These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein

Source: NetGalley – Many thanks to the publisher!
TL;DR: Some weird choices were made here, but I didn’t dislike my time. I would definitely read more from the author.

Plot: A transwoman returns to her former home, a commune of anarchists to solve the murder of an old ex. Clones start popping up!
Characters: The entirety of the book takes place from Dora’s PoV and I’m pretty sure she and I wouldn’t get alone. The others were fairly standard fair – nothing stand out
Setting: The setting was well realized, I could picture everything clearly and enjoyed that.
Science Fiction: This was bare bones at best – mostly just there to serve the plot so don’t go in looking for a hard SF mystery.

Thoughts:

These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart is a tightly packed murder mystery novella about a woman solving the murder of her ex within the anarchist commune she used to call home. It’s been years since Dora left the commune but a friend brings her back to view the body of her former lover. She quickly notices it’s more the sight of a murder than the sight of an overdose (as it’s stagged to look) and she takes off to figure out what happened.

The story is dark, and noir in vibes and style. Dora is a exactly what you’d expect in that. She’s weirdly capable, supposedly an expert in security systems though we’re told this more than shown it. Additionally she’s hunted by clones as she proceeds in her investigation and that leads her to fighting, and well which seems to fight the type. She wouldn’t be someone I’d enjoy having tea with but she kept the story moving and at times showed real introspection and interesting thoughts.

The biggest issue I had with the book, and you’ll find it if you search enough reviews, is the romantic choice in the story. It was… bold. Uncomfortable and definitely not one I support, but bold. Besides that it was a bit on the predictable side and I wish we’d had a bit more nuance than what we got. It was very clear with it’s statements and used very standard story features to say those things.

It’ll definitely work for some but not if you’re opposed to the super noir and dark stories. If you’re interested give it a shot!

3 out of 5 Shady Big Corporations