Even Though I Knew the End

This book manages to cram an incredible amount of story into a very short space--and it does it well! It's taking liberties with some emotional shorthand, but that's absolutely fine given the end result. This is a story that either had to fit into the space it was given or be allowed to sprawl over 600+ pages. The world building is intriguing, the characters are interesting, and the story gets told.

My only regret is that I want more. I wasn't left wondering about loose ends with regards to the story that we were given, but there's definitely room to keep going should the author desire that. Though some may feel the story ended exactly where it should have--and that's valid too.

Nothing is wasted here. Little details that enrich the environment of the characters are used, called back, or relevant. Each interaction has meaning. Most of the characters have value. It manages to squeeze in biting commentary on how America has historically treated women and the LGBT+ community. "Chicago had loved us once ... But the cops cracked down on the pansy clubs in 1935, and these days, Chicago didn't love our kind at all." Dang!

All this while not losing the thread of the story nor failing to get us invested in its characters? It was as impressive to read as it was enjoyable.

Short, fast, intense, and overall a really fun read.

I read this whole book in about two hours. While the beginning didn't really grab me, the clues that led to the twist were there from the start, and I had a really fun time picking them out during the finale. The particular phrases the narrator used were annoying before they became charming, but I feel they lent to strong characterization more than hurt my opinion of the story.

The worldbuilding in this book was really cool. The more I think about the setup of the world and the way the magic system works, the more I want to learn! I especially liked how the author portrayed angels and the idea of heaven, as well as magic practicioners' connections to the morals of the bible.

3.4/5 stars rounded down, might change once I've digested the book a bit more. I recommend it for readers that want a quick, light read to easily finish in a few days, or two and a half hours if they really have the time (like I did lol). Good for lovers of noir romances, murder mysteries, and magic. Happy reading y'all. :)

This picked up on a couple of genres that have been fairly well-trod, but was so well written they seemed fresh and propulsive. Helen and Edith were likeable and relatable, and the prose was direct but enjoyable and descriptive. The use of magic was well thought out. I thought the short length benefited the book, it made its points and got in and out.

One nitpick is that a lot of the characters' ages seemed off. Chronologically they were mid-20s, but it feels like Helen was written as older.

The thing that stands out most to be is that it's written so well it leaves you wanting more, but also explains to you why the story's a closed loop, and shouldn't continue beyond what was written.

Even though Helen knew the end, it's not going to stop me from speculating that their story after the book plays out differently. Hey, it's happened before.

“Even if you succeed, you’re still going to Hell.”
“But not yet.”

I picked up this novella intending to read maybe 1/3 of it before bed. I ended up inhaling it all in one go, then feeling too emotional to go to sleep for over an hour. Absolutely no regrets.

Honestly, I adored pretty much everything about this tiny book. The impeccable noir vibes. The cold, alienating allure of the setting. The complexity of it, with all the magical orders and wars between heaven and hell, painted in the lightest strokes due to the format constraints and yet so vivid. The bittersweetness of it all, and the reminder that sometimes you pay a high price and don't get everything you want/need, but what you do get is still worth it. And, of course, the characters. My, the characters.

Helen is definitely going to stick with me for a long while. She has all the trappings of the noir detective, but underneath the cynicism you'd expect from one, she has so much love in her. Love that pushes her, over and over, to sacrifice so much for the sake of her loved ones, no matter the consequences—and no matter their opinion. Is it selfish or altruistic? Both. Love like that tends to be both.

I absolutely loved the romantic storyline. Edith is just as compelling and complex as Helen, and the bond between them is so strong. Honestly, as much as I love regular romance novels focused on characters coming together, I'm a sucker for established relationships in fiction. Love stories, after all, don't end when the first set of obstacles is defeated and the couple settles on the decision to tackle the rest of their lives together. That's only ever, I believe, where the real story starts. I love seeing couples (or for that matter policules, but that's irrelevant to this particular book, of course) actually working together as an established unit. The stakes always feel so much higher when it's a long-standing love/relationship being tested; if something goes wrong, the characters wouldn't just lose a chance at a happy ever after, they'll lose everything they've already built. And so when they get to keep it, the triumph is so much sweeter. 

This book does precisely this kind of thing so well. The bond and the feelings between Helen and Esther shine in every scene. They're so close, and yet they both keep such big secrets from each other, for really valid reasons—and when those secrets come to light, they accept it and move on together with this new information. I don't know, there's just something so special about it, and how perfectly it's interwoven with the overall mystery plot, all the demonic/angelic fantasy trappings, and the subplot about Helen's past and her relationship with her brother. So much good stuff packed into such a small book. 

Also: that one morning scene with Esther and the sparrows? And the one where Helen was reading The Great Gatsby? And absolutely every time Marlowe showed up on the page? Perfection. All of it. The kind of scenes that are going to live rent-free at the back of my mind for months or years to come.

As far as books that I bought simply because I liked the cover/title/quick blurb when I saw it in the store, I've certainly done worse before. Maybe I should've spent a little longer researching it though because this book wasn't at all what I was expecting to be, and that's entirely on me.

I was very into the first third or so of the book: a woman detective in noir Chicago scopes out crime scenes and dips into secret lesbian speakeasies with some loose magical elements floating around the fringes. But then the magic started getting impossible to ignore and went full-blown Constantine with angels vs. demons and Deus ex Machina scenes. Kinda wished the supernatural elements stayed subtle, but that's a personal preference. I also got the sense that the protagonist was just kind of swept along by events happening around her and only made a significant decision at the climax. A little more agency on her end would've been appreciated.

Still, at 130-ish pages, this was the correct length for this kind of story. If Goodreads allowed half-star increments, I'd probably put it at 2.5, but I'll round up because lesbians.

A delightful and romantic sapphic noir


A supernatural noir whodunit, with a queer female protagonist — a magical detective — working for “Marlowe”, a rich, queer female client, in 1940s Chicago. We see a glimpse of the underground queer club scene and of involuntary confinement in an asylum of another queer woman (CN), as well as of a loving fulfilled relationship between the protagonist and her religiously-devoted girlfriend that is key to the protagonist and her motivations, while the characters navigate both the societal expectations of women in the real-world as well as those of the magical society of Polk’s worldbuilding.

Despite its short length, this novella took me by surprise so many times. The noir plot and theme blended with the Supernatural urban fantasy seamlessly and the pre-Stonewall queerness reminded me pleasingly of both [b:Last Night at the Telegraph Club|35224992|Last Night at the Telegraph Club|Malinda Lo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593457992l/35224992.SY75.jpg|56568979] and [b:Out of Time, Into You|59427925|Out of Time, Into You|Jay Bell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1634855266l/59427925.SY75.jpg|93606013].

Clearly I need to read a lot more of Mx Polk.