sometimes, you cannot survive and still be who you were.”
“They were changing, and Cleric Thien had always said that change hurt, but it was bearable if you watched it, if you accepted it and knew that it was always coming.”
“In that moment, they were and weren’t the cleric Chih had grown up with. This was someone new, and something in Chih ached, because growing up, growing older, was always a kind of loss, even if what was gained repaid it all and then some.”
“I would be honored to hear your story [...] Whether it is long or short, broken or whole, sad or joyful or angry or strange, I want to hear”
Sometimes, you cannot survive and still be who you were.
We are not beasts, and I know this because no goat grieves as I do. No raven will have her own wings cut so she can no longer fly. No crocodile will bear a wound because it is better than forgetting.
I wish I were a beast.
“Will I dishonor Cleric Thien’s memory, their chosen life and their work, and allow them to be buried under a name that is no longer their own? Is that what you are asking me?”
No one is as they were five years ago, or two years ago, or a week ago, or a moment ago. If you love someone, you must let them change.
“It was a lesson in the purpose that Singing Hills serves, and how memory is greater than death.”
This new installment follows Chih returning to the Singing Hills Abbey after three years, where they discover their mentor has died and where two sisters with royal mammoths are at the gates demanding the body. I was excited when I found out that this novella would take place in the abbey, as it’s a place that has been mentioned since The Empress of Salt and Fortune. I really liked getting to explore the aviary and the introduction of other neixin, especially Absolute Brilliance and Chiep.
This novella is a little bit different from the previous ones, as it focuses more on the conflict that is taking place in the abbey rather than on collecting stories from other people. And although I liked it, I have to admit this one is my least favorite of the series so far, precisely because my favorite element, which is the characters sharing stories, doesn’t happen until the last 35%. But I really appreciated the overall themes of grief and memories, and how the author pinpoints the fact that we may only know one version of a person.
“On the border between the north and the south, the nights cast long shadows, and sometimes, the only thing you can do to drive back the things that live in darkness is to tell stories.”
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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