REVIEW: These Fragile Graces This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein
In These Fragile Graces This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein governments have collapsed alongside post-capitalism and the wealthy have created havens for themselves while the historical outcasts—the poor, the different, the non-conformists—try to scrape a life on the outskirts. We have a perfect setup for a detective noir story in a cyberpunk world, and into that world Dora Madsen has left the safety of the commune and her ex, Kay, has been murdered in her absence. Time to strap on her PI boots, and get her grit on.
As Dora investigates we slowly peel back the layers of her past, as well as the mystery of Kay’s death. Wasserstein takes us through a devastated lower socioeconomic-economic world, and her old community trying to provide a safe space for people to shuck the trap of the society they live in. However, in doing so, they leave themselves open to the inherent cruelty and selfishness and danger of people, megacorporations doing megacorporation things, shady people with shady deals—all the things readers like me enjoy in these sorts of stories are there.Wasserstein writes furious fight scenes, engaging character interactions, excellent character depth, and structures a pretty enjoyable story. I was really into the first three quarters of the story, and while I wasn’t blown away by the ending, the pacing suited the novella length.
These Fragile Graces This Fugitive Heart is a strongly character-voiced book, and I think it comes at the expense of painting a mental picture of the surroundings. I loved the way the character relayed the story to me, their thoughts and the detail added about the wider thematic world around them and it’s collapse, about her family and her life that led to this moment, and about her struggles as a trans woman. These were insightful and interesting on multiple levels. However, the lack of detail about the world she moved through as a visual—the smells, the sounds—the lack thereof made this feel more like reading a letter than watching a movie in my head.
These Fragile Graces This Fugitive Heart is an enjoyable detective noir, with plenty of grit and cynicism to sink your teeth into. Either through stylistic choice, or fitting too much into too little pages, I found the world around the characters a bit too lean for my tastes, but I’m glad I had this reading experience.
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