Hoffman, Nina Kiriki - Spirits That Walk in Shadow

[oyceter]

Ok, is this a sequel to something? Or set in the same world as another of Hoffman's books? I keep feeling like there's a giant other story in there about Jaimie and her adolescence, but I wasn't sure if it had already been told in another book or not.

Kim thinks in paintings and visuals and colors. Jaimie was raised in a magical family isolated from real life. They fight crime! become college roommates. Kim's depressed out of her mind due to a traumatic high school social incidence, and Jaimie and her cousins eventually figure out that's it's because of a spirit that feeds off of emotion.

They fight crime! solve the mystery!

I dunno. The book didn't work for me. It wasn't bad, but it was very prosaic. I wasn't surprised by anything, I didn't really like any of the characters, and I wasn't particularly interested in what happened to them. Also, I don't particularly get along with many made-up words for magical techniques.

Comments

[readsalot.livejournal.com]

No, I'm sorry I was unclear.

Jaimie is introduced in Hoffman's first novel, The Thread That Binds the Bones.

The People stories are by Zenna Henderson, who mostly wrote them during the 50s and 60s. I see them as similar to Thread in that they're about a group of related families who see themselves as "different", and that try to protect their own community. One of the things they indulge is a kink for people trying to find the place/community where they truly belong. Thread also has a little of that, but in a more, mmm, sophisticated way, maybe? I'm not sure how else to say it.

[takumashii.livejournal.com]

I've only read Hoffman's short stories, not her novels, but that trying-to-find-your-community thing feels very familiar, and while I like Hoffman generally, I think that's why she occasionally comes across as a bit twee.