Status Updates From The Oblivion Bride

"You're - immovable. A pillar that I'm chained to. But then the storm comes, and I wouldn't have it any other way, because without you, I'd be lost."

I can't wait to write a review for this weird little book

Ready for more Caitlin Starling "why wouldn't my characters be gay?" energy

Always promising when we start with a Sappho quote

—to it. I think this book executed themes of grief well; how the emotions can feel like too much, depressive episodes, not wanting to burden/stress others with your hurting, etc. I believe some of Lorelei’s curse can be viewed as a metaphor for grief & one’s responses for it. All in all, wonderful wlw & drama 💌

—The ending was a tad confusing at first, but from what I gathered, Nephele & Lorelei discovered magic could be harnessed from the fetus/future child echo? & they destroyed magic altogether, making the wastelands in between city states not dangerous anymore & also depleting Nephele’s magic abilities. Additionally, I think grief was portrayed well in Lorelei’s character & I liked how Nephele grew to respond—

I really liked this one, the romance worked for me bc of how willing the two characters were to accommodate one another, despite having different personalities & experiences. It’s a novella, so the world building isn’t terribly complex, but I think it made sense for what it was & was also engaging. I loved the dramatic lesbians! Both Lorelei & Nephele were characters I could understand & connect with—

Caitlin Starling has perfected writing lesbian yearning, emotional battles, & listening in order to meet each others needs 🧘🏻‍♀️ No notes 🦭

—her character if we didn’t have that insight. This is my first Starling book with multiple POVs; they seem distinct so far. Lorelei is definitely a character one can sympathize with, considering her grief & lack of agency, something nobody wants to experience. The mystery behind the magic curse is also intriguing, though we don’t know much about it yet.

Interesting so far; I always appreciate how Starling jumps straight into the story, allowing the reader to piece together the exposition/context for themselves rather than info dumping. We learn the characters personalities & behaviors through some narration, but also directly through witnessing their actions. Very refreshing. I’m glad we see that Nephele does empathize with Lorelei, it’d be easy to dislike—

Powering through it since it's just a novella, but I'm having mixed thoughts about this. I'm loving Nephele so far, though I hope the world building gets explored a tad bit more. It feels like the reader has been thrown in halfway through a story.

Where is my wife 😭😭😭