A queer, historical fantasy, romance book set in an alternative 1899 NYC
Calix Addington is left holding a book bought by his playboy-esque friend, Lawton, at a book auction. Lawton falls foul of some seedy characters and hands the book off to Calix as they flee.
The book is set in New York City in 1899, and Calix goes on to form a magical triumvirate with previously estranged couple Ethaniel and Aubrey as they attempt to unravel what the magical book portends.
This book was well outside my usual genres, and I found its whimsy something of a struggle. Starling didn’t draw me into the characters’ arcs, perhaps because of the nature of the book, a hybrid historical fantasy with gay male characters. Of the three main characters, I found Ethaniel the most likeable, while Calix and Aubrey both had annoying personas. Calix was too naïve and trusting, while I never quite understood Aubrey’s life.
The magic throughout the book had no form, purpose, or provenance. It was ethereal,
something to do with patterns in cloth perhaps, but with no raison d’etre. It existed because it existed, and I finished the book with no clear idea how it worked or why it needed to be in world.
Similarly, the romance that develops between the three main characters felt contrived, haphazard, and somewhat strange. I accept that the way it developed might be normal in gay male circles, and I imagine it will appeal to lovers of the “why choose” trope, perhaps.
Starling must be an educated person, because the book left me floundering many times for the meanings of some of the words, and I’m fairly intelligent. Thank goodness for Kindle’s lookup feature, although even that didn’t know what “effulgent” meant, and I had to Google it. At times, the prose felt too clever for its own good, but there’s no doubt that Starling has a way with words. Most of the time, the writing felt of a superior quality to the run-of-the-mill fare that exists everywhere, although that was occasionally turned on its head by clumsy phrases such as “whom before,” coupled with a few typos that stood out more because of the high quality of the writing.
The book ends on a blatant cliffhanger with a note that it will continue in Book 2. For lovers of eclectic, intellectual gay magical fiction, this might be worth a look. In the end, it was too far out of my comfort zone to say I enjoyed it, but the writing is of a high standard for the most part, and that might be enough to make it more enjoyable to readers more comfortable with the genre.
‘Coup du coeur’ is available for purchase at: https://bit.ly/3L7mIDn.
(Review by Hayley Price)