Hunter Stephens's Reviews > Practice

On Sunday, July 24th, 2022 at 2:59 PM I received an email with an ARC of the book from Avi Silver.

Today, Monday, June 5th, 2023 at 8:33 AM, I finished it.

The first book morphed me as a human being, and its impossible to put into words what kind of impact it left on me, just as some specific characters within these fleeting pages just cannot have their entire cosmic being forced inside of a box. About 1/4th of the way through the book, I remember going out on a walk in the middle of the day, and realizing that I was reading so slowly because I felt a sense of dread deep in my stomach. With as much as the first book meant to me, I was so deeply afraid that the second book would never live up to it, and the ending would never feel as transformative as the first one did.

Hoo boy was I wrong about that, because goddamn Sianna Tristen, you incredible lyricist and muse.

I can't even write anything coherent right now as Im still drunk on the last 20% of the book, which I read in one sitting, but never before have I empathized so much with a character on their own personal journey, and grown so fond of every aspect of it mirrored within myself.

As for anything negative I have to say about the book, I do feel that the first half of the book felt a bit lost and meandering, isn't that what life is? Isn't that how growth comes about? From a literary standpoint (and the outcome of it), it makes perfect sense in retrospect, which mirrors life perfectly. You may grow disdain for an event in the moment, or find it moving to slowly and feeling as if its an offshoot, or a side quest, distracting from the main event, but its only in retrospect that you can contextualize those moments into the greater tapestry of your own story.

Just.... Fuck. And Thank You.

I don't think I'll ever read anything as incredible as this duology again, and I am a devoted superfan of anything else that will ever come out of the shale project.