Unfit to Print

Instant favorite. I'm always amazed at KJ Charles' wizardry, but I really don't understand how there is this much emotional depth in a relatively short work.

This story actually conveyed a truth to me about a formative relationship in my own life, something I've been unhappy about for years, partly because I didn't understand. I'm in awe at that. I would've said I was too old to read a book that would reframe my perspective so dramatically, but I guess not.

Trying to think about this book on its own merits, though - well, the writing is really top-quality. Here's some amazing characterization of Vikram via his reaction to an environment:

The Strand was a wide thoroughfare with imposing tall frontages, fit for the capital of empire; Holywell Street was its disreputable, drink-sodden uncle with his trouser buttons undone. It was narrow and lined with sagging Jacobean or even Elizabethan houses, their black timbers barely showing against soot-darkened plaster, with pointed gables and overhanging storeys that conspired together to block out what little daylight there was.

To me, Gil and Vikram grew up like entwined trees, supporting and encouraging each other's better natures. When they were torn apart, they both ended up a little deformed, and a little less themselves than they had been together. It was extremely satisfying to watch them work their way back to each other. I don't know if a relationship that fulfilling can exist in real life, but I loved reading about it.