I read the first novella in this lovely little duology right after the election results were confirmed, and was saving its follow-up for Inauguration Day. On both counts, it provided precisely the balm I needed and hoped for. Neither of these books will end up as lasting favorites for me—there’s not enough depth to the storytelling for it to linger in that way. Chambers is a wonderful writer whose words are a joy to read, though. There’s something soothing to the way she strings a sentence together, in how conversations move around and through different subjects and feelings at a lilting but attentive tempo. While I wish she let some of those conversations simmer more, instead of explaining things so thoroughly, I see the merit in her didacticism. This is a “cozy book,” first and foremost, so the philosophical tensions I’m drawn to in this world probably don’t fit the aims of the book itself. And that’s okay; I’m very happy to receive the book on its terms, especially when those terms are this endearing.