I feel sort of tricked into reading this book. It was not at all what I was expecting. The cover looks like space with a rocket ship on it but it’s actually a fish. This isn’t to say I completely disliked this book, but it was strange and all over the place.

A transexaual runaway with a gift for the violin, gets taken under the wing of a superstar teacher. The teacher is actually under contract to deliver souls to Hell. Along the way, they become acquainted with aliens who have run away from their home. The aliens are now running a donut shop and building a star gate.

Yeah. I told you it was weird. It tries to make all these pieces together while also hitting on the points of “a trans person is a person”, about using correct pronouns, and how it feels to be a trans person. The story wasn’t all that successful, but it did succeed at making me feel a bit of what it’s like being a trans person in a heterosexual world. I undestand the purpose of this book, and I am sympathetic to it’s purpose - but I found it just didn’t really work for me.

I enjoyed the bits about repairing violins, and about some of the musical pieces a lot. I’m listening to Bartok’s Violin Solo as I write this review :D

Rating: ★★

Book #20 in my 2022 Reading Challenge