Reader note, I picked this book up right after reading a gorgeous grimdark, so I have no doubt that skewed my attachment to this story.

I love the author's voice. It's beautiful and strong, and the prose is so clean it's like reading on glass. Readers who love contemporary or magical realism will probably adore this short tale.

However, I stopped at about the halfway mark. The story felt too short to be jumping back and forth in time, so I never got a clear path to where this story was going. And because of the previous tale I'd read, I kept hoping for dragons or a dark knight to pop out of the scenery. Me stopping was purely subjective to my own tastes, but I'm still eager to pick up other tales from this author in the future. :)