Rating is more preference than proficiency - beautiful book, sad, but a bit literary for my taste

This one's a difficult one to rate.... it has Smith's characteristic funny clever wordplay and unexpectedness which keeps the reader engaged and I would've read this in one sitting if I hadn't been too tired and needed to go to sleep. But it rubbed me the wrong way in some sections. I got the very strong sense that the author was making unlikable or ignorant characters say things that are actually critisisms the author herself has received, but repackaging it in a more 'dramatic' 'unfair' etc whole. I get that these are definetly ways that people online behave towards 'boomers' and that its not okay. But it feels.... weird. Its like the author is being dishonest in her nuance. She sees and adds nuance about every topic, as always. But it feels...off. I can't explain it, but that's very much my experience😅 . I have always made my peace with the fact that Smith seems to ignore the existance of non binary people and refuse to use the singular they in all of her books. Suddenly, in this one, she comes up with a non binary character and refers to them as 'the they twin' for most of the time. Reducimg them to their pronoun felt oddly grating to me. The fact that this is the only trans character ever in her work (if you dont count the painter from how to be both who is very much non binary / genderfluid coded of course) and they are one of the 'this is a metaphor for fake woke social media culture that upsets boundaries and neglects nuance' characters........ IT JUST FEELS WEIRD TO ME. I wish she would've just. Not written about this. Because she is clearly not the one who should. She is someone who adores words and their meanings yet doesnt give the attention and exploration to this particular very politicised part of it and it feels like a choice. It feels like she's just trying to cover her ass because she never used singular they in her books before and someone made a comment about it being a bit transphobic and now she had to add in a quick 'oh yeah they thems are valid' but still painting the they them character as 'stupid' and just overall a very not great person who lacks social awareness about consent and boundaries and all that !!!! You see whats happening here right?? And despite me ranting for a whole lot of this review, I still enjoyed some of this book. I enjoy her writing style, her way of description, the relatability in the characters, the interwovenness of past and present and all that clever stuff but GOD I wish she would just shut up about certain things OR give them the carefull consideration they deserve. thank you

I loved this book, though I found it harder to parse out the connections and meanings behind this one than in Smith’s other books. I found myself more invested in the young blacksmith’s story than in Sandy’s and was disappointed that it made up only a third of the book. This one did leave me with a lot of questions (which I think is the point, the narrator literally says “A story is never an answer. A story is always a question.”) and I think it will stick with me for a while.