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Happy Pride Month! I've been saving this one for June. ;)
Under the pen G.S. Lucent, Shimaira (today's interviewee!) and co-writer Godhand wrote this surreal horror featuring two female leads who are so in love that even sleep can't stop them from being together.
Devon is ex-military, suffering from PTSD and physical hardship in the form of debilitating seizures. Tamesis is a pharmacist, working hard to make ends meet and take care of her girlfriend not only physically but emotionally too.
Common fxf tropes are flipped on their heads, and both characters are able to breathe and be who they are in this space, and I am so here for it. I also love that their sexuality isn't a plot point. It's so nice to see lgbtq characters exist without having to adhere to labels or go through a bunch of shit having to defend themselves or have a big coming out... there is a place for those stories in the world, for sure, but I love seeing lgbtq characters normalized and living in other genres.
LIKE HORROR. Cuz damn this book is scary!
Okay, so the main premise of this story is that Devon and Tamesis lucid dream together. They're able to leave the hardship of the real world behind and kick ass in their dreams, controlling it and what they look like and manipulating the world to their will. Its really cool to see two characters that feel so helpless in the real world (Devon because of her illnesses, and Tamesis because she can't always help Devon with her illnesses) be able to find empowerment in the dream world.
Everything is sunshine and roses and beauty until a dark and smart asshole shows up to mess up their party, and it seems he is hell-bent on coming back for more and more. It's quickly clear that he can also control the dreams, and is hella powerful to boot. He's got it out for Devon and Tamesis, and it seems like he'll stop at nothing to turn their dreams into nightmares.
In true Shimaira fashion, this gets terrifying and visceral. None of her books are for the faint of heart, but we're not looking at They Call HIm Lucius level of gory violence here. (Side note: have you read that book? I seriously made it to chapter four before I had to yeet out of there. This does not happen to me often, haha! I legit challenge you to make it farther than I did!)
So between them fighting this guy in their dreams, and dealing with the stresses of real life between financial trouble, Devon's illness, and Tamesis' sister's marital issues, things are damn difficult for these two. I'm not gonna spoil anything. Cuz you just need to read it.
However, it's not spoiling anything to just gush over how romantic this book is. Seriously, if you end up spotting any of my comments throughout the chapters most of my reactions are just emojis expressing my deep love for the relationship between these characters. Half of the book I couldn't even put into words what I was feeling it was just emoji city. Much worship hands and sobbing emojis.
