The city of Leiodare is unlike any other in the post-climate change United States. Within its boundaries, birds are outlawed and what was once a crater in Appalachia is now a tropical, glittering metropolis where Anna Armour is waiting. An artist by passion and a factory worker by trade, Anna is a woman of special gifts. She has chosen this beautiful, traumatized city to wait for the woman she’s lost, the one she believes can save her from her troubled past and uncertain future. When one night Anna creates life out of thin air and desperation, no one is prepared for what comes next-not Lucine, a smooth talking soothsayer with plans for the city; Lucine’s brother Eugenio who has designs of his own; Seife, a star performer in the Leiodaran cosmos; or Rory, a forefather of the city who’s lived through outbreak, heartbreak, and scandal. Told through their interlocking stories, Smoketown delves into the invisible connections that rival magic, and the cost of redemption.
This is one of the strangest books I’ve ever read, and as a whole I quite enjoyed it. The prose itself is quite poetic. It’s hard to describe; it feels both personal yet distant at the same time. There’s a small learning curve, just to get used to the writing, but it’s well worth it. In the end I loved it.
There are three major perspectives we read about. There’s a woman searching for a lost lover, a reclusive man in charge of a major corporation, and another man trying to find data related to a major virus. All of this is set in a city where birds are banned and feared because they’re believed to carry or cause this virus. Personally, I didn’t quite care for the POV of the reclusive man; I felt his sections weakened the overall pacing of the book. He was a good character in himself, though; I think I would’ve enjoyed him more had he simply been an important minor character.
What I found interesting, however, is that in the grand scheme of things, these three characters don’t have much of an impact on the larger story of the city. There’s a larger plot that takes place mainly in the background, while our focus is on the daily lives of the three POV characters. This larger plot does end up affecting them, but to me it almost felt like it came too suddenly. The ending felt abrupt almost. Though I did enjoy Anna’s individual ending a lot.
All in all, Smoketown is a short novel that packs a punch. It’s great for people looking for f/f romance, Black representation, and lyrical prose in a futuristic tech/dystopian backdrop. I will be checking out more from this author because I could see her becoming a potential favorite based on the writing alone.
