T;LDR: A story within a story, with Shakespeare, Florence, fantasy, an author and her main character desperate to save her, Or What You Will by Jo Walton is a beautiful, complicated, and amazing read.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
He has been a character in almost all thirty of her books and as her life is coming to an end, he wants to save her and pull her into the fantasy world she created for him, with him, where he appeared. This book shares how he plans to do that as well as how they came to be where they are at.
I loved this book. I loved the fantasy story, although there were times where I got a little lost, I loved the narrator/character, I loved the author and how she was portrayed and who doesn’t love all the references to Florence? (Not this girl). I loved this book so much it made me want to reread Shakespeare and read it again. Instead, I bought one of her other books based on Anthony Trollope’s works. For that and a whole lot more, I rated this 5 stars.
The Plot
He has been her muse, her savior, her best friend, her confidante, and her character for most of her life. He’s starred in children’s books and fantasy books alike. He’s lived many lives and wants to ensure she does the same. He’s been trapped inside the bones of her skull for most of her life and he not only wants to free himself before she is no longer around, but her as well.
This is the tale of how he does that. But it also is a tale of the book she’s currently working on, the characters from a series she’s finished working on, her life in Florence, and her backstory as well. She thinks he is crazy, that he cannot do the thing he says he can, because she made it all up, so how can she become part of the fabric of her own imagination?
He has a plan. He only has to convince her to get on board.
What I liked & liked less
This is a book that requires some knowledge, a little knowledge, or a brief synopsis read of Shakespeare, a little bit of art, and a little bit of history. It helps also if you’ve visited Florence and/or if you love Florence. There are references throughout to Twelfth Night, the Renaissance, the history of Florence, including the artists that haunted its squares. You don’t have to like Shakespeare to like this story though, you just have to understand the basic plot, otherwise it can get a little confusing (at least to me).
The overlaps between the characters in the book and the characters in Twelfth Night was a bit confusing to me as I kept trying to straighten them out in my head. Had I slowed down, even a tad, or taken notes, I think I would’ve been fine, but it was too engrossing to do that.
I liked the way the fantasy world worked in that they thought they had magic and yet all the magic they had was what she, or her character, gave them. And yet they had enough magic potentially to bring her into the story, so perhaps it isn’t as simple as she thinks it is.
I liked the narrator. He is confident and cunning. He makes cutting remarks on the state of immigration to Canada, the way things are priced, the way her life unfolded. The narrator is present in our reality while dabbling in the book she is currently writing, even though he is not a character in it. Or is he?
I liked the richness of all the main characters presented, the twisted fables of their lives having played out differently than when Shakespeare presented them in his play. I liked the discussion of food, the scenes played out in the Duomo, in the Uffizi, and on the banks of the Arno.
I liked how perception is reality, and that is what the theme ultimately is. Or maybe it’s about love, loss, pain, and rebirth. Or maybe still it is about enduring and existing long after you’ve supposed to have died. I love that it is about these things, including family, betrayal, progress, and change.
It is so many different things that I wonder what someone else will see and feel when they read this book. What didn’t I like? It would have been good to have a clear synopsis of Twelfth Night and a cast of characters to refer back to. But the author didn’t think you needed them, so why do I think you do?
To Sum Up (Too Late!)
If you like stories that fold in on themselves, but spiral out into different directions, you’ll like this book. If you like layers upon layers, complexities and simplicity, you will like this book. If you’re an author who always feels their characters rumbling around in their heads, then you will definitely like this book. And if you’re someone who wants to read a good story, an adventure, with many characters, and references to Shakespeare, you’ll like this book. If you’ve ever visited Florence and eaten gelato at Perche…No!, this book will bring that memory back with a bang.
I loved how deep this story was. I loved how complex and rich it was. I loved that the author, Sophie, was flawed with a tragic backstory and a happy ending up until that part of her life. In short, I loved all of it. I’m going to reread it. I plan on owning it (I got it from the library). And I’ve picked up another of her books. For this and so much more, I rate it 5 stars.
About the Author
Jo Walton writes science fiction and fantasy novels and reads a lot and eats great food. It worries her slightly that this is so exactly what she always wanted to do when she grew up. She comes from Wales, but lives in Montreal.
If you wish to purchase this book, pick your vendor of choice here, or just cave to the man and get it from Amazon here.
Originally published on Feedium.