ARC Review: Like Silk Breathing by Camille Duplessis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Horse rating: 0 of five horses
ARC difficulty: temperate sand dune
Expected publication: June 28th, 2022
Content warnings: In case you don’t see the content warnings in the author’s note at the beginning: grief, loss of a loved one, depression, mental health, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt
In his version of the myth about a man who stole a selkie’s skin, the selkie kept the man.
This was not the story I had expected based on the blurb. I had anticipated more of a suspenseful, action-y paranormal romance, in an alt-historical setting.
This is actually a much more internally focused book, rather than being concerned with a larger external plot. I found it to be a captivating and emotional look into mental health and especially depression as we see it through Tom, who I related to rather strongly. I would say I may have enjoyed it more this way, than if it had been what I had originally expected.
The way depression is described was intensely on point. I felt very seen by this book, and in a positive way, even if it hit harder than I’d expected. Especially with the progression we see with Tom throughout the book.
“Today is. . .” Tom paused as he replaced the pen. “Not inky. No.” He glanced up at Theo. “Yesterday was. I was drowning in ink.”
The writing:
The writing in this had a dreamy sort of historical feeling to it. It really helped set the tone for me, once I adjusted to it. It’s almost poetry at times, describing feelings and emotions and even just scenes.
The paranormal portion of the story seemed more allegory or myth-type analogy for exploring the relationships between the characters - Tom, Theo, Paul, David, even Benson and Mrs. Lloyd. It was still part of the plot, but much more myth than paranormal romance level.
The romance:
The romance is intensely slow burn, and also fade to black. Fade to black to the point that I almost missed the allusion to them spending the night together. I think I would have liked a little more on page, since they had fairly intense chemistry that had been stymied by Theo not leaving David for most of the book. It’s not a book that highly detailed explicit scenes would fit, but more than just a kiss would be nice.
Outside of the physicality chemistry component, I did like the pull between Tom and Theo. It was made more visible via the magic component of this world, but I also felt it in their actions and conversations. I found their connection to be well balanced and very sweet.
A few mild criticisms:
As far as criticisms, the ones I have are mostly minor. The several POV - always a choice. It worked okay here to have David’s POV, so that we could get to know him and his actual lack of malice. The one that confused me was the opening chapter with Paul. That felt …out of place. It wasn’t necessary to set the scene, so mostly I was confused by it. I was able to pick up all the background information throughout the story anyway.
Overall, I ended up really enjoying this, but not for the reasons I had originally anticipated. I would not recommend this as a typical paranormal romance, but more if you’re looking for a contemplative, emotional read with a strong focus on mental health and the connections we have to people. It ends on such a sweet and hopeful note, that I felt was well balanced to the darkness earlier on, without completely erasing the permanent struggle that is depression.
Highlights:
Since this is an ARC file, I tend to collect some highlights at the bottom. It was hard to limit myself since I enjoyed the writing style so much.
Of anywhere, this is where I would warn for spoilers, and remind you of the content warnings.
But there was no telling what tomorrow would be like, or the day after. Maybe you should just focus on the tonight and the next tonight one by one. No, nothing crucial could be so incremental.
He was mired with regret that he had not succeeded and relief that he had survived.
The sun blazed. Had it been summer, it would be quite warm, but as it was, the light seemed to turn everything to cold glass.
Thankfulness was a difficult thing to accomplish, if only because he could not quite imagine living into the next month, never mind imagining what the next year might be like. The weight of his inability to do so drove him to excesses.
The inky days still came and he did not know if they’d cease to come.
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All the opinions are my own.
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