Jess’s Reviews > The Oblivion Bride > Status Update

—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—