kassandra my beloved

Kassandra!

You can read a little behind the scenes on the cover here.

This book has EVERYTHING (that many fic readers hate):

1st person POV

Basically a genfic, so hardly any ships

No tags (but my previous post here has additional details, such as what tags might apply to this book if trad publishing included useful things like tag systems)

No tropes I can think of

Nearly all OCs

Despite this, many people (my mom) and dogs (my dogs, to be specific) have called this book "written," "short," and "????????¿¿¿¿¿¿¿?"

In all seriousness, it is a beautiful book and one I am proud and excited to see in print. You might like it, too, especially if any of the following appeal to you:

Eurydice and Orpheus, in which someone finally asks whether Eurydice actually wanted to return from the underworld

Persephone and Hades, as told in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter

Complex sibling relationships (aka Eldest Korean Daughter Syndrome)

Korean-American family saga from pre-independence to present, focused on women

Women trying to stay sane and alive despite [gestures vaguely at everything]

Angst

Neuroscience, for some reason?

The actual summary that goes on the back of the book:

In this brilliant portrait of rage and resilience, a Korean woman tries to connect with her younger brother and grapple with family tragedy through bedtime stories that weave together Greek mythology, neuroscience, and tales from their grandmother’s slipping memory. Recasting the myths of Eurydice, Orpheus, Persephone, and Hades through the lens of a Korean American family, this debut novel offers a moving and darkly funny exploration of grief, love, and the inescapability of death.

Interested? You can preorder here ahead of August 13.

That's all I've got until sometime in May, when I will belatedly remember that it is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and that I have Asian American Heritage.

Gale being eaten up by his ambition by making it literally an orb in his chest, that is only sated when he finds contentment.

Karlach’s heart being on fire because she loved so strongly and refuses to stop even in the face of brutal betrayal, even as it hurts her.

Wyll’s horns not being a literal turning into anything, but instead the weight of his choices on his head for all to know, so he has to face up to them and choose a path, even if neither is the straightforward hero.

The shadow curse being the heavy impenetrable weight that settles over a family after the loss of a child.

Thaniel and Oliver being the irreversible changes one goes through as a result of trauma, an outright schism between the pre-trauma and post-trauma selves, that nonetheless can be peacefully reconciled.