God this was amazing. What a wonderful ending, I almost cried.
An adventure set in California’s San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts.
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six.
When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka’s ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She’s found her final candidate.
But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn’t have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan’s kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul’s worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.
As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.
I went into this pretty much blind, just knowing this was SciFi, and I was initially shocked at how… mundane everything was. Despite all the fantastical elements of demonic contracts, interstellar stargates, and the intense contemporary elements of a runaway trans teen and the world of violinists, the story overall felt very down-to-earth, rooted in the everyday life of the three main characters (and the couple side ones).
And I loved it. All the elements mixed incredibly well. So heartfelt and emotional, and despite all the devastating details, it was so so hopeful. For every blow there was so much uplifting and love, and I really adored it.
~iam
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