Primo S. 's Reviews > These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart" is a technothriller story that's not only very queer, but also very anarchist in its philosophy. It's about Dora, a trans woman who'd left her commune a couple years back after some arguments about its philosophy. Now Dora must return to the commune as her ex-girlfriend Kay was murdered, so she must investigate and make sure nobody else has to die. As she investigated more and more, she was attacked by clones of her pre-transition self, and she realized that she (and the commune) was stuck in a war between two big merciless corporations, and she must find a way to get them out of that problem, while also solving the murder.

Despite the length, this book managed to not only pack a fast-paced plot that feels complete (novellas sometimes feel like they're meant to be longer, not the case here) while also having some really interesting commentary about transness and self-determination. The book also uses the concept of clones in a way that I found really interesting and I've never seen before. It's done in such a way that it also explores the idea of identity especially in the context of being transgender. A lot of people will probably see this part of the story as being problematic, but as the author said in the afterword, queer characters should be able to be problematic too, just like everyone else, and this was a good way to go about it.