The Bedlam Stacks

I absolutely loved this. I also loved The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, but this is the better book, in my opinion. They both stand alone, but a major character appears in both; it would be better to read Watchmaker first.

I would call this a queerplatonic relationship, but there's much more to the story also. Because the book has elements from a few genres and doesn't follow many genre conventions, I never really knew what would happen next, which was exciting and unsettling. I was especially anxious when Keita showed up in the first flashback, because when Merrick first mentioned him, it seemed like he was afraid of Keita. But that all made sense in the end.

The fantasy aspects of the story are woven cleverly into the story, and seem reasonable in context, although they're all very strange. I guessed at what was going on with some of the book's mysteries, but I totally underestimated the emotional impact of everything as it unfolded in the story, because the relationship between the main characters is so subtle. I cried a lot, which I rarely do over books. But the actual ending is not unhappy.

My review definitely does not do justice to this beautiful book. It's going to be really difficult for me to wait until the author releases the sequel to Watchmaker next year.