“It’s not often I get that viscerally emotional on behalf of a fictional character. In a setting of overt fantasy, Angélique Jamail has created some of the most real people I’ve encountered via text in a long time.”

—Ari Marmell, Hot Lead, Cold Iron, and The Widdershins Series

“A silver vein of irony runs through . . . It is a witty tale of conformity, prejudice, and transformation, in a world that is disturbing as much for its familiarity as for its strangeness. In a place where everyone is different, Elsa is the wrong kind of different, and that means facing pity, discrimination, danger, and sharp teeth. Dive into this story, readers, and confront them for yourself; it may just change the way you feel about things . . .”

—Marie Marshall, The Everywhen Angels and I am not a fish

“Jamail takes a classic story and puts a fresh and unique twist on it . . . She writes in a very straightforward prose, which when peppered with the magical realism . . . creates an interesting juxtaposition of styles. I most appreciate how real some of these characters are, and I was amazed at how Jamail played with my emotions with such a brief story. I eagerly await the next installment!”

—Reader review

“The writing itself is magical. [For] anyone who enjoys magical realism or anyone who just enjoys sparklingly original pieces that are poetic and truly well-written.”

—Reader review

“A lovely coming-of-age story about a young woman who is struggling to realize who she is meant to be. It captures the struggle many post-college graduates face trying to find a career they’ll be happy in, but with a beautiful supernatural allegory. Jamail paints a fascinating world, and I look forward to reading more books of hers!”

—Reader review

“Jamail’s prose is vivid and precise, and the implications of this magical world resonate far beyond a seemingly simple story. Transformation, after all, is the stuff of fairy tales, of fantasy literature from its very beginnings (like the wild man Enkidu from Gilgamesh). Elsa’s seemingly simple story shimmers with allegorical possibilities. How interesting that the truest manifestation of a ‘self’ is to exhibit animal features . . . It leads one—or at least this reader—to reconsider the ways we think about and construct the self, the ways we value and talk about self-realization or self-respect, and to reflect on the ways that it is seemingly both rooted in human and animal nature to fear and distrust difference. What looks like a simple, engaging story on the surface here has profound depths.”

—Reader review

“I loved this book! It is so imaginative and beautifully written! With its quirky imagery and mystical aura, it is a most unusual story with something to say about the perils of growing up in a society that encourages conformity. A most unusual read!”

—Reader review

“You know how some people remind you of, or even resemble animals? In the world Jamail creates in this short but intense and fully-imagined novella, people are part-animal, or at least manifest Animal Affinities that are taken to be not just signs of their maturation into adults but also the fullest realization of selfhood . . . At once a powerful allegory about difference and a charming story about self-realization, Jamail’s book satisfies on several levels and renders up such vivid imagery that the reader isn’t quite prepared to leave that world behind, even when the story reaches its satisfying end.”

—Reader review